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Should I ship a Sci-fi Card Game?
Card Game + Sci-fi
Of 123 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Card Game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 201 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $92k, ×194 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 201 games are announced against 79 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $13,786) |
| Top 5% | $92k (exactly $92,284) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 123 |
| Released games | 286 |
| Announced | 201 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 40% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Card Game; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Strategy, Card Battler
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 19,434 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 59 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 201 games are announced against 79 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Card Game with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SteampunkFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + DogsFair
- + MahjongFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Board GameFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Dating SimPoor odds
Comparable games
The Bazaar 2025 · $9.0M 
Griftlands 2021 · $8.1M 
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist 2022 · $3.3M 
FINAL FANTASY VIII - REMASTERED 2019 · $2.9M 
FINAL FANTASY VIII 2013 · $2.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Bazaar | $19.99 | 14,931 70% | 448k | $9.0M (exactly $8,954,121) | Tempo | |
| | Griftlands | older | $19.99 | 13,440 93% | 403k | $8.1M (exactly $8,059,968) | Klei Entertainment |
| | I Was a Teenage Exocolonist | older | $24.99 | 4,443 96% | 133k | $3.3M (exactly $3,330,917) | Northway Games |
| | FINAL FANTASY VIII - REMASTERED | older | $19.99 | 4,822 75% | 145k | $2.9M (exactly $2,891,753) | Square Enix |
| | FINAL FANTASY VIII | older | $11.99 | 7,874 87% | 236k | $2.8M (exactly $2,832,278) | Square Enix |
 | Dune: Imperium | older | $22.99 | 3,806 94% | 114k | $2.6M (exactly $2,624,998) | Dire Wolf |
 | Cobalt Core | older | $19.99 | 4,067 95% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,438,980) | Rocket Rat Games |
 | Terraformers | older | $19.99 | 3,031 88% | 91k | $1.8M (exactly $1,817,691) | Asteroid Lab |
 | NEOVERSE | older | $19.99 | 2,882 84% | 86k | $1.7M (exactly $1,728,335) | Tinogames Inc. |
 | Deep Sky Derelicts | older | $19.99 | 1,985 73% | 60k | $1.2M (exactly $1,190,404) | Snowhound Games |
 | One Turn Kill | $7.99 | 1,478 95% | 44k | $354k (exactly $354,277) | DenDen | |
 | Villages & Dungeons | $6.99 | 1,036 91% | 31k | $217k (exactly $217,249) | CaCaFrog Studio | |
 | Battle Suit Aces | $19.99 | 347 90% | 10k | $208k (exactly $208,096) | Trinket Studios | |
 | All in Abyss: Judge the Fake | $15.99 | 375 54% | 11k | $180k (exactly $179,888) | ACQUIRE Corp., WSS playground | |
 | Mineral Defense | $14.99 | 220 90% | 6.6k | $99k (exactly $98,934) | Corestone Games | |
 | Factory Planner | · EA | $7.99 | 385 70% | 12k | $92k (exactly $92,284) | Lebleby Games |
 | Into The Grid | · EA | $14.99 | 195 83% | 5.9k | $88k (exactly $87,692) | Flatline Studios |
 | Holder of Place | $9.99 | 288 90% | 8.6k | $86k (exactly $86,314) | Ardent Fields | |
 | Snow Ash | $14.99 | 179 73% | 5.4k | $80k (exactly $80,496) | Ember Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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