Do I ship it?

Games › Card Game › Card Game + Solitaire

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Solitaire Card Game?

Card Game + Solitaire

Of 200 developers who shipped a Solitaire 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.. 179 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 2 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $120 for a 2 / 10 build. 125 developers shipped in the last year and 179 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 179 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Card Game + Solitaire
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 200
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $719 → $1.3k → $719 → $449 → $1.0k → $239 (still earning) → $119 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Card Game + Solitaire: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 200
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $269 (exactly $269)
Top 25% $1.7k (exactly $1,678)
Top 5% $35k (exactly $35,073)
Developers, 2 yr 200
Released games 590
Announced 179
Effort 2 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $4.99

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 30% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Card Game
effort 2 / 10 · high · rules engine and card data
Solitaire
effort 1 / 10 · high · fixed rules, cards and a table

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
Systems
Card Game, Solitaire; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Deckbuilding, Card Battler
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 7,268 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $270, 1 in 4 over $1.6k, 1 in 20 over $35k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 99 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 179 games are announced against 125 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Card Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SteampunkFair15 devs · median $7.6k · 18 announced
  2. + Immersive SimFair43 devs · median $3.6k · 43 announced
  3. + Inventory ManagementFair65 devs · median $1.6k · 86 announced
  4. + DogsFair11 devs · median $1.5k · 8 announced
  5. + MahjongFair28 devs · median $748 · 24 announced
  6. + Artificial IntelligenceFair40 devs · median $719 · 54 announced
  7. + GamblingFair126 devs · median $600 · 167 announced
  8. + Point & ClickFair62 devs · median $539 · 69 announced
  9. + Hidden ObjectFair17 devs · median $537 · 15 announced
  10. + Board GameFair293 devs · median $479 · 382 announced
  11. + PuzzleFair198 devs · median $479 · 206 announced
  12. + Dating SimPoor odds23 devs · median $18k · 48 announced

All 159 pairs on the Card Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Stacklands 2022 · $7.0M Root 2020 · $2.3M Retirement Simulator 2022 · EA · $1.6M Dice & Fold 2024 · $1.4M Cardboard Town 2023 · $1.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stacklands older $7.99 29,244 96% 877k $7.0M (exactly $7,009,787) Sokpop Collective
Root older $14.99 5,049 90% 151k $2.3M (exactly $2,270,535) Dire Wolf
Retirement Simulator · EA older $13.99 3,757 34% 113k $1.6M (exactly $1,576,813) DoubleThink Studio
Dice & Fold older $12.99 3,491 83% 105k $1.4M (exactly $1,360,443) Tinymice Entertainment
Cardboard Town older $19.99 2,051 79% 62k $1.2M (exactly $1,229,985) Stratera Games, cukuto
Forbidden Solitaire $15.99 2,245 96% 67k $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926) Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertai… (Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertainment)
Last Call BBS older $19.99 1,220 94% 37k $732k (exactly $731,634) Zachtronics
Faerie Solitaire older $14.99 1,361 89% 41k $612k (exactly $612,042) Subsoap
Rana Card $12.99 1,183 89% 35k $461k (exactly $461,015) VisionRana
One Turn Kill $7.99 1,478 95% 44k $354k (exactly $354,277) DenDen
Zoominoes $14.99 549 91% 16k $247k (exactly $246,885) Starlight Games inc.
Wordatro! $9.99 401 85% 12k $120k (exactly $120,180) Le Poulet
Queens Casino $9.99 311 98% 9.3k $93k (exactly $93,207) sartahouse
Factory Planner · EA $7.99 385 70% 12k $92k (exactly $92,284) Lebleby Games
Occlude $7.99 348 86% 10k $83k (exactly $83,416) Tributary Games
A Solitaire Mystery $9.99 278 91% 8.3k $83k (exactly $83,317) Hempuli Oy
Rainbow Legends $12.99 90 74% 2.7k $35k (exactly $35,073) Unpixel Cloud Cedar Studio

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.