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Should I ship a Space Card Game?
Card Game + Space
Of 54 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 89 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $86k, ×137 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 89 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) |
| Top 5% | $86k (exactly $86,314) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 54 |
| Released games | 115 |
| Announced | 89 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 70% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Card Game; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelike, Deckbuilding
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,547 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 7 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 89 games are announced against 35 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
Dune: Imperium 2024 · $2.6M 
Cobalt Core 2023 · $2.4M 
Terraformers 2023 · $1.8M 
Deep Sky Derelicts 2018 · $1.2M 
Tower Tactics: Liberation 2023 · $734k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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 |
| | Deep Sky Derelicts | older | $19.99 | 1,985 73% | 60k | $1.2M (exactly $1,190,404) | Snowhound Games |
| | Tower Tactics: Liberation | older | $19.99 | 1,224 88% | 37k | $734k (exactly $734,033) | asraworks |
 | Zet Zillions | older | $9.99 | 722 87% | 22k | $216k (exactly $216,383) | OTA IMON Studios |
 | For The Warp | older | $14.99 | 434 72% | 13k | $195k (exactly $195,170) | Massive Galaxy Studios |
 | Starless Abyss | $19.99 | 296 83% | 8.9k | $178k (exactly $177,511) | Konafa Games | |
 | Colony City 27λ | older | $10.99 | 398 87% | 12k | $131k (exactly $131,221) | Bunny Eats Tiger |
 | Race for the Galaxy | older | $7.99 | 432 93% | 13k | $104k (exactly $103,550) | Temple Gates Games |
 | Mineral Defense | $14.99 | 220 90% | 6.6k | $99k (exactly $98,934) | Corestone Games | |
 | Holder of Place | $9.99 | 288 90% | 8.6k | $86k (exactly $86,314) | Ardent Fields | |
 | Stellar Orphans | $16.99 | 139 71% | 4.2k | $71k (exactly $70,848) | Artifex Parvus | |
 | Clonizer | $14.99 | 146 82% | 4.4k | $66k (exactly $65,656) | Juicy Plume | |
 | Hyperspace Deck Command | $19.99 | 91 95% | 2.7k | $55k (exactly $54,573) | Sleeper Games | |
 | ACE Strategy: Mecha Nova | $14.99 | 115 78% | 3.5k | $52k (exactly $51,716) | EMINA STUDIO | |
 | Takara Cards | $14.99 | 112 83% | 3.4k | $50k (exactly $50,366) | Post Mortem Pixels | |
 | Command Deck | · EA | $14.99 | 74 98% | 2.2k | $33k (exactly $33,278) | k-critical |
 | Break Siege | · EA | $14.99 | 66 84% | 2.0k | $30k (exactly $29,680) | FojoGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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