Do I ship it?

Games › Tower Defense › Tower Defense + Card Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Card Game Tower Defense?

Tower Defense + Card Game

Of 77 developers who shipped a Card Game Tower Defense 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.. 111 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×727 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 111 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 111 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tower Defense + Card Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 77
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.3k → $898 → $18k → $2.7k → $899 → $2.5k → $1.8k (still earning) → $2.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tower Defense + Card Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 77
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,156)
Top 25% $8.4k (exactly $8,392)
Top 5% $345k (exactly $345,370)
Developers, 2 yr 77
Released games 161
Announced 111
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 up 10% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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.

Tower Defense
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Card Game
effort 2 / 10 · high · rules engine and card data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Tower Defense, Card Game; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Deckbuilding, Roguelike
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

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 7,572 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $8.3k, 1 in 20 over $340k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 42 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 111 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tower Defense with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + DwarvesStrong odds10 devs · median $6.7k · 9 announced
  2. + MiningFair33 devs · median $6.3k · 45 announced
  3. + Survival HorrorFair14 devs · median $1.9k · 16 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair15 devs · median $1.6k · 20 announced
  5. + TanksFair14 devs · median $1.5k · 13 announced
  6. + MechsFair24 devs · median $1.5k · 24 announced
  7. + IdlerFair108 devs · median $1.2k · 136 announced
  8. + PuzzleFair64 devs · median $1.0k · 67 announced
  9. + Gun CustomizationFair26 devs · median $958 · 32 announced
  10. + LogicFair40 devs · median $955 · 44 announced
  11. + On-Rails ShooterFair11 devs · median $899 · 12 announced
  12. + Psychological HorrorFair8 devs · median $897 · 8 announced

All 150 pairs on the Tower Defense page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Ratropolis 2020 · $2.8M Overdungeon 2019 · $1.3M Heretic's Fork 2023 · $928k Border Pioneer 2025 · $753k Tower Tactics: Liberation 2023 · $734k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Ratropolis older $17.99 5,187 87% 156k $2.8M (exactly $2,799,424) Cassel Games
Overdungeon older $14.99 2,854 79% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,444) Pocketpair
Heretic's Fork older $9.99 3,097 85% 93k $928k (exactly $928,171) 9FingerGames
Border Pioneer $14.99 1,675 86% 50k $753k (exactly $753,248) Yahzj Games
Tower Tactics: Liberation older $19.99 1,224 88% 37k $734k (exactly $734,033) asraworks
Deck of Haunts $19.99 1,206 84% 36k $723k (exactly $723,238) Mantis
ORX · EA older $19.99 636 68% 19k $381k (exactly $381,409) johnbell
Cubic Cosmos $12.99 941 92% 28k $367k (exactly $366,708) Inkstone Atelier
Epic Auto Towers · EA $14.99 768 70% 23k $345k (exactly $345,370) Aleksandr Golovkin
There Are No Orcs $8.99 1,188 93% 36k $320k (exactly $320,404) BaseTrade Studio
Cube Chaos $11.99 621 95% 19k $223k (exactly $223,374) Wunarg
Kingdom's Deck $9.99 495 72% 15k $148k (exactly $148,352) Ivan Aco
Mineral Defense $14.99 220 90% 6.6k $99k (exactly $98,934) Corestone Games
Forest Heroes $9.99 278 83% 8.3k $83k (exactly $83,317) Hoochoo Game Studios
These Doomed Isles $14.99 180 66% 5.4k $81k (exactly $80,946) Triplevision Games Limited

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