Do I ship it?

Games › City Builder › City Builder + Deckbuilding

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Deckbuilding City Builder?

City Builder + Deckbuilding

Of 48 developers who shipped a Deckbuilding City Builder 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.. 75 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $13k, ×20 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $720k, ×1152 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 75 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 20.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 75 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
City Builder + Deckbuilding
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 48
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $29k → $3.6k → $81k → $20k → $25k → $1.1k (still earning) → $4.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for City Builder + Deckbuilding: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 48
Bottom 30% $1.1k (exactly $1,079)
Median $13k (exactly $12,529)
Top 25% $71k (exactly $71,329)
Top 5% $723k (exactly $723,238)
Developers, 2 yr 48
Released games 74
Announced 75
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 80% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

City Builder
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Deckbuilding
effort 3 / 10 · high · card pools and run logic

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
City Builder, Deckbuilding; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Game, Roguelite
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 15,991 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.1k, median $13k, 1 in 4 over $71k, 1 in 20 over $720k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 6 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 75 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

City Builder with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Visual NovelStrong odds10 devs · median $19k · 8 announced
  2. + LogicFair58 devs · median $3.3k · 74 announced
  3. + IncrementalFair75 devs · median $1.3k · 96 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair16 devs · median $1.3k · 20 announced
  5. + ArcadeFair28 devs · median $898 · 27 announced
  6. + RacingLong shot12 devs · median $299 · 9 announced
  7. + RomePoor odds9 devs · median $423k · 10 announced
  8. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 25 announced
  9. + HorrorPoor odds10 devs · median $157k · 21 announced
  10. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds17 devs · median $146k · 50 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds32 devs · median $118k · 55 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds26 devs · median $108k · 47 announced

All 136 pairs on the City Builder page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Stacklands 2022 · $7.0M The King is Watching 2025 · $4.0M Ratropolis 2020 · $2.8M Cardboard Town 2023 · $1.2M TerraScape 2024 · $930k
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
The King is Watching $14.99 9,006 88% 270k $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) Hypnohead
Ratropolis older $17.99 5,187 87% 156k $2.8M (exactly $2,799,424) Cassel Games
Cardboard Town older $19.99 2,051 79% 62k $1.2M (exactly $1,229,985) Stratera Games, cukuto
TerraScape older $14.99 2,068 88% 62k $930k (exactly $929,980) Bitfall Studios
Border Pioneer $14.99 1,675 86% 50k $753k (exactly $753,248) Yahzj Games
Deck of Haunts $19.99 1,206 84% 36k $723k (exactly $723,238) Mantis
Kainga: Seeds of Civilization older $19.99 639 74% 19k $383k (exactly $383,208) Erik Rempen
Combolands: Roguelike Citybuilder $9.99 1,244 97% 37k $373k (exactly $372,827) Crux Games
There Are No Orcs $8.99 1,188 93% 36k $320k (exactly $320,404) BaseTrade Studio
Rogue Hex $19.99 260 89% 7.8k $156k (exactly $155,922) Topstitch Games
Warlords Under Siege $9.99 436 77% 13k $131k (exactly $130,669) RedKar Devs
Entertainment Simulator $18.99 181 73% 5.4k $103k (exactly $103,116) Grizzbera Studio
Technotopia $4.99 599 86% 18k $90k (exactly $89,670) Yustas
Kaya's Prophecy $13.99 196 70% 5.9k $82k (exactly $82,261) Jérémie & Thibaut

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