Games › Trading Card Game › Trading Card Game + Combat
Should I ship a Combat Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Combat
Only 18 developers shipped a Combat Trading Card Game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Water Margin Scrolls, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 45 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $73k, ×116 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 45 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $598 (exactly $598) |
| Top 25% | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) |
| Top 5% | $73k (exactly $73,127) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 48 |
| Announced | 45 |
| 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 40% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 35%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Trading Card Game
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Combat
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Trading Card Game, Combat; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Adventure, Turn-Based Strategy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 43% positive over 383 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Trading Card Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Immersive SimStrong odds
- + SandboxFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + Procedural GenerationPoor odds
- + TradingPoor odds
- + Life SimPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Auto BattlerPoor odds
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
Aces & Adventures 2023 · $1.3M 
Water Margin Scrolls 2026 · $73k 
Mark Out! The Wrestling Card Game 2023 · $22k 
1953: NATO vs Warsaw Pact 2025 · $13k 
Astral Masters 2021 · $12k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Aces & Adventures | older | $19.99 | 2,220 89% | 67k | $1.3M (exactly $1,331,334) | Triple.B.Titles |
| | Water Margin Scrolls | $9.99 | 244 40% | 7.3k | $73k (exactly $73,127) | QingHe Games | |
| | Mark Out! The Wrestling Card Game | older | $14.99 | 49 93% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,035) | DIY Experiences LLC |
| | 1953: NATO vs Warsaw Pact | $5.99 | 70 41% | 2.1k | $13k (exactly $12,579) | Wastelands Interactive | |
| | Astral Masters | older | $4.99 | 83 90% | 2.5k | $12k (exactly $12,425) | Apus Software |
 | Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike and the Quest for Stale Gum | older | $9.99 | 39 92% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $11,688) | Retrotainment Games, Digital Eclipse |
 | Mythical Mayhem | older | $14.99 | 21 90% | 630 | $9.4k (exactly $9,444) | dragons1ayer studios |
 | Wild Country | $24.99 | 11 54% | 330 | $8.2k (exactly $8,247) | Lost Native | |
 | Treasure Atlas | · EA | $11.99 | 12 83% | 360 | $4.3k (exactly $4,316) | zzeerr |
 | PERSEVERANCE: Chapter 1 | $4.99 | 25 44% | 750 | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) | XPECTED | |
 | Sengodai | $9.99 | 5 40% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | Tsunoa Games | |
 | A Quest to Be The Best | $7.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) | Digital Tilt Games | |
 | Baduk Challenge (Go Challenge) | $10.99 | 4 50% | 120 | $1.3k (exactly $1,319) | OH YU HWAN | |
 | Cardrottini | $3.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $598 (exactly $598) | Don Bobritto | |
 | Tenebrix | · EA | $15.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $480 (exactly $480) | ColdForge Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.