Do I ship it?

Games › Trading Card Game › Trading Card Game + Creature Collector

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Creature Collector Trading Card Game?

Trading Card Game + Creature Collector

Of 25 developers who shipped a Creature Collector Trading 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.. 36 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 $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $73k, ×116 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 36 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 36 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Trading Card Game + Creature Collector
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.9k → $539 → $1.8k → $300 → $1.9k → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Trading Card Game + Creature Collector: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $719 (exactly $719)
Top 25% $7.2k (exactly $7,194)
Top 5% $73k (exactly $73,127)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 70
Announced 36
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 50% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 30%, 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.

Trading Card Game
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Creature Collector
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

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
Trading Card Game, Creature Collector; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Strategy, Card Battler
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 62% positive over 1,152 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $720, 1 in 4 over $7.1k, 1 in 20 over $73k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Immersive SimStrong odds18 devs · median $30k · 13 announced
  2. + SandboxFair17 devs · median $1.8k · 17 announced
  3. + Inventory ManagementFair21 devs · median $1.5k · 28 announced
  4. + Procedural GenerationPoor odds10 devs · median $10k · 26 announced
  5. + TradingPoor odds16 devs · median $10k · 36 announced
  6. + Life SimPoor odds18 devs · median $10k · 21 announced
  7. + CollectathonPoor odds26 devs · median $6.3k · 41 announced
  8. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $6.1k · 25 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds11 devs · median $4.9k · 25 announced
  10. + Auto BattlerPoor odds22 devs · median $3.4k · 27 announced
  11. + Roguelike DeckbuilderPoor odds24 devs · median $3.4k · 38 announced
  12. + Online Co-OpPoor odds13 devs · median $3.1k · 36 announced

All 69 pairs on the Trading Card Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Kādomon: Hyper Auto Battlers 2025 · $163k Water Margin Scrolls 2026 · $73k Isle of Swaps 2024 · $58k Final Stardust: Cosmic Nexus 2024 · $32k FISHTOPIA 2025 · $19k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Kādomon: Hyper Auto Battlers $9.99 543 65% 16k $163k (exactly $162,737) Dino Rocket
Water Margin Scrolls $9.99 244 40% 7.3k $73k (exactly $73,127) QingHe Games
Isle of Swaps $14.99 129 90% 3.9k $58k (exactly $58,011) Fuzz Force
Final Stardust: Cosmic Nexus older $14.99 72 75% 2.2k $32k (exactly $32,378) NourSaiFR
FISHTOPIA $8.99 70 87% 2.1k $19k (exactly $18,879) BountyGames
Dig for TCG Cards With Your Friends $6.99 77 44% 2.3k $16k (exactly $16,147) 3 Rare Devs
Trial of the Gods: Siralim CCG older $12.99 38 84% 1.1k $15k (exactly $14,809) Thylacine Studios, JaysGames
SEARCH ALL - ADULT older $9.99 49 67% 1.5k $15k (exactly $14,685) Laush Dmitriy Sergeevich
Card Summoner $14.99 32 50% 960 $14k (exactly $14,390) Happenstance Games
SEARCH ALL - FOXES older $2.99 107 92% 3.2k $9.6k (exactly $9,598) Laush Dmitriy Sergeevich
Soul•Apocalypto $11.99 20 80% 600 $7.2k (exactly $7,194) 卜乙冈(Ploygon)
Witchcrafter The TCG $15.99 12 83% 360 $5.8k (exactly $5,756) Spear Group Limited
Idle Pixels $7.99 8 0% 240 $1.9k (exactly $1,918) Pixel Labs
Card Streamer Simulator $2.99 17 52% 510 $1.5k (exactly $1,525) Scissors Game

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