Games › Deckbuilding › Deckbuilding + Dragons
Should I ship a Dragon Deckbuilding?
Deckbuilding + Dragons
Of 21 developers who shipped a Dragon Deckbuilding 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.. 56 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.7k, ×6.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×595 the market median. Revenue is up 360% on the market; 56 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) |
| Top 25% | $35k (exactly $34,783) |
| Top 5% | $374k (exactly $373,817) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 56 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 360% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 29%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Deckbuilding
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card pools and run logic
- Dragons
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Deckbuilding; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Battler, Card Game
- Price point
- $10.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Family Friendly, Hand-drawn
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 2,923 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Deckbuilding with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + AutomationFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + 2D FighterFair
- + Party GameFair
- + SwordplayFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + LogicFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Visual NovelPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince | older | $39.99 | 1,158 71% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,389,253) | Square Enix |
| | None Shall Intrude | $14.99 | 934 73% | 28k | $420k (exactly $420,020) | Aeterna Ludi | |
| | Clank! | $22.99 | 542 92% | 16k | $374k (exactly $373,817) | Dire Wolf | |
| | Ruff Ghanor | older | $19.99 | 435 85% | 13k | $261k (exactly $260,869) | DX Gameworks |
| | Erannorth Chronicles | older | $20.99 | 407 85% | 12k | $256k (exactly $256,288) | Spyridon Thalassinos |
| | Mamon King | $12.99 | 603 90% | 18k | $235k (exactly $234,989) | LiTMUS Co., Ltd. | |
| | Feed the Scorchpot | $14.99 | 371 87% | 11k | $167k (exactly $166,839) | Moravian | |
| | Batomon Showdown | $14.99 | 327 87% | 9.8k | $147k (exactly $147,052) | berrymint | |
| | Dragon Front: Adventures | $19.99 | 58 89% | 1.7k | $35k (exactly $34,783) | High Voltage Software, Inc. | |
| | The Dragonhood | older | $7.99 | 83 73% | 2.5k | $20k (exactly $19,895) | Scrambled Games |
| | Ariokan™ - create your cards, break the Meta | $29.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $16k (exactly $16,195) | Fatum Games SL | |
| | Warena | $9.99 | 42 52% | 1.3k | $13k (exactly $12,587) | Part Time Monkey | |
| | King of Tokyo - Richard Garfield | $19.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $9.6k (exactly $9,595) | Breakfirst | |
| | Crouching Tiger Hidden Hanafuda | $10.99 | 12 91% | 360 | $4.0k (exactly $3,956) | Garuru Software labs inc. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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