Games › Deckbuilding › Deckbuilding + Perma Death
Should I ship a Perma Death Deckbuilding?
Deckbuilding + Perma Death
Of 114 developers who shipped a Perma Death 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.. 195 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.1k, ×11 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×462 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 195 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) |
| Top 25% | $23k (exactly $23,077) |
| Top 5% | $219k (exactly $219,401) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 114 |
| Released games | 187 |
| Announced | 195 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Deckbuilding
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card pools and run logic
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Deckbuilding, Perma Death; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelike, Roguelike Deckbuilder
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 8,364 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 8 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 195 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Deckbuilding with a different second tag, 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
Peglin 2024 · $10M 
Wildfrost 2023 · $4.9M 
Trials of Fire 2021 · $1.8M 
SpellRogue 2025 · $939k 
Heretic's Fork 2023 · $928k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Peglin | older | $19.99 | 16,626 83% | 499k | $10M (exactly $9,970,612) | Red Nexus Games Inc. |
| | Wildfrost | older | $19.99 | 8,175 82% | 245k | $4.9M (exactly $4,902,548) | Deadpan Games, Gaziter |
| | Trials of Fire | older | $19.99 | 2,975 86% | 89k | $1.8M (exactly $1,784,107) | Whatboy Games |
| | SpellRogue | $19.99 | 1,566 86% | 47k | $939k (exactly $939,130) | Guidelight Games | |
| | Heretic's Fork | older | $9.99 | 3,097 85% | 93k | $928k (exactly $928,171) | 9FingerGames |
 | LONESTAR | $12.99 | 2,183 90% | 65k | $851k (exactly $850,715) | Math Tide | |
 | Dice Gambit | $24.99 | 1,080 87% | 32k | $810k (exactly $809,676) | Chromatic Ink | |
 | Ravenbound | older | $29.99 | 770 53% | 23k | $693k (exactly $692,769) | Systemic Reaction™ |
 | Spellmasons | older | $19.99 | 1,122 91% | 34k | $673k (exactly $672,863) | Octavia Blue |
 | Dungeon 100 | older | $11.99 | 1,562 81% | 47k | $562k (exactly $561,851) | 可布和常常诶 |
 | Rune Coliseum | · EA | $18.99 | 886 79% | 27k | $505k (exactly $504,754) | Rafale Software |
 | 9th Dawn Remake | $15.99 | 514 86% | 15k | $247k (exactly $246,566) | Valorware | |
 | Kinny and the Cosmic Cauldron | $12.99 | 563 85% | 17k | $219k (exactly $219,401) | Kinnymoms | |
 | Railroads & Catacombs | $19.99 | 358 73% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | MadRails | |
 | Dawncaster | The RPG Cardventure | $19.99 | 274 81% | 8.2k | $164k (exactly $164,318) | Wanderlost Interactive | |
 | Hive Blight | · EA | $12.49 | 367 94% | 11k | $138k (exactly $137,515) | OptizOnion |
 | Spin Hero | $7.99 | 573 73% | 17k | $137k (exactly $137,348) | Sphere Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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