Games › Deckbuilding › Deckbuilding + Psychological
Should I ship a Psychological Deckbuilding?
Deckbuilding + Psychological
Only 19 developers shipped a Psychological Deckbuilding 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, Death Howl, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 48 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 $3.0k, ×6.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $780k, ×1643 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 48 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $24,575) |
| Top 5% | $780k (exactly $780,210) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 28 |
| Announced | 48 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 750% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Psychological
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Deckbuilding; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Adventure, Roguelite
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Dark, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,862 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 48 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
Inscryption 2021 · $81M 
Death Howl 2025 · $780k 
Sanatorium - A Mental Asylum Simulator 2025 · $81k 
Photogenic Minds : Identity 2022 · $53k 
Dice Tavern: Farkle Roguelike 2026 · $34k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Inscryption | older | $19.99 | 135,017 96% | 4.1M | $81M (exactly $80,969,695) | Daniel Mullins Games |
| | Death Howl | $19.99 | 1,301 92% | 39k | $780k (exactly $780,210) | The Outer Zone | |
| | Sanatorium - A Mental Asylum Simulator | $12.99 | 208 59% | 6.2k | $81k (exactly $81,058) | Zeitglas | |
| | Photogenic Minds : Identity | older | $19.99 | 89 88% | 2.7k | $53k (exactly $53,373) | 727 Not Hound |
| | Dice Tavern: Farkle Roguelike | $9.99 | 112 90% | 3.4k | $34k (exactly $33,566) | Cavi Studio | |
 | The Killing Stone | · EA | $12.99 | 79 94% | 2.4k | $31k (exactly $30,786) | Question |
 | Dreamcards | $9.99 | 82 98% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $24,575) | Soneka Games | |
 | Hodgepodge Hunch | older | $4.99 | 140 93% | 4.2k | $21k (exactly $20,958) | uracon |
 | The Detective Reaper Invites | older | $9.99 | 58 37% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | SHIZU KANO UMI |
 | Card Detective | older | $3.99 | 145 73% | 4.4k | $17k (exactly $17,356) | 神探饭店制作组 |
 | Grit Shot | $6.99 | 29 75% | 870 | $6.1k (exactly $6,081) | nithic | |
 | Muffles' Life Sentence | $11.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $4.3k (exactly $4,316) | BossyPino | |
 | Roulette Heist | $6.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $3.8k (exactly $3,775) | DreamArk Lab | |
 | LYMBUS | $9.99 | 11 90% | 330 | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) | Happy Accident Studios | |
 | Grimslair | $9.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) | ThunderRam Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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