Games › Shooter › Shooter + Deckbuilding
Should I ship a Deckbuilding Shooter?
Shooter + Deckbuilding
Of 35 developers who shipped a Deckbuilding Shooter 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.. 70 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $71k, ×114 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 70 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,040) |
| Top 25% | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) |
| Top 5% | $72k (exactly $71,706) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 82 |
| Announced | 70 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Shooter
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Deckbuilding
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card pools and run logic
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Shooter, Deckbuilding; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Action, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Funny, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 2,642 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 70 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + SnowFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
SNKRX 2021 · $377k 
Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot 2024 · $237k 
Dark Fairy Tale: Dreamland Survivors 2025 · $72k 
Lucky Shot 2026 · $57k 
Neon Sundown 2022 · $56k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SNKRX | older | $2.99 | 4,198 94% | 126k | $377k (exactly $376,561) | a327ex |
| | Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot | $4.99 | 1,584 79% | 48k | $237k (exactly $237,125) | Konfa Games | |
| | Dark Fairy Tale: Dreamland Survivors | $4.99 | 479 90% | 14k | $72k (exactly $71,706) | BINGOBELL | |
| | Lucky Shot | $12.99 | 147 97% | 4.4k | $57k (exactly $57,286) | Deliver Games | |
| | Neon Sundown | older | $4.99 | 372 87% | 11k | $56k (exactly $55,688) | Ben Nichols |
 | Evolve or Die | $4.99 | 252 98% | 7.6k | $38k (exactly $37,724) | Seal | |
 | Break Siege | · EA | $14.99 | 66 84% | 2.0k | $30k (exactly $29,680) | FojoGames |
 | Spellshot | older | $9.99 | 76 69% | 2.3k | $23k (exactly $22,777) | Team Monumental |
 | Xmas Apocalypse | older | $6.99 | 73 79% | 2.2k | $15k (exactly $15,308) | gypynkt |
 | Decks of Dexterity | $14.99 | 33 100% | 990 | $15k (exactly $14,840) | Coded Games | |
 | Wink Out | · EA | $7.99 | 31 100% | 930 | $7.4k (exactly $7,431) | Clevergence Games |
 | RuinsStory | $9.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) | ilili_world | |
 | Red Pistol | $9.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Ace Horizon Studios | |
 | Gunslinger Express | $4.99 | 20 75% | 600 | $3.0k (exactly $2,994) | Glinnor |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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