Games › Survival › Survival + Deckbuilding
Should I ship a Deckbuilding Survival game?
Survival + Deckbuilding
Of 76 developers who shipped a Deckbuilding Survival 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.. 114 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×4.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×208 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 114 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.0k (exactly $2,994) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $25,330) |
| Top 5% | $131k (exactly $130,669) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 76 |
| Released games | 140 |
| Announced | 114 |
| 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 90% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Survival
- 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
- Survival, Deckbuilding; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelike, Roguelite
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 10,945 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 114 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Social DeductionFair
- + Word GameFair
- + CatsFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + DogsFair
- + Martial ArtsLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Stacklands 2022 · $7.0M 
Tainted Grail: Conquest 2021 · $4.6M 
The Matchless Kungfu 2024 · $4.1M 
Ratropolis 2020 · $2.8M 
天外武林 (Traveler of Wuxia) 2023 · $2.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stacklands | older | $7.99 | 29,244 96% | 877k | $7.0M (exactly $7,009,787) | Sokpop Collective |
| | Tainted Grail: Conquest | older | $19.99 | 7,589 90% | 228k | $4.6M (exactly $4,551,123) | Questline |
| | The Matchless Kungfu | $19.99 | 6,755 79% | 203k | $4.1M (exactly $4,050,973) | HuanMos Game | |
| | Ratropolis | older | $17.99 | 5,187 87% | 156k | $2.8M (exactly $2,799,424) | Cassel Games |
| | 天外武林 (Traveler of Wuxia) | older | $24.99 | 3,151 85% | 95k | $2.4M (exactly $2,362,305) | 香港商河洛互動娛樂股份有限公司 |
 | Faeria | older | $19.99 | 1,520 83% | 46k | $912k (exactly $911,544) | Abrakam Entertainment SA |
 | Shadow Corridor 2 雨ノ四葩 | older | $18.99 | 853 87% | 26k | $486k (exactly $485,954) | Space Onigiri Game LLC |
 | Ways of Alchemy | $17.99 | 674 74% | 20k | $364k (exactly $363,758) | RocketBrush Games | |
 | Yokai Art: Night Parade of One Hundred Demons | older | $6.99 | 1,132 89% | 34k | $237k (exactly $237,380) | Secret Labo |
 | Nomad Survival | older | $4.99 | 1,517 87% | 46k | $227k (exactly $227,095) | The Fox Knocks |
 | Poly TD | $7.99 | 587 82% | 18k | $141k (exactly $140,704) | Naroot | |
 | Warlords Under Siege | $9.99 | 436 77% | 13k | $131k (exactly $130,669) | RedKar Devs | |
 | Wireworks | $6.99 | 614 89% | 18k | $129k (exactly $128,756) | JJJ | |
 | SHOOPER NOVA | $6.99 | 545 83% | 16k | $114k (exactly $114,286) | Jamesika | |
 | Yokai Art 2: Tales of the Nine-Tails | $9.99 | 314 75% | 9.4k | $94k (exactly $94,106) | Secret Labo | |
 | City Defense Z | $9.99 | 300 74% | 9.0k | $90k (exactly $89,910) | Good Mood Games | |
 | These Doomed Isles | $14.99 | 180 66% | 5.4k | $81k (exactly $80,946) | Triplevision Games Limited | |
 | Star Survivor | $4.99 | 540 67% | 16k | $81k (exactly $80,838) | SpaceOwl Games, Erabit |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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