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Should I ship a Deckbuilding Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Deckbuilding
Of 115 developers who shipped a Deckbuilding Trading Card 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.. 321 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×447 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 321 games are announced against 77 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $8.3k (exactly $8,266) |
| Top 5% | $281k (exactly $280,660) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 115 |
| Released games | 370 |
| Announced | 321 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 down 75% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 39%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Trading Card Game
- 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
- Trading Card Game, Deckbuilding; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Card Battler, Strategy
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 7,452 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 64 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 321 games are announced against 77 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Trading Card Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Immersive SimStrong odds
- + SandboxFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + Procedural GenerationPoor odds
- + TradingPoor odds
- + Life SimPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Auto BattlerPoor odds
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist : Link Evolution 2020 · $4.7M 
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist 2016 · $2.7M 
SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION 2019 · $2.5M 
Cardfight!! Vanguard Dear Days 2022 · $2.5M 
Aces & Adventures 2023 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist : Link Evolution | older | $39.99 | 3,905 82% | 117k | $4.7M (exactly $4,684,828) | Other Ocean Emeryville |
| | Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist | older | $19.99 | 4,452 83% | 134k | $2.7M (exactly $2,669,864) | Other Ocean Interactive |
| | SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION | older | $59.99 | 1,404 82% | 42k | $2.5M (exactly $2,526,779) | Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Lt… (Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Ltd.) |
| | Cardfight!! Vanguard Dear Days | older | $69.99 | 1,186 76% | 36k | $2.5M (exactly $2,490,244) | FURYU Corporation, LANCARSE Ltd. |
| | Aces & Adventures | older | $19.99 | 2,220 89% | 67k | $1.3M (exactly $1,331,334) | Triple.B.Titles |
 | Cardfight!! Vanguard Dear Days 2 | $69.99 | 631 67% | 19k | $1.3M (exactly $1,324,911) | FURYU Corporation, LANCARSE Ltd. | |
 | Faeria | older | $19.99 | 1,520 83% | 46k | $912k (exactly $911,544) | Abrakam Entertainment SA |
 | Yu-Gi-Oh! EARLY DAYS COLLECTION | $49.99 | 444 76% | 13k | $666k (exactly $665,867) | Digital Eclipse | |
 | Dream of Corpse Lady | $9.99 | 2,115 93% | 63k | $634k (exactly $633,866) | HT3 Studio | |
 | Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer | $11.99 | 1,609 82% | 48k | $579k (exactly $578,757) | ShaneGame | |
 | Rogue Voltage | $15.99 | 593 92% | 18k | $284k (exactly $284,462) | Horizont Computergrafik | |
 | Youtubers Life 3 | $19.99 | 468 50% | 14k | $281k (exactly $280,660) | UPLAY Online | |
 | Villages & Dungeons | $6.99 | 1,036 91% | 31k | $217k (exactly $217,249) | CaCaFrog Studio | |
 | Culdcept The First | $29.99 | 95 74% | 2.9k | $85k (exactly $85,472) | CITY CONNECTION | |
 | Fuckstone | $11.99 | 217 88% | 6.5k | $78k (exactly $78,055) | Anime Mania | |
 | Water Margin Scrolls | $9.99 | 244 40% | 7.3k | $73k (exactly $73,127) | QingHe Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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