Do I ship it?

Games › Deckbuilding › Deckbuilding + Traditional Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Traditional Roguelike Deckbuilding?

Deckbuilding + Traditional Roguelike

Of 53 developers who shipped a Traditional Roguelike 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.. 79 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $120. Revenue is up 190% on the market; 79 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 190% on the market, 79 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Deckbuilding + Traditional Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 53
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $479 → $2.7k → $1.3k (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Deckbuilding + Traditional Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 53
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $537 (exactly $537)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,726)
Top 5% $35k (exactly $34,783)
Developers, 2 yr 53
Released games 66
Announced 79
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 up 190% on the market, supply 390% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 3%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Traditional Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Deckbuilding, Traditional Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelike, Card Battler
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 1,174 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $540, 1 in 4 over $2.7k, 1 in 20 over $34k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 79 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Deckbuilding with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + AutomationFair44 devs · median $2.8k · 51 announced
  2. + Inventory ManagementFair98 devs · median $2.5k · 137 announced
  3. + ArcadeFair170 devs · median $1.9k · 234 announced
  4. + 2D FighterFair17 devs · median $959 · 12 announced
  5. + Party GameFair22 devs · median $719 · 30 announced
  6. + SwordplayFair11 devs · median $599 · 13 announced
  7. + Point & ClickFair34 devs · median $598 · 36 announced
  8. + LogicFair84 devs · median $419 · 118 announced
  9. + LovecraftianPoor odds19 devs · median $72k · 56 announced
  10. + Dating SimPoor odds13 devs · median $30k · 31 announced
  11. + Visual NovelPoor odds36 devs · median $26k · 64 announced
  12. + RomancePoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 40 announced

All 141 pairs on the Deckbuilding page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Prime of Flames 2022 · $277k Tavern of Gods 2021 · $232k Backpack Dungeon 2026 · $79k Right and Down 2022 · $60k Infinite Cards 2026 · $46k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Prime of Flames older $9.99 923 84% 28k $277k (exactly $276,623) RAYKA STUDIO
Tavern of Gods older $9.99 775 77% 23k $232k (exactly $232,268) Element Studio
Backpack Dungeon $3.99 656 87% 20k $79k (exactly $78,523) 夜喵
Right and Down older $9.99 200 80% 6.0k $60k (exactly $59,940) mc2games
Infinite Cards $15.99 96 93% 2.9k $46k (exactly $46,051) Tubby Turtle Studios
Dragon Front: Adventures $19.99 58 89% 1.7k $35k (exactly $34,783) High Voltage Software, Inc.
Bearly Brave $9.99 66 84% 2.0k $20k (exactly $19,780) Barbaric Games
Calamity Eliminator · EA older $7.99 79 73% 2.4k $19k (exactly $18,936) White Knight
It's time, Your Majesty $6.99 77 64% 2.3k $16k (exactly $16,147) String studio
Dice Dice Baby $4.99 78 88% 2.3k $12k (exactly $11,677) Nugget Games Studio
魔堡乱斗 · EA $7.99 44 72% 1.3k $11k (exactly $10,547) 奇游此里
Coinsweeper $4.99 43 86% 1.3k $6.4k (exactly $6,437) Duo Forge Games
Dorts : A Darts Roguelike $8.99 23 100% 690 $6.2k (exactly $6,203) MovingPixels
Battle Of The Abyss $4.99 33 93% 990 $4.9k (exactly $4,940) 1029studio

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.