Games › Turn-Based › Turn-Based + Deckbuilding
Should I ship a Deckbuilding Turn-Based game?
Turn-Based + Deckbuilding
Of 158 developers who shipped a Deckbuilding Turn-Based 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.. 247 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $10k, ×17 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $780k, ×1254 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 247 games are announced against 104 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
|---|---|
| Median | $10k (exactly $10,490) |
| Top 25% | $71k (exactly $71,349) |
| Top 5% | $787k (exactly $787,425) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 158 |
| Released games | 370 |
| Announced | 247 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 up 10% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Deckbuilding
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card pools and run logic
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based, Deckbuilding; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, Roguelike Deckbuilder
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 40,937 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.3k. 6 in 10 of the 62 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 247 games are announced against 104 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerStrong odds
- + DragonsStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashStrong odds
- + SandboxFair
- + HorrorFair
- + CraftingFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + ChessFair
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
Comparable games
Slay the Spire 2019 · $144M 
Balatro 2024 · $72M 
Library Of Ruina 2021 · $37M 
Gloomhaven 2021 · $14M 
9 Kings 2025 · EA · $13M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Slay the Spire | older | $24.99 | 191,765 97% | 5.8M | $144M (exactly $143,766,220) | Mega Crit |
| | Balatro | older | $14.99 | 160,715 97% | 4.8M | $72M (exactly $72,273,536) | LocalThunk |
| | Library Of Ruina | older | $29.99 | 40,605 94% | 1.2M | $37M (exactly $36,532,318) | ProjectMoon |
| | Gloomhaven | older | $34.99 | 13,628 82% | 409k | $14M (exactly $14,305,312) | Flaming Fowl Studios, Saber Interactive |
| | 9 Kings | · EA | $19.99 | 21,352 92% | 641k | $13M (exactly $12,804,794) | Sad Socket |
 | Peglin | older | $19.99 | 16,626 83% | 499k | $10M (exactly $9,970,612) | Red Nexus Games Inc. |
 | Chrono Ark | older | $24.99 | 12,623 90% | 379k | $9.5M (exactly $9,463,463) | Al Fine |
 | Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales | older | $19.99 | 15,665 89% | 470k | $9.4M (exactly $9,394,300) | CD PROJEKT RED |
 | Griftlands | older | $19.99 | 13,440 93% | 403k | $8.1M (exactly $8,059,968) | Klei Entertainment |
 | Across the Obelisk | older | $19.99 | 10,689 80% | 321k | $6.4M (exactly $6,410,193) | Dreamsite Games |
 | Sol Cesto | $13.99 | 4,838 91% | 145k | $2.0M (exactly $2,030,509) | Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospir… (Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospirale) | |
 | Die in the Dungeon | $14.99 | 3,239 92% | 97k | $1.5M (exactly $1,456,578) | ATICO | |
 | Yao-Guai Hunter | $16.99 | 2,082 83% | 62k | $1.1M (exactly $1,061,195) | MyACG Studio | |
 | SpellRogue | $19.99 | 1,566 86% | 47k | $939k (exactly $939,130) | Guidelight Games | |
 | Breachway | · EA | $19.99 | 1,419 74% | 43k | $851k (exactly $850,974) | Edgeflow Studio |
 | LONESTAR | $12.99 | 2,183 90% | 65k | $851k (exactly $850,715) | Math Tide | |
 | Black Jacket | $14.99 | 1,751 91% | 53k | $787k (exactly $787,425) | Mi'pu'mi Games GmbH | |
 | Death Howl | $19.99 | 1,301 92% | 39k | $780k (exactly $780,210) | The Outer Zone | |
 | Deck of Haunts | $19.99 | 1,206 84% | 36k | $723k (exactly $723,238) | Mantis |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.