Games › Trading Card Game › Trading Card Game + Economy
Should I ship an Economy Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Economy
Of 25 developers who shipped an Economy 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.. 39 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $590k, ×948 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 39 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,397) |
| Top 25% | $30k (exactly $30,010) |
| Top 5% | $595k (exactly $595,462) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 25 |
| Released games | 46 |
| Announced | 39 |
| 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 up 100% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, 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
- Economy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Trading Card Game, Economy; all of the top 25% also carry Collectathon, Immersive Sim, Simulation
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 52,811 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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
TCG Card Shop Simulator 2026 · $28M 
Supercar Collection Simulator 2025 · $595k 
Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer 2025 · $579k 
Rento Fortune: Online Dice Board Game (大富翁) 2017 · $459k 
My Wife Threw Out My Card Collection (So I Bought a Dump to Find Them All) ⭐ 2025 · $382k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TCG Card Shop Simulator | $19.99 | 47,357 96% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,399,993) | OPNeon Games | |
| | Supercar Collection Simulator | $12.99 | 1,528 85% | 46k | $595k (exactly $595,462) | Kiki Games | |
| | Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer | $11.99 | 1,609 82% | 48k | $579k (exactly $578,757) | ShaneGame | |
| | Rento Fortune: Online Dice Board Game (大富翁) | older | $4.99 | 3,063 50% | 92k | $459k (exactly $458,531) | LAN - GAMES LTD |
| | My Wife Threw Out My Card Collection (So I Bought a Dump to Find Them All) ⭐ | $7.95 | 1,601 65% | 48k | $382k (exactly $381,838) | Polnoch | |
 | TCG Multiplayer Card Shop Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 198 54% | 5.9k | $77k (exactly $77,161) | Alkame Games |
 | Sports Card Shop Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 155 92% | 4.7k | $60k (exactly $60,404) | OverPowered Team |
 | Table Battle Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 85 74% | 2.6k | $33k (exactly $33,124) | Kiki Games |
 | FeeBay Simulator | $5.99 | 167 91% | 5.0k | $30k (exactly $30,010) | Lake Country Games | |
 | Dig for TCG Cards With Your Friends | $6.99 | 77 44% | 2.3k | $16k (exactly $16,147) | 3 Rare Devs | |
 | Monstrix TCG Card Shop | $9.99 | 34 55% | 1.0k | $10k (exactly $10,190) | Revolt Games |
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.