Games › Trading Card Game › Trading Card Game + Exploration
Should I ship an Exploration Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Exploration
Only 19 developers shipped an Exploration Trading Card Game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Villages & Dungeons, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 45 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 9 developers shipped in the last year and 45 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $480 (exactly $480) |
| Top 25% | $7.2k (exactly $7,194) |
| Top 5% | $217k (exactly $217,249) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 56 |
| Announced | 45 |
| 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 90% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Trading Card Game, Exploration; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Auto Battler, Card Game
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,441 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 7 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 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
Villages & Dungeons 2025 · $217k 
The Amazing American Circus 2021 · $62k 
修仙•母珠传 Pig Training Legend 2024 · $46k 
Islets Defense 2025 · $39k 
Control Craft 3 2016 · $35k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Villages & Dungeons | $6.99 | 1,036 91% | 31k | $217k (exactly $217,249) | CaCaFrog Studio | |
| | The Amazing American Circus | older | $14.99 | 138 61% | 4.1k | $62k (exactly $62,059) | Klabater, Juggler Games |
| | 修仙•母珠传 Pig Training Legend | $7.99 | 192 72% | 5.8k | $46k (exactly $46,022) | MouseKKK | |
| | Islets Defense | $9.99 | 129 94% | 3.9k | $39k (exactly $38,661) | MiniGoof | |
| | Control Craft 3 | older | $4.99 | 235 73% | 7.1k | $35k (exactly $35,180) | Cristian Manolachi, Atomic Fabrik |
 | SEARCH ALL - ADULT | older | $9.99 | 49 67% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $14,685) | Laush Dmitriy Sergeevich |
 | Arctic Digger TCG Collection | $9.99 | 34 79% | 1.0k | $10k (exactly $10,190) | ToD Game Studio | |
 | SEARCH ALL - FOXES | older | $2.99 | 107 92% | 3.2k | $9.6k (exactly $9,598) | Laush Dmitriy Sergeevich |
 | Animals Memory: Cats | older | $3.99 | 78 84% | 2.3k | $9.3k (exactly $9,337) | Laush Dmitriy Sergeevich |
 | Soul•Apocalypto | $11.99 | 20 80% | 600 | $7.2k (exactly $7,194) | 卜乙冈(Ploygon) | |
 | Treasure Atlas | · EA | $11.99 | 12 83% | 360 | $4.3k (exactly $4,316) | zzeerr |
 | Tavrik | $11.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) | Nyra Games | |
 | Idle Pixels | $7.99 | 8 0% | 240 | $1.9k (exactly $1,918) | Pixel Labs | |
 | Dreamwalker | $8.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $809 (exactly $809) | Smiling Sloth, Hermit Hollow | |
 | Tenebrix | · EA | $15.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $480 (exactly $480) | ColdForge 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.