Games › Trading Card Game › Trading Card Game + Fantasy
Should I ship a Fantasy Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Fantasy
Of 73 developers who shipped a paid Fantasy 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.. 4 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 173 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $81k, ×130 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 173 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $598 (exactly $598) |
| Top 25% | $4.9k (exactly $4,855) |
| Top 5% | $82k (exactly $81,845) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 73 |
| Released games | 261 |
| Announced | 173 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 70% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 43%, 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
- Fantasy
- 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; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Strategy, Card Battler
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 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 $7.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 4,234 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 49 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 173 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Trading Card Game with a different setting or mood, 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
Kingdom Rush Vengeance - Tower Defense 2020 · $5.9M 
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist 2016 · $2.7M 
Aces & Adventures 2023 · $1.3M 
Faeria 2017 · $912k 
Dream of Corpse Lady 2026 · $634k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Kingdom Rush Vengeance - Tower Defense | older | $19.99 | 9,906 93% | 297k | $5.9M (exactly $5,940,628) | Ironhide Game Studio |
| | Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist | older | $19.99 | 4,452 83% | 134k | $2.7M (exactly $2,669,864) | Other Ocean Interactive |
| | Aces & Adventures | older | $19.99 | 2,220 89% | 67k | $1.3M (exactly $1,331,334) | Triple.B.Titles |
| | Faeria | older | $19.99 | 1,520 83% | 46k | $912k (exactly $911,544) | Abrakam Entertainment SA |
| | Dream of Corpse Lady | $9.99 | 2,115 93% | 63k | $634k (exactly $633,866) | HT3 Studio | |
 | Ascension: Deckbuilding Game | older | $9.99 | 1,435 88% | 43k | $430k (exactly $430,070) | Playdek, Inc. |
 | Arcanium: Rise of Akhan | older | $19.99 | 670 81% | 20k | $402k (exactly $401,799) | Supercombo, Inc. |
 | FORCED SHOWDOWN | older | $19.99 | 491 82% | 15k | $294k (exactly $294,453) | BetaDwarf |
 | Ruff Ghanor | older | $19.99 | 435 85% | 13k | $261k (exactly $260,869) | DX Gameworks |
 | Erannorth Chronicles | older | $20.99 | 407 85% | 12k | $256k (exactly $256,288) | Spyridon Thalassinos |
 | 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 | |
 | Witch and Council : The Card | $14.99 | 182 48% | 5.5k | $82k (exactly $81,845) | G1 Playground | |
 | Fuckstone | $11.99 | 217 88% | 6.5k | $78k (exactly $78,055) | Anime Mania | |
 | Stash: A Card Looter | $9.99 | 186 79% | 5.6k | $56k (exactly $55,744) | WheeGaming | |
 | Succubless | $11.99 | 146 67% | 4.4k | $53k (exactly $52,516) | Supa Doge | |
 | Islets Defense | $9.99 | 129 94% | 3.9k | $39k (exactly $38,661) | MiniGoof | |
 | Handmancers | · EA | $14.99 | 76 88% | 2.3k | $34k (exactly $34,177) | 58BLADES |
 | Fairtravel Battle CCG | · EA | $14.99 | 52 98% | 1.6k | $23k (exactly $23,384) | Flaming Torch 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.