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Should I ship a Puzzle Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Puzzle
Of 20 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 27 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $18k, ×30 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 27 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $809 (exactly $809) |
| Top 25% | $2.0k (exactly $2,030) |
| Top 5% | $19k (exactly $18,663) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 120 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 65% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Trading Card Game, Puzzle; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Deckbuilding, Turn-Based Combat
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 2D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 249 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist : Link Evolution 2020 · $4.7M 
Zup! S 2018 · $906k 
Doodle God 2015 · $463k 
Zup! F 2019 · $463k 
Zup! 2 2016 · $387k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist : Link Evolution | older | $39.99 | 3,905 82% | 117k | $4.7M (exactly $4,684,828) | Other Ocean Emeryville |
| | Zup! S | older | $1.99 | 15,168 96% | 455k | $906k (exactly $905,530) | Quiet River |
| | Doodle God | older | $14.99 | 1,030 77% | 31k | $463k (exactly $463,191) | JoyBits Ltd. |
| | Zup! F | older | $1.99 | 7,749 96% | 232k | $463k (exactly $462,615) | Quiet River |
| | Zup! 2 | older | $1.99 | 6,490 95% | 195k | $387k (exactly $387,453) | Quiet River |
 | Zup! 8 | older | $1.99 | 4,176 95% | 125k | $249k (exactly $249,307) | Quiet River |
 | Zup! Z | older | $1.99 | 4,058 97% | 122k | $242k (exactly $242,263) | Quiet River |
 | Card City Nights | older | $9.99 | 663 89% | 20k | $199k (exactly $198,701) | Ludosity |
 | Zup! 5 | older | $1.99 | 2,856 93% | 86k | $171k (exactly $170,503) | Quiet River |
 | 12 Labours of Hercules II: The Cretan Bull | older | $2.99 | 1,736 90% | 52k | $156k (exactly $155,719) | Jetdogs Studios, Zoom Out Games |
 | Trading Card Inspector | $6.99 | 89 96% | 2.7k | $19k (exactly $18,663) | Daydream Gallery | |
 | ChronoBabes | $3.99 | 81 80% | 2.4k | $9.7k (exactly $9,696) | Vinci | |
 | Kemotaku | $15.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $3.4k (exactly $3,358) | Kojika Games | |
 | Words Of Power | $15.00 | 5 80% | 150 | $2.3k (exactly $2,250) | Tsuperion | |
 | XIII - A Final Game of Tarot With Death | $1.99 | 34 91% | 1.0k | $2.0k (exactly $2,030) | Indigo Dreams | |
 | Just a Little Purr suit | $3.99 | 14 85% | 420 | $1.7k (exactly $1,676) | Wise Box Studios | |
 | Idle Income | $5.99 | 8 37% | 240 | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) | Trinket Games | |
 | Baduk Challenge (Go Challenge) | $10.99 | 4 50% | 120 | $1.3k (exactly $1,319) | OH YU HWAN | |
 | Chalk & Blood | · EA | $8.99 | 4 50% | 120 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | BoiraTech |
 | Dreamwalker | $8.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $809 (exactly $809) | Smiling Sloth, Hermit Hollow |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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