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Should I ship a PvP Roguelike Deckbuilder?
PvP + Roguelike Deckbuilder
Only 17 developers shipped a paid PvP Roguelike Deckbuilder 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, Backpack Battles, made about 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. 42 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $56k, ×37 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $8.5M, ×5684 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 42 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) |
|---|---|
| Median | $56k (exactly $55,744) |
| Top 25% | $201k (exactly $200,566) |
| Top 5% | $8.5M (exactly $8,514,170) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 95% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 44%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- PvP
- effort 8 / 10 · low · authoritative servers, latency compensation, cheating
- Roguelike Deckbuilder
- effort 3 / 10 · high · deckbuilding rules plus procedural runs
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, Roguelike Deckbuilder; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, Asynchronous Multiplayer
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 30,205 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.6k. 4 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + BaseballFair
- + TransportationFair
- + BasketballFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BikesFair
- + GolfFair
- + World War IFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + TennisLong shot
- + TypingLong shot
- + SpellingLong shot
Comparable games
Monster Train 2020 · $15M 
Backpack Battles 2025 · $8.5M 
Monster Train 2 2025 · $6.5M 
ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M 
Gordian Quest 2022 · $3.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Monster Train | older | $24.99 | 19,950 95% | 599k | $15M (exactly $14,956,515) | Shiny Shoe |
| | Backpack Battles | $14.99 | 18,933 91% | 568k | $8.5M (exactly $8,514,170) | PlayWithFurcifer | |
| | Monster Train 2 | $24.99 | 8,647 95% | 259k | $6.5M (exactly $6,482,656) | Shiny Shoe | |
| | ROUNDS | older | $5.99 | 35,738 95% | 1.1M | $6.4M (exactly $6,422,119) | Landfall |
| | Gordian Quest | older | $19.99 | 5,259 88% | 158k | $3.2M (exactly $3,153,822) | Mixed Realms Pte Ltd, Swag Soft Holding… (Mixed Realms Pte Ltd, Swag Soft Holdings Pte Ltd) |
 | Toy Smash Kaboom! | $13.99 | 550 84% | 17k | $231k (exactly $230,835) | Free Particle | |
 | Monster Battles | $14.99 | 459 74% | 14k | $206k (exactly $206,412) | Fourteen | |
 | Turnbound | $14.99 | 446 78% | 13k | $201k (exactly $200,566) | 1TK | |
 | Apokerlypse | $9.99 | 612 81% | 18k | $183k (exactly $183,416) | Breaker Games | |
 | Clutchtime™: Basketball Deckbuilder | $19.99 | 180 77% | 5.4k | $108k (exactly $107,946) | Bigosaur | |
 | Valefor | $14.99 | 133 66% | 4.0k | $60k (exactly $59,810) | Valefor Ltd | |
 | Stash: A Card Looter | $9.99 | 186 79% | 5.6k | $56k (exactly $55,744) | WheeGaming | |
 | Flawed Tactics | $9.99 | 59 89% | 1.8k | $18k (exactly $17,682) | Flawed Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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