Do I ship it?

GamesTrading Card GameTrading Card Game + Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelike Trading Card Game?

Trading Card Game + Roguelike

Of 70 developers who shipped a Roguelike 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.. 133 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×259 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 133 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 133 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Trading Card Game + Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 70
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $82k → $4.9k → $17k → $2.3k → $6.1k → $1.2k → $480 (still earning) → $450 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Trading Card Game + Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 70
Bottom 30% $270 (exactly $270)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,498)
Top 25% $6.3k (exactly $6,298)
Top 5% $163k (exactly $162,737)
Developers, 2 yr 70
Released games 135
Announced 133
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 80% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Trading Card Game, Roguelike; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Battler, Card Game
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 4,974 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $6.2k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 7 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 133 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Trading Card Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Immersive SimStrong odds18 devs · median $30k · 13 announced
  2. + SandboxFair17 devs · median $1.8k · 17 announced
  3. + Inventory ManagementFair21 devs · median $1.5k · 28 announced
  4. + Procedural GenerationPoor odds10 devs · median $10k · 26 announced
  5. + TradingPoor odds16 devs · median $10k · 36 announced
  6. + Life SimPoor odds18 devs · median $10k · 21 announced
  7. + CollectathonPoor odds26 devs · median $6.3k · 41 announced
  8. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $6.1k · 25 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds11 devs · median $4.9k · 25 announced
  10. + Auto BattlerPoor odds22 devs · median $3.4k · 27 announced
  11. + Roguelike DeckbuilderPoor odds24 devs · median $3.4k · 38 announced
  12. + Online Co-OpPoor odds13 devs · median $3.1k · 36 announced

All 69 pairs on the Trading Card Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Aces & Adventures older $19.99 2,220 89% 67k $1.3M (exactly $1,331,334) Triple.B.Titles
Dream of Corpse Lady $9.99 2,115 93% 63k $634k (exactly $633,866) HT3 Studio
Nowhere Prophet older $24.99 721 77% 22k $541k (exactly $540,534) Sharkbomb Studios
RUNGORE older $14.99 991 85% 30k $446k (exactly $445,653) YOUR_MOM'S_HP, RavenJm
Arcanium: Rise of Akhan older $19.99 670 81% 20k $402k (exactly $401,799) Supercombo, Inc.
Heroes Wanted older $19.99 533 81% 16k $320k (exactly $319,640) Gameplete
FORCED SHOWDOWN older $19.99 491 82% 15k $294k (exactly $294,453) BetaDwarf
Rogue Voltage $15.99 593 92% 18k $284k (exactly $284,462) Horizont Computergrafik
Ruff Ghanor older $19.99 435 85% 13k $261k (exactly $260,869) DX Gameworks
Villages & Dungeons $6.99 1,036 91% 31k $217k (exactly $217,249) CaCaFrog Studio
Kādomon: Hyper Auto Battlers $9.99 543 65% 16k $163k (exactly $162,737) Dino Rocket
Witch and Council : The Card $14.99 182 48% 5.5k $82k (exactly $81,845) G1 Playground
Isle of Swaps $14.99 129 90% 3.9k $58k (exactly $58,011) Fuzz Force
Stash: A Card Looter $9.99 186 79% 5.6k $56k (exactly $55,744) WheeGaming
Handmancers · EA $14.99 76 88% 2.3k $34k (exactly $34,177) 58BLADES
Monster Tavern · EA $11.99 46 100% 1.4k $17k (exactly $16,546) Toki Games LLC
Meta Card Backpack Legend $7.99 68 97% 2.0k $16k (exactly $16,300) KY Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.