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Should I ship a Tabletop Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Tabletop
Of 62 developers who shipped a Tabletop 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.. 95 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 37 developers shipped in the last year and 95 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $450 (exactly $450) |
| Top 25% | $3.5k (exactly $3,507) |
| Top 5% | $33k (exactly $33,124) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 62 |
| Released games | 182 |
| Announced | 95 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.00 |
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 40% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 27%, 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
- Tabletop
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Trading Card Game, Tabletop; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Strategy, Card Battler
- Price point
- $7.00 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.00.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 2,133 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 95 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tabletop Simulator | older | $19.99 | 46,875 95% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,110,937) | Berserk Games |
| | Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer | $11.99 | 1,609 82% | 48k | $579k (exactly $578,757) | ShaneGame | |
| | Nowhere Prophet | older | $24.99 | 721 77% | 22k | $541k (exactly $540,534) | Sharkbomb Studios |
| | Doodle God | older | $14.99 | 1,030 77% | 31k | $463k (exactly $463,191) | JoyBits Ltd. |
| | Rento Fortune: Online Dice Board Game (大富翁) | older | $4.99 | 3,063 50% | 92k | $459k (exactly $458,531) | LAN - GAMES LTD |
| | Ascension: Deckbuilding Game | older | $9.99 | 1,435 88% | 43k | $430k (exactly $430,070) | Playdek, Inc. |
| | Heroes Wanted | older | $19.99 | 533 81% | 16k | $320k (exactly $319,640) | Gameplete |
| | Aeon's End | older | $14.99 | 438 82% | 13k | $197k (exactly $196,969) | Handelabra Games Inc. |
| | Cardpocalypse | older | $24.99 | 192 88% | 5.8k | $144k (exactly $143,942) | Gambrinous |
| | System Crash | older | $14.99 | 250 83% | 7.5k | $112k (exactly $112,425) | Rogue Moon Studios |
| | Culdcept The First | $29.99 | 95 74% | 2.9k | $85k (exactly $85,472) | CITY CONNECTION | |
| | Isle of Swaps | $14.99 | 129 90% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,011) | Fuzz Force | |
| | Table Battle Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 85 74% | 2.6k | $33k (exactly $33,124) | Kiki Games |
| | It's time, Your Majesty | $6.99 | 77 64% | 2.3k | $16k (exactly $16,147) | String studio | |
| | Card Summoner | $14.99 | 32 50% | 960 | $14k (exactly $14,390) | Happenstance Games | |
| | Areteion | $19.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | juxtapositioned | |
| | Musicmenia | $9.99 | 32 90% | 960 | $9.6k (exactly $9,590) | Symphonic Games | |
| | Truco Argentino | $5.99 | 46 95% | 1.4k | $8.3k (exactly $8,266) | Agustin Rambaldo | |
| | Wild Country | $24.99 | 11 54% | 330 | $8.2k (exactly $8,247) | Lost Native |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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