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Should I ship a Trading Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Trading
Only 16 developers shipped a paid Trading Trading Card Game 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, TCG Card Shop Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 5 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 36 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $10k, ×16 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $28M, ×45223 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 36 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $10k (exactly $10,190) |
| Top 25% | $579k (exactly $578,757) |
| Top 5% | $28M (exactly $28,399,993) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 47 |
| Announced | 36 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 75% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 53%, 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
- Trading
- 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, Trading; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Simulation, Collectathon
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 51,643 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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
- + Life SimPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Auto BattlerPoor odds
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + EconomyPoor odds
Comparable games
TCG Card Shop Simulator 2026 · $28M 
Out of the Park Baseball 27 2026 · $712k 
Supercar Collection Simulator 2025 · $595k 
Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer 2025 · $579k 
TCG Multiplayer Card Shop Simulator 2025 · EA · $77k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TCG Card Shop Simulator | $19.99 | 47,357 96% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,399,993) | OPNeon Games | |
| | Out of the Park Baseball 27 | $49.99 | 475 82% | 14k | $712k (exactly $712,358) | Out of the Park Developments | |
| | Supercar Collection Simulator | $12.99 | 1,528 85% | 46k | $595k (exactly $595,462) | Kiki Games | |
| | Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer | $11.99 | 1,609 82% | 48k | $579k (exactly $578,757) | ShaneGame | |
| | TCG Multiplayer Card Shop Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 198 54% | 5.9k | $77k (exactly $77,161) | Alkame Games |
 | Sports Card Shop Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 155 92% | 4.7k | $60k (exactly $60,404) | OverPowered Team |
 | Table Battle Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 85 74% | 2.6k | $33k (exactly $33,124) | Kiki Games |
 | FeeBay Simulator | $5.99 | 167 91% | 5.0k | $30k (exactly $30,010) | Lake Country Games | |
 | Mark Out! The Wrestling Card Game | older | $14.99 | 49 93% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,035) | DIY Experiences LLC |
 | Sex Poker | older | $19.99 | 22 27% | 660 | $13k (exactly $13,193) | Somavision Games |
 | Monstrix TCG Card Shop | $9.99 | 34 55% | 1.0k | $10k (exactly $10,190) | Revolt Games | |
 | DVD Store Simulator | · EA | $8.99 | 35 57% | 1.1k | $9.4k (exactly $9,440) | AltF4 Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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