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Should I ship a Turn-Based Strategy Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Turn-Based Strategy
Of 82 developers who shipped a paid Turn-Based Strategy 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.. 4 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 201 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $58k, ×92 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 201 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $450 (exactly $450) |
| Top 25% | $4.3k (exactly $4,286) |
| Top 5% | $58k (exactly $58,011) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 82 |
| Released games | 270 |
| Announced | 201 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 up 15% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 40%, 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
- Turn-Based Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Trading Card Game, Turn-Based Strategy; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Game, Card Battler
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 3,260 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 45 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 201 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 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
Faeria 2017 · $912k 
Dream of Corpse Lady 2026 · $634k 
Nowhere Prophet 2019 · $541k 
Arcanium: Rise of Akhan 2022 · $402k 
Heroes Wanted 2024 · $320k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Faeria | older | $19.99 | 1,520 83% | 46k | $912k (exactly $911,544) | Abrakam Entertainment SA |
| | 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 |
| | 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 |
 | Children of Zodiarcs | older | $17.99 | 351 69% | 11k | $189k (exactly $189,435) | Cardboard Utopia |
 | Variables 2 | older | $14.99 | 418 90% | 13k | $188k (exactly $187,975) | Asteroid Game Studio |
 | Zero Division | older | $12.99 | 271 87% | 8.1k | $106k (exactly $105,609) | Robot Cat Limited |
 | Power Chord | older | $19.99 | 170 71% | 5.1k | $102k (exactly $101,949) | Big Blue Bubble |
 | Culdcept The First | $29.99 | 95 74% | 2.9k | $85k (exactly $85,472) | CITY CONNECTION | |
 | Witch and Council : The Card | $14.99 | 182 48% | 5.5k | $82k (exactly $81,845) | G1 Playground | |
 | Water Margin Scrolls | $9.99 | 244 40% | 7.3k | $73k (exactly $73,127) | QingHe Games | |
 | Isle of Swaps | $14.99 | 129 90% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,011) | Fuzz Force | |
 | 修仙•母珠传 Pig Training Legend | $7.99 | 192 72% | 5.8k | $46k (exactly $46,022) | MouseKKK | |
 | Islets Defense | $9.99 | 129 94% | 3.9k | $39k (exactly $38,661) | MiniGoof | |
 | Handmancers | · EA | $14.99 | 76 88% | 2.3k | $34k (exactly $34,177) | 58BLADES |
 | Fairtravel Battle CCG | · EA | $14.99 | 52 98% | 1.6k | $23k (exactly $23,384) | Flaming Torch Games |
 | Monster Tavern | · EA | $11.99 | 46 100% | 1.4k | $17k (exactly $16,546) | Toki Games LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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