Do I ship it?

Games › Trading Card Game › Trading Card Game + War

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a War Trading Card Game?

Trading Card Game + War

Only 6 developers shipped a paid War 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, 1953: NATO vs Warsaw Pact, 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. 19 more are announced, ×6.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

Only 3 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $720 against a market of $630. 19 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 19 announced, ×6.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Trading Card Game + War
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 6

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Trading Card Game + War: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 6
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $719 (exactly $719)
Top 25% $955 (exactly $955)
Top 5% $13k (exactly $12,579)
Developers, 2 yr 6
Released games 31
Announced 19
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 60% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 42%, 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
War
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium 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
Price point
$5.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $5.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 955 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $720, 1 in 4 over $950, 1 in 20 over $12k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 19 games are announced against 3 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Trading Card Game with a different setting or mood, 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

Control Craft 2 2016 · $41k MechDefender - Tower Defense 2020 · $41k Control Craft 3 2016 · $35k 1953: NATO vs Warsaw Pact 2025 · $13k Law of Dispute 2024 · $5.4k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Control Craft 2 older $4.99 274 72% 8.2k $41k (exactly $41,018) Cristian Manolachi, Atomic Fabrik
MechDefender - Tower Defense older $4.99 272 76% 8.2k $41k (exactly $40,718) Atomic Fabrik, Cristian Manolachi
Control Craft 3 older $4.99 235 73% 7.1k $35k (exactly $35,180) Cristian Manolachi, Atomic Fabrik
1953: NATO vs Warsaw Pact $5.99 70 41% 2.1k $13k (exactly $12,579) Wastelands Interactive
Law of Dispute older $4.99 36 38% 1.1k $5.4k (exactly $5,389) Green River Studio
Lunaela older $9.99 16 81% 480 $4.8k (exactly $4,795) Doky
Marabundle older $9.99 13 100% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) Astral Game Studio, Clops Game Studio,… (Astral Game Studio, Clops Game Studio, Ops Game Studio, Wired Dreams Studio)
AXYOS: Battlecards older $4.99 24 75% 720 $3.6k (exactly $3,593) Axyos Games
SexStone older $5.99 9 66% 270 $1.6k (exactly $1,617) Entropy Digital Entertainment
Manahex older $5.99 6 100% 180 $1.1k (exactly $1,078) Erik Svedäng
逝去之物 Passenger:Gone · EA $1.99 16 75% 480 $955 (exactly $955) MoonAssociation
Rampallians · EA $7.99 3 66% 90 $719 (exactly $719) Electric Brain Games
MyHiStory $7.00 1 100% 30 $210 (exactly $210) BurnRiver, https://space.bilibili.com/1… (BurnRiver, https://space.bilibili.com/17858438)
World War 3: Card Battler · EA $0.99 4 50% 120 $119 (exactly $119) Angel Star Studios
Warmongers · EA $0.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Good Game Studio

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