Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Deckbuilding / Card Battler
Deckbuilding + Card Battler: a typical launch earns $2,132 in its first year
That is the median of 170 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 39 of 326 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 30.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 73% on the year before: 330 against 191.
- China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese
- Price
- $2,132 median of 170 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −67.1% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 330 191 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 934 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,851 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it. | 0.29%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.23% to 0.38% | 50 ranked of 934 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #775 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 1.27xhits against expected | 1.01x to 1.59x | 326 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,938 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | −34%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −44% to −22% | 66 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #2,220 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −17%review growth against same-age games | −26% to −5% | 66 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,510 of 2,461pairs on this board |
Pairs are noisier than genres: the demand boards at pair level are indicative only.
Launch success
launches 6 to 30 months oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 326
- Hit rate
- 12.0%9.5% to 16.4%
- Expected rate
- 9.2%
- Against expected
- 1.27x1.01x to 1.59x
Launch window: indie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old). Hit odds are shrunk toward the Steam-wide rate by 3 expected hits.
Revenue spread
326 launchesEstimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.
- Bottom tenth
- $0
- Median
- $2,597
- Top tenth
- $144,274
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +73%
- Against Steam
- +26%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- DeckbuildingGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Card BattlerGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe biggest indie games in this pair by estimated lifetime gross. Revenue is shown as a number at 50 or more reviews, as a range at 10 to 49, and not at all below 10.
- Slay the Spire 2 (opens the Steam store)2026 · 185,361 reviews, 61% positiveest. $73M
- 9 Kings (opens the Steam store)2025 · 21,459 reviews, 92% positiveest. $8.4M
- The Bazaar (opens the Steam store)2025 · 15,044 reviews, 69% positiveest. $5M
- Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors (opens the Steam store)2026 · 18,708 reviews, 96% positiveest. $3.3M
- Super Fantasy Kingdom (opens the Steam store)2025 · 5,648 reviews, 86% positiveest. $2.2M
- Esports Godfather (opens the Steam store)2024 · 4,321 reviews, 90% positiveest. $1.2M
- DICEOMANCER (opens the Steam store)2024 · 4,756 reviews, 96% positiveest. $1.1M
- Die in the Dungeon (opens the Steam store)2025 · 3,254 reviews, 92% positiveest. $960k
More with Deckbuilding
pairs with Deckbuilding- Deckbuilding + Auto Battler$8,45742 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
- Deckbuilding + Roguelike Deckbuilder$8,092105 launches priced, 232 releases in 12 months
- Turn-Based Strategy + Deckbuilding$3,05388 launches priced, 169 releases in 12 months
- Roguelite + Deckbuilding$3,015158 launches priced, 365 releases in 12 months
- Roguelike + Deckbuilding$2,790205 launches priced, 456 releases in 12 months
- RPG + Deckbuilding$2,63051 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months
More with Card Battler
pairs with Card Battler- Card Battler + Roguelike Deckbuilder$4,95477 launches priced, 127 releases in 12 months
- Card Battler + Auto Battler$3,75930 launches priced, 90 releases in 12 months
- Roguelite + Card Battler$3,256116 launches priced, 243 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Card Battler$1,98537 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
- Roguelike + Card Battler$1,821150 launches priced, 313 releases in 12 months
- Turn-Based Combat + Card Battler$1,69949 launches priced, 123 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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