Card games
An average niche: demand and competition are roughly balanced — the idea and execution decide. Average across 5 platforms: niche 59/100, demand 78/100, competition 50/100, development cost 31/100. On Steam: 2,357 games and 98,352 players online; 15% of games reach 500+ reviews, average spend per player is $11.33.
Niche
59/100
Demand (0–100)
78/100
Competition
50/100
Dev cost
31/100
Spend per player
$11.33
Hit rate (500+ reviews)
15%
Key findings
- Ranked #11 of 100 in the overall niche ranking.
- The niche looks best on App Store (87/100) and weakest on Steam (42/100).
- Competition is below typical: 50/100 vs a median of 57/100 — a new game has an easier time getting noticed.
- Development is cheaper than typical: index 31/100 vs a median of 39/100 — the genre is within reach of a small team.
- On Steam, 15% of games reached 500+ reviews — about usual (median 16%).
- Small-studio games make up 55% of all Steam games with this tag.
By platform
| Platform | Popularity | Games / leaders’ share | Competition | Niche | Dev cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam | 62/100 | 2,357 | 60/100 | 42/100 | 34/100 |
| itch.io | 83/100 | 19,521 | 74/100 | 46/100 | 33/100 |
| Yandex Games | 89/100 | 369 | 46/100 | 69/100 | 28/100 |
| Google Play | 72/100 | 76% | 63/100 | 52/100 | 30/100 |
| App Store | 83/100 | 24% | 8/100 | 87/100 | 30/100 |
Example games — Steam
AAA / big hits
UNOUbisoft Entertainment · $9.99
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel LinksKONAMI · free
Magic DuelsStainless Games Ltd. · free
Indie
Slay the SpireMega Crit · $24.99
BalatroLocalThunk · $14.99
InscryptionDaniel Mullins Games · $19.99
Related genres
Data updated October 12, 2026 Methodology