Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Building + Puzzle: a typical launch earns $1,698 in its first year

That is the median of 44 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 10 of 92 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 37% on the year before: 67 against 49.

Price: $1,698
Price vs a year earlier: +5.0%
Releases, 12 months: 67
Upcoming games: 190
Games on the store: 567

Boards

as of 30 Sep 2026

Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.

Building + Puzzle on each board
Board	Value	Interval	Sample	Standing
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it.	0.10%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.08% to 0.12%	19 ranked of 190 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,754 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.35xhits against expected	0.94x to 1.98x	92 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,147 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−3%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−25% to +31%	22 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,541 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−5%review growth against same-age games	−12% to +3%	22 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,017 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 old

Matured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.

Hits: 10
Expected: 6.6

Launches: 92
Hit rate: 10.9%8.2% to 18.2%
Expected rate: 7.2%
Against expected: 1.35x0.94x to 1.98x

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

92 launches

Estimated 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: $1,891
Top tenth: $101,634

Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.

Supply

raw release counts

Games released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.

Last 12 months: 67
Prior 12 months: 49

Change: +37%
Against Steam: −2%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

BuildingGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.

Comparable games

8 indie titles

The 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.

More with Building

pairs with Building

Building + Cozy$14,48232 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
Building + Life Sim$12,54245 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Building + Colony Sim$11,53947 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
Building + Automation$8,28246 launches priced, 101 releases in 12 months
Building + Economy$7,77095 launches priced, 122 releases in 12 months
Building + Immersive Sim$7,64451 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Building

More with Puzzle

pairs with Puzzle

Puzzle + Open World$3,68033 launches priced, 31 releases in 12 months
Metroidvania + Puzzle$2,32437 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
Puzzle + Visual Novel$2,10397 launches priced, 167 releases in 12 months
Puzzle + Story Rich$2,000292 launches priced, 408 releases in 12 months
Puzzle + Co-op$1,92037 launches priced, 77 releases in 12 months
Puzzle + Dark Humor$1,87830 launches priced, 50 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Puzzle

Verdicts

in development

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