Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Casual / Base Building
Casual + Base Building: a typical launch earns $728 in its first year
That is the median of 48 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 7 of 89 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 4.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 72% on the year before: 93 against 54.
- Price
- $728 median of 48 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −32.6% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 93 54 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 241 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 593 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. | 0.13%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.07% to 0.20% | 22 ranked of 242 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,430 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.36xhits against expected | 0.93x to 2.08x | 89 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #1,132 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period. | |||
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window. | |||
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
- 89
- Hit rate
- 7.9%3.7% to 16.2%
- Expected rate
- 4.9%
- Against expected
- 1.36x0.93x to 2.08x
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
89 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
- $727
- Top tenth
- $63,688
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
- +72%
Parent tags
- CasualNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- Base BuildingNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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.
- Star Birds (opens the Steam store)2025 · 3,005 reviews, 91% positiveest. $1.2M
- Alchemy Factory (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,646 reviews, 87% positiveest. $930k
- Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,386 reviews, 85% positiveest. $561k
- Ale Abbey - Monastery Brewery Tycoon (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,286 reviews, 88% positiveest. $390k
- Hearth and Hamlet (opens the Steam store)2026 · 2,172 reviews, 79% positiveest. $318k
- Beltmatic (opens the Steam store)2024 · 2,212 reviews, 94% positiveest. $313k
- Tribe: Primitive Builder (opens the Steam store)2023 · 671 reviews, 79% positiveest. $272k
- Forage Wizard (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,586 reviews, 87% positiveest. $224k
More with Casual
pairs with Casual- Casual + Job Simulator$8,44230 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months
- Casual + LGBTQ+$4,15442 launches priced, 95 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Romance$2,61486 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Economy$2,204112 launches priced, 302 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Online Co-Op$1,970104 launches priced, 272 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Capitalism$1,92351 launches priced, 130 releases in 12 months
More with Base Building
pairs with Base Building- Base Building + Colony Sim$22,86553 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- RPG + Base Building$17,28632 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
- Base Building + Automation$14,08239 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
- RTS + Base Building$13,91454 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
- Base Building + Management$12,38472 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
- City Builder + Base Building$11,53773 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
in developmentGMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.