Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Puzzle + 3D: a typical launch earns $363 in its first year

That is the median of 614 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 32 of 1,231 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 51.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 15% on the year before: 875 against 762.

Price: $363
Price vs a year earlier: −24.9%
Releases, 12 months: 875
Upcoming games: 1,968
Games on the store: 5,623

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.

Puzzle + 3D 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.	1.61%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.79% to 2.40%	122 ranked of 1,970 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#148 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.64xhits against expected	0.50x to 0.83x	1,231 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,049 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	+16% to +49%	130 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#417 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+13%review growth against same-age games	+8% to +21%	130 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#180 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: 32
Expected: 51.5

Launches: 1,231
Hit rate: 2.6%1.9% to 3.9%
Expected rate: 4.2%
Against expected: 0.64x0.50x to 0.83x

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

1,231 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: $324
Top tenth: $8,100

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: 875
Prior 12 months: 762

Change: +15%
Against Steam: −16%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
3DNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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 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

More with 3D

pairs with 3D

3D + Dark Humor$3,90132 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
3D + Cozy$3,23738 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months
3D + Economy$3,15761 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
3D + Management$2,196130 launches priced, 192 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + 3D$2,162144 launches priced, 256 releases in 12 months
3D + Resource Management$2,02434 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months

Every pair with 3D

Verdicts

in development

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