Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Puzzle + Cartoony: a typical launch earns $581 in its first year

That is the median of 197 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 8 of 362 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 10.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 2% on the year before: 227 against 223.

Price: $581
Price vs a year earlier: +19.9%
Releases, 12 months: 227
Upcoming games: 319
Games on the store: 1,354

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 + Cartoony 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.	0.04%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.03% to 0.06%	14 ranked of 319 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,705 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.80xhits against expected	0.55x to 1.24x	362 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#4,105 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. One game dominates the figure	+40%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+20% to +62%	40 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#299 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	+5%review growth against same-age games	−2% to +13%	40 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,702 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: 8
Expected: 10.8

Launches: 362
Hit rate: 2.2%1.1% to 3.9%
Expected rate: 3.0%
Against expected: 0.80x0.55x to 1.24x

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

362 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: $505
Top tenth: $4,715

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: 227
Prior 12 months: 223

Change: +2%
Against Steam: −25%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
CartoonyNot 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 Cartoony

pairs with Cartoony

Story Rich + Cartoony$2,42632 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Cartoony$1,61731 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
Cartoony + Cats$78257 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Cartoony + Wholesome$73248 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months
Cartoony + Cozy$70254 launches priced, 74 releases in 12 months
First-Person + Cartoony$67451 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Cartoony

Verdicts

in development

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