Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Puzzle / Dialogue Heavy
Puzzle + Dialogue Heavy: 31 releases in the last 12 months
There is no price yet: it needs 30 or more indie paid launches in the last four complete quarters. 1 of 40 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 2.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 7% on the year before: 31 against 29.
- Price
- n/a under 30 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- n/a no price
- Releases, 12 months
- 31 29 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 107 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 249 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.
| 0.25%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.03% to 0.68% | 13 ranked of 107 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #4,878 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.73xhits against expected | 0.59x to 1.32x | 40 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #4,529 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
- 40
- Hit rate
- 2.5%0.0% to 10.5%
- Expected rate
- 6.2%
- Against expected
- 0.73x0.59x to 1.32x
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
40 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
- $36
- Median
- $1,011
- Top tenth
- $16,544
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
- +7%
Parent tags
- PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Dialogue HeavyNot 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.
- Mindlock - The Apartment (opens the Steam store)2024 · 632 reviews, 95% positiveest. $192k
- Detective Sherlock: Shadow Stalker (opens the Steam store)2026 · 429 reviews, 88% positiveest. $174k
- Wax Heads (opens the Steam store)2026 · 515 reviews, 96% positiveest. $156k
- Flower in Us (opens the Steam store)2025 · 411 reviews, 93% positiveest. $66k
- The Real Face of a VTuber (opens the Steam store)2026 · 280 reviews, 90% positiveest. $37k
- Tales from Candleforth (opens the Steam store)2024 · 149 reviews, 85% positiveest. $36k
- Care (opens the Steam store)2024 · 71 reviews, 94% positiveest. $14k
- Who's Next? (opens the Steam store)2025 · 124 reviews, 87% positiveest. $13k
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
More with Dialogue Heavy
pairs with Dialogue Heavy- Visual Novel + Dialogue Heavy$2,12352 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Dialogue Heavy$1,90555 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Dialogue Heavy$1,20848 launches priced, 103 releases in 12 months
- Choices Matter + Dialogue Heavy$82744 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Dialogue Heavy$60551 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
- 2D + Dialogue Heavy$50537 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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