Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Puzzle + Minimalist: a typical launch earns $242 in its first year

That is the median of 227 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 6 of 454 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 10.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 29% on the year before: 331 against 256.

Price: $242
Price vs a year earlier: −11.5%
Releases, 12 months: 331
Upcoming games: 485
Games on the store: 2,535

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 + Minimalist 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 0.05%	14 ranked of 487 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,872 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.68xhits against expected	0.46x to 1.09x	454 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#4,860 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	+12%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−4% to +32%	66 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,019 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	+7%review growth against same-age games	−3% to +20%	66 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,662 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: 6
Expected: 10.3

Launches: 454
Hit rate: 1.3%0.4% to 3.6%
Expected rate: 2.3%
Against expected: 0.68x0.46x to 1.09x

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

454 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: $202
Top tenth: $4,406

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: 331
Prior 12 months: 256

Change: +29%
Against Steam: −5%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
MinimalistNot 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 Minimalist

pairs with Minimalist

First-Person + Minimalist$60444 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Minimalist + Logic$53692 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Minimalist$51592 launches priced, 239 releases in 12 months
Minimalist + Idler$44444 launches priced, 144 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Minimalist$38360 launches priced, 86 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Minimalist$32279 launches priced, 114 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Minimalist

Verdicts

in development

GMD 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.