Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Puzzle + Nonlinear: a typical launch earns $445 in its first year
That is the median of 34 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 67 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 4.7 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 15% on the year before: 39 against 34.
- Price
- $445 median of 34 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −35.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 39 34 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 129 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 316 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.
| 0.21%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.06% to 0.38% | 13 ranked of 129 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #5,015 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.91xhits against expected | 0.63x to 1.50x | 67 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #3,341 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
- 67
- Hit rate
- 6.0%1.4% to 13.0%
- Expected rate
- 7.0%
- Against expected
- 0.91x0.63x to 1.50x
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
67 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
- $24
- Median
- $1,335
- Top tenth
- $42,429
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
- +15%
Parent tags
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.
- The Incident at Galley House (opens the Steam store)2026 · 4,234 reviews, 94% positiveest. $1.5M
- Islands of Insight (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,605 reviews, 75% positiveest. $975k
- Leap Year (opens the Steam store)2024 · 3,066 reviews, 96% positiveest. $235k
- TR-49 (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,207 reviews, 94% positiveest. $171k
- Mindcop (opens the Steam store)2024 · 416 reviews, 94% positiveest. $126k
- A Case of Fraud (opens the Steam store)2025 · 558 reviews, 96% positiveest. $102k
- Lingo 2 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 448 reviews, 92% positiveest. $91k
- The Art of Reflection (opens the Steam store)2025 · 151 reviews, 97% positiveest. $55k
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 Nonlinear
pairs with Nonlinear- Exploration + Nonlinear$2,37350 launches priced, 77 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Nonlinear$2,00337 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
- 2D + Nonlinear$86040 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
- Action + Nonlinearno price40 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Nonlinearno price38 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Nonlinearno price33 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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