Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Puzzle + Physics: a typical launch earns $303 in its first year

That is the median of 129 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 262 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 11.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 45% on the year before: 216 against 149.

Price: $303
Price vs a year earlier: +49.9%
Releases, 12 months: 216
Upcoming games: 399
Games on the store: 1,555

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 + Physics 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.	0.14%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.09% to 0.21%	25 ranked of 399 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,368 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.57xhits against expected	0.39x to 0.94x	262 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,370 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+16%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−3% to +43%	35 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#892 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+23%review growth against same-age games	+11% to +43%	35 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#14 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: 5
Expected: 11.0

Launches: 262
Hit rate: 1.9%1.1% to 4.3%
Expected rate: 4.2%
Against expected: 0.57x0.39x to 0.94x

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

262 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: $242
Top tenth: $11,299

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: 216
Prior 12 months: 149

Change: +45%
Against Steam: +6%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
PhysicsNot 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 Physics

pairs with Physics

Building + Physics$2,16430 launches priced, 52 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Physics$2,06074 launches priced, 123 releases in 12 months
Multiplayer + Physics$1,72852 launches priced, 181 releases in 12 months
Comedy + Physics$1,61742 launches priced, 99 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Physics$1,24262 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Physics$1,11244 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Physics

Verdicts

in development

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