Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Puzzle + Psychological Horror: a typical launch earns $1,048 in its first year

That is the median of 309 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 32 of 627 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 22.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 17% on the year before: 405 against 347.

Price: $1,048
Price vs a year earlier: −20.2%
Releases, 12 months: 405
Upcoming games: 1,017
Games on the store: 2,623

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 + Psychological Horror 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.	0.61%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.41% to 0.90%	91 ranked of 1,017 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#385 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.40xhits against expected	1.08x to 1.81x	627 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#994 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+23%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+8% to +43%	143 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#674 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+6%review growth against same-age games	+1% to +13%	143 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#535 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: 32
Expected: 22.1

Launches: 627
Hit rate: 5.1%4.0% to 7.8%
Expected rate: 3.5%
Against expected: 1.40x1.08x to 1.81x

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

627 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: $61
Median: $1,010
Top tenth: $20,650

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: 405
Prior 12 months: 347

Change: +17%
Against Steam: −14%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Psychological HorrorGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best 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 Psychological Horror

pairs with Psychological Horror

Co-op + Psychological Horror$5,48140 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Cinematic$5,00947 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Online Co-Op$4,64950 launches priced, 63 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Multiplayer$4,45153 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Story Rich$3,335269 launches priced, 401 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Female Protagonist$2,91976 launches priced, 102 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Psychological Horror

Verdicts

in development

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