Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Puzzle + Roguelike: a typical launch earns $556 in its first year
That is the median of 61 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 133 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 80% on the year before: 119 against 66.
- Price
- $556 median of 61 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −29.4% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 119 66 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 308 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 660 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.
| 0.22%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.07% to 0.36% | 16 ranked of 308 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #4,972 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.75xhits against expected | 0.51x to 1.25x | 133 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #4,423 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
- 133
- Hit rate
- 3.0%0.0% to 6.1%
- Expected rate
- 4.8%
- Against expected
- 0.75x0.51x to 1.25x
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
133 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
- $0
- Median
- $707
- Top tenth
- $21,673
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
- +80%
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.
- Sol Cesto (opens the Steam store)2025 · 4,891 reviews, 91% positiveest. $1.4M
- Rogue Waters (opens the Steam store)2024 · 975 reviews, 75% positiveest. $592k
- Pronoun Palace (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,299 reviews, 99% positiveest. $522k
- Dead Signal (opens the Steam store)2023 · 1,010 reviews, 89% positiveest. $266k
- Dogpile (opens the Steam store)2025 · 716 reviews, 95% positiveest. $145k
- Roots of Yggdrasil (opens the Steam store)2024 · 300 reviews, 85% positiveest. $121k
- CiniCross (opens the Steam store)2026 · 438 reviews, 85% positiveest. $106k
- BodyRecords (opens the Steam store)2025 · 588 reviews, 70% positiveest. $83k
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 Roguelike
pairs with Roguelike- Roguelike + Bullet Heaven$17,70935 launches priced, 135 releases in 12 months
- Roguelike + Roguelike Deckbuilder$8,25299 launches priced, 221 releases in 12 months
- Turn-Based + Roguelike$4,45040 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- Roguelike + Anime$4,38831 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
- Roguelike + Difficult$3,64173 launches priced, 93 releases in 12 months
- Roguelike + Auto Battler$3,39375 launches priced, 156 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
in developmentGMD 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.