Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Puzzle / Time Management
Puzzle + Time Management: a typical launch earns $607 in its first year
That is the median of 75 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 3 of 150 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 22% on the year before: 105 against 86.
- Price
- $607 median of 75 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +3.4% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 105 86 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 181 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 620 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. | 0.13%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.07% to 0.21% | 18 ranked of 181 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,487 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.48xhits against expected | 0.34x to 0.83x | 150 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,636 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
- 150
- Hit rate
- 2.0%0.0% to 6.3%
- Expected rate
- 6.3%
- Against expected
- 0.48x0.34x to 0.83x
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
150 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
- $493
- Top tenth
- $7,228
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
- +22%
Parent tags
- PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Time ManagementGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
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.
- BOMBANANA! (opens the Steam store)2026 · 2,993 reviews, 96% positiveest. $446k
- Craftlings (opens the Steam store)2026 · 313 reviews, 86% positiveest. $127k
- Mindcop (opens the Steam store)2024 · 416 reviews, 94% positiveest. $126k
- Roots of Yggdrasil (opens the Steam store)2024 · 300 reviews, 85% positiveest. $121k
- CiniCross (opens the Steam store)2026 · 438 reviews, 85% positiveest. $106k
- Beff Jezos Simulator (opens the Steam store)2024 · 387 reviews, 68% positiveest. $78k
- Don't Panic! It is Just Turbulence (opens the Steam store)2026 · 416 reviews, 73% positiveest. $67k
- Abra-Cooking-Dabra (opens the Steam store)2025 · 250 reviews, 75% positiveest. $66k
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 Time Management
pairs with Time Management- Management + Time Management$4,513108 launches priced, 174 releases in 12 months
- Crafting + Time Management$4,50230 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
- Economy + Time Management$3,82249 launches priced, 106 releases in 12 months
- Life Sim + Time Management$3,64385 launches priced, 143 releases in 12 months
- Building + Time Management$2,83132 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
- Cooking + Time Management$2,66937 launches priced, 61 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.