Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Sandbox + Colorful: a typical launch earns $727 in its first year

That is the median of 57 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 10 of 124 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 84% on the year before: 127 against 69.

Price: $727
Price vs a year earlier: −70.1%
Releases, 12 months: 127
Upcoming games: 316
Games on the store: 701

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.

Sandbox + Colorful 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.	0.23%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.16% to 0.32%	35 ranked of 316 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#965 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.32xhits against expected	0.92x to 1.95x	124 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,267 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. One game dominates the figure	−23%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−41% to +3%	26 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#2,065 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	−1%review growth against same-age games	−12% to +8%	26 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#2,051 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: 10
Expected: 6.8

Launches: 124
Hit rate: 8.1%4.3% to 13.2%
Expected rate: 5.5%
Against expected: 1.32x0.92x to 1.95x

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

124 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: $728
Top tenth: $52,264

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: 127
Prior 12 months: 69

Change: +84%
Against Steam: +29%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SandboxGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
ColorfulNot 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 Sandbox

pairs with Sandbox

Sandbox + Multiplayer$32,53338 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Resource Management$18,39749 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Economy$15,26966 launches priced, 136 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Management$11,910116 launches priced, 204 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + City Builder$11,53977 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Colony Sim$10,01834 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Sandbox

More with Colorful

pairs with Colorful

Colorful + Cozy$3,63859 launches priced, 123 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Colorful$3,39962 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Colorful$2,68975 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months
Colorful + Emotional$2,00335 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
Colorful + Life Sim$1,85851 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Magic + Colorful$1,66832 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Colorful

Verdicts

in development

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