Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Sandbox / Programming
Sandbox + Programming: 20 releases in the last 12 months
There is no price yet: it needs 30 or more indie paid launches in the last four complete quarters. 2 of 21 matured launches earned $100k or more. Releases rose 82% on the year before: 20 against 11.
- Small sample
- Price
- n/a under 30 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- n/a no price
- Releases, 12 months
- 20 11 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 41 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 143 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. | 0.03%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.02% to 0.04% | 8 ranked of 41 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #3,083 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 30 or more matured launches. | |||
| 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
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.
- Launches
- 21
- Hit rate
- 9.5%0.0% to 26.4%
- Expected rate
- 9.1%
Under 30 matured launches, so this pair is not on the launch success board. Read these counts as a small sample.
Revenue spread
21 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
- $2,832
- Top tenth
- $97,151
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
- +82%
Parent tags
- SandboxGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- ProgrammingGenre 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.
- Craftomation 101: Programming & Craft (opens the Steam store)2024 · 672 reviews, 83% positiveest. $204k
- ServiceIT: You can do IT (opens the Steam store)2024 · 678 reviews, 55% positiveest. $178k
- Replicube (opens the Steam store)2025 · 713 reviews, 96% positiveest. $144k
- IT Specialist Simulator (opens the Steam store)2025 · 440 reviews, 75% positiveest. $125k
- Archean (opens the Steam store)2024 · 240 reviews, 87% positiveest. $97k
- Code: Terraform (opens the Steam store)2026 · 310 reviews, 83% positiveest. $94k
- Linkito (opens the Steam store)2024 · 153 reviews, 87% positiveest. $46k
- The Bibites: Digital Life (opens the Steam store)2025 · 219 reviews, 96% positiveest. $44k
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
More with Programming
pairs with Programming- Simulation + Programming$2,89331 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Puzzle + Programmingno price37 releases in 12 months
- 2D + Programmingno price30 releases in 12 months
- Programming + Automationno price29 releases in 12 months
- Programming + Logicno price28 releases in 12 months
- Strategy + Programmingno price24 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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