Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Tower Defense / Roguelike
Tower Defense + Roguelike: a typical launch earns $1,173 in its first year
That is the median of 90 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 15 of 203 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 65% on the year before: 163 against 99.
- Price
- $1,173 median of 90 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +18.4% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 163 99 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 328 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 765 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. | 0.18%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.10% to 0.34% | 22 ranked of 328 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,142 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.41xhits against expected | 1.01x to 1.98x | 203 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #970 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | −28%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −41% to −11% | 28 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #2,138 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −14%review growth against same-age games | −25% to −3% | 28 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,454 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 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
- 203
- Hit rate
- 7.4%6.1% to 15.1%
- Expected rate
- 4.8%
- Against expected
- 1.41x1.01x to 1.98x
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
203 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
- $1,010
- Top tenth
- $81,325
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
- +65%
- Against Steam
- +19%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- Tower DefenseGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- RoguelikeGenre 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.
- The King is Watching (opens the Steam store)2025 · 9,137 reviews, 88% positiveest. $2.4M
- Tower Dominion (opens the Steam store)2025 · 5,154 reviews, 85% positiveest. $1.7M
- Emberward (opens the Steam store)2024 · 4,204 reviews, 96% positiveest. $1.6M
- Nordhold (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,884 reviews, 87% positiveest. $1.2M
- ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition (opens the Steam store)2023 · 2,955 reviews, 64% positiveest. $897k
- Drill Core (opens the Steam store)2024 · 2,136 reviews, 84% positiveest. $795k
- Wall World 2 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,775 reviews, 73% positiveest. $431k
- Tower Factory (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,224 reviews, 89% positiveest. $372k
More with Tower Defense
pairs with Tower Defense- Tower Defense + City Builder$8,80032 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Tower Defense + Base Building$2,00381 launches priced, 129 releases in 12 months
- Tower Defense + Survival$1,61947 launches priced, 68 releases in 12 months
- Tower Defense + Roguelite$1,516109 launches priced, 196 releases in 12 months
- Tower Defense + Resource Management$1,13335 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months
- Tower Defense + Bullet Hell$1,13337 launches priced, 75 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
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