Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Tower Defense / Wargame
Tower Defense + Wargame: a typical launch earns $202 in its first year
That is the median of 35 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 67 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 3.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 22% on the year before: 32 against 41.
- Price
- $202 median of 35 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −58.3% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 32 41 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 116 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 297 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.
| 0.20%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.03% to 0.37% | 6 ranked of 116 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #5,073 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.26xhits against expected | 0.86x to 2.01x | 67 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #1,499 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
- 67
- Hit rate
- 7.5%2.8% to 12.9%
- Expected rate
- 5.0%
- Against expected
- 1.26x0.86x to 2.01x
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
67 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
- $282
- Top tenth
- $45,045
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
- Tower DefenseGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- WargameGenre 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.
- Creeper World IXE (opens the Steam store)2024 · 858 reviews, 69% positiveest. $347k
- There Are No Orcs (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,195 reviews, 93% positiveest. $218k
- IDUN - Frontline Survival (opens the Steam store)2025 · 687 reviews, 77% positiveest. $209k
- Minimalist Tower Defense (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,839 reviews, 94% positiveest. $186k
- Toy Shire (opens the Steam store)2024 · 704 reviews, 87% positiveest. $142k
- Kingdom's Deck (opens the Steam store)2025 · 501 reviews, 72% positiveest. $101k
- Operation: Polygon Storm (opens the Steam store)2024 · 233 reviews, 69% positiveest. $71k
- D.O.T. Defence (opens the Steam store)2025 · 196 reviews, 85% positiveest. $59k
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 + Roguelike$1,17390 launches priced, 163 releases in 12 months
- Tower Defense + Resource Management$1,13335 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months
More with Wargame
pairs with Wargame- Historical + Wargame$4,50234 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
- Grand Strategy + Wargame$4,04836 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
- RTS + Wargame$3,54550 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months
- Turn-Based Strategy + Wargame$2,26565 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
- War + Wargame$2,18667 launches priced, 78 releases in 12 months
- Wargame + Turn-Based Tactics$1,92146 launches priced, 72 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.