Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Adventure / Base Building
Adventure + Base Building: a typical launch earns $5,353 in its first year
That is the median of 42 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 14 of 70 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 2% on the year before: 47 against 48.
- China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese
- Price
- $5,353 median of 42 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −13.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 47 48 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 314 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 582 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. | 0.79%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.39% to 1.30% | 61 ranked of 314 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #299 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 1.39xhits against expected | 1.00x to 1.89x | 70 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,901 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | +24%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −13% to +65% | 32 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #639 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −10%review growth against same-age games | −20% to +2% | 32 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,315 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
- 70
- Hit rate
- 20.0%16.1% to 28.9%
- Expected rate
- 13.2%
- Against expected
- 1.39x1.00x to 1.89x
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
70 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
- $7,364
- Top tenth
- $698,923
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
- −2%
- Against Steam
- −28%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- AdventureNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- Base BuildingNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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.
- Enshrouded (opens the Steam store)2024 · 93,740 reviews, 85% positiveest. $73M
- Escape From Duckov (opens the Steam store)2025 · 83,945 reviews, 85% positiveest. $21M
- Soulmask (opens the Steam store)2026 · 18,501 reviews, 76% positiveest. $10M
- The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™ (opens the Steam store)2024 · 10,277 reviews, 80% positiveest. $6.2M
- StarRupture (opens the Steam store)2026 · 12,406 reviews, 80% positiveest. $4.9M
- Lost Skies (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,480 reviews, 63% positiveest. $1.3M
- Astrometica (opens the Steam store)2024 · 2,922 reviews, 82% positiveest. $1.2M
- Towers of Aghasba (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,905 reviews, 67% positiveest. $1.2M
More with Adventure
pairs with Adventure- Adventure + Cozy$32,10838 launches priced, 93 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Narrative$12,85033 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + LGBTQ+$7,36637 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Online Co-Op$6,34186 launches priced, 187 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Building$4,85745 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Romance$4,31378 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months
More with Base Building
pairs with Base Building- Base Building + Colony Sim$22,86553 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- RPG + Base Building$17,28632 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
- Base Building + Automation$14,08239 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
- RTS + Base Building$13,91454 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
- Base Building + Management$12,38472 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
- City Builder + Base Building$11,53773 launches priced, 109 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.