Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Casual / Hand-drawn
Casual + Hand-drawn: a typical launch earns $647 in its first year
That is the median of 297 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 16 of 579 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 15.7 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 15% on the year before: 417 against 363.
- Price
- $647 median of 297 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −19.9% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 417 363 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 712 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 2,411 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. | 0.24%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.14% to 0.34% | 34 ranked of 713 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #922 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.02xhits against expected | 0.73x to 1.44x | 579 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #2,693 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 | +12% to +47% | 107 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #550 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | +8%review growth against same-age games | +2% to +14% | 107 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #425 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
- 579
- Hit rate
- 2.8%1.9% to 4.3%
- Expected rate
- 2.7%
- Against expected
- 1.02x0.73x to 1.44x
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
579 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
- $606
- Top tenth
- $8,213
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
- +15%
- Against Steam
- −16%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- CasualNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- Hand-drawnNot 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.
- MECCHA CHAMELEON (opens the Steam store)2026 · 79,630 reviews, 87% positiveest. $9.3M
- Thank Goodness You're Here! (opens the Steam store)2024 · 7,792 reviews, 96% positiveest. $3.1M
- Tiny Bookshop (opens the Steam store)2025 · 7,018 reviews, 96% positiveest. $2.7M
- Phonopolis (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,570 reviews, 92% positiveest. $794k
- Hotel Galactic (opens the Steam store)2025 · 600 reviews, 73% positiveest. $425k
- Rana Card (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,183 reviews, 89% positiveest. $311k
- Chef Knight (opens the Steam store)2026 · 2,497 reviews, 94% positiveest. $303k
- Find Matt's Cats (opens the Steam store)2026 · 730 reviews, 98% positiveest. $296k
More with Casual
pairs with Casual- Casual + Job Simulator$8,44230 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months
- Casual + LGBTQ+$4,15442 launches priced, 95 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Romance$2,61486 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Economy$2,204112 launches priced, 302 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Online Co-Op$1,970104 launches priced, 272 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Capitalism$1,92351 launches priced, 130 releases in 12 months
More with Hand-drawn
pairs with Hand-drawn- Story Rich + Hand-drawn$5,46489 launches priced, 127 releases in 12 months
- Emotional + Hand-drawn$3,75736 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Hand-drawn + Female Protagonist$2,64735 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Hand-drawn$2,418137 launches priced, 233 releases in 12 months
- Hand-drawn + Interactive Fiction$2,02244 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Hand-drawn$1,84974 launches priced, 139 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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