Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Point & Click + Exploration: a typical launch earns $850 in its first year

That is the median of 173 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 21 of 341 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 18.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 13% on the year before: 236 against 208.

Price: $850
Price vs a year earlier: −24.9%
Releases, 12 months: 236
Upcoming games: 518
Games on the store: 1,667

Boards

as of 30 Sep 2026

Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.

Point & Click + Exploration on each board
Board	Value	Interval	Sample	Standing
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it.	0.28%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.17% to 0.47%	47 ranked of 518 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#807 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.09xhits against expected	0.81x to 1.48x	341 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,242 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+16%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−3% to +34%	72 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#885 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−3%review growth against same-age games	−7% to +4%	72 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#944 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 old

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.

Hits: 21
Expected: 18.9

Launches: 341
Hit rate: 6.2%4.0% to 9.4%
Expected rate: 5.5%
Against expected: 1.09x0.81x to 1.48x

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

341 launches

Estimated 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: $800
Top tenth: $35,104

Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.

Supply

raw release counts

Games released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.

Last 12 months: 236
Prior 12 months: 208

Change: +13%
Against Steam: −16%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Point & ClickGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
ExplorationNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.

Comparable games

8 indie titles

The 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.

Related niches

pairs with Point & Click

Point & Click + Investigation$4,85753 launches priced, 84 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Female Protagonist$3,03141 launches priced, 68 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Story Rich$2,569170 launches priced, 208 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Mystery$2,426120 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Psychological Horror$2,30264 launches priced, 114 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Detective$2,10470 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Point & Click

More with Exploration

pairs with Exploration

Exploration + Cozy$24,01549 launches priced, 99 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Open World Survival Craft$13,97334 launches priced, 26 releases in 12 months
Driving + Exploration$10,40830 launches priced, 42 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Multiplayer$8,00174 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Online Co-Op$7,08069 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Exploration$5,14762 launches priced, 101 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Exploration

Verdicts

in development

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