Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Puzzle + 2D Platformer: a typical launch earns $178 in its first year

That is the median of 215 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 6 of 420 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 12.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 15% on the year before: 300 against 260.

Price: $178
Price vs a year earlier: −11.9%
Releases, 12 months: 300
Upcoming games: 586
Games on the store: 2,021

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.

Puzzle + 2D Platformer 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.	0.11%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.08% to 0.16%	21 ranked of 586 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,611 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.60xhits against expected	0.41x to 0.96x	420 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,272 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+8%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−10% to +25%	36 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,193 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	−16% to +1%	36 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,200 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: 6
Expected: 12.1

Launches: 420
Hit rate: 1.4%0.7% to 3.1%
Expected rate: 2.9%
Against expected: 0.60x0.41x to 0.96x

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

420 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: $201
Top tenth: $5,645

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: 300
Prior 12 months: 260

Change: +15%
Against Steam: −15%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
2D PlatformerGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best 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.

More with Puzzle

pairs with Puzzle

Puzzle + Open World$3,68033 launches priced, 31 releases in 12 months
Metroidvania + Puzzle$2,32437 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
Puzzle + Visual Novel$2,10397 launches priced, 167 releases in 12 months
Puzzle + Story Rich$2,000292 launches priced, 408 releases in 12 months
Puzzle + Co-op$1,92037 launches priced, 77 releases in 12 months
Puzzle + Dark Humor$1,87830 launches priced, 50 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Puzzle

More with 2D Platformer

pairs with 2D Platformer

Metroidvania + 2D Platformer$1,78091 launches priced, 107 releases in 12 months
Anime + 2D Platformer$1,17390 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months
2D Platformer + Souls-like$96931 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
Sci-fi + 2D Platformer$84935 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
2D Platformer + Female Protagonist$84281 launches priced, 102 releases in 12 months
Hack and Slash + 2D Platformer$72841 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months

Every pair with 2D Platformer

Verdicts

in development

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