Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Puzzle / First-Person
Puzzle + First-Person: a typical launch earns $605 in its first year
That is the median of 498 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 34 of 980 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 38.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 10% on the year before: 632 against 573.
- Price
- $605 median of 498 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −29.9% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 632 573 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 1,512 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 4,347 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. | 0.91%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.49% to 1.38% | 90 ranked of 1,512 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #252 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.90xhits against expected | 0.70x to 1.16x | 980 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #3,442 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | +33%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | +20% to +50% | 142 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #431 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 | +1% to +17% | 142 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #398 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
- 980
- Hit rate
- 3.5%3.0% to 6.5%
- Expected rate
- 3.9%
- Against expected
- 0.90x0.70x to 1.16x
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
980 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
- $20
- Median
- $584
- Top tenth
- $12,015
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
- +10%
- Against Steam
- −19%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- First-PersonNot 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.
- Big Walk (opens the Steam store)2026 · 35,314 reviews, 96% positiveest. $14M
- Blue Prince (opens the Steam store)2025 · 17,606 reviews, 85% positiveest. $11M
- The Talos Principle 2 (opens the Steam store)2023 · 12,503 reviews, 94% positiveest. $7.5M
- ROUTINE (opens the Steam store)2025 · 7,430 reviews, 91% positiveest. $3.8M
- VLADiK BRUTAL (opens the Steam store)2024 · 9,559 reviews, 89% positiveest. $2.3M
- Riven (opens the Steam store)2024 · 2,773 reviews, 92% positiveest. $2M
- Escape Simulator 2 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 4,415 reviews, 91% positiveest. $1.7M
- Crisol: Theater of Idols (opens the Steam store)2026 · 4,137 reviews, 85% positiveest. $1.5M
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
More with First-Person
pairs with First-Person- Co-op + First-Person$11,81190 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
- First-Person + Economy$9,96156 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months
- Building + First-Person$7,38241 launches priced, 60 releases in 12 months
- First-Person + Management$7,08093 launches priced, 157 releases in 12 months
- Crafting + First-Person$6,99934 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- First-Person + Online Co-Op$5,747102 launches priced, 173 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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