Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Puzzle + Investigation: a typical launch earns $1,253 in its first year

That is the median of 104 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 31 of 216 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 17.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 39% on the year before: 169 against 122.

Price: $1,253
Price vs a year earlier: −10.2%
Releases, 12 months: 169
Upcoming games: 411
Games on the store: 1,131

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 + Investigation 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.	0.43%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.29% to 0.60%	49 ranked of 411 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#546 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.65xhits against expected	1.29x to 2.11x	216 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#457 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+21%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−3% to +46%	47 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#737 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+21%review growth against same-age games	+10% to +33%	47 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#27 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: 31
Expected: 17.6

Launches: 216
Hit rate: 14.4%9.1% to 20.4%
Expected rate: 8.2%
Against expected: 1.65x1.29x to 2.11x

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

216 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: $40
Median: $1,213
Top tenth: $154,215

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: 169
Prior 12 months: 122

Change: +39%
Against Steam: 0%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
InvestigationGenre 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 Investigation

pairs with Investigation

Story Rich + Investigation$8,90370 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Investigation$4,88542 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Investigation$4,85753 launches priced, 84 releases in 12 months
Detective + Investigation$3,96395 launches priced, 150 releases in 12 months
Mystery + Investigation$3,336112 launches priced, 171 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Investigation$2,89337 launches priced, 79 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Investigation

Verdicts

in development

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