Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Puzzle + Stealth: a typical launch earns $607 in its first year
That is the median of 59 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 6 of 96 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 5.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 3% on the year before: 70 against 72.
- Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games
- Price
- $607 median of 59 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −6.6% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 70 72 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 219 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 571 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. | 0.08%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.06% to 0.11% | 25 ranked of 219 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,954 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 1.06xhits against expected | 0.72x to 1.67x | 96 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #2,432 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period. | |||
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window. | |||
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
- 96
- Hit rate
- 6.3%2.3% to 11.4%
- Expected rate
- 5.7%
- Against expected
- 1.06x0.72x to 1.67x
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
96 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
- $40
- Median
- $1,151
- Top tenth
- $49,813
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
- −3%
Parent tags
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.
- Granny: Escape Together (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,686 reviews, 79% positiveest. $341k
- Storebound (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,057 reviews, 76% positiveest. $171k
- DYSTHANASIA (opens the Steam store)2025 · 337 reviews, 89% positiveest. $171k
- Out of Sight (opens the Steam store)2025 · 815 reviews, 94% positiveest. $165k
- Deer & Boy (opens the Steam store)2026 · 379 reviews, 94% positiveest. $153k
- SchoolBoy Runaway (opens the Steam store)2024 · 3,757 reviews, 90% positiveest. $151k
- The Stone of Madness (opens the Steam store)2025 · 201 reviews, 77% positiveest. $122k
- SUFFOCATE (opens the Steam store)2025 · 274 reviews, 83% positiveest. $94k
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 Stealth
pairs with Stealth- Stealth + Action-Adventure$89052 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
- Stealth + Psychological Horror$84843 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months
- Stealth + First-Person$75878 launches priced, 110 releases in 12 months
- Horror + Stealth$70798 launches priced, 150 releases in 12 months
- Stealth + Survival Horror$70737 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
- Stealth + Exploration$60774 launches priced, 93 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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