Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Puzzle + Text-Based: a typical launch earns $787 in its first year

That is the median of 40 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 93 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 3.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 127% on the year before: 102 against 45.

Price: $787
Price vs a year earlier: +178.0%
Releases, 12 months: 102
Upcoming games: 136
Games on the store: 457

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 + Text-Based 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.	0.02%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.01% to 0.02%	5 ranked of 136 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#3,552 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.03xhits against expected	0.71x to 1.71x	93 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,592 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 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: 4
Expected: 3.8

Launches: 93
Hit rate: 4.3%1.0% to 5.7%
Expected rate: 4.1%
Against expected: 1.03x0.71x to 1.71x

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

93 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: $605
Top tenth: $16,148

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: 102
Prior 12 months: 45

Change: +127%

Parent tags

PuzzleGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Text-BasedNot 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.

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 Text-Based

pairs with Text-Based

Horror + Text-Based$2,83130 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
Anime + Text-Based$2,10148 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Text-Based$1,71867 launches priced, 149 releases in 12 months
Cute + Text-Based$1,36644 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Choices Matter + Text-Based$1,20374 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
Interactive Fiction + Text-Based$1,13396 launches priced, 190 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Text-Based

Verdicts

in development

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