Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Puzzle + VR: a typical launch earns $455 in its first year
That is the median of 54 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 2 of 88 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 11.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 29% on the year before: 45 against 63.
- Price
- $455 median of 54 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −55.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 45 63 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 119 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 711 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. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 5 or more wishlist-ranked upcoming games. | |||
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.34xhits against expected | 0.25x to 0.61x | 88 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,780 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
- 88
- Hit rate
- 2.3%1.1% to 6.6%
- Expected rate
- 13.2%
- Against expected
- 0.34x0.25x to 0.61x
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
88 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
- $0
- Median
- $455
- Top tenth
- $15,482
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
- −29%
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.
- Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2 (opens the Steam store)2023 · 5,114 reviews, 94% positiveest. $4.1M
- Ghost Town (opens the Steam store)2025 · 576 reviews, 95% positiveest. $291k
- The 7th Guest VR (opens the Steam store)2023 · 428 reviews, 92% positiveest. $173k
- MADiSON VR (opens the Steam store)2024 · 207 reviews, 76% positiveest. $147k
- Space Accident VR (opens the Steam store)2024 · 231 reviews, 82% positiveest. $79k
- The House of Da Vinci VR (opens the Steam store)2024 · 127 reviews, 92% positiveest. $64k
- UnLoop (opens the Steam store)2025 · 170 reviews, 98% positiveest. $62k
- Dofamine VR (opens the Steam store)2025 · 171 reviews, 83% positiveest. $35k
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 VR
pairs with VR- Action-Adventure + VR$6,75746 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
- Realistic + VR$1,82133 launches priced, 37 releases in 12 months
- Exploration + VR$1,51851 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
- FPS + VR$1,27432 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
- Simulation + VR$1,21481 launches priced, 93 releases in 12 months
- Immersive Sim + VR$1,21455 launches priced, 41 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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