Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Relaxing / Story Rich
Relaxing + Story Rich: a typical launch earns $1,699 in its first year
That is the median of 67 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 20 of 124 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 11.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 25% on the year before: 110 against 88.
- Price
- $1,699 median of 67 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +20.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 110 88 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 304 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 778 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. | 0.39%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.23% to 0.54% | 46 ranked of 304 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #594 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.59xhits against expected | 1.19x to 2.12x | 124 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #570 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | +3%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −19% to +34% | 53 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,328 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −6%review growth against same-age games | −13% to +2% | 53 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,055 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
- 124
- Hit rate
- 16.1%9.4% to 22.8%
- Expected rate
- 9.2%
- Against expected
- 1.59x1.19x to 2.12x
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
124 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
- $87
- Median
- $2,506
- Top tenth
- $228,540
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
- +25%
- Against Steam
- −9%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- RelaxingNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- Story RichNot 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.
- Easy Delivery Co. (opens the Steam store)2025 · 9,616 reviews, 95% positiveest. $2.5M
- Tales of Seikyu (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,193 reviews, 83% positiveest. $1.1M
- Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,157 reviews, 96% positiveest. $938k
- Lost and Found Co. (opens the Steam store)2026 · 2,776 reviews, 96% positiveest. $890k
- Phonopolis (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,570 reviews, 92% positiveest. $794k
- Thomas & Friends™: Wonders of Sodor (opens the Steam store)2026 · 861 reviews, 87% positiveest. $697k
- Botany Manor (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,032 reviews, 94% positiveest. $522k
- Cowboy Life Simulator (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,128 reviews, 88% positiveest. $434k
More with Relaxing
pairs with Relaxing- Relaxing + Economy$7,82849 launches priced, 115 releases in 12 months
- Relaxing + Open World$3,43945 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
- Building + Relaxing$3,39787 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
- Relaxing + Management$3,154101 launches priced, 233 releases in 12 months
- Relaxing + Farming Sim$2,87450 launches priced, 106 releases in 12 months
- Relaxing + Crafting$2,42950 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
More with Story Rich
pairs with Story Rich- Story Rich + Narrative$13,10440 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Historical$9,68533 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Investigation$8,90370 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
- Turn-Based Strategy + Story Rich$8,09741 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Supernatural$5,82533 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Dating Sim$5,71476 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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