Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Side Scroller / Hand-drawn
Side Scroller + Hand-drawn: 50 releases in the last 12 months
There is no price yet: it needs 30 or more indie paid launches in the last four complete quarters. 1 of 65 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 3.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 47% on the year before: 50 against 34.
- One game dominates the figure
- Price
- n/a under 30 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- n/a no price
- Releases, 12 months
- 50 34 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 150 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 363 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. | 0.21%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.12% to 0.34% | 20 ranked of 150 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,022 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 0.67xhits against expected | 0.54x to 1.22x | 65 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #4,915 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
- 65
- Hit rate
- 1.5%0.0% to 9.1%
- Expected rate
- 4.6%
- Against expected
- 0.67x0.54x to 1.22x
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
65 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
- $20
- Median
- $501
- Top tenth
- $12,619
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
- +47%
Parent tags
- Side ScrollerNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- Hand-drawnNot 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.
- Absolum (opens the Steam store)2025 · 9,457 reviews, 91% positiveest. $4.6M
- HoloParade (opens the Steam store)2023 · 1,132 reviews, 85% positiveest. $183k
- Alien Hominid HD (opens the Steam store)2023 · 594 reviews, 95% positiveest. $144k
- WAR RATS: The Rat em Up (opens the Steam store)2025 · 383 reviews, 95% positiveest. $93k
- Majogami (opens the Steam store)2025 · 156 reviews, 90% positiveest. $79k
- Creepy Tale: Snow Child (opens the Steam store)2026 · 254 reviews, 91% positiveest. $62k
- Myths are 100% True (opens the Steam store)2025 · 187 reviews, 100% positiveest. $57k
- Volgarr the Viking II (opens the Steam store)2024 · 85 reviews, 81% positiveest. $34k
More with Side Scroller
pairs with Side Scroller- Metroidvania + Side Scroller$2,22542 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
- Side Scroller + Female Protagonist$2,18344 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
- Side Scroller + Difficult$1,56744 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + Side Scroller$1,41534 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
- Side Scroller + Action RPG$1,06132 launches priced, 36 releases in 12 months
- Side Scroller + Beat 'em up$81039 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
More with Hand-drawn
pairs with Hand-drawn- Story Rich + Hand-drawn$5,46489 launches priced, 127 releases in 12 months
- Emotional + Hand-drawn$3,75736 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Hand-drawn + Female Protagonist$2,64735 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Hand-drawn$2,418137 launches priced, 233 releases in 12 months
- Hand-drawn + Interactive Fiction$2,02244 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Hand-drawn$1,84974 launches priced, 139 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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