Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Simulation + Cartoony: a typical launch earns $607 in its first year

That is the median of 98 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 8 of 176 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 4% on the year before: 133 against 128.

Price: $607
Price vs a year earlier: +65.7%
Releases, 12 months: 133
Upcoming games: 331
Games on the store: 852

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.

Simulation + Cartoony 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.	0.08%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.05% to 0.10%	24 ranked of 331 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,073 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.88xhits against expected	0.60x to 1.35x	176 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#3,560 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+42%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+9% to +73%	27 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#273 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+9%review growth against same-age games	+1% to +17%	27 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#361 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 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: 8
Expected: 9.5

Launches: 176
Hit rate: 4.5%2.8% to 8.3%
Expected rate: 5.4%
Against expected: 0.88x0.60x to 1.35x

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

176 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: $485
Top tenth: $17,009

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: 133
Prior 12 months: 128

Change: +4%
Against Steam: −23%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SimulationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
CartoonyNot 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 Simulation

pairs with Simulation

Simulation + Shop Keeper$32,26936 launches priced, 330 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Cozy$15,70676 launches priced, 253 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Online Co-Op$11,02868 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Multiplayer$8,980122 launches priced, 253 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Base Building$7,38289 launches priced, 173 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Economy$6,979210 launches priced, 540 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Simulation

More with Cartoony

pairs with Cartoony

Story Rich + Cartoony$2,42632 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Cartoony$1,61731 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
Cartoony + Cats$78257 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Cartoony + Wholesome$73248 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months
Cartoony + Cozy$70254 launches priced, 74 releases in 12 months
First-Person + Cartoony$67451 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Cartoony

Verdicts

in development

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