Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Story Rich / Hand-drawn
Story Rich + Hand-drawn: a typical launch earns $5,464 in its first year
That is the median of 89 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 18 of 177 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 18.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 13% on the year before: 127 against 112.
- One game dominates the figure
- Price
- $5,464 median of 89 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +5.2% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 127 112 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 467 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,040 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. | 0.65%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.45% to 0.90% | 69 ranked of 467 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #371 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 0.98xhits against expected | 0.72x to 1.33x | 177 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #2,919 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | +38%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | +7% to +70% | 72 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #333 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | +15%review growth against same-age games | +8% to +24% | 72 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #118 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
- 177
- Hit rate
- 10.2%5.7% to 18.9%
- Expected rate
- 10.5%
- Against expected
- 0.98x0.72x to 1.33x
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
177 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
- $161
- Median
- $2,909
- Top tenth
- $96,904
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
- +13%
- Against Steam
- −17%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- Story RichNot 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.
Nine Sols (opens the Steam store)2024 · 40,347 reviews, 94% positiveest. $23M
Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut (opens the Steam store)2023 · 32,257 reviews, 96% positiveest. $11M
The Coffin of Andy and Leyley (opens the Steam store)2023 · 36,744 reviews, 96% positiveest. $8.5M
Esoteric Ebb (opens the Steam store)2026 · 8,843 reviews, 95% positiveest. $4.4M
UNBEATABLE (opens the Steam store)2025 · 6,647 reviews, 92% positiveest. $3.8M
Sovereign Tower (opens the Steam store)2026 · 3,315 reviews, 93% positiveest. $1.2M
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,374 reviews, 91% positiveest. $1.2M
Phonopolis (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,570 reviews, 92% positiveest. $794k
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
More with Hand-drawn
pairs with Hand-drawn- 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
- Exploration + Hand-drawn$1,59566 launches priced, 101 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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