Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Strategy + Minimalist: a typical launch earns $242 in its first year

That is the median of 152 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 298 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 62% on the year before: 277 against 171.

Price: $242
Price vs a year earlier: +0.3%
Releases, 12 months: 277
Upcoming games: 458
Games on the store: 1,493

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.

Strategy + Minimalist 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.	0.03%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.02% to 0.04%	10 ranked of 458 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#3,141 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.79xhits against expected	0.54x to 1.30x	298 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#4,173 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−17%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−33% to −1%	31 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,922 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−2%review growth against same-age games	−13% to +10%	31 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#906 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: 5
Expected: 7.1

Launches: 298
Hit rate: 1.7%0.3% to 4.5%
Expected rate: 2.4%
Against expected: 0.79x0.54x to 1.30x

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

298 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: $202
Top tenth: $5,246

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: 277
Prior 12 months: 171

Change: +62%
Against Steam: +18%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

StrategyGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
MinimalistNot 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 Strategy

pairs with Strategy

Strategy + Roguelike Deckbuilder$8,599104 launches priced, 217 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Base Building$6,139160 launches priced, 260 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Turn-Based$5,85566 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Historical$4,25980 launches priced, 157 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Party-Based RPG$3,88255 launches priced, 102 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Story Rich$3,64284 launches priced, 149 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Strategy

More with Minimalist

pairs with Minimalist

First-Person + Minimalist$60444 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Minimalist + Logic$53692 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Minimalist$51592 launches priced, 239 releases in 12 months
Minimalist + Idler$44444 launches priced, 144 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Minimalist$38360 launches priced, 86 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Minimalist$32279 launches priced, 114 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Minimalist

Verdicts

in development

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