Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Strategy / Puzzle Platformer
Strategy + Puzzle Platformer: a typical launch earns $81 in its first year
That is the median of 78 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 0 of 160 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 4.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 37% on the year before: 125 against 91.
- Price
- $81 median of 78 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −27.1% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 125 91 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 168 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 766 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. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 5 or more wishlist-ranked upcoming games. | |||
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.40xhits against expected | 0.40x to 0.75x | 160 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,748 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
- 160
- Hit rate
- 0.0%0.0% to 0.0%
- Expected rate
- 2.8%
- Against expected
- 0.40x0.40x to 0.75x
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
160 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
- $0
- Median
- $100
- Top tenth
- $2,670
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
- +37%
Parent tags
- StrategyGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Puzzle PlatformerGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best 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.
- Drill Bird (opens the Steam store)2025 · 381 reviews, 97% positiveest. $38k
- HAMSTERMIND (opens the Steam store)2026 · 73 reviews, 97% positiveest. $19k
- Halver (opens the Steam store)2024 · 80 reviews, 95% positiveest. $16k
- Darkway: Murder of King Mere (opens the Steam store)2025 · 78 reviews, 97% positiveest. $13k
- BOULDER DASH 40th Anniversary (opens the Steam store)2025 · 31 reviews, 83% positiveest. $10k to $100k
- It's On The Mouse (opens the Steam store)2025 · 43 reviews, 81% positiveest. $10k to $100k
- WhaleGameOnline (opens the Steam store)2023 · 101 reviews, 92% positiveest. $6.1k
- Who Takes The Crown? (opens the Steam store)2025 · 37 reviews, 83% positiveest. $1k to $10k
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
More with Puzzle Platformer
pairs with Puzzle Platformer- Difficult + Puzzle Platformer$1,93634 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
- Metroidvania + Puzzle Platformer$1,49630 launches priced, 32 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Puzzle Platformer$1,21331 launches priced, 40 releases in 12 months
- Funny + Puzzle Platformer$71548 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
- Side Scroller + Puzzle Platformer$66760 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- Retro + Puzzle Platformer$64731 launches priced, 34 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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