Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Tower Defense / Side Scroller
Tower Defense + Side Scroller: 18 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. 3 of 26 matured launches earned $100k or more. Releases rose 64% on the year before: 18 against 11.
- Small sample
- Price
- n/a under 30 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- n/a no price
- Releases, 12 months
- 18 11 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 46 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 119 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.
| 0.03%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.01% to 0.07% | 5 ranked of 46 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #6,835 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 30 or more matured launches. | |||
| 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
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.
- Launches
- 26
- Hit rate
- 11.5%0.0% to 24.3%
- Expected rate
- 7.1%
Under 30 matured launches, so this pair is not on the launch success board. Read these counts as a small sample.
Revenue spread
26 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
- $40
- Median
- $2,038
- Top tenth
- $101,751
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
- +64%
Parent tags
- Tower DefenseGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Side ScrollerNot 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.
- Drill Core (opens the Steam store)2024 · 2,136 reviews, 84% positiveest. $795k
- Ark of Charon (opens the Steam store)2024 · 389 reviews, 75% positiveest. $197k
- HoloParade (opens the Steam store)2023 · 1,132 reviews, 85% positiveest. $183k
- Crab God (opens the Steam store)2024 · 273 reviews, 81% positiveest. $111k
- WAR RATS: The Rat em Up (opens the Steam store)2025 · 383 reviews, 95% positiveest. $93k
- Abyss Kitchen (opens the Steam store)2026 · 207 reviews, 88% positiveest. $50k
- Monarchy (opens the Steam store)2024 · 49 reviews, 79% positiveest. $10k to $100k
- Bonelords (opens the Steam store)2025 · 94 reviews, 91% positiveest. $13k
More with Tower Defense
pairs with Tower Defense- Tower Defense + City Builder$8,80032 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Tower Defense + Base Building$2,00381 launches priced, 129 releases in 12 months
- Tower Defense + Survival$1,61947 launches priced, 68 releases in 12 months
- Tower Defense + Roguelite$1,516109 launches priced, 196 releases in 12 months
- Tower Defense + Roguelike$1,17390 launches priced, 163 releases in 12 months
- Tower Defense + Resource Management$1,13335 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months
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
Verdicts
in developmentGMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.