Steam Tags Strategy: How to Get the Algorithm Working for You
Steam's algorithm isn't a mystery. It's a matching system. You tell Steam what your game is through tags, and Steam shows your game to people who like that kind of thing. Get your tags right and the algorithm works for you. Get them wrong and Steam shows your game to the wrong audience, or worse, barely shows it at all.
TL;DR: Use all 20 tag slots. Your top 5 should be specific sub-genres ("Precision Platformer"), not generic labels ("Action"). Research tags from 5-10 successful games in your genre. Include visual style and mood tags. Tags directly determine Discovery Queue placement and "More Like This" matches.
Key Takeaways
- Specific tags matter more than common ones. "Party-Based RPG" influences recommendations far more than "Action."
- Tags determine which browse pages you appear on, Discovery Queue matches, and "More Like This" results.
- Research your tag-peers: successful games similar to yours. Adopt their common tags as your foundation.
- Include visual and mood tags (Pixel Graphics, Atmospheric, Relaxing). They help Steam match taste preferences.
- Revisit tags after launch. Player-applied tags can shift your profile; adjust if needed.
Tags are one of the most underrated tools on your Steam store page. Most devs treat tagging as a five-minute chore during store page setup. Apply "Indie," "Action," "Adventure," hit publish, and move on. That's like telling someone your game is "fun." Technically possible. Functionally useless. It's the equivalent of labeling every item in your inventory as "thing." This guide covers how Steam actually uses tags, how to research them, and how to build a tag profile that puts your game in front of the right players.
How Steam Uses Your Tags
Your tags influence four major visibility systems on Steam. Understanding each one changes how you think about tagging entirely.
1. Browse and Search
When a user goes to the Steam store and clicks a genre or tag page (say, "Metroidvania"), Steam shows games tagged with that term. Your top 20 tags determine which tag pages your game appears on. If "Metroidvania" isn't in your top 20, you don't show up when someone browses that tag.
The same applies to search. When users type a query and then filter by tag using the sidebar, only games with matching tags in their top 20 appear.
2. Discovery Queue Recommendations
The Discovery Queue is a personalized carousel of games Steam thinks a player might like. Tags are a primary signal. Steam looks at what tags appear on games a player has played, purchased, and wishlisted, then surfaces other games with overlapping tags.
This is where tag specificity matters enormously. "Action" is applied to tens of thousands of games. It tells the algorithm almost nothing about who your audience is. "Precision Platformer" is applied to a few hundred games. It tells the algorithm exactly who to show your game to. Developers who've tested this consistently report that adding one highly specific sub-genre tag can have more impact on recommendations than adding five generic ones.
Steamworks documentation states this explicitly: "Some of Steam's recommendation algorithms also factor in less-frequently used tags more than really common ones. So if you have 'Action' applied to your game, it matters very little in how your game gets recommended because so many other games have 'Action' applied to them. But if you have something like 'Party-Based RPG' applied to your game, it has much more influence."
3. "More Like This"
The "More Like This" section at the bottom of every store page shows similar games. This is free, high-quality traffic. If your game appears in the "More Like This" of a popular title, you're getting eyeballs from an audience that already proved they like your genre.
Steam determines "More Like This" by comparing the top 20 tags between games. The more tags that overlap, the stronger the similarity signal. Here, tag overlap matters more than tag order. If your cozy farming sim shares 15 tags with Stardew Valley, you'll appear in Stardew's "More Like This" section. That's millions of potential impressions.
But it works both ways. Sloppy tags that overlap with low-quality games in unrelated genres will place you in their "More Like This" too. Be deliberate about which games you want to be grouped with.
4. Tag-Driven Dynamic Collections
In the Steam Library, players can create dynamic collections filtered by tags. Tags also feed into curated recommendation sections throughout the store. Your first 15 tags get priority in some store filters, so those top 15 slots matter.
The Tag Wizard: Your Starting Point
Valve built a Tag Wizard into Steamworks. Find it under Store Presence, Edit Store Page, Basic Info, Tags. The wizard walks you through several screens:
- Genres: Top-level (Action, RPG, Simulation), genre (Platformer, Roguelike, Shooter), and sub-genre (Precision Platformer, Action Roguelike, Souls-like)
- Visuals and Viewpoint: Dimensions (2D, 2.5D, 3D), camera perspective (First-Person, Isometric, Side-Scroller), visual style (Pixel Graphics, Anime, Realistic)
- Themes and Moods: Setting (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Space), mood (Atmospheric, Relaxing, Funny, Dark)
- Features: Mechanics (Crafting, Deckbuilding, Resource Management), design elements (Procedural Generation, Physics), activities (Mining, Sailing, Hacking)
- Player Support: Singleplayer, Multiplayer, Co-op, Local Multiplayer, etc.
The wizard also suggests tags based on commonalities found among similar titles. It's a starting point, not the final answer. You still need to research.
The "Suggest Prioritization" Feature
After you've selected your tags, the Tag Wizard offers a "Suggest Prioritization" button. This is a simple algorithm that pushes specific, high-information tags (like sub-genres) to the top and generic, low-information tags (like "Indie" or "Singleplayer") to the bottom. Valve describes it as "just meant as a simple starting point" and encourages you to override it based on your actual knowledge of your game.
Use it as a baseline, then manually adjust.
The Tag Research Process
Don't guess at tags. Research them.
Step 1: Find 5-10 Successful Peer Games
Look for games that feel genuinely similar to yours. Same genre, similar scope, comparable aesthetic. Focus on games with 500 or more reviews, since those have demonstrated real audience traction. These are your tag-peers.
Where to find them: browse Steam by your genre tags, check "More Like This" on games you already know are similar, and look at Chris Zukowski's genre analyses on howtomarketagame.com for which categories have the healthiest audiences.
Step 2: Catalog Their Tags
Visit each peer game's Steam store page. The top tags are displayed publicly. Write them all down. Look for patterns.
If every successful roguelike deckbuilder in your research has "Roguelike," "Deckbuilder," "Card Battler," "Strategy," and "Turn-Based" in their top tags, those tags should be in your top tags too. This isn't copying. It's speaking the same language the algorithm uses. In practice, developers who research competitor tags before launching their store page report much better "More Like This" placement than those who tag intuitively.
Step 3: Build Your Baseline Tag Set
Start with the tags that appear across all or most of your peer games. These are your genre foundation. They ensure your game appears alongside the right competition and in the right browse pages.
Step 4: Add Your Specifics
What's unique about your game? If it's set in space, add "Space." If it has pixel art, add "Pixel Graphics." If the mood is relaxing, add "Relaxing." These specific tags are the ones that help Steam find your niche audience within the broader genre.
Visual and mood tags matter more than most devs realize. "Atmospheric," "Relaxing," "Cute," "Dark," "Funny" help Steam match your game to player taste preferences. A cozy farming sim tagged "Relaxing" and "Cute" will be recommended alongside other cozy games. Skip those tags and you might end up recommended alongside stressful survival games that happen to share your "Farming" tag.
Step 5: Fill All 20 Slots
Valve requires at least 5 tags before launch. Apply all 20. Every empty slot is wasted visibility. You won't appear on tag pages for tags you haven't applied, and you'll have fewer signals for the recommendation algorithm to work with.
Step 6: Prioritize Ruthlessly
Your top 5 tags carry the most weight. They also display publicly on your store page. These should be your most specific, most descriptive tags. Think sub-genre, primary mechanic, and distinguishing feature.
Push generic tags to the bottom. "Indie" is applied to nearly everything. It tells the algorithm nothing useful. "Singleplayer" is true for most games. Save your top slots for tags that actually differentiate.
Good top-5 example for a game like Dead Cells: "Metroidvania, Roguelite, Action, Souls-like, Pixel Graphics."
Bad top-5 example for the same game: "Action, Indie, Singleplayer, 2D, Adventure."
Both are technically accurate. Only the first one gives the algorithm useful information.
When to Update Your Tags
Tags aren't set-and-forget.
After Launch
Once players start interacting with your game, they'll apply tags too. Community-applied tags get mixed in with your developer-applied tags, and community weight can shift your tag profile over time. This is usually fine. Players often tag your game with terms you missed.
Check your tags a few weeks after launch. If the community has pushed a relevant tag up that you overlooked (maybe "Great Soundtrack" or "Story Rich"), consider whether it's accurate and adjust your wizard priorities accordingly.
If the community applies something inaccurate or misleading, you can remove it using the Tag Wizard.
Before Major Visibility Events
Planning to participate in a seasonal sale? About to do a Steam Next Fest? Revisit your tags. Make sure your top 5 accurately reflect your game's current state, especially if you've added significant content since launch. A game that added multiplayer post-launch should have multiplayer-related tags bumped up.
When Your Genre Evolves
Sometimes Steam adds new sub-genre tags. "Roguevania" didn't always exist. "Open World Survival Craft" was once just a combination of separate tags. If a new tag appears that describes your game more precisely than your current tags, swap it in.
Tags and Wishlists: The Connection
Tags feed directly into wishlist accumulation. When Steam recommends your game in the Discovery Queue (driven by tags), the player may wishlist it. When your game appears on a tag browse page, someone browsing that genre may wishlist it. When your game shows up in "More Like This" on a popular title's page, visitors there may wishlist it.
Every one of those visibility surfaces is tag-driven. Better tags mean better targeting, which means higher conversion rates from impressions to wishlists. A game with precise tags that reach 10,000 players in its exact target audience will outperform a game with vague tags that reach 100,000 players who aren't interested.
Common Tag Strategy Mistakes
Being Too Broad
If your top 5 tags are "Action, Adventure, Indie, Singleplayer, 2D," you've described roughly 40% of Steam's catalog. The algorithm can't differentiate you. Be specific: "Metroidvania, 2D Platformer, Pixel Graphics, Souls-like, Action-Adventure."
Missing Your Sub-Genre
Steam has extremely specific sub-genre tags. "Precision Platformer" is different from "2D Platformer" is different from "3D Platformer." The Tag Wizard uses a hierarchy: super-genre (Action), genre (Platformer), sub-genre (Precision Platformer). Steamworks documentation uses Super Meat Boy as an example: its most specific descriptor is "Precision Platformer."
Always include the most specific sub-genre that fits. That tag does more work for recommendations than the broader genre tag ever could.
Aspirational Tagging
Don't tag your game with terms that describe what you wish it were. If your game has light RPG elements but is fundamentally a shooter, don't put "RPG" in your top 5. Players who click through from RPG tags expecting an RPG will bounce. Worse, they'll leave negative reviews complaining about false advertising.
Tag what your game IS, not what it aspires to be.
Ignoring Visual and Mood Tags
Some devs fill all 20 slots with genre and feature tags, leaving zero room for visual style or mood. Tags like "Pixel Graphics," "Atmospheric," "Cute," "Dark," "Colorful," "Hand-drawn" are strong signals for the recommendation engine. Players have taste preferences that go beyond genre. A player who loves atmospheric 2D games with pixel art might bounce off a realistic 3D game in the same genre. Visual and mood tags help Steam make that distinction.
Copying a Single Competitor's Tags Blindly
Don't just clone the top game in your genre. If you copy Stardew Valley's exact tags but your game is a farming RPG with dark themes, you'll get recommended to the wrong audience. Research multiple peers. Find the common thread. Then add the tags that reflect YOUR game's specific identity.
Tags During Steam Next Fest
If you're participating in Steam Next Fest, your tags determine which category pages your demo appears on during the event. Next Fest organizes demos by genre and tag. If your tags are vague or inaccurate, your demo might end up in a category where it doesn't fit, surrounded by games your target audience isn't browsing.
Before registering for Next Fest, audit your tags. Make sure your top 5 accurately describe your game's genre and appeal. During Next Fest, the players most likely to wishlist your game are the ones actively browsing your specific genre page.
The Tag Audit Checklist
Run through this before publishing your store page or before any major visibility event:
- All 20 tag slots filled
- Top 5 tags include your most specific sub-genre
- Top 5 tags match the tags used by your closest peer games
- Generic tags ("Indie," "Singleplayer") pushed to lower positions
- Visual style tags included (Pixel Graphics, 3D, Anime, etc.)
- Mood tags included (Atmospheric, Relaxing, Dark, Funny, etc.)
- No aspirational tags that misrepresent the game
- First 15 tags sorted by relevance (some store filters use only the top 15)
- Tags reviewed against community-applied tags post-launch
Tags are the cheapest, most underestimated visibility tool on Steam. You can't buy Discovery Queue placement. You can't pay for "More Like This" positioning. But you can control exactly how Steam's algorithm categorizes your game by filling 20 tag slots with deliberate, researched, specific terms. Do that, and the algorithm works for you instead of against you. What tends to happen in practice is that developers who nail their tags early see compounding benefits—every piece of marketing drives traffic to a page that converts well for the right audience.
Free Tool: Wishlist Calculator — Calculate how your tag-driven visibility translates to wishlist targets. Runs in your browser, no signup required.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find the right tags for my game?
Research 5-10 successful games similar to yours (500+ reviews). Check their top tags. The tags that appear consistently across all of them are your foundation. Then add tags specific to your game's unique features.
Should I copy a popular game's tags exactly?
No. You'll end up in "More Like This" for games you may not actually resemble. Research multiple peers, find the common thread, then add what makes YOUR game distinct.
Can players add tags to my game that I didn't choose?
Yes. Community-applied tags get mixed with your developer tags. If players consistently tag your game with something relevant you missed, consider adding it officially. If it's inaccurate, you can remove it via the Tag Wizard.
How often should I review my tags?
Check after launch once player behavior data is available, before any major visibility event (seasonal sales, Next Fest), and whenever Steam adds new relevant sub-genre tags.
Related Guides
This article is part of our series on steam page optimization. Start with the complete guide:
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