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indielist (beta)

The best base-building indie games, ranked by reviews

5 min read for players

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Data report Built from live indielist data on 2026-07-24. Rankings update as data changes.

indielist tracks 95 base-building indie games on Steam, holding 4,928,520 reviews at an average of 86% positive. This list ranks them by Steam review count, the most reliable public sales proxy, with a white-box sales estimate behind every title. The most reviewed is ARK: Survival Evolved with 583,081 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

  1. ARK: Survival Evolved · 583,081 reviews · 83% positive · 2017
  2. Valheim · 455,972 reviews · 94% positive · 2021
  3. Palworld · 379,930 reviews · 94% positive · 2026
  4. Subnautica · 338,617 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
  5. Raft · 321,118 reviews · 93% positive · 2022
  6. Schedule I · 282,319 reviews · 98% positive · 2025
  7. RimWorld · 243,385 reviews · 98% positive · 2018
  8. Satisfactory · 232,215 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
  9. Factorio · 193,619 reviews · 98% positive · 2020
  10. Oxygen Not Included · 142,787 reviews · 97% positive · 2019
  11. ASTRONEER · 118,359 reviews · 92% positive · 2019
  12. Cult of the Lamb · 109,350 reviews · 96% positive · 2022
  13. Scrap Mechanic · 105,678 reviews · 92% positive · 2016
  14. ARK: Survival Ascended · 102,965 reviews · 60% positive · 2023
  15. Subnautica: Below Zero · 98,838 reviews · 90% positive · 2021
  16. Kenshi · 96,887 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  17. House Flipper · 92,019 reviews · 94% positive · 2018
  18. Enshrouded · 91,858 reviews · 86% positive · 2024
  19. This War of Mine · 88,937 reviews · 94% positive · 2014
  20. Dyson Sphere Program · 83,095 reviews · 97% positive · 2021

How this list is built

Games are ranked by Steam review count, the most reliable public proxy for sales when actual figures are private. Each title links to its indielist page, where the white-box sales estimate expands into the full Boxleiter formula, so you can audit the number rather than trust a black box. Review counts come from Steam; sales figures are estimates, not official sales data.

Want the underlying estimate for your own game? Try the sales estimator, or browse the full game directory.