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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 2026-10-23. Rankings update as data changes.

indielist tracks 96 base-building indie games on Steam, holding 4,998,333 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 588,535 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

  1. ARK: Survival Evolved · 588,535 reviews · 83% positive · 2017
  2. Valheim · 475,018 reviews · 93% positive · 2026
  3. Palworld · 416,579 reviews · 95% positive · 2026
  4. Subnautica · 343,137 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
  5. Raft · 324,860 reviews · 93% positive · 2022
  6. Schedule I · 292,987 reviews · 98% positive · 2025
  7. Satisfactory · 236,679 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
  8. RimWorld · 210,586 reviews · 98% positive · 2018
  9. Factorio · 196,758 reviews · 98% positive · 2020
  10. Oxygen Not Included · 136,058 reviews · 97% positive · 2019
  11. ASTRONEER · 119,232 reviews · 92% positive · 2019
  12. Cult of the Lamb · 113,167 reviews · 96% positive · 2022
  13. Scrap Mechanic · 109,847 reviews · 92% positive · 2026
  14. ARK: Survival Ascended · 108,360 reviews · 60% positive · 2023
  15. Subnautica: Below Zero · 99,708 reviews · 90% positive · 2021
  16. Kenshi · 99,170 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  17. Enshrouded · 97,083 reviews · 86% positive · 2026
  18. House Flipper · 92,664 reviews · 94% positive · 2018
  19. This War of Mine · 89,428 reviews · 94% positive · 2014
  20. Dyson Sphere Program · 83,815 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.