The best difficult indie games, ranked by reviews

Data report Assembled from live indielist data on 2026-06-06. Rankings update as data changes.

indielist tracks 149 difficult indie games on Steam, holding 7,822,345 reviews at an average of 91% 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 Geometry Dash with 557,534 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are modeled estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

1. Geometry Dash · 557,534 reviews · 93% positive · 2014
2. Hollow Knight · 487,097 reviews · 97% positive · 2017
3. Valheim · 452,821 reviews · 94% positive · 2021
4. Don't Starve Together · 367,165 reviews · 95% positive · 2016
5. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth · 357,988 reviews · 97% positive · 2014
6. Hades · 281,339 reviews · 98% positive · 2020
7. Risk of Rain 2 · 236,687 reviews · 94% positive · 2020
8. Slay the Spire · 189,240 reviews · 98% positive · 2019
9. Cuphead · 188,579 reviews · 96% positive · 2017
10. Balatro · 155,457 reviews · 98% positive · 2024
11. Dead Cells · 153,647 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
12. Darkest Dungeon® · 138,477 reviews · 92% positive · 2016
13. Ori and the Will of the Wisps · 134,102 reviews · 97% positive · 2020
14. Oxygen Not Included · 132,230 reviews · 97% positive · 2019
15. Celeste · 126,861 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
16. Kerbal Space Program · 116,084 reviews · 95% positive · 2015
17. Muse Dash · 115,249 reviews · 91% positive · 2019
18. Frostpunk · 112,340 reviews · 93% positive · 2018
19. The Long Dark · 110,190 reviews · 89% positive · 2017
20. My Summer Car · 105,334 reviews · 95% positive · 2025

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 modeled estimates, not official sales data.

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