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indielist (beta)

The best dystopian 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 35 dystopian indie games on Steam, holding 476,331 reviews at an average of 89% 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 Stray with 158,661 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

  1. Stray · 158,661 reviews · 97% positive · 2022
  2. Papers, Please · 73,662 reviews · 97% positive · 2013
  3. SANABI · 42,009 reviews · 97% positive · 2023
  4. Beholder · 23,357 reviews · 92% positive · 2016
  5. AI LIMIT · 23,084 reviews · 92% positive · 2025
  6. The Ascent · 19,615 reviews · 73% positive · 2021
  7. Hacknet · 16,956 reviews · 94% positive · 2015
  8. We Happy Few · 11,216 reviews · 77% positive · 2018
  9. DYSMANTLE · 11,071 reviews · 91% positive · 2021
  10. Not For Broadcast · 10,377 reviews · 94% positive · 2022
  11. Iron Lung · 10,249 reviews · 92% positive · 2022
  12. Pathologic 2 · 9,610 reviews · 92% positive · 2019
  13. Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You · 8,966 reviews · 90% positive · 2016
  14. Citizen Sleeper · 8,352 reviews · 92% positive · 2022
  15. Beholder 2 · 6,901 reviews · 87% positive · 2018
  16. Beholder: Conductor · 4,757 reviews · 91% positive · 2025
  17. Brigador: Up-Armored Edition · 4,600 reviews · 93% positive · 2016
  18. Metal Garden · 4,593 reviews · 97% positive · 2025
  19. KARMA: The Dark World · 4,022 reviews · 91% positive · 2025
  20. NORCO · 3,295 reviews · 92% positive · 2022

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.