The best emotional indie games, ranked by reviews

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

indielist tracks 26 emotional indie games on Steam, holding 785,764 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 It Takes Two with 212,497 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are modeled estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

1. It Takes Two · 212,497 reviews · 95% positive · 2021
2. Ori and the Will of the Wisps · 134,102 reviews · 97% positive · 2020
3. This War of Mine · 88,714 reviews · 94% positive · 2014
4. A Way Out · 76,189 reviews · 88% positive · 2020
5. Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition · 46,336 reviews · 95% positive · 2020
6. What Remains of Edith Finch · 45,388 reviews · 96% positive · 2017
7. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe · 33,072 reviews · 94% positive · 2022
8. Sally Face - Episode One · 24,760 reviews · 97% positive · 2016
9. Valiant Hearts: The Great War™ / Soldats Inconnus : Mémoires de la Grande Guerre™ · 24,204 reviews · 96% positive · 2014
10. Before Your Eyes · 20,416 reviews · 98% positive · 2021
11. Wildermyth · 18,148 reviews · 95% positive · 2021
12. Sea of Stars · 14,485 reviews · 89% positive · 2023
13. Coffee Talk · 12,334 reviews · 95% positive · 2020
14. In Stars And Time · 8,377 reviews · 97% positive · 2023
15. Call of the Sea · 6,105 reviews · 88% positive · 2020
16. Copycat · 5,363 reviews · 89% positive · 2024
17. KARMA: The Dark World · 4,363 reviews · 92% positive · 2025
18. Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate · 3,123 reviews · 95% positive · 2025
19. Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly · 2,707 reviews · 97% positive · 2023
20. Harold Halibut · 1,210 reviews · 82% positive · 2024

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.