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indielist (beta)

The best open world indie games, ranked by reviews

5 min read for players

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Data report Built from live indielist data on 2026-09-07. Rankings update as data changes.

indielist tracks 275 open world indie games on Steam, holding 15,167,225 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 Terraria with 1,238,172 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

  1. Terraria · 1,238,172 reviews · 97% positive · 2011
  2. Rust · 1,165,850 reviews · 87% positive · 2018
  3. Stardew Valley · 892,594 reviews · 98% positive · 2016
  4. Euro Truck Simulator 2 · 783,526 reviews · 97% positive · 2012
  5. The Forest · 681,741 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  6. ARK: Survival Evolved · 586,217 reviews · 83% positive · 2017
  7. Hollow Knight · 501,741 reviews · 97% positive · 2017
  8. Valheim · 458,539 reviews · 94% positive · 2021
  9. Palworld · 409,299 reviews · 95% positive · 2026
  10. Subnautica · 379,589 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
  11. Don't Starve Together · 375,815 reviews · 95% positive · 2016
  12. Project Zomboid · 362,878 reviews · 94% positive · 2013
  13. Raft · 323,060 reviews · 93% positive · 2022
  14. No Man's Sky · 310,268 reviews · 85% positive · 2016
  15. Schedule I · 287,984 reviews · 98% positive · 2025
  16. Satisfactory · 234,628 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
  17. Factorio · 234,322 reviews · 98% positive · 2020
  18. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord · 230,075 reviews · 88% positive · 2022
  19. RimWorld · 208,289 reviews · 98% positive · 2018
  20. Human Fall Flat · 174,703 reviews · 95% positive · 2016

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.