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indielist (beta)

The best open world survival craft 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 55 open world survival craft indie games on Steam, holding 7,641,341 reviews at an average of 84% 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. The Forest · 681,741 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  4. ARK: Survival Evolved · 586,217 reviews · 83% positive · 2017
  5. Valheim · 458,539 reviews · 94% positive · 2021
  6. Palworld · 409,299 reviews · 95% positive · 2026
  7. Subnautica · 379,589 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
  8. Don't Starve Together · 375,815 reviews · 95% positive · 2016
  9. Project Zomboid · 362,878 reviews · 94% positive · 2013
  10. Raft · 323,060 reviews · 93% positive · 2022
  11. No Man's Sky · 310,268 reviews · 85% positive · 2016
  12. Satisfactory · 234,628 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
  13. ASTRONEER · 139,217 reviews · 92% positive · 2019
  14. Starbound · 120,672 reviews · 90% positive · 2016
  15. Don't Starve · 113,439 reviews · 97% positive · 2013
  16. The Long Dark · 111,621 reviews · 89% positive · 2017
  17. Subnautica: Below Zero · 99,295 reviews · 90% positive · 2021
  18. SCUM · 98,248 reviews · 74% positive · 2025
  19. Core Keeper · 49,940 reviews · 93% positive · 2024
  20. Stranded Deep · 43,593 reviews · 74% 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.