The best real-time with pause indie games, ranked by reviews

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

indielist tracks 10 real-time with pause indie games on Steam, holding 284,716 reviews at an average of 90% 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 Frostpunk with 112,340 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are modeled estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

1. Frostpunk · 112,340 reviews · 93% positive · 2018
2. FTL: Faster Than Light · 62,078 reviews · 95% positive · 2012
3. They Are Billions · 45,754 reviews · 85% positive · 2019
4. Pillars of Eternity · 16,764 reviews · 88% positive · 2015
5. Door Kickers 2: Task Force North · 13,127 reviews · 96% positive · 2025
6. Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander · 12,626 reviews · 94% positive · 2022
7. Steel Division 2 · 9,499 reviews · 79% positive · 2019
8. Crying Suns · 4,497 reviews · 86% positive · 2019
9. Cataclismo · 4,161 reviews · 89% positive · 2025
10. Clanfolk · 3,870 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 modeled estimates, not official sales data.

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