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indielist (beta)

The best sandbox indie games, ranked by reviews

5 min read for players

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Data report Built from live indielist data on 2026-07-24. Rankings update as data changes.

indielist tracks 271 sandbox indie games on Steam, holding 16,013,304 reviews at an average of 87% 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 Rust with 1,383,303 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

  1. Rust · 1,383,303 reviews · 87% positive · 2018
  2. Terraria · 1,227,439 reviews · 97% positive · 2011
  3. Garry's Mod · 1,081,337 reviews · 97% positive · 2006
  4. Wallpaper Engine · 932,953 reviews · 98% positive · 2018
  5. Stardew Valley · 882,604 reviews · 98% positive · 2016
  6. ARK: Survival Evolved · 583,081 reviews · 83% positive · 2017
  7. The Forest · 577,971 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  8. Valheim · 455,972 reviews · 94% positive · 2021
  9. Palworld · 379,930 reviews · 94% positive · 2026
  10. Don't Starve Together · 373,459 reviews · 95% positive · 2016
  11. Project Zomboid · 350,081 reviews · 94% positive · 2013
  12. Subnautica · 338,617 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
  13. Raft · 321,118 reviews · 93% positive · 2022
  14. No Man's Sky · 310,268 reviews · 85% positive · 2016
  15. People Playground · 295,783 reviews · 98% positive · 2019
  16. RimWorld · 243,385 reviews · 98% positive · 2018
  17. Satisfactory · 232,215 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
  18. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord · 228,008 reviews · 88% positive · 2022
  19. Factorio · 193,619 reviews · 98% positive · 2020
  20. 鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal · 189,933 reviews · 56% positive · 2023

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.