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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 2026-10-23. Rankings update as data changes.

indielist tracks 276 sandbox indie games on Steam, holding 15,956,565 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 Terraria with 1,247,686 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

  1. Terraria · 1,247,686 reviews · 97% positive · 2011
  2. Rust · 1,176,471 reviews · 87% positive · 2018
  3. Garry's Mod · 1,098,377 reviews · 97% positive · 2006
  4. Wallpaper Engine · 951,931 reviews · 98% positive · 2018
  5. Stardew Valley · 901,380 reviews · 98% positive · 2016
  6. ARK: Survival Evolved · 588,535 reviews · 83% positive · 2017
  7. The Forest · 583,870 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  8. Valheim · 475,018 reviews · 93% positive · 2026
  9. Palworld · 416,579 reviews · 95% positive · 2026
  10. Don't Starve Together · 377,538 reviews · 95% positive · 2016
  11. Project Zomboid · 370,897 reviews · 94% positive · 2013
  12. Subnautica · 343,137 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
  13. Raft · 324,860 reviews · 93% positive · 2022
  14. No Man's Sky · 310,268 reviews · 85% positive · 2016
  15. People Playground · 301,659 reviews · 97% positive · 2019
  16. Satisfactory · 236,679 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
  17. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord · 231,865 reviews · 88% positive · 2022
  18. 鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal · 224,932 reviews · 56% positive · 2023
  19. RimWorld · 210,586 reviews · 98% positive · 2018
  20. Factorio · 196,758 reviews · 98% positive · 2020

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.