The best sci-fi indie games, ranked by reviews

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

indielist tracks 86 sci-fi indie games on Steam, holding 4,043,430 reviews at an average of 89% 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 ARK: Survival Evolved with 579,234 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are modeled estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

1. ARK: Survival Evolved · 579,234 reviews · 83% positive · 2017
2. Lethal Company · 409,614 reviews · 97% positive · 2023
3. Subnautica · 331,738 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
4. No Man's Sky · 307,436 reviews · 85% positive · 2016
5. Satisfactory · 228,423 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
6. RimWorld · 203,546 reviews · 98% positive · 2018
7. Stray · 153,072 reviews · 97% positive · 2022
8. Black Mesa · 132,752 reviews · 95% positive · 2020
9. Oxygen Not Included · 132,230 reviews · 97% positive · 2019
10. Starbound · 120,582 reviews · 90% positive · 2016
11. ASTRONEER · 117,846 reviews · 92% positive · 2019
12. Kerbal Space Program · 116,084 reviews · 95% positive · 2015
13. Outlast · 101,554 reviews · 96% positive · 2013
14. Subnautica: Below Zero · 97,547 reviews · 90% positive · 2021
15. Outer Wilds · 85,305 reviews · 96% positive · 2020
16. Dyson Sphere Program · 82,685 reviews · 97% positive · 2021
17. Katana ZERO · 65,392 reviews · 98% positive · 2019
18. FTL: Faster Than Light · 62,078 reviews · 95% positive · 2012
19. SOMA · 45,295 reviews · 96% positive · 2015
20. Nine Sols · 36,717 reviews · 94% positive · 2024

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.