The best shoot 'em up indie games, ranked by reviews

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

indielist tracks 9 shoot 'em up indie games on Steam, holding 220,031 reviews at an average of 92% 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 Cuphead with 188,579 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are modeled estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

1. Cuphead · 188,579 reviews · 96% positive · 2017
2. Nova Drift · 14,455 reviews · 96% positive · 2024
3. HARD BULLET · 6,407 reviews · 84% positive · 2020
4. Star of Providence · 3,324 reviews · 97% positive · 2017
5. ZeroRanger · 2,166 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
6. NIMRODS · 1,794 reviews · 85% positive · 2024
7. Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer · 1,193 reviews · 79% positive · 2025
8. Iron Meat · 1,073 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
9. Ex-Zodiac · 1,040 reviews · 94% 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.