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indielist (beta)

The best survival indie games, ranked by reviews

5 min read for players

survivalgenre-guidedata-reportrecommendations

Data report Built from live indielist data on 2026-09-07. Rankings update as data changes.

indielist tracks 185 survival indie games on Steam, holding 11,341,718 reviews at an average of 86% 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 1,238,172 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

  1. Terraria · 1,238,172 reviews · 97% positive · 2011
  2. Rust · 1,165,850 reviews · 87% positive · 2018
  3. The Forest · 681,741 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  4. ARK: Survival Evolved · 586,217 reviews · 83% positive · 2017
  5. Valheim · 458,539 reviews · 94% positive · 2021
  6. Palworld · 409,299 reviews · 95% positive · 2026
  7. Subnautica · 379,589 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
  8. Don't Starve Together · 375,815 reviews · 95% positive · 2016
  9. Project Zomboid · 362,878 reviews · 94% positive · 2013
  10. Raft · 323,060 reviews · 93% positive · 2022
  11. No Man's Sky · 310,268 reviews · 85% positive · 2016
  12. Risk of Rain 2 · 239,751 reviews · 94% positive · 2020
  13. Satisfactory · 234,628 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
  14. Factorio · 234,322 reviews · 98% positive · 2020
  15. RimWorld · 208,289 reviews · 98% positive · 2018
  16. Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition · 141,936 reviews · 98% positive · 2009
  17. ASTRONEER · 139,217 reviews · 92% positive · 2019
  18. Stumble Guys · 138,237 reviews · 85% positive · 2021
  19. Oxygen Not Included · 135,173 reviews · 97% positive · 2019
  20. Starbound · 120,672 reviews · 90% positive · 2016

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.