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indielist (beta)

The best open world survival craft 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 55 open world survival craft indie games on Steam, holding 7,626,593 reviews at an average of 85% 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. ARK: Survival Evolved · 583,081 reviews · 83% positive · 2017
  4. The Forest · 577,971 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  5. Valheim · 455,972 reviews · 94% positive · 2021
  6. Palworld · 379,930 reviews · 94% positive · 2026
  7. Don't Starve Together · 373,459 reviews · 95% positive · 2016
  8. Project Zomboid · 350,081 reviews · 94% positive · 2013
  9. Subnautica · 338,617 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
  10. Raft · 321,118 reviews · 93% positive · 2022
  11. No Man's Sky · 310,268 reviews · 85% positive · 2016
  12. Satisfactory · 232,215 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
  13. Starbound · 120,624 reviews · 90% positive · 2016
  14. ASTRONEER · 118,359 reviews · 92% positive · 2019
  15. Don't Starve · 113,208 reviews · 97% positive · 2013
  16. The Long Dark · 110,972 reviews · 89% positive · 2017
  17. Subnautica: Below Zero · 98,838 reviews · 90% positive · 2021
  18. SCUM · 97,724 reviews · 74% positive · 2025
  19. Core Keeper · 49,416 reviews · 93% positive · 2024
  20. Forager · 43,850 reviews · 90% positive · 2019

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.