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indielist (beta)

The best shoot 'em up 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 25 shoot 'em up indie games on Steam, holding 289,328 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 195,201 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

  1. Cuphead · 195,201 reviews · 96% positive · 2017
  2. 20 Minutes Till Dawn · 27,691 reviews · 91% positive · 2023
  3. Nova Drift · 12,907 reviews · 96% positive · 2024
  4. Furi · 11,163 reviews · 90% positive · 2016
  5. HARD BULLET · 6,486 reviews · 83% positive · 2020
  6. Beat Hazard · 5,062 reviews · 95% positive · 2010
  7. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime · 3,356 reviews · 93% positive · 2015
  8. Star of Providence · 3,345 reviews · 97% positive · 2017
  9. The Citadel · 2,517 reviews · 93% positive · 2020
  10. Mirage Feathers · 2,487 reviews · 98% positive · 2024
  11. ZeroRanger · 2,207 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  12. Ikaruga · 2,180 reviews · 95% positive · 2014
  13. NIMRODS · 1,823 reviews · 85% positive · 2024
  14. The Void Rains Upon Her Heart · 1,621 reviews · 99% positive · 2018
  15. Touhou Fuujinroku ~ Mountain of Faith. · 1,573 reviews · 98% positive · 2020
  16. Touhou Kanjuden ~ Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom. · 1,490 reviews · 98% positive · 2019
  17. Beat Hazard 2 · 1,396 reviews · 86% positive · 2019
  18. Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer · 1,106 reviews · 79% positive · 2025
  19. Touhou Kikeijuu ~ Wily Beast and Weakest Creature. · 1,056 reviews · 97% positive · 2019
  20. Guns of Fury · 949 reviews · 88% positive · 2025

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.