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indielist (beta)

The best exploration indie games, ranked by reviews

5 min read for players

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Data report Assembled from live indielist data on 2026-06-05. Rankings update as data changes.

indielist tracks 196 exploration indie games on Steam, holding 10,654,263 reviews at an average of 90% 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 1,216,769 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are modeled estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

  1. Terraria · 1,216,769 reviews · 97% positive · 2011
  2. Garry's Mod · 1,070,495 reviews · 97% positive · 2006
  3. Euro Truck Simulator 2 · 766,107 reviews · 97% positive · 2012
  4. The Forest · 570,988 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
  5. Hollow Knight · 487,097 reviews · 97% positive · 2017
  6. Valheim · 452,821 reviews · 94% positive · 2021
  7. Lethal Company · 409,614 reviews · 97% positive · 2023
  8. Palworld · 355,335 reviews · 94% positive · 2024
  9. Subnautica · 331,738 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
  10. No Man's Sky · 307,436 reviews · 85% positive · 2016
  11. Satisfactory · 228,423 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
  12. It Takes Two · 212,497 reviews · 95% positive · 2021
  13. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 · 175,066 reviews · 95% positive · 2025
  14. Stray · 153,072 reviews · 97% positive · 2022
  15. Slime Rancher · 136,310 reviews · 98% positive · 2017
  16. Ori and the Will of the Wisps · 134,102 reviews · 97% positive · 2020
  17. DAVE THE DIVER · 133,203 reviews · 97% positive · 2023
  18. Oxygen Not Included · 132,230 reviews · 97% positive · 2019
  19. Celeste · 126,861 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
  20. Starbound · 120,582 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 modeled estimates, not official sales data.

Want the underlying estimate for your own game? Try the sales estimator, or browse the full game directory.