The best programming indie games, ranked by reviews

Data report Built from live indielist data on 2026-06-13. Rankings update as data changes.

indielist tracks 8 programming indie games on Steam, holding 79,399 reviews at an average of 89% 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 Hacknet with 25,934 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.

The ranking

1. Hacknet · 25,934 reviews · 94% positive · 2015
2. Baba Is You · 24,169 reviews · 98% positive · 2019
3. The Farmer Was Replaced · 8,613 reviews · 96% positive · 2025
4. while True: learn() · 8,119 reviews · 91% positive · 2019
5. Opus Magnum · 6,950 reviews · 97% positive · 2017
6. Juno: New Origins · 3,451 reviews · 89% positive · 2023
7. The Magic Circle · 1,498 reviews · 93% positive · 2015
8. ServiceIT: You can do IT · 665 reviews · 58% 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.