The best sandbox indie games, ranked by reviews

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

indielist tracks 195 sandbox indie games on Steam, holding 14,962,168 reviews at an average of 88% 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. Rust · 1,140,437 reviews · 87% positive · 2018
3. Garry's Mod · 1,070,495 reviews · 97% positive · 2006
4. Wallpaper Engine · 914,881 reviews · 98% positive · 2018
5. Stardew Valley · 868,743 reviews · 98% positive · 2016
6. ARK: Survival Evolved · 579,234 reviews · 83% positive · 2017
7. The Forest · 570,988 reviews · 96% positive · 2018
8. Unturned · 563,169 reviews · 91% positive · 2017
9. Valheim · 452,821 reviews · 94% positive · 2021
10. Don't Starve Together · 367,165 reviews · 95% positive · 2016
11. Palworld · 355,335 reviews · 94% positive · 2024
12. Project Zomboid · 343,212 reviews · 94% positive · 2013
13. Subnautica · 331,738 reviews · 97% positive · 2018
14. Raft · 318,148 reviews · 93% positive · 2022
15. No Man's Sky · 307,436 reviews · 85% positive · 2016
16. People Playground · 293,143 reviews · 98% positive · 2019
17. Satisfactory · 228,423 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
18. RimWorld · 203,546 reviews · 98% positive · 2018
19. Factorio · 191,633 reviews · 98% positive · 2020
20. Human Fall Flat · 172,948 reviews · 95% 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.