Best Indie games of 2026 — ranked by players

Ranking of Indie releases from the last 12 months, built entirely from player reviews: 1744 games analyzed, 43,146,724 Steam reviews aggregated. No editorial score — the "Player Score" is the percentage of positive reviews since launch, weighted by review volume in the ranking (a 95 % score on 300 reviews doesn't beat a 93 % score on 100 000). Updated continuously.

#1

Slime Rancher

August 1, 2017 · 155,291 reviews

99/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#2

Stardew Valley

February 26, 2016 · 1,021,482 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#3

The Henry Stickmin Collection

August 7, 2020 · 58,553 reviews

99/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#4

The WereCleaner

May 7, 2024 · 12,947 reviews

100/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#5

People Playground

July 23, 2019 · 315,102 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#6

Satisfactory

September 10, 2024 · 275,396 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#7

Factorio

August 14, 2020 · 232,034 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#8

Stray

July 19, 2022 · 175,379 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#9

Creature Kitchen

February 6, 2026 · 8,489 reviews

100/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#10

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator

April 1, 2021 · 151,724 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#11

Kerbal Space Program

April 27, 2015 · 144,501 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#12

Celeste

January 25, 2018 · 143,962 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#13

Sheepy: A Short Adventure

February 6, 2024 · 23,413 reviews

99/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#14

Before Your Eyes

April 8, 2021 · 23,407 reviews

99/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#15

Cult of the Lamb

August 11, 2022 · 126,252 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#16

A Short Hike

July 30, 2019 · 22,349 reviews

99/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#17

Finding Paradise

December 14, 2017 · 20,201 reviews

99/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#18

Outcore: Desktop Adventure

September 26, 2022 · 18,035 reviews

99/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#19

Garry's Mod

November 29, 2006 · 1,249,898 reviews

97/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#20

Euro Truck Simulator 2

October 12, 2012 · 930,880 reviews

97/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#21

Papa's Freezeria Deluxe

March 31, 2023 · 13,099 reviews

99/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#22

VPet-Simulator

August 13, 2023 · 51,423 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#23

HoloCure - Save the Fans!

August 16, 2023 · 40,505 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#24

Subnautica

January 23, 2018 · 376,556 reviews

97/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#25

Undertale

September 15, 2015 · 330,554 reviews

97/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#26

ENA: Dream BBQ

March 26, 2025 · 36,512 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#27

Wobbly Life

September 18, 2025 · 34,763 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#28

Vampire Survivors

October 20, 2022 · 264,005 reviews

97/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#29

Chants of Sennaar

September 5, 2023 · 32,611 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#30

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!

June 30, 2021 · 31,583 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive