Best Indie games of 2026 — ranked by players

Ranking of Indie releases from the last 12 months, built entirely from player reviews: 125 games analyzed, 3,035,087 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

Creature Kitchen

February 6, 2026 · 8,489 reviews

100/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#2

Dispatch

October 22, 2025 · 179,439 reviews

97/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#3

Öoo

August 7, 2025 · 6,350 reviews

99/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#4

Scritchy Scratchy

March 18, 2026 · 13,149 reviews

98/100 · Very Positive

#5

Dead as Disco

May 5, 2026 · 11,779 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#6

Z.A.T.O. // I Love the World and Everything In It

November 10, 2025 · 10,583 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#7

Strange Jigsaws

August 7, 2025 · 4,088 reviews

99/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#8

Berry Bury Berry

January 29, 2026 · 8,002 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#9

Hades II

September 25, 2025 · 120,896 reviews

96/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#10

Sweet Home

August 18, 2025 · 9,744 reviews

97/100 · Very Positive

#11

Tiny Shadows Interwoven Hearts

November 6, 2025 · 3,408 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#12

Tiny Bookshop

August 7, 2025 · 7,356 reviews

97/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#13

Grimshire

July 22, 2025 · 3,111 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#14

Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors

April 21, 2026 · 18,060 reviews

96/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#15

Horsey Game

February 18, 2026 · 2,623 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#16

Journey of Realm：Dawn Dew

August 13, 2025 · 2,242 reviews

98/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#17

Slime Rancher 2

September 23, 2025 · 49,013 reviews

95/100 · Very Positive

#18

Waterpark Simulator

August 22, 2025 · 10,747 reviews

96/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#19

Control, I'm Not Coming Back

May 29, 2026 · 4,165 reviews

97/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#20

Palworld

July 9, 2026 · 427,126 reviews

94/100 · Very Positive

#21

Is This Seat Taken?

August 7, 2025 · 8,963 reviews

96/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#22

No, I'm not a Human

September 15, 2025 · 29,418 reviews

95/100 · Very Positive

#23

BRAZILIAN DRUG DEALER 3: I OPENED A PORTAL TO HELL IN THE FAVELA TRYING TO REVIVE MIT AIA I NEED TO CLOSE IT

September 17, 2025 · 8,249 reviews

96/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#24

Esoteric Ebb

March 3, 2026 · 8,225 reviews

96/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#25

Rhythm Doctor

December 6, 2025 · 26,641 reviews

95/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#26

Idols of Ash

April 9, 2026 · 2,922 reviews

97/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#27

Cairn

January 29, 2026 · 20,217 reviews

95/100 · Very Positive

#28

Whisper of the House

August 27, 2025 · 5,313 reviews

96/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#29

MineMogul

December 4, 2025 · 4,041 reviews

96/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive

#30

Timberborn

March 12, 2026 · 40,439 reviews

94/100 · Overwhelmingly Positive