RANKING · 15 TITLES

The 15 best early access indie games on Steam in 2026

Among early access indie games on Steam, Lethal Company leads right now, then Project Zomboid and Valheim.

Ordered by fit with the genre, Steam review score, number of reviews and how each game plays. Steam figures checked 13 Sept 2026. How the order works

The 15 best early access indie games, ranked

01
97% positive · 510,834 reviews · USD 9.99
Lethal Company
Lethal Company is co-op horror about meeting a quota with friends who will scream. The loop is extract, not campaign.
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02
94% positive · 481,033 reviews · USD 24.99
Project Zomboid
Knowledge of heating, moodles, and TV schedules is the skill.
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03
94% positive · 547,040 reviews · USD 29.99
Valheim
Valheim is a Viking survival sandbox: you gather, build, sail, and fight biome bosses on a world you keep. Co-op building is the spine.
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04
97.4% positive · 91,686 reviews · USD 19.99
Dyson Sphere Program
You scale belts until the star is a machine. Combat is not the pitch.
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05
95.7% positive · 123,247 reviews · USD 29.99
Hades II
Hades II is a roguelite game built around action combat.
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06
93% positive · 377,108 reviews · EUR 20.49
Raft
Raft is an ocean craft loop: expand the floater, dive, do not get sharked. The base is a square of wood that grows, and the island is a stop you chose with a sail.
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07
98% positive · 156,396 reviews · EUR 18.99
Slime Rancher
Slime Rancher is a cute vacuum: ranch slimes, don't mix the wrong ones. A corral is a save, and a plort is the coin you farmed by being kind to goo.
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08
97.4% positive · 240,787 reviews · EUR 21.49
ULTRAKILL
ULTRAKILL is a style-rank FPS where movement is the magazine and blood is the reload you earn by staying in the room. A letter is the loot, and the corridor is a song someone wrote.
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09
95% positive · 144,333 reviews · EUR 19.5
Black Mesa
Black Mesa is a Half-Life remake: authored FPS chapters, Xen as a place you finish. A corridor is a set piece, and the crowbar is a chapter list you already knew.
Steam store ↗
10
89.9% positive · 161,236 reviews · EUR 9.49
Escape the Backrooms
Escape the Backrooms is liminal co-op horror: wander yellow rooms, don't get got. The space is the monster, and the friend on voice is the map you forgot.
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11
98.2% positive · 26,862 reviews · EUR 19.5
Rhythm Doctor
Rhythm Doctor is a timing hospital: hit on the seventh beat or the patient dies as a joke. A level is a chart, and the editor is how the night continues.
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12
97% positive · 15,065 reviews · EUR 28.99
shapez 2 - Factory
shapez 2 is the 3D sequel to a shape factory: belts, layers, and no enemies. A shape arrives, a cutter waits, and the manifold is the whole plot.
Steam store ↗
13
86% positive · 105,536 reviews · USD 39.99
Enshrouded
Building and shroud exploration sit on the same save.
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14
74% positive · 47,763 reviews · EUR 15.99
Stranded Deep
Stranded Deep is a raft-and-island survival: sharks, crabs, and a horizon. You drink, you craft a still, and the wreck is homework you swim toward.
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15
66% positive · 18,028 reviews · EUR 28.99
Nightingale
You hop a realm, you place a camp, and the fairytale skin sits on a gather-and-build week.
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How this ranking works

A missing 1.0 date is what also puts them on the upcoming list.

How this list is ordered →

The 15 best early access indie games, ranked

Lethal Company

Project Zomboid

Valheim

Dyson Sphere Program

Hades II

Raft

Slime Rancher

ULTRAKILL

Black Mesa

Escape the Backrooms

Rhythm Doctor

shapez 2 - Factory

Enshrouded

Stranded Deep

Nightingale

How this ranking works

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