Why it issues: As a foundational title within the “cozy sport” subgenre, Stardew Valley has remained probably the most profitable indie video games for a lot of the previous decade. With Steam participant counts increased than ever over the previous yr, Eric Barone’s pixel artwork farming simulator now additionally holds the best consumer ranking on the platform.
Steam250.com, which makes use of information from SteamDB to calculate cumulative overview scores, presently ranks Stardew Valley as essentially the most positively reviewed sport on Steam. The location provides the sport a rating of 8.87, based mostly on a 98 p.c constructive ranking from 901,000 critiques.
The rankings reveal an fascinating development amongst top-reviewed titles. Two fundamental classes dominate the record. One consists of widespread indie video games corresponding to Stardew Valley, Terraria, Vampire Survivors, Hades, Balatro, and Schedule I. The opposite options largely Valve titles, together with Left 4 Lifeless 2, Garry’s Mod, and Half-Life 2. Notable outliers embody Euro Truck Simulator 2, Black Fantasy: Wukong, and Baldur’s Gate 3.
Indie video games like Deltarune, ENA: Dream BB, and Bongo Cat are additionally among the many top-rated releases of 2025. Nevertheless, big-budget titles corresponding to Break up Fiction, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II additionally stand out.
Steam250 updates its rankings periodically, so Stardew Valley could not maintain the highest spot perpetually. Nonetheless, its recognition exhibits no indicators of fading. Though it has lengthy been a staple within the life simulation style, the sport’s current main replace has taken its success to a brand new stage.
Model 1.6, which added new occasions and a brand new kind of farm final March, introduced Steam participant counts to an all-time excessive, eclipsing the numbers from Stardew Valley’s preliminary launch. Moreover, participant counts over the previous yr have remained constantly above any interval earlier than model 1.6’s launch. The sport additionally sits comfortably amongst Steam’s high sellers and is essentially the most performed title on the Steam Deck.
Nevertheless, players should not anticipate one other main replace within the close to future. Creator Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone just lately shifted his consideration towards his subsequent sport, the long-in-development Haunted Chocolatier.
Though Barone introduced the chocolate store administration simulator in 2021, progress stalled as a consequence of his work on Stardew Valley 1.6, which incorporates current hotfixes for the console variations.
Haunted Chocolatier nonetheless doesn’t have a launch date, and it’s unclear when new particulars will emerge. Barone has beforehand acknowledged that the sport will middle on a single city, just like Stardew Valley, however will function extra action-oriented gameplay.
