Stardew Valley has just pulled off something incredible—it’s officially dethroned Portal 2 as the highest-rated game on Steam. That’s right, Valve’s iconic puzzle platformer has finally been bumped down to second place by an indie farming sim made by a solo developer. Wild, right?
Since Steam opened the floodgates to third-party titles back in 2005, Portal 2 has held strong at the top. But now, Stardew Valley has taken the crown with an 8.87 rating and a whopping 98% positive score from nearly 896,000 reviews. For comparison, Portal 2 sits just behind with an 8.85 from 435,000 votes.
Not only has Stardew Valley passed Portal 2, but it’s now officially rated higher than other Steam heavy-hitters like Terraria, Hades, Baldur’s Gate 3, Half-Life 2, The Witcher 3, and Undertale—according to Steam250 rankings. That’s a pretty stacked list to beat.
Also read, New Novel Inspired by Stardew Valley and Solo Dev ConcernedApe
This new milestone builds on a recent win for Stardew Valley, which became the highest-rated indie game on Steam just a few weeks ago. The fact that it’s now passed AAA titles too? Even more impressive—especially considering that developer ConcernedApe built and launched the game entirely on his own.
Stardew Valley’s success didn’t happen overnight. Over the years, it’s gotten regular (and free!) updates, packed with new content that keeps the community coming back. Even when the latest patches introduced a few bugs, the dev team jumped on fixes quickly. That kind of ongoing love and care has helped the game stay fresh and relevant.
The love from fans has also spun off into some pretty cool projects—a Stardew Valley cookbook, a symphony concert tour, and even a board game. Meanwhile, all eyes are on ConcernedApe’s next title, Haunted Chocolatier, to see if lightning strikes twice.
No matter what’s next, one thing’s clear: Stardew Valley has already earned its place in gaming history.
Also Read:
Stardew Valley Reaches New Heights as Steam’s Top-Rated Indie Game