Portal 2 has held the top spot as the #1 highest-rated game on Steam for a long time, but it's been bumped into second place by indie title Stardew Valley. This means that Stardew Valley has surpassed Portal 2 and every other game in player ratings that's available on the platform since it opened its doors to third-party games back in 2005.

Stardew Valley fans know the game is beloved, with the title still seeing plenty of existing players as well as new ones joining the fanbase all the time. The game's charming graphics, story, and open-ended gameplay make it a cozy hit for many fans, but surpassing Portal 2 to take the top spot among every game on Steam is something shocking, nonetheless.

New Novel Cites Stardew Valley as Inspiration
New Book Takes Inspiration from Stardew Valley

A recently released novel cites the author's experience with indie farming sim sensation Stardew Valley as one of the major inspirations for the book.

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Stardew Valley has bumped Portal 2 from the highest-rated position across the entirety of Steam's catalog. With 895,800 scores at the time of publication, Stardew Valley has achieved an 8.87 score overall, with a positive rating of 98%. Valve's own Portal 2 previously held the position with a score of 8.85 from 435,784 votes. Considering Portal 2 has been widely praised as one of Valve's best games, the feat is quite impressive. This also means that Stardew Valley has topped popular titles like Terraria, Hades, Baldur's Gate 3, Half-Life 2, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Undertale in player review scores, via Steam250.

The Stardew Valley Achievements Just Keep Coming

This milestone is one step up from another recent Stardew Valley accomplishment. By the end of June 2025, Stardew Valley had become the number one-rated indie game on Steam. Beating other indie games is impressive on its own, considering ConcernedApe developed the game solo. However, the fact that Stardew Valley has now left AAA games in its dust is even more incredible.

Stardew Valley didn't achieve this success overnight, with developer ConcernedApe releasing numerous updates for the game over the years that fixed issues and added slews of fresh content. While Stardew Valley has seen some recent difficulties when the newest patches broke some elements of gameplay, the developer worked hard to get them fixed as soon as possible. The numerous free content updates have kept players coming back and ensured that the title remains a popular subject among gamers.

It's clear that Stardew Valley fans adore the game, and it's led to a number of spin-off projects, like a Stardew Valley cookbook, symphony tour, and even a board game. ConcernedApe may be feeling the pressure to meet or surpass Stardew Valley's reputation with his sophomore game, Haunted Chocolatier, but whatever happens, Stardew Valley has cemented itself as a classic.

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Stardew Valley Tag Page Cover Art

Stardew Valley
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RPG
Simulation
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Systems
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Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 99%
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Released
February 26, 2016
ESRB
E for Everyone (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)
Developer(s)
ConcernedApe
Publisher(s)
ConcernedApe
Engine
Proprietary
Multiplayer
Local Multiplayer, Online Multiplayer
Cross-Platform Play
Stardew Valley does not currently support crossplay between different consoles and PC
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
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Genre(s)
RPG, Simulation