Every Torchlight game, ranked
All 3 Torchlight games we hold, spanning 2009 to 2020: 3 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 64,338 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Torchlight II (GamingPickz Score 8.2), the highest-rated entry we can score.
- For canon order: begin with Torchlight (2009) and follow the release-order timeline below.
- For the money: Torchlight gives the most score per dollar right now.
The Torchlight games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 3 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
3 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 3 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
3 best Torchlight games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
Torchlight II at a glance Released 2012 Studio Runic Games Player sentiment 93% positive of 45,503 Critics 88/100 Price $19.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 0 declared features Raw 93% shrinks to 92.9 on 45,503 reviews, then blends with the 88 critic aggregate, giving 8.2.
What the data supports- Cloud saves and cross-platform play, so progress follows you between machines.
- 2
Torchlight
Best for: A consistently well-received pick in this category
7.7GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceTorchlight at a glance Released 2009 Studio Runic Games Player sentiment 91% positive of 7,362 Critics 83/100 Price $14.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 0 declared features Raw 91% shrinks to 90.6 on 7,362 reviews, then blends with the 83 critic aggregate, giving 7.7.
Torchlight III at a glance Released 2020 Studio Echtra Inc. Player sentiment 47% positive of 11,473 Critics No aggregate Price $39.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 10 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 47% shrinks to 48.2 on 11,473 reviews, giving 4.7. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- Small install at 10 GB.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Torchlight game we can score is Torchlight II at 8.2. The lowest is Torchlight III at 4.7, a 3.5-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
How the series scored over time
GamingPickz Score against release year, 2009 to 2020. The later entries score lower than the earlier ones: the series has been trending down.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Torchlight at $14.99. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Torchlight, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Torchlight entries on Steam:
- Playable: Torchlight, Torchlight II, Torchlight III
Platforms across the series
Where the 3 Torchlight games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 3 of 3 |
The Torchlight series, game by game
Every Torchlight game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2009
Torchlight
7.7Adventure awaits in the award-winning Action RPG debut from Runic Games! Explore the randomized depths of this boom town, collect loot, and level up to save Torchlight - and possibly the world. (Steam)
Plot
In the fantasy world that serves as the setting of Torchlight , there is a mysterious ore known as Ember which has the power to imbue people and items with magical power. The mining boomtown called Torchlight is built above a rich vein of Ember, and adventurers are drawn to the town seeking the magical substance and the enchanted items it creates. However, as the player character explores the dungeons below Torchlight, they discover that Ember has a… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception Torchlight received positive reviews; the PC release currently holds a score of 83 out of 100 on Metacritic while the Xbox 360 release holds a score of 81 out of 100. Writing for RPGamer , staff reviewer Anna Marie Neufeld praised Torchlight's "phenomenal music and great art direction" as well as its addictive combat but criticized the game's storyline as shallow. Rock, Paper, Shotgun reviewer John Walker found the core… (Wikipedia)
- 2012
The adventure continues in Torchlight II! An Action RPG filled with epic battles, bountiful treasure, and a fully randomized world. Bring your friends along for the journey with online and LAN multiplayer. (Steam)
Plot
Years after the end of the original Torchlight , The Alchemist (one of the three playable characters in the first game) becomes corrupted by the Ember Blight coming from the Heart of Ordrak, the evil being who had been the source of the corruption under the town of Torchlight, and then destroys the town. The player character takes on a quest to stop this villain, who is using Ordrak's power to disturb the balance between the world's six elements. As the… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception Torchlight II received favorable reviews; on aggregate review website Metacritic the game attains an overall score of 88 out of 100 based on reviews from 67 professional critics. Though the original Torchlight received positive reviews , the game's lack of any multiplayer modes was a near-universal criticism of the title by critics and fans alike. Game Informer stated that " Torchlight II is an excellent game no matter how… (Wikipedia)
- 2020
In Torchlight III, Novastraia is again under threat of invasion and it’s up to you to defend against the Netherim and its allies. Gather your wits and brave the frontier to find fame, glory, and new adventures! (Steam)
Reception
Reception Torchlight III received "mixed or average" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic . Review outlets unanimously deemed the game an inferior one compared to prior entries in the franchise. Destructoid gave the game a six out of ten, calling its campaign "forgettable" while writing, "If you’re the kind of player who got deep into Torchlight II mods or spent countless hours crafting your ideal character builds, you’re almost certainly… (Wikipedia)
Torchlight, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Torchlight vs other series
How Torchlight stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Torchlight vs DARK SOULS, Torchlight vs Dragon Age, Torchlight vs DRAGON BALL, Torchlight vs Mass Effect, Torchlight vs Monster Hunter, Torchlight vs Mount & Blade, Torchlight vs Yakuza, Torchlight vs ARK, Torchlight vs Borderlands, Torchlight vs Deus Ex, Torchlight vs Risen, Torchlight vs State of Decay, Torchlight vs The Witcher, Torchlight vs Watch, Torchlight vs ArcheAge, Torchlight vs Divinity, Torchlight vs Dragon's Dogma, Torchlight vs Dungeon Siege, Torchlight vs ELDEN RING, Torchlight vs EverQuest, Torchlight vs God of War, Torchlight vs Gothic, Torchlight vs Hades, Torchlight vs Heroes of Hammerwatch, Torchlight vs Kingdom Come, Torchlight vs Kingdoms of Amalur, Torchlight vs Marvel’s Spider-Man, Torchlight vs Middle-earth, Torchlight vs Might & Magic, Torchlight vs NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, Torchlight vs Pathfinder, Torchlight vs Prototype, Torchlight vs South Park, Torchlight vs Street Fighter, Torchlight vs The Lord of the Rings, Torchlight vs The Surge, Torchlight vs Tom Clancy’s The Division, Torchlight vs Two Worlds, Torchlight vs Wasteland
Common questions
How many Torchlight games are there?
We hold 3 Torchlight games in the catalogue, released between 2009 and 2020. 3 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Torchlight game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Torchlight II rates highest at 8.2. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Torchlight games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2009 to 2020. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.