We used the same data for this version of the list as the main Polaris List 2025 but in this case, we counted submissions in the same series as if they were for one entry, if they were for a mainline according to Wikipedia (Mario Kart was not included in Mario Series, Final Fantasy Tactics not included in Final Fantasy, etc).
The one additional exception is that entry #44 is fabricated in that the MUDs in question were not a series per se, but we felt they deserved a call-out as inspirational to the developers concerned.
In all other ways, the same process as the main list was followed.
| Title/Series | Top Title | Titles in Survey | Developer | |
| 1 | The Legend of Zelda Series | Breath of the Wild | 9 | Nintendo |
| 2 | Mario Series | Super Mario 64 | 6 | Nintendo |
| 3 | Civilization Series | Civilization | 5 | Firaxis Games, Aspyr |
| 4 | Final Fantasy Series | Final Fantasy VII | 11 | Square, Square-Enix |
| 5 | Portal Series | Portal | 2 | Valve Corporation |
| 6 | Elder Scrolls Series | Morrowind | 4 | Bethesda Softworks |
| 7 | Half-Life Series | Half-Life | 2 | Valve Corporation |
| 8 | Ultima Series | Ultima IV | 7 | Origin Systems, Electronic Arts |
| 9 | Dwarf Fortress | Bay 12 Games | ||
| 10 | Shadow of the Colossus | Sony Computer Entertainment | ||
| 11 | Metroid Series | Super Metroid | 4 | Nintendo, Retro Studios, Mercury Steam, Team Ninja |
| 12 | XCOM Series | XCOM: UFO Defense / UFO: Enemy Unknown | 3 | Mythos Games, MicroProse, Hasbro, Infogrames, Irrational, 2K Marin, Firaxis |
| 13 | Spelunky Series | Spelunky | 2 | Derek Yu |
| 14 | Slay the Spire | Mega Crit | ||
| 15 | SimCity Series | SimCity | 4 | Maxis |
| 16 | Diablo Series | Diablo | 3 | Blizzard North |
| 17 | Deus Ex Series | Deus Ex | Ion Storm, Eidos | |
| 18 | Outer Wilds | Mobius Digital | ||
| 19 | Minecraft | Mojang Studios | ||
| 20 | Fallout Series | Fallout | Interplay, Black Isle, Micro Forte, Bethesda, Obsidian | |
| 21 | Dark Souls Series | Dark Souls | FromSoft | |
| 22 | Journey | Sony Computer Entertainment | ||
| 23 | NetHack | NetHack DevTeam | ||
| 24 | DOOM Series | DOOM | 3 | id Software, Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax Media |
| 25 | Thief: The Dark Project | Ion Storm | ||
| 26 | ICO | Sony Computer Entertainment | ||
| 27 | The Sims Series | The Sims | 4 | Maxis |
| 28 | World of Warcraft | Blizzard Entertainment | ||
| 29 | Star Control II | Toys for Bob | ||
| 30 | Super Smash Brothers Series | Super Smash Bros. | 3 | HAL Laboratory |
| 31 | Sid Meier’s Pirates! | Firaxis Games | ||
| 32 | Mass Effect Series | Mass Effect | 3 | BioWare |
| 33 | Metal Gear Series | Metal Gear Solid | Konami | |
| 34 | FTL: Faster Than Light | Subset Games | ||
| 35 | Papers, Please | Lucas Pope | ||
| 36 | What Remains of Edith Finch | Giant Sparrow | ||
| 37 | Lode Runner | Doug Smith | ||
| 38 | Tetris Series | Tetris | 3 | Alexey Pajitnov |
| 39 | Starcraft | Blizzard Entertainment | ||
| 40 | Chrono Trigger | Square | ||
| 41 | Zork Series | Zork | 2 | Infocom, Activision |
| 42 | Rogue | A.I. Design | ||
| 43 | Elite Series | Elite | 2 | Frontier Developments, Microplay Software |
| 44 | MUDs | Various | 5 | Various |
| 45 | Monkey Island Series | The Secret of Monkey Island | 3 | LucasArts, Telltale |
| 46 | Master of Orion Series | Master of Orion II | 3 | Simtex |
| 47 | Pokemon Series | Game Freak | ||
| 48 | Planescape: Torment | Black Isle Studios | ||
| 49 | Animal Crossing Series | Animal Crossing | 2 | Nintendo |
| 50 | Grand Theft Auto III | DMA Design | ||
| 51 | Magic the Gathering Online | Wizards of the Coast | ||
| 52 | Katamari Damacy | Namco | ||
| 53 | Telltale’s The Walking Dead | Telltale Games, Skybound Games | ||
| 54 | Kentucky Route Zero | Cardboard Computer | ||
| 55 | 80 Days | Inkle | ||
| 56 | King’s Quest Series | King’s Quest | 3 | Sierra On-Line |
| 57 | Quest for Glory Series | Quest for Glory | 2 | Sierra On-Line |
| 58 | Lemmings | DMA Design | ||
| 59 | Persona Series | Persona 4 / Persona 5 | 3 | Atlus |
| 60 | Team Fortress Series | Team Fortress 2 | 2 | Valve |
| 61 | Crusader Kings Series | Crusader Kings II | 2 | Paradox Development Studio |
| 62 | Braid | Number None | ||
| 63 | Dishonored Series | Dishonored | 2 | Arkane Studios |
| 64 | Fortnite | Epic Games | ||
| 65 | Return of the Obra Dinn | Lucas Pope | ||
| 66 | Disco Elysium | ZA/UM | ||
| 67 | M.U.L.E. | Ozark Softscape | ||
| 68 | Starflight | Binary Systems | ||
| 69 | Dungeon Master | FTL Games | ||
| 70 | Mega Man Series | Megaman 2 | 2 | Capcom |
| 71 | Prince of Persia Series | Price of Persia / Prince of Persia: Sands of Time | 2 | Broderbund, Red Orb, Avalanche, Ubisoft, Pipeworks, Gameloft |
| 72 | Sonic Series | Sonic the Hedgehog | 3 | Sega, Sonic Team, Gamefam, Gameloft, SNK |
| 73 | System Shock Series | System Shock / System Shock 2 | 2 | Looking Glass Technologies |
| 74 | Quake Series | Quake | 2 | id Software, Raven Software, Hyperion, Bullfrog, Lobotomy, Raster, Hammerhead |
| 75 | Baldur’s Gate Series | Baldur’s Gate | 2 | BioWare, Snowblind, Black Isle, High Voltage, Beamdog, Larian |
| 76 | EverQuest | Verant Interactive, 989 Studios | ||
| 77 | REZ | United Game Artists | ||
| 78 | Battlefield 1942 | Digital Illusions CE | ||
| 79 | Fallen London / Echo Bazaar | Failbetter Games | ||
| 80 | NieR Series | NieR: Automata | 2 | Cavia, PlatinumGames |
| 81 | Dear Esther | The Chinese Room | ||
| 82 | Caves of Qud | Freehold Games | ||
| 83 | Undertale | Toby Fox | ||
| 84 | Inside | Playdead | ||
| 85 | Stardew Valley | ConcernedApe | ||
| 86 | Night in the Woods | Infinite Fall, Secret Lab | ||
| 87 | Colossal Cave Adventure / Adventure | Will Crowther | ||
| 88 | Space Invaders | Taito | ||
| 89 | Lords of Midnight | Mike Singleton | ||
| 90 | The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy | Infocom | ||
| 91 | Pool of Radiance | Strategic Simulations | ||
| 92 | Wing Commander | Origin Systems | ||
| 93 | Street Fighter 2 | Capcom | ||
| 94 | Earthbound | Ape Inc., HAL Laboratory | ||
| 95 | Mariokart | Nintendo | ||
| 96 | Master of Magic | Simtex | ||
| 97 | Command & Conquer | Westwood Studios | ||
| 98 | Heroes of Might & Magic Series | Heroes of Might and Magic II | New World Computing | |
| 99 | Worms Series | Worms | Team17 |
