The best games of 2025 | Year in Review

As we enter the final hours of 2025, we're reviving a promiscuous tradition: picking the best games the team played that year. Another year filled with thousands of new games has passed, and we don't pretend to have played them all: these are simply the ones we've played the most and enjoyed the most. Here's to another round of winners in 2026.

John Hicks, Editorial Director

This has been another year where I've wishlisted more games than I've played, leaving my favorites list more compromised than usual. Balls have become an unexpected trend with stunningly overstimulated pachinko. Ballionaire and the tricky arkanoid versions of Ball X Pit, both of which have dozens of hours of play time: both do an excellent job of dressing up very old and simple mechanics in very modern clothes, showcasing both the timeless appeal of the classics and the power of mobile-style unlocking systems.

Uncover extensive family history by digging through dial-up era websites in The tree roots are dead was another highlight that introduced me to the idea that The Return of Obra Dinn could perhaps spawn a new genre, although the similar structure of The Seance at Blake Manor wasn't as compelling. The standout game, however, was ARC Raiders: one of the biggest hits of the year, and rightfully so, with outstanding visuals, sound and NPC design, making it the most compelling PvE game I've played. The whirring and screeching drone enemies, with their chaotic flight paths and exposed rotors, are an insanely perfect combination of being easy to defeat and easy to die from, while the larger enemies present a challenge that is (sometimes) incredibly satisfying to overcome.

Human encounters still present a keen balance of risk and reward. I've gotten killed more often than not, but there have been enough moments of random and impossible generosity to say hello – or use the international symbol of peace, the “pew-pew-pew” emote – worth a try, at least when my pockets are empty and I have nothing to lose but the Trials progressing. The setting also feels almost stunningly fresh: after decades of battling the apocalypse in quintessential American locales, harvesting mocha pots in crumbling Mediterranean high-rises feels like a holiday. It's a carefully polished whole in which even a fruitless raid that ends in betrayal is satisfying, and I even came to appreciate the ten minutes of inventory management that follow a successful one.

Sophie McEvoy, Staff Writer

Ghost of Yotei This was my most anticipated game of 2025, and it lived up to all my expectations (and then some). Ghost of Tsushima is one of my favorite games, so its successor had a lot going for it.

It only took me ten minutes to succumb to Yotei's charm, and an hour to rank him above Tsushima. For starters, it has a strong female lead in Atsu (played beautifully by Erika Ishii), whose quest for revenge takes on a much more introspective and remorseful tone as the story progresses. But it was the world created by Sucker Punch Productions in the wilds of Ezo that truly captured my heart. Even though Yötei regularly hacks and slashes at enemies, it's a surprisingly zen game that made me appreciate the beauty in trivial things.

And this is what I think is the essence of Yotei. It made me appreciate the beauty of solitude and how nature is always at hand. Plus, this game lets you pet (and interact with) foxes even more. And do you have a wolf companion who can destroy your enemies? Ghost of Yotei would be my game of the year for these qualities alone.

Lewis Packwood, Features Editor

The year started with the release Citizen Sleeper 2: Star Vector in January. It was great fun to spend more time in the evocative sci-fi world created by Gareth Damian Martin, and the clever evolution of the game's dice rolling mechanics – adding the threat of the dice being permanently broken – provided enticingly higher stakes.

Donkey Kong Bananza was the antithesis of Damian Martin's lonely space stations, but equally welcome: a candy-colored rollercoaster ride into the depths of a planet where one fantastic idea after another accumulated at a breakneck pace. But what I loved most about the game was its sheer silliness: the fun dance numbers, the outlandish costumes, the triumphant cry of “BA-NA-NA” when you get one of the hundreds of collectible crystal bananas in the game. Sometimes stupidity is exactly what you need.

Ball x Pit again couldn't be more different: a modern take on Arkanoid mixed with the OTT ridiculousness of Vampire Survivors. However, I think it has something in common with Donkey Kong Bananza in the way it throws a constant stream of new ideas at the player. The different characters you unlock change the game in surprising ways, such as launching balls from the back of the field rather than the front, and I found the ever-changing dynamics downright engaging.

But if there's a game I can't stop thinking about, it's Horror in Hyruk from Nullpointer Games, a creepy horror-themed card RPG about four detectives searching for a missing family in a creepy old house. Mechanically, there's nothing special about this – you simply place an investigator in a room and press a button to begin the mission. Most of the game simply involves watching timers count down. And yet, with these simple mechanics, it manages to create so much atmosphere and story that I simply couldn't put it down, and the game's ten-hour running time flew by in an instant, leaving me hungry for more.

Oh, and Claire Obscurus: Expedition 33 was pretty good, wasn't it? There's not much I can say about this much-talked-about game other than that it was the easiest five stars I've ever received in a review.

Vicki Blake, reporter

Somewhere out there is a parallel world where Blue Prince didn't come out the same year as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Somewhere in there, this phenomenal puzzle game debuted a few months later. after Sandfall's epic RPG, which meant it didn't spend the better part of a year languishing hopelessly in its shadow. I'm out there somewhere know there are people like me who would happily name Blue Prince the game of the year for 2025. Maybe even a decade. It might even be one of the best games of the generation.

Unfortunately, I can't even say why. At least not without giving something away. Ostensibly your job is to get to the 46th room in an estate that has only 45 rooms but has more layers than a cold onion, The Blue Prince endlessly shifts and changes until the original premise that brought you to Mount Holly Manor seems like nothing more than a fever dream.

Blue Prince isn't just one of my favorite games of the year, it's quickly become one of my favorites. Tricky, cunning, and sometimes a little cruel, its clever, bagel-like puzzles and deceptively deep storytelling never fail to delight. Only Portal 2 – my all-time favorite game – has ever made me feel as brilliant and brainless at the same time as Blue Prince, but I think the latter goes even further with its insanely wonderful puzzle game that upends expectations time and time again.

Every aspect of the set was chosen carefully. Nothing is by chance. I can't remember the last time a game made me gasp out loud, just like I can't remember the last time I had keep a notepad handy. However, for a long time no game has fascinated and hooked me as much as this one. Please take some time over the holidays to give it a try if you haven't already!

George Corner, commercial director

When Claire Obscur won the 2025 Game Awards, there was one award missing from the list: The Game That Made George Cry (fastest game ever). I wasn't prepared for the emotionally devastating first half hour, and from that point on, all I could think about was unraveling the mystery of the sinister Artist and the annual Gommage. This proved to be no small feat for someone with no rhythm, using a combat system built on timed parries and dodges, but with such a strong narrative and an extremely gorgeous world to explore, I was more than willing to endure a few ill-timed blocks if it meant spending another hour in the mesmerizing beauty of Lumiere.

Monster Hunter Wilds put me to the test. The series has been an integral part of my life and the lives of my friends since Monster Hunter Freedom on the PSP, but in the PC version, battles with framerate and performance issues were as difficult to overcome as the game's most brutal hunt. But when Monster Hunter Wilds gets it right, it's a truly wonderful experience. The world has never seemed more alive and resembles a breathing ecosystem with native life and monsters going about their days until a hunter inevitably ruins their day with a giant piece of iron.

Hunting down the Apex Predator monsters from each region is a real movie experience: when Rey Dau, the Apex Predator of the Windward Plains, is nearby, the distant sky turns blue and distant thunder crackles in the air. When you ride your Secret to the Ray Dow nesting site, you know you're in for something special. Dodging lightning strikes amidst a cacophony of thunder and debris is the best a Hollywood blockbuster has to offer.

Speaking of atmosphere, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Easy Delivery Co. Described to me as “Silent Hill meets Animal Crossing,” the PS1 aesthetic indie gem starts out as a cozy little delivery sim in a sleepy, fog-shrouded mountain town, but gradually descends into surreal psychological horror. My sense of direction is almost as bad as my pacing, and the changing reality of Easy Delivery Co was a deeply unsettling experience that I wish I could forget and relive again for the first time.