Game News: Top 28 Games of 2025

Oh man, another year has flown by, and what a year it has been! I feel like I've said this multiple times already before ... and I have, and will again next year!

We must acknowledge that while there have been many amazing success stories for gaming, indie darlings like Blue Prince, Citizen Sleeper 2, and Dispatch are all making a massive splash in the gaming scene, and of course, that one very big, very French game that made waves in the ocean of forever. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took home all the gold, and more, and we celebrate and congratulate the success immensely to the small, passionate team of devs who broke all records with its release. Especially when coming out a couple of days around the Oblivion remake.

Now, to let you know. This list is focused on games we’ve reviewed, but there are a couple which we’ve played on the side and really liked, even found remarkable, but haven’t had the time to fully review. We did a feature on a mini-review round-up of 2025 to give you some thoughts on games higher on the list.

As always, I like us to celebrate the hard work of many talented developers, artists, QA testers, and designers who go above and beyond to make gaming what it is today. Especially the QA people who do the most intense work and get the littlest of recognition. I know, I also work in QA, and honestly, QA people need more love, money, and an award at The Game Awards of their own. Come on, Jeff!

Below are our top 28 games of 2025, which was no easy feat. There are so many incredible games we couldn’t fit on the list, and there are a few games which we didn't get around to playing properly. So, we fitted everything we felt worthy, just plain old great, games that deserve more love and attention. Remember, this is our opinion, and we're here to shine a light on some games which do deserve all the praise and don’t get enough love. So, here we go, the top 28 of 2025!


28. Split Fiction

Hazelight Studios is getting darn great at this co-op adventure stuff, aren't they? While I wasn't a fan of the story, the gameplay, the variety of set-pieces, and epic scale surely made up for the narrative shortcomings. Split Fiction is just so much fun, and something I would recommend to any couples or best buddies looking for a top-tier co-op venture. 


27. Winter Burrow

Sweet little survival game featuring a mouse rebuilding their home, making friends, and caring for their elderly aunt. You bake pies, fight spiders, and avoid the cold grasp of winter death. What is there not to love?


26. A Dream of Parking Lots

Weird, Lynchian, little exciting gameplay, but it has an important message that any inspiring game designer needs to hear.


25. Spirit of the North 2

It was quite janky upon release, but Spirit of the North 2 is such a beautiful, soulful journey that brings about such a wonderful sense of discovery and rewards your curiosity with visual amazements and awe-inspiring moments. Plus, foxes!


24. South of Midnight

There's a lot to love about South of Midnight, and while its gameplay sits in that safe zone of humble, fine and dandy, but nothing new or exciting. The world, story, and Southern style mythic tales were truly breathtaking. This is still a mighty fine game, with plenty of great moments, action, heart, and surrealistic wonder that it's worthy of your attention and affection.


23. Bye Sweet Carole

Disney meets horror. Yes, please, and what a spectacular job done here with Bye Sweet Carole. A visual treat, and intensely terrifying cartoon caper that is one of a kind, or at least something we don’t see very often at all. Feeling like a throwback to old point and click adventures, and imagining if Disney went to a dark side.


22. Routine

Was it worth the 13-year wait? No. Is it still a very good horror puzzler, soaking in atmosphere, creepy charm, and dangerous vibes? Absolutely! While feeling a little dated (not the 1980s vibes, but gameplay-wise), Routine still scared, shocked, and made my brain itch with excitement with its problem-solving, which I do feel it’s worth checking out! 


21. The Labyrinth of the Demon King

While having some gripes with the combat, The Labyrinth of the Demon King is still a stellar, PS1 throwback horror game that we need more of. It’s bleak, dangerous, gruelling at times, but still a fantastic horror game that does so much with the “limited hardware” approach and left its mark on me. Truly remarkable with the creepy vibes, low-poly visual style, and engaging survival horror elements.  


20. The Horror at Highrook

One of the few puzzle-themed games on the list, and while not beating a certain Blue colour member of royalty,  The Horror at Highrook is a charming, funny, creepy, and energetic puzzler with a great inky art style and twisted sense of humour to match!


19. Öoo

I love Öoo! It's a cool, little Metroidvania game that focuses on a single core mechanic and allows so many results from it. I'm a big Bomber Man fan, and, for a long time, have been wanting another game that allows me to plant bombs and be a nuisance. And Öoo does that, and so much more. It's a great little game, not flashy, not over the top, but a very clever, tightly constructed adventure with bombs, puzzles, and showing how simplicity can be king!


18. Heartworm

One of two old-school inspired survival horror games on this list, and one that feels very old-school in the best possible way. Heartworm is a fantastic throwback to something from an era long gone, a blast from the past, and a perfect capsule of horror back from the 1990s in amazing form.


17. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

From the Life is Strange series, Bloom & Rage is a heartfelt and emotional throwback to, again, the 1990s, centring on a strange mystery, a group of close friends, and struggles of the times through the eyes of four charismatic characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this heartfelt journey, and it deserves more recognition.


16. Alien: Rogue Incursion - Part One

I had some thoughts about adding this to the list, since this was originally a VR game that came out last year …. But … This is a new package, and it was shown on the Game Awards, so I felt, why not!? Rogue Incursion is simply, yet what I’ve seen this year in gaming is that simple doesn’t mean lacking. In fact, Rogue Incursion is a top-tier action game, and the best Alien game since Isolation! It has all the rights, fanfare, tight action, and suspense you could ask for. Truly awesome game that again needs more love!


15. DOOM: The Dark Ages

DOOM 2016 and Eternal were our top games of 2016 and 2020. The Dark Ages does fall short compared to its counterparts, yet it is still a massively enjoyable, hugely action-packed, and gore-fest game that it still manages to rip and tear my heart, despite a few shortcomings. I do hope the DLCs give us more of the DOOM action we love, and there is a lot to love about the Dark Ages, including the great Cosmic Horror elements.


Here we go, halfway there!


14. Tormented Souls 2

The other of our two survival horror throwbacks, and one from a small, passionate team of designers/developers who showed immense talent and skill with the first Tormented Souls game. The sequel refines and improves on quality-of-life features, and doesn’t hinder or ruin what was already great from the original formula. Tormented Souls 2 is a brilliant sequel, worthy of all the praise we can give it.


13. Deep Rock Galactic Survivor

You forgot this came out in Version 1 this year, didn’t you? Well, it did, and it was bloody fantastic. While the auto-shooter sub-genre is a tricky one to get right, the Deep Rock team have done a brilliant job at making the grind, gore, and digging so much fun that it’s rewarding and captivating.


12. Terminator 2D: No Fate

This pixel art love letter to the original T2 film is a short, and sweet action packed adventure that takes all the best moments of the film, adds in some neat dynamics, lots of replay value, and modes, and best of all has a compelling and fun gameplay loop, that feels like a lost 1990’s tie in game which has been lost, found, and proves to be one of the best Terminator games ever made.


11. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound

Oddly, we had two Ninja Gaiden games this year, and while we’ve dabbled in the high-budget AAA version, it’s the pixel art, side scroller from the Blasphemous team that kept us attention longer … much longer. A stellar action game, with beautiful visuals, tight and brutal combat, and an enriching and highly rewarding gameplay loop of blood, precision, and discovery, made this a top-tier game of the franchise.


Right …. Top 10 games of 2025!


10. Silly Polly Beast

From developer Andrei Chernyshov, Silly Polly Beast is a weird and wonderful mash-up of isometric action, visceral style, and raw attitude. There’s a great level of craft here, with great level design, thrilling set pieces, and a variety of cool gameplay loops that make Silly Polly Beast a wild ride that shows indie developers can deliver in creating highly engaging and memorable gaming experiences.


9. CloverPit

Remember, gambling is bad, very bad! And CloverPit tells you that … through gambling. This dungeon/Saw-like Rogue-Like has some amazing aesthetics, surrealistic charm, and a hardcore gameplay loop that kept me hooked for many hours with its intoxicating framework and world-building.


8. The Drifter

If John Carpenter or Brian De-Palma made a game, it would be this one. Being a bleak, conspiracy-driven thriller, that's all set in Australia. The Drifter blew me away with its gorgeous pixel art, deeply disturbing story and themes, and an intense mystery with a neat resurrection mechanic. Such a great story, incredible atmosphere, charming pixel art, and fantastic point-and-click gameplay! The Drifter is truly excellent, becoming one of my favourite point and clicks of all time, and I'm sure it might become one of yours too. 


7. Blue Prince

Puzzle me blue! Blue Prince captured a lot of people this year with its vast, endless mystery, and while the heat has certainly died down, that first time of playing this was pure magic! One of the best puzzle games since Portal 2, and a compelling Rogue-Like which stands above the rest in a bunch of meaningful ways.


6. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

This year feels like Souls-Likes have died out a bit, with not many truly standing out, but rather many games taking influence and steering in a different direction altogether. But Wuchang: Fallen Feathers decides to double down and deliver an unforgettable, thrilling, and utterly amazing Souls-Like, which is hard as nails, rewarding, tightly woven, and has all the right elements to make a truly fantastic gaming hit.  


5. Dispatch

I feel the superhero madness needs to die down, or at least get an injection of something to make it fresh again, and that classic decision making framework from TWD games, along with fantastic writing, great production values, excellent voice acting, and tons of charm, heart, and soul make Dispatch a phenomenal story driven adventure that had me hooked from start to finish. Truly a brilliant game that should be played and be more recognised for its amazing elements combined in such an amazing game.


4. Hades II

Supergiant Games does it again with another smashing sequel to one of the most smashing games of 2020! Hades II delivers on the tight writing, amazing art direction, engaging and rewarding combat, and a more meaningful and balanced sense of progression with much less tedious grind. The developers have managed to capture the same thunder from the original, only to refine it, enhance the formula, and give us another perfected gaming experience that’s charming and soulful.


3. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Okay, it’s here … at 3. Right. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a remarkable game, one for the ages and one that deserves all the praise it gets, and for all the joy it has brought it deserves more! While I don’t believe that “Best indie game” should go here (That’s more for The Drifter, Hades II, or Silly Polly Beast), but having a small team of passionate developers not only create one of the best experiences of 2025, but create an epic AA title that infuses an invigorating turn-based combat system, weirdly wonderful creature and world design, and a highly emotional story-line that brought about a lot of laughter, and crying. It is beaten by one other RPG, though …


2. Kingdom Come Deliverance II

Yeah, I am not going to lie, Kingdom Come Deliverance II is not only the RPG of the year, but also settled as one of the best in the last couple of decades! And while the original game didn’t click with me as much as I wanted it to, KCD II refined the original core gameplay loop, expanded on the RPG elements, made the world bigger, more fleshed out, and interactable, but made everything highly approachable, appealing to newcomers, and just rewards you for your investment.

It allows you to follow a great, compelling story, live out a life you desire, or mess around drinking and hanging out with Katerine (she is the GOAT!). KCD II excels in what an RPG can do, and while not a fantasy epic, this shouldn’t push people away, since all the side objectives, main story, various tasks, jobs, and lifestyles you can embark on all grant a special kind of discovery and an enriching sense of purpose.

This sequel is beyond phenomenal with a thriving, highly reactive world, engrossing combat, and RPG elements that will keep you thoroughly immersed for hours, days, weeks and more!


1. Cronos: The New Dawn

“There have been plenty of survival horror games over the last few years, and many of them failed in delivering thought-provoking and ruthless experiences that scratch that survival itch. I did do a fair bit of comparison between Cronos and The Callisto Protocol, but I was always saying, “This is what the Callisto Protocol should have been”. It could have been so easy for Bloober to misstep after Silent Hill 2, but instead, they took their strengths, found that 30-second fun zone, and just made an incredible”

This was my final thought on Cronos: The New Dawn, and I feel like I undersold just how bloody awesome this game really is. Bloober has had a rough road in many respects, but has managed at times to showcase their strengths in visual storytelling, horror vibes, and with the Silent Hill 2 remake, a keen eye for intense action and brutality. Cronos has all of Bloober's strengths in a compelling gaming venture of horror, action, and visual mastery.

Why Cronos: The New Dawn is picked as our top game is simple. This is a phenomenally entertaining game that blends so many elements and manages to pull them off so well. It is a highly approachable game that blends in a good sci-fi story, excellent sense of discovery, fantastic world-building, with intense and enthralling horror action gameplay that kept me coming back months after I finished it originally. It will be one of those horror games like the RE remake, or Signalis, which I will revisit every year, thoroughly enjoy the tightly woven experience, and tell people they should play it!

Wrapping up, Cronos: The New Dawn is Bloober’s best game, but it’s also one of the greatest action horror games for the last 20 years. A remarkable achievement of flawless pacing, intense action, fantastic horror vibes with visual flair, and a sense of feeling old, new, strange and captivating all in one venture.

Our best game of 2025!



That’s it, everyone! Thanks for joining us for another end-of-year list, and let’s hope 2025 brings us all peace, joy and even more awesome video games! And thanks to everyone who supports Game-News and reads our reviews. Look forward to seeing you all in 2026!