The 10 Best Video Games of 2025

From indie titles becoming breakout hits and cementing their place in gaming history to veteran developers returning with hard-hitting sequels, it’s been a jam-packed year for gaming. Buttons were mashed, controllers were smashed, consoles and PCs overheated long enough to rival a massive star. Now, as 2025 draws to a close, with our wallets feeling significantly lighter, here’s a look back at the best video games of 2025, listed in order of their release date.   

Urban Myth Dissolution Center

Developer: Hakababunko 

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch 

Has your life been overturned by a curse? Are spirits wreaking havoc in your home? Is there something sinister afoot in your neighbourhood? The afterimage of a murder? If so, then don’t hesitate to contact the Urban Myth Dissolution Center, your one-stop shop to debunking or dispelling any cryptid, otherworldly entity. Taking on the role of Azami, the newly hired part-timer who shows strong potential as a psychic, you must investigate threats, solve cases and get to the bottom of every mystery, existential or otherwise, before it gets you. This pixelated detective game is a joy to play for every conspiracy theorist and aspiring occultist out there.    

Split Fiction

Developer: Hazelight Studios 

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S 

Split Fiction is the ultimate buddy adventure with your go-to gaming pal. Here, your friend and you control Mio and Zoe — two writers who have been trapped in a machine that is trying to steal their story ideas. Now, stuck in a world of their own making, they must work together to break out. How hard can it be to overcome threats you’ve written? Too bad, you both wrote science fiction and fantasy, so good luck! If stories have taught us anything, it’s that the power of friendship is unbeatable, but is it? Your couch and controllers will soon find out. The best part is that this game supports cross play, so no matter the console, your friend cannot have an excuse. 

Blue Prince

Developer: Dogubomb 

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S 

Rogue-lite and puzzles aren’t often used in a single sentence to describe a game, but that’s the best description of Blue Prince. Simon’s great-uncle has just bequeathed him his vast Mt Holly Estate, but it comes with a catch: he must find the 46^th room in the mansion. Sounds easy? Well, the mansion only has 45 rooms. It also changes floorplans every day, so each time you set foot inside it, your progress is undone. But Room 46 is not the only thing Mt Holly Estate is hiding amongst its shifting walls. Can Simon unearth the secrets and claim his inheritance? That’s up to you. Keep a notebook and pen handy for this one, it tickles the little grey cells just right. 

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Developer: Sandfall Interactive 

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S 

Hard to believe this breakout hit is developer Sandfall Interactive’s debut title. This is a game that feels and sounds like a Baroque painting. The Paintress rouses from slumber each year to paint a number on her monolith, and all who match the age of the number turn to dust and fade away. Every year, Expeditioners try and stop her, and every year they fail. This is Expedition 33; can they stop the Paintress from painting death? Featuring a unique blend of real-time and turn-based mechanics, with the most entrancing soundtrack and a strong plot,– Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will make you want to step into its painting and never leave. 

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Developer: Kojima Productions 

Platforms: PlayStation 5 

Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding, aka the post-apocalyptic delivery simulator, has a sequel now. Sam Porter Bridges (Norman Reedus) is back and takes one final job as a porter to save humanity by establishing connections between the isolated survivors and the “chiral network” (the communication network). The running joke is that describing what Death Stranding is exactly about, is a herculean task — it’s one of those games that you just have to experience. The easiest explanation without giving away the story beats is that the first game was a movie (with a star-studded cast- Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Margaret Qualley, Troy Baker, Guillermo del Toro) disguised as a walking simulator. The sequel has more gameplay elements but still primarily functions as a thinly veiled film disguised as an open-world game. Most of the original cast reprise their roles, this time joined by Elle Fanning and Shioli Kutsuna, among others. Kojima collects Hollywood A-listers akin to collecting Pokémon cards, and pushes the boundaries of film and games until it becomes an undecipherable amorphous mass. Nevertheless, it’s an amorphous mass that’s meant to be experienced.  

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Developer: Team Cherry 

Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Linux, macOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S 

This was one of the most anticipated sequels of the decade, originally planned as a DLC for Hollow Knight. For a long time, people firmly believed that Silksong ever seeing the light of day was a pipe dream. Originally announced back in 2019, this 2D platformer’s long development cycle caused it’s fanbase to descend into the depths of insanity. On Sept. 4, their hopes and dreams were finally realised, curing them of their brain rot. This beautiful hand-drawn insectoid Metroidvania has you stepping into the shoes of Hornet, a hunter who finds herself trapped in the ruined kingdom of Pharloom. Its citizens suffer from the “Haunting”, causing them to be violent puppets controlled by the game’s antagonist Grand Mother Silk, even in death. Can Hornet save the bugs and restore Pharloom? Only one way to find out. Fair warning, the difficulty is amped up in the sequel as compared to Hollow Knight. 

No, I’m not a Human

Developer: Trioskaz 

Platforms: Microsoft Windows 

Something strange is going on with the sun: its scorching rays are burning people alive. If that wasn’t bad enough, the mysterious Visitors have risen from deep beneath the ground. These Visitors look and sound human but are, in fact, not. They camouflage themselves as the very beings whose houses they infiltrate and kill. Isolation is not an option because that is the only deterrent. But who’s human and who’s a Visitor? This game does zero handholding and plays on your trust issues. With its distinctly unsettling art style and unnerving atmosphere that keeps you on edge, will you let the right one in?  

Hades II

Developer: Supergiant Games 

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Microsoft Windows  

In Hades, Zagreus was trying to break out of the Underworld by defeating his father. In its sequel, his younger sister, Melinoë, is trying to break into the Underworld to defeat her grandfather, Chronos, the Titan of Time. Meanwhile, her Olympian relatives seek her aid as Typhon wreaks havoc at Mount Olympus. Battle out foes plucked from the Greek mythos and save your family with the might of Olympus at your back. Slick, stylized and with a killer soundtrack (Scylla and the Sirens especially outdo themselves), this god-like rogue-like game is much bigger than its predecessor. Good luck killing Time. 

Silent Hill f

Developer: NeoBards Entertainment Ltd. 

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S 

After being starved for years, Silent Hill fans are finally eating good. Despite the title, we aren’t returning to the foggy town which appears in our restless dreams. Instead, we’re travelling to Ebisugaoka, a small town in Japan. Hinako’s boring hometown has transformed into the stuff of nightmares. A fog’s rolled in, bringing with it grotesque monsters and ancient horrors. Can she, armed with a steel pipe, escape the dread fog and get to the bottom of things with her sanity intact? Or will she succumb to the psychological terror? This is a game that requires multiple playthroughs just to unravel the story threads. Set in the Sixties, it provides especially interesting commentary on the beliefs and expectations of women in society, tightly woven with Japanese mythology. This latest instalment of the franchise has been written by Ryukishi07, who has written the Higurashi When They Cry series, and safe to say: there’s plenty of things that will make you squirm in abject horror.  

Dispatch

Developer: AdHoc Studio 

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows 

A superhero desk job simulator that feels like HR’s worst nightmare. You’re Robert Roberson III, aka Mecha Man the superhero powered by his suit. Unfortunately, your suit is destroyed and you’re working at the Superhero Dispatch Network while they fix it. Manage your group of reformed villains while questioning what happens now and trying not to burn down the city. You empathize with every member of the Z-Team, even if you don’t always see eye to eye. With its fleshed-out characters and strong plot, Dispatch is simultaneously one of the best games and TV shows of the year.