Now Christmas is coming. Here's what this means: Last-minute panic shopping, untold stress, bad weather, and we're all bound to gain some weight. But this also means another year of increased game backlog. But if you're playing in 2025, this is my top recommendation.
As a reminder, TheGamer's editorial team creates their own Game of the Year lists, from which the official TheGamer list is curated. We'll be sharing some of the team's favorites over the coming weeks, but if you like the Yakuza, strange creatures, and a bit of horror, you've come to the right list.
10
roux valley
Rue Valley represents the only time I am willing to go to therapy.
This is one of the most polished puzzle games I've played, thanks to its comic book/Spiderverse inspired visuals. It's caught me off guard a few times too, and that's always a good thing.
Game of the Year 2025 – Editor's Pick, George Foster
It's finally time to talk about The Year of Ninja straight from TheGamer's head shinobi.
9
little rabbit
Don't be fooled by the name. Tiny Bunny is not a cute and fluffy game.
This is a last minute addition, not because I decided to squeeze it out, but because I just found out it existed when it became popular due to the recent release of the last episode. This is a visual novel horror game set in Russia. You are a child in a small town where children keep going missing. Can you see where this is going?
I practically destroyed this as I rolled the credits over the weekend, trying to find all 20 possible endings. I liked that it threw in some jump scares, the level of gore was unexpected, and the horrifying mystery at its center was a great mix of body horror, folklore, and childhood fears.
8
Once Upon a Time Katamari
The Katamari series has always given me a very easy gaming vibe. You can sit back and relax while you roll the katamari, and you can snowball as you roll dinosaurs, quirky people, and anything and everything you can imagine. Then the clock starts ticking and I'm not so cold as to make a panic roll in the last 20 seconds.
If you ask me, Once Upon a Katamari is the pinnacle of the new series.
7
Claire Obsker: Expedition 33
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a fantastic RPG, and it gets the award for being the only game I went out of my way to make sure I played before writing this list.
I really enjoyed Clair Obscur. If you're an RPG fan, this is a must-play game in 2025. But… I think my expectations were overly inflated. After spending half a year with people who are said to be the best in bread slicing, I imagined a game so thrilling that it gave me goosebumps.
It's a great game, worth playing, and the lesson I learned is not to jump on the hype train while you're at the station and not be the least bit embarrassed afterwards.
6
Story of the Season: Grand Bazaar
Sometimes you just need a nice relaxing game, and that's always going to be a farming simulation. Story of Seasons is the king of the genre, and Grand Bazaar breathes new life into old games from the series' back catalog. Now it's time to go back to the farm.
honorable mention
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Moonlighter 2
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Fantasy Life i: The girl who stole time
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Pokemon Legends: ZA
5
Two Point Museum
If you like Two Point Studios, the museum raises the bar in more ways than one.
If you still don't like it, they recently added the Zooseum DLC, which is currently the closest DLC to Two Point Zoo. There is also a Duffy Capybara.
4
Mascot Agency of Promise
It's like Yakuza meets a creepy adult version of The Muppets. In fact, that might be underselling it…
RPG meets management sim with Yakuza flavor and a severed pinky mascot with a severed mouth. I could talk about it for hours but you'd still have to play it yourself to know the depth of its weirdness. But reading my review will give you a hint as to what you are looking for.
I need more Pinky in my life.
3
Alters
I'm not a huge fan of survival games, so The Alters wasn't really on my radar when I first heard about it, because I just passed it off as not being mine. How wrong I was.
One of the biggest surprises for me in 2025. It combines base building and management, survival and exploration elements and has a strong narrative that ties everything together. This is the only place where you can see Alex Jordan playing 11 different versions of the same character.
2
no, i am not human
I was obsessed with 'no, I'm not human' for a long time. No one at work played it and that didn't stop me from mentioning it. often.
It was an unexpected surprise. I saw it was trending on Steam, took a peek, and was sold. A horror game with investigative elements that gives off a Junji Ito feel, where you have to find out whether the people who give you shelter in your home are real humans or not.
There are so many endings to unlock, so many characters to meet, and the creepiness is maxed out, making it even more fun to play. Don't consider this if you don't like horror games, as it's more unsettling than pure horror.
1
Like a Dragon: Yakuza Pirates of Hawaii
A whole game about Majima. Enough said.
Game of the Year 2025 – Editor's Pick, Stacey Henley
TheGamer's Editor-in-Chief picks the Game of the Year.
