2025 was another rough year for the business and its unpredictable as it ever was. Still we had loads of incredible games releases and a brand new Nintendo console on top too with the Switch 2 released in June.
As always, I tried to not count in remasters, remakes or games in which I was personally involved in one way or another – Sorry BF6! – and at the time of writing I didn’t get the chance yet to play Arc Raiders, Silk song or Death Stranding 2 which I’m sure would’ve made my list otherwise (maybe I’ll update the list later when I get to them)
But for the time being, here are my top games of 2025.
15 – Peak
A game jam turned monster hit, Peak was one of the year’s biggest surprises. While it has signature landfall/Agrocrab physical goofiness, Its systems are tight, its pacing deliberate, and its objective obvious as the title itself. You climb, you fall, you learn and you have a ton of laughs with your friends.
14 – Civilization VII
Civilization is one of those comfort series for me; now portable I find myself enjoying picking it up on a plane or while commuting and get a few rounds in. There has been some changes that didn’t really click with me especially having different civilisations in each era and the difficult to traverse UI were a few of the reasons why this iteration didn’t rank as high as 6 (it was my GOTY when it came out). That aside though, It’s still dangerously good at making hours disappear.
13 – Is This Seat Taken?
Is this seat taken is a charming puzzle game where you need to seat a bunch of people in different settings (a bus, cinema, plane, classroom) while being mindful to their different preferences; some forgot to shower others like to listen to loud music. Its simplicity is one of its core strengths and for someone who likes to organize things, this game is so satisfying when you find the perfect arrangement with zero complaints.
12 – Keep Driving
Keep Driving captures a feeling that I normally get when I’m on the road, it’s the strange peace of forward motion with no fixed goal. The road stretches, the radio hums, and the world slides by. It’s a game about that feeling of freedom and the odd characters that you meet along the way. It’s also about maintenance and management, your car, your nourishment and how much you can carry. It’s also the story you unravel with every pit stop.
11 – Skate Story
Skate story takes skating to a surreal underworld that feels reminiscing of Suda51 universes. The mechanics are tight, the game feel of skating is fluid, responsive and exhilarating. Huge highlight is the audio design and exceptional soundtrack by Blood Cultures that is so dope and it significantly enriches the experience!
10 – Despelote
Despelote is a first person soccer game that tells a slice of life coming of age story that takes place in Ecuador as they’re about to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. It’s a fascinating way to experience and learn more about a culture I’m not intimately familiar with, through the lens of childhood, football matches on tv and how people react to you. Autobiographical and bravely vulnerable, despelote is what it means to get games from places where we don’t usually and how much enriching for all of us that can be.
9 – Silent Hill f
The band is back together, with many of the key figures from the original team that worked on the first 4 silent hill games coming back to work on the franchise once more. This time silent hill is returning to Japan – both figuratively and literally – and you can tell how much more they can say when they’re even more familiar with the subject matter. A nightmare that feels so Junji Ito while staying true to what silent hill is, f is a wild ride that is not for the faint of heart but definitely for anyone who enjoyed the series’ classics.
8 – Dispatch
Dispatch is made by the talented folk that were behind tell tale’s best games. You can immediately tell as you start playing, the writing is so so good. Much better than a lot of tv writing really; if you couple that with the slick artistic direction and animation you already got a winner recipe. This time however, there’s a lot more gameplay! I cared about the characters much more, I got to know what they’re really good at and got to use that in the gameplay too. Dispatch is great and I do hope they make more of it.
7 – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Fellow Montpelier developers Sandfall ended up creating one of the year’s most memorable journeys. A turn based jrpg ended up taking over the hearts and minds of people everywhere; charming characters, tragic stories and lighthearted humour, for many expedition 33 will be the game they’d remember of 25 as it joins the greats of the genre.
6 – Split Fiction
Studio Hazelight has mastered couch co-op games. With one banger after the other, those guys can’t miss, and they certainly scored big with split fiction. Like sci-fi? Fantasy? Why not play both at the same time? There’s something for everyone here and some really interesting and mind bending mechanics, particularly near the end of the game. I never expected to have a game with farting pigs as one of my games of the year, but here we are.
5 – Donkey Kong Bananza
Silent hill wasn’t the only franchise that came back home to Japan, as Nintendo gives the franchise the odyssey treatment and ended up crafting a game that is Pure joy. Donkey Kong Bananza controls and expressive animation are the absolute highlight as it’s so much fun just to break things. And boy does it let you break things, almost everything in fact and still holds interesting level design in the process. It’ll be difficult for a team to work on voxels without looking at how Nintendo did it from now on as they set the standard for years to come with this game.
4 – Hades II
Hades II kicked my butt hard and I loved it for it! It builds on its predecessor with confidence and generosity. Every run teaches you something new, not just mechanically, but narratively. Repetition becomes rhythm, failure becomes progress. I’m not done with the game yet and doubt if I’ll be. It’ll be permanently installed on my switch as I can jump in whenever I have a few minutes or a few hours for years to come.
3 – Ghost of Yotei
Though I was disappointed at first thinking this was yet another revenge story, I grew to quite like the hunt of the Yotei Six and getting to know them really well as part of the journey. Breathtaking world that is often time just a joy to look at, with beautiful landscapes as far as the eye can see, loaded with things to do. It avoids to be very handholdy with its open world design and lets you discover the many layers content in the game. I enjoyed becoming the infamous ghost and watch my legend grow across the land. This is the kind of game you easily want to platinum and have a blast doing so.
2 – Ball x Pit
My biggest surprise of the year! I couldn’t have expected how much of this game I’m gonna end up playing. The premise seems so simple it makes me wonder “why didn’t I think of that?” What if we grab the build like system of hades and mix it with twin stick breakout? Where you can level up, unlock more balls, more characters and more levels? Pure fun that’s almost impossible to put down.
1 – The Alters
I know The Alters was going to be my GOTY when I first turned it on and then next thing I realized is that it was waaaaay past my bedtime. 11Bit once again made a game I kept returning to in my thoughts long after finishing it. It’s about choice, identity, and consequence; but more than that, it’s about reflection. Who you are, who you could have been, and who you decide to become. Bold, intimate, unforgettable and criminally underrated. The Alters is a masterfully made game, filled with so many clever choices that’ll have you think about turning points in your life and wonder “what if?”
Fawzi Mesmar 
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