This year was supposed to be the year of Grand Theft Auto 6. The long-awaited follow-up to GTA V was supposed to be released in the fall of 2025, roughly two years after the first trailer for GTA 6 was released. But Rockstar Games has delayed the game’s release twice this year – first to May 26, 2026, and second to November 19, 2026. In hindsight, though, it’s a good thing that GTA 6 was delayed until next year, because it focuses people’s attention on the many, many great games of 2025.
Yes, 2025 is one of the best years for the quality of games released in recent years. A look at the Game of the Year nominees for the 2025 Game Awards will tell you the story. Some standout games — Hazelight Studios’ co-op adventure Split Fiction, Konami’s survival horror game Silent Hill and Sucker Punch’s action-adventure Ghost of Yotei — didn’t make the cut.
But between Darkside 33, Hades 2, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Death Stranding 2: Beaches, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, the lineup of 2025 Game of the Year contenders is incredibly strong. However, here we run the best games us The game launches in 2025. From surprising indie games to grand and ambitious role-playing games, 2025 offers a range of unforgettable gaming experiences. Here is a list of these games.
It’s also worth noting that there will be some absentees on this list. There are several critically acclaimed games this year that we didn’t get the chance to play (or complete) – Expedition 33, Silent Hill F, Hollow Knight: Silk Song, Hades 2, Donkey Kong Bananza, and more. Our list contains our favorite games of the year did Play. Here’s technology shout’s cross-platform guide to the best games of 2025 (in alphabetical order):
blue prince
The Blue Prince may be the most innovative and surprising game of 2025. The indie puzzle game from an independent developer launches on April 10 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X, as well as on PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass. If you’re a member of one of these subscription services, you can play it for free – which for a game as good as The Blue Prince seems too good to be true.
It’s a puzzle adventure game borrowed from roguelike games, but implements the genre’s multiple gameplay mechanics in a refreshing way. In The Blue Prince, players inherit a maze-like mansion from their late great-uncle. Mt. Holly Estate is a wonder – it has 45 rooms, all of which change every day. The sprawling estate also hides a secret Room 46, which players must find within a day to uncover the mansion’s secrets and cement their legacy.
On paper, this seems like a simple task. But each night, the mansion is rearranged, changing its architecture and layout to present players with a different set of rooms the next day. Exploring the mansion becomes an adventure, like wandering through a maze that changes every day. Every day, you reset your progress and start looking for room 46 again. Each time you reach a door, you can choose to draft a specific room among three randomly selected floor plans. Each room has its own layout, trinkets, puzzles, and properties.
As a result, The Blue Prince becomes the Rubik’s Cube of puzzle games, as you try to find order in the ever-changing chaos to reach the 46th room. You are encouraged to sit down with pen and paper and take notes as you walk repeatedly through the mansion, slowly unraveling its architecture. The Blue Prince reminds you of the addictive, engrossing quality of games where you can’t quit until you’ve reached the final level in the manor. Maybe, you’ll open a door to a room you’ve never seen before.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
From exploring mansions to exploring continents, Death Stranding 2: Beaches is the perfect sequel. It improves Death Stranding’s gameplay, expands the story and characters, sharpens the ideas, and deepens the themes. The first Death Stranding was controversial, but only because many expected a mind-bending action-adventure game from Hideo Kojima, the legendary game director behind the Metal Gear Solid series. So they were bummed when they got a delivery game that doubled as a walking simulator.
But it’s best to put aside expectations for a Hideo Kojima game and experience it for what it is. DS 1 would benefit from this approach. DS 2 certainly does that. At its core, Death Stranding 2 is still a game about transporting cargo. But it’s also about more. Kojima questions the nature of connection in a broken world.
Death Stranding 2 transports you to the vast Australian continent and tasks you with traversing its diverse landscapes – deserts, forests, mountains and plains – connecting scattered settlements in a nightmarish post-apocalyptic world. But within the nightmare, the game presents a dreamlike story. Hideo Kojima is a master at creating captivating worlds, and DS 2 is no exception. But here he also manages to find real emotion, a visceral narrative thread that becomes the backbone of the game. When you combine a compelling story with world-class visuals and a thrilling soundtrack, Death Stranding 2: The Beach becomes an experience like no other.
send
If this were a list of the best TV shows we’d seen in 2025, Dispatch would probably still be on the list. This little interactive superhero workplace comedy is both one of the best games of the year and one of the best TV shows of the year. Dispatch plays like a season of an animated superhero show, with players choosing how the story goes. You decide the choice of the protagonist; you can choose which characters to befriend and which to discard; therefore, you can customize the outcome of the story.
In addition to its branching, player-driven narrative, Dispatch also excels in its presentation. The game’s gorgeous animation would probably put many actual animated shows to shame. Not only is it vibrant and colorful, it has a life-like dynamic quality that breathes soul into many of the characters, which are brilliantly acted and realized.
Unsurprisingly, Dispatch succeeds where many narrative-focused adventure games struggle. The game is developed by AdHoc Studio, a studio co-founded by former Telltale Games employees. Telltale pioneered story-driven adventure games that prioritize player choice without sacrificing narrative impact.
While the focus isn’t on gameplay, Dispatch also manages to incorporate fun and engaging strategy mechanics that put you in the role of a superhero dispatcher. It’s a simple gameplay loop where you assign your heroes to crimes and events based on their abilities. All of this – story, characters, visuals and gameplay – come together to create a rare eight-episode experience. A second season must be greenlit soon.
Doomsday: Dark Ages
Doom is the daddy of shooting games. The series created the blueprint for FPS gaming over thirty years ago and continues to set the standard for the genre in 2025. DOOM: Dark Ages is the third game in id Software’s new DOOM game trilogy, and it sets the bar high. While many have pointed out that both Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal surpassed Dark Ages in terms of gameplay concepts, few would accuse the latest entry in the series of lacking innovation.
In the new Doom trilogy, id Software has changed its strategy with each version. Doom (2016) prioritizes visceral gunplay that drives players to attack. Doom Eternal brings a more tactical edge to its combat and focuses on faster movement. Doom: Dark Ages, on the other hand, slows things down. It’s more grounded and weighty, essentially turning the Doom Slayer into a tank.
You still have access to a range of demon-slaying weapons, but there’s also a focus on more intense close combat with the introduction of melee weapons and the versatile Shield Saw. Additionally, there are homages to the Danmaku Hell games. The combat arena in Doom: Dark Ages is a kaleidoscope of color-coded bullets that you must dodge and parry to gain an advantage over the hordes of demons surrounding you.
But even if you’re outnumbered, outgunned, and outgunned, you won’t feel defeated. Doom: Dark Ages retains the power fantasy of being an unkillable killer, a cosmic avenger who slays demons for breakfast. This makes this game one of the funniest, craziest, and most satisfying gaming experiences of the year.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Few gaming experiences are as immersive and engaging as a deep role-playing game, where all moving parts, systems, and mechanics serve a cohesive vision. Every little detail and every big stake feels like an instrument in an orchestra. No game this year did it better than Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. To be honest, few games have managed this in a long time. KCD 2 is that rare gaming marvel that leaves no stone unturned with relentless attention to detail and dedication to its concept.
This role-playing game immerses players in the life of a medieval knight through a variety of experiences, large and small. Whether you’re engaged in a sprawling castle siege or idly sharpening your sword at sunrise, KCD 2 creates a real sense of place you’ll be hard-pressed to find in any other game.
Beyond its numerous details, the game’s larger tapestry tells the story of Henry Scallitz’s compelling underdog. As a direct sequel to Kingdom Come: Deliverance, the game continues his journey from squire to knight, from nobody to big shot, in a grand and ambitious way. KCD 2 also doubles as a buddy comedy, retelling the adventures of Henry and his friend Sir Hans Capone as they travel through the kingdom of Bohemia.
“Kingdom of Heaven: Deliverance 2” is also one of the most mechanically powerful games of 2025. The authenticity of medieval melee and ranged combat is admirable but often frustrating, but so are side game features like brewing potions and forging. You can invest over a hundred hours into the game and still be surprised by its missions and storyline. There have been some great games this year, but KCD 2 stands out as a true, one-of-a-kind masterpiece.
schizophrenia
Earlier this year, when my friends and I were scrolling through the credits on Hazelight Studios’ latest co-op adventure game, Split Fiction, our jaws dropped. The studio has a reputation for making genre-bending split-screen co-op adventure games. “It Takes Two” won the Game of the Year award at the 2021 Game Awards and seems to be the pinnacle of what Hazelight can achieve in terms of cooperative games.
Split Fiction makes It Takes Two look like a prototype. The game tells the story of Zoe and Mio, two writers who are trapped in a world of their own creation, divided between fantasy and science fiction. Played by two players, Split Fiction takes you through one crazy level after another, culminating in a way you’ve never seen in a split-screen game. While the story revolves around two lovable protagonists, the magic of Split Fiction lies in its bold level design.
In one sci-fi scene, you’re dodging laser beams and fighting giant mechanical contraptions in 2D space, then in the next you’re exploring an ancient kingdom while riding a dragon. Like It Takes Two, Split Fiction is constantly reinventing itself, introducing new mechanics and abilities with every level. But here, Hazelight pushes the limits of imagination and the boundaries of game design while creating the next new experience.
Josef Fares and Hazelight’s commitment to gaming as a shared experience remains a rare approach in a medium chasing the multiplayer gaming trend. Split Fiction proves that games are more fun when played with friends. It also features an instant classic ending that challenges the nature of split-screen itself. In a mind-bending final scene, the game achieves its all-time knockout, as if it throws up its arms and asks, “Aren’t you happy?” Yes, we are!
