25 best games of 2025 – the greatest PS5, Xbox, PC and Switch games of the year
And most of them are on sale right now!
We didn’t get GTA 6, or a new 3D Mario game to kick off the Switch 2 era, but don’t let either of those disappointments take away from what has been a magnificently varied and exciting year for video games.
Huge sequels finally arrived, mascots were resurrected, and perhaps the biggest success story of the whole year was a melancholic French RPG that recalls the PS2 era. Who could have seen that coming?
There were so many brilliant games this year – so many in fact that it was impossible to play them all, but I’ve picked out 25 across PS5, Xbox, PC, mobile and Switch that I and other members of the T3 team particularly enjoyed.
25. What the Clash?
No game I’ve played this year has accompanied me on the toilet more often than What the Clash?
It's a 1v1 multiplayer game for Apple Arcade that lets you play the stupidest possible version of table tennis against a total stranger and then moves on before you’ve had time to process it.
Mobile games are often little more than throwaway distractions, but touchscreen experiences as entertaining and well-designed as this one should be celebrated.
24. The Outer Worlds 2
T3's news editor Rik Henderson felt the DNA of Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas in the original The Outer Worlds, even if it never quite hit the heights of the studio’s most iconic game.
The sequel, as well as being larger in scale, is a more reactive sci-fi RPG than its predecessor, and it’s all the better for it.
Without spoiling anything, the decisions you make have major consequences that aren’t easy to predict. And with tighter FPS combat than the original, The Outer Worlds 2 was a breezy Game Pass highlight this year.
23. Time Flies
If you want to flirt with existential dread, play Time Flies, a monochromatic 2D puzzle adventure game about a housefly trying to make the most of its short lifespan.
Trying to piece together the bucket list of low-ambition objectives each level serves up, and how to tick them all off within the time limit without accidentally zapping myself on a lightbulb, has resulted in some of my most darkly amusing gaming moments of 2025.
22. Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo
The best-named game that I’ve played in 2025 thankfully has plenty more going for it than that.
Anyone with fond memories of Game Boy-era The Legend of Zelda games owes it to themselves to try Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo.
It absolutely nails the blend of overworld exploration, dungeons and simple-but-enjoyable combat, while the titular yoyo tool proves so versatile that Link might be a bit jealous.
21. Bionic Bay
As a huge fan of games like Limbo and Inside, the sci-fi platformer Bionic Bay caught my eye straight away and scratched my precision platforming itch in 2025.
Its ingenious swapping mechanic, which lets the inexplicably acrobatic scientist you play as swap places with objects he taps with a special tool, leads to some laughably difficult, but incredibly satisfying physics puzzles.
20. Ninja Gaiden 4
This 2025 return of a classic franchise is just as full of over-the-top action as its predecessors, elevated even further by the power of modern technology.
PlatinumGames has led the way in this genre for a long time, so it’s no surprise that every set piece in Ninja Gaiden 4 is executed with such flair. And as forgettable as the plot and some of the levels are, the brutally difficult boss battles are so exhaustingly exciting that none of the game’s shortcomings bothered me much.
19. Sword of the Sea
A thrilling mashup of beloved indie classic Journey and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Sword of the Sea is probably the best-feeling game I’ve played this year.
Carving through sand dunes on your magical hoversword feels amazing, even if the trick system is decidedly underbaked compared to your average skating game.
I can’t tell you exactly what went on in the wordless story, but I was very glad to be along for the ride.
18. Keeper
Its last major release was one of the best platformers of the century in Psychonauts 2, and any new Double Fine game is worth paying attention to. Nobody could have predicted Keeper, though.
Telling the wordless story of a walking lighthouse and its seabird companion in an achingly beautiful fantastical realm, it's arguably more of an interactive art exhibit than a game. But while this is clearly a passion project rather than a play for mainstream recognition, Xbox needs more games in this mould.
17. Lumines Arise
Like Tetris Effect before it, Lumines Arise reimagines a classic block-based puzzle game as a hypnotic audiovisual feast.
I’m rubbish at it, but failing a stage is easy to make your peace with as replaying it means you get to soak in the eye-poppingly dazzling visuals and dynamic electronic soundtrack all over again.
Lumines Arise is a transcendent experience on whatever screen you play it on, but if you play one game in VR this year, make it this one.
16. Mario Kart World
Topping Mario Kart 8 felt like an impossible task for Nintendo, and I’m not certain it fully managed it with Mario Kart World, which wasn’t quite the Forza Horizon-ified open-world Mario Kart we thought we were getting.
But that said, I have put an ungodly amount of hours into the deliriously entertaining Knockout Tour mode, which takes the Mario Kart we all know and love and makes it feel more than ever like Nintendo’s take on Wacky Races. It’s brilliant.
15. Absolum
Just when I thought I was getting burned out on roguelike-ification of the indie scene, along comes Absolum.
I love how accessible this high-fantasy beat ‘em up is, and how it feels like I’m playing a Saturday morning cartoon.
The roguelike elements might lack the polish of something like Hades II, but I never feel like I’ve wasted my time with a run, and it helps that all four playable characters are a delight to master.
14. Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders
This meditative snow sports game grabbed me just as much as its mountain bike-focused forebear, perfectly capturing that flow state that all skiers are chasing when they tackle a mountain.
The low-poly visuals and basically non-existent soundtrack put all the emphasis on mastering the controls and soaking in the atmosphere.
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders is the game I’ve kept returning to all year when I want to zone out.
13. Skate Story
2025 was a good year for skateboarding games, but the one that really stood out was Skate Story.
The premise, which concerns a demon made of glass who makes a pact with the Devil to skate to the moon and eat it whole in exchange for their freedom, is trippier than anything Tony Hawk has ever served up, but tricks are still very much the order of the day.
And while the controls take a bit of getting used to, Skate Story’s psychedelic visuals and propulsive narrative really hooked me.
12. Hollow Knight: Silksong
I’ll admit that I’ve seen far from everything Hollow Knight: Silksong has to offer, because the game humbles me with its comical difficulty at every turn. But I’ve seen more than enough of Pharloom and its eccentric insect inhabitants to know that it’s just as special as its predecessor.
You’re consistently rewarded for exploring every corner of the map, and as satisfying as it is to fight as the supremely nimble Hornet, it’s with their gradual world building that Team Cherry’s games really get under your skin.
11. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
The last 12 months have been a veritable feast of supremely slick ninja games, but my favourite of the lot is Shinobi: Art of Vengeance.
You don’t need to come in with any prior knowledge of Sega’s long-running 2D action series to appreciate the deep and varied combat, fantastic animation and genuinely mesmerising hand-drawn visuals.
Some frustratingly designed late-game platforming is all that prevented it from breaking the top 10.
10. Blue Prince
2024’s word-of-mouth indie sensation was Balatro. This year, that title belongs to Blue Prince.
The first-person puzzle adventure game tasks you with exploring a mansion with a layout that is constantly re-arranging itself.
Its meticulously crafted puzzles and mysteries become an obsession once you start to unravel them, leaving you with a pad full of hurriedly written notes and a big fat grin painted all over your face every time one of them leads to the lightbulb moment you were searching for.
9. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
T3’s Max Freeman-Mills called this medieval RPG sequel a “cold-water shock,” due to developer Warhorse Studios’ commitment to realism in its games. This is no Witcher 3, where you assume control of a supremely capable warrior from the off.
Instead, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II’s Henry of Skalitz is a protagonist who consistently gets his arse kicked by an unforgiving world, making merely surviving in it immensely satisfying.
This is a game that demands patience like no other on this list, but also one that greatly rewards those who meet it on its terms.
8. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
If you didn’t like the first Death Stranding, then its equally walking-heavy sequel is unlikely to change your mind. But those who did vibe with its ideas about human connection, isolation and loss can be reassured that Death Stranding 2 is just as thematically rich.
Improvements to stealth and combat also make it feel a lot like Metal Gear Solid 5 to play, and that can never be a bad thing.
7. Despelote
This one-of-a-kind indie gem is a vibrant and beautifully realised slice-of-life adventure about a man’s childhood memories of Ecuador’s 2002 World Cup qualification campaign and the palpable excitement that surrounded it.
It’s a love letter to football and its unifying power, culminating in a wildly creative ending that you won’t see coming.
If you can put down Football Manager 26 for a few hours, make time for Despelote. You won’t regret it.
6. Donkey Kong Bananza
In lieu of a new Mario platformer, Nintendo gave us its tie-wearing gorilla’s first 3D outing since the N64 era just after the Switch 2 launched. And added to the fun by allowing Donkey Kong to smash through entire levels with his fists.
The antithesis of Mario’s exacting platforming brilliance, Donkey Kong Bananza lets you quite literally break the game to achieve your goals.
Not everything gels together, but as tech editor Mike Lowe said in his review, it’s thrilling to see Nintendo turn chaos into creativity like this.
5. Ghost of Yōtei
I was never completely won over by Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima, but sort-of sequel Ghost of Yōtei has rarely been usurped on my PS5 in the last few months.
The Kill Bill-style revenge quest is the perfect setup for the game, and Atsu is a far more interesting character to get to know than Tsushima’s slightly bland Jin.
Yōtei's thrilling combat is even more cinematic than its predecessor’s, and as Rik wrote in his review, it’s the perfect showcase for the PS5 Pro.
4. Hades 2
Following Hades was a daunting task for Supergiant Games, given the near universal love for the genre-defining 2022 roguelike dungeon crawler. The developer decided against reinvention with its long-awaited sequel, instead opting to add extra flavour to an already incredible meal.
Everything about Hades 2 screams more, from its even more gorgeous environments and peerless world building, to character customisation and combat variety.
Much of it might be familiar, but Melinoë’s Underworld death-filled quest is every bit as memorable as Zagreus’.
3. Split Fiction
Another masterpiece of a co-op experience from Hazelight Studios, Split Fiction would probably be an easy pick for game of the year if it wasn’t for the fact that its excellent gameplay is so similar to predecessor It Takes Two.
But that really isn’t a criticism. Hazelight is in a league of its own with this stuff, and Split Fiction’s mashup of the fantasy and sci-fi genres makes for a wildly varied two-player adventure with some truly spectacular moments.
It’s a love letter to video games, and a must-play.
2. Dispatch
What if I told you that the best superhero game of the year is also the best superhero show of the year? And that’s coming from an Invincible fan.
The debut game from a studio made up of ex-Telltale developers is billed as an episodic superhero workplace comedy, and while it might be light on actual gameplay, rarely have I agonised more over the choices I’ve made.
Brilliant characters, great writing and animation that’s up there with anything on TV right now make Dispatch an unmissable tonic for superhero fatigue.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Unquestionably the breakout success story of 2025, and a recent hoover-upper of virtually every gong on offer at the Game Awards, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 merges a throwback Final Fantasy-style RPG template with a thrillingly modern take on turn-based battles.
And it all takes places in a dark fantasy version of France in which your characters can fight in berets. How’s that for a blurb?
Clair Obscur is a frequently bleak and tragic adventure, but you feel the immense passion of the team that made it every time you pick up the pad. A slice of brilliance until the very end.
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