In a year that saw a brand new Nintendo generation arrive on the scene, an even heavier dose of new Free-to-Play arrivals, a surprising continuation of cross play and the leaving behind of console-exclusives, 2025 shines as a year for variety and quality in video games. Here are the top 20 best games of the year, ranked.
20. Arc Raiders
Arc Raiders is a fast-paced, cooperative shooter that’s both dynamic and cinematic. The futuristic wasteland setting and flimsy story aren’t the most original but the sprawling world and emphasis on teamwork, improvisation, and scavenged gear makes it instantly addicting. Arc Raiders mixes intense action with a strong atmosphere delivering “barely made it out alive” moments that make co-op games memorable.
19. Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile
Back when Rockstar was more than just a company that forced everyone to wait for GTA, they took chances on unusual masterpieces like LA Noir. Death on the Nile picks up the mantle that Rockstar refuses to revisit. Retelling the Agatha Christie classic of a murderous romp through Egypt (with a few twists to keep it interesting for the fans that already know whodunnit) and a particularly groovy 1970s backdrop, Death on the Nile is an underrated gem in the often overlooked mystery genre.
18. skate.
Far from flawless and sporting a grammatically insane choice of title, skate. does two things perfectly: it absolutely nails the feel and physics of skateboarding and captures the nostalgia that made the original three Skate games mainstays of backward compatibility. It’s undeniable that EA still needs to iron out some of the kinks of their free-to-play games, but the core experience, even among some of the excellent other skateboarding games that came out this year, is top notch and will only get better as the world grows larger and gnarlier.
17. Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Asking (and answering) the age old question of who would win, a ninja or a samurai, Assassin’s Creed Shadows unleashes players into Feudal Japan. The dual-protagonist dynamic of stealthy, ninja-precision infiltration and powerful, armor-crushing samurai combat is one of the freshest approaches to theAssassin’s Creed formula in a while. The world feels alive with shifting weather, social dynamics, and reactive environments that reward creativity, whether slipping across rooftops at night or charging through sunlit fields. It’s the first Assassin’s Creed in years that truly feels like it evolves the formula rather than just repeating it, offering a mix of strategy, style, and cinematic storytelling that’s a good luck for the series.
16. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Hideo Kojima makes games unlike anyone else. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach expands and refines the unique blend of open-world traversal, strategy, and storytelling that made the first game a standout, with breathtaking visuals, deeper mechanics, and greater freedom in how you approach objectives. The narrative continues Sam’s journey with more emotional beats and personal stakes, and the asynchronous online features allow for collaboration with other players by sharing structures and tools, making each delivery feel like part of a larger connected experience. In a world of free-to-play immediacy, Death Stranding 2 is an unconventional game that rewards patience and creativity.
15. Rematch
Rematch takes the excitement of soccer and shakes up the formula with intense 5v5 matches that pay off skill, positioning, and teamwork. This street soccer game calls back to an era when NBA Street and NFL Blitz were some of the best arcade sports games out there. Rematch is a fresh twist on arcade sports, a genre that doesn’t see enough love. While it’s still evolving with new features and updates, the core gameplay is satisfying and offers high-energy matches that are easy to jump into but richly rewarding as you improve.
14. Ninja Gaiden 4
Ninja Gaiden is a series that goes back to the early days of the NES and Ninja Gaiden 4 brings back and modernizes the fast-paced, precision-based, high-stakes ninja combat the series is famous for while modernizing it with new mechanics and dynamic environments that make every encounter feel fresh and intense, requiring skill, timing, and creativity in every fight. The game also introduces a new protagonist alongside Ryu Hayabusa, deepening the story and giving both longtime fans and newcomers a thrilling reason to dive into its near-future Tokyo filled with demons and cybernetic foes.
13. Battlefield 6
Sprawling multiplayer battles, visceral combat and global maps are just the tip of the iceberg that is Battlefield 6. Featuring an underrated single-player campaign and creative tools that let you remix and build your own experiences with friends, most people will get into the online competitive elements of Battlefield 6 but there’s a good amount more under the surface. The game modernizes the series with a new combat system and class roles that give you meaningful choices in how you fight, provides robust progression and offers a mix of classic modes like Conquest on top of new experiences that keep each match feeling fresh and dynamic. Focusing on teamwork, strategy, and cinematic sandbox battles with both friends and rivals, Battlefield 6 delivers on a massive scale.
12. South of Midnight
As much of a game as it is the experience of exploring a living storybook, South of Midnight’s mix of Southern Gothic folklore, magical combat and a heartfelt story combine to make a unique experience among the best games of the year. More than just an action adventure game, the hyper-stylized world full of deep south legends is a dive into the life of Hazel as she uncovers her past and repairs fractured bonds. Exploration pays off in a big way here since South of Midnight is as much about atmosphere as it is about adventure.
11. Blue Prince
One of 2025’s most original games, Blue Prince blends puzzling, strategy, and roguelike elements to create an addictive experience where every run unravels a mystery in a shifting mansion full of secrets. Clever puzzles, and emergent challenges that keep you guessing and discovering new layers are make Blue Prince’s gameplay a standout this year. Players are tasked with and rewarded for quick, smart thinking asBlue Prince’s inventive room-drafting mechanics and complex mysteries make it infinitely replayable in the pursuit of Room 46.
10. MarioKart World
The definitive Nintendo Switch 2 launch title is also the most fully realized MarioKart game ever. While all the familiar modes return, the new online Knockout tournaments consistently provide the expletive-inducing moments that have become a fan-favorite and hallmark of the series. A new approach to the racer, an open world that strings together dozens of tracks and adds a level of exploration never before possible in MarioKart. Whether with friends, online or just playing against the CPU, MarioKart World delivers agony and victory in equal parts and represents the Switch 2’s best foot forward.
9. Hollow Knight: Silksong
Elevating the original with faster, more fluid combat and traversal as Hornet, a richly detailed and expansive new kingdom to explore full of secrets and lore,Hollow Knight: Silksong makes every victory feel earned in one of the most polished side-scrolling experiences of the year. Silksong’s combat and movement feel sharper and more acrobatic than before, with strategic healing and customization adding depth to fights. The world of Pharloom is alive with vibrant hand‑drawn art, atmospheric design, and a mix of intricate platforming and boss encounters that reward skill and exploration. Challenging, thoughtful and gorgeous, Silksong delivers a rich, memorable adventure.
8. Borderlands 4
After a few recent missteps in the series, including a horrible Hollywood venture, Borderlands 4 arrived to right the ship and it does so admirably. The next generation of vault hunters have a unique new set of skills to unleash on a world full of zany guns, loot and cannon fodder. With a map that’s bigger than ever, a new set of memorable baddies to tackle, a robust roadmap of additional content to be added and a locked-in approach to the series’ signature gunplay, Borderlands 4 is a true successor to the first two, beloved games in the franchise.
7. The Outer Worlds 2
Few games really feel like your decisions matter but The Outer Worlds captures that butterfly effect. The Outer Worlds 2 is a big, reactive sci‑fi RPG where individual choices genuinely shape the story, world, and relationships you build across the fractured Arcadia colony, letting you craft your own commander with perks, flaws, skills, and companions that see the world respond differently depending on how you play. The combat and exploration have been refined and expanded over the original game with more viable stealth and tactical options, diverse environments, and deeper RPG systems, making each encounter and conversation feel meaningful. Whether you prefer diplomacy, chaos, or something in between, the humor, narrative stakes, and sense of discovery give you a rich solo experience that rewards creativity, strategy, and curiosity in a sprawling story full of quirky characters and factional conflict.
6. Split Fiction
Hazelight Studios has earned a reputation for putting out premiere co-op experiences. Their latest, Split Fiction, continues the lineage of previous GOTY winners like It Takes Two. Only playable with a friend, Split Fiction’s asymmetric gameplay intertwines the stories from the imaginations of the two protagonists – one sci-fi, one fantasy – to make a game that’s captivating and challenging. Hidden sidequest levels explore one-off flights of fancy from the two main characters so don’t be surprised to end up in a pig-filled world for a quick mission that has nothing to do with the overall game.
5. Grounded 2
Building on the epic “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” adventure of the original, Grounded returns for another romp through the backyard. Grounded 2 is one of the most satisfying survival games out there, offering deep and complex systems for builders, fighters, explorers or any combination thereof. The cast of characters here may be mini but the world and breadth of enemies are anything but. This time around there’s an even more sinister story to unfold as our heroes return to the yard to find that the perpetrators of their first fantastic voyage are back and bolder than ever.
4. Donkey Kong Bananza
In place of a proper three dimensional Mario Bros. game to launch the Switch 2, Nintendo put a spotlight on the iconic but often overlooked Donkey Kong instead. Bananza is DK’s Odyssey, a sprawling adventure that trades the usual technique and timing of a Super Mario game for the signature smashing expected of the internationally renowned gorilla. Chock full of secrets, many of which can only be accessed by utterly destroying the destructible environment, Bananza is a brilliant 3D debut for Nintendo’s famed ape.
3. Ghost of Yotei
If there was a game that embodied the idea of revenge being a dish best served cold,Ghost of Yotei would be it. Adapting nearly every samurai movie trope ever, from a family being destroyed by a secret violent past to a survivor seeking revenge, complete with a list of names to kill, Ghost of Yotei melds deep character progression with granular, technical combat. The end result is challenging gameplay that rewards honing expertise and a story that grips, chapter after chapter. Ghost of Yotei serves as a reminder that Playstation continues to reign supreme as the champion of single-player campaigns.
2. Hades 2
Hades 2 is one of the most addictive action‑roguelikes of 2025, building on the groundbreaking foundation of the original with fast, satisfying combat, deep strategic systems, and massive replayability that rewards every run with new upgrades, stories, and surprises. It also introduces a compelling new protagonist, fresh mythological challenges, and branching paths that keep the experience feeling both familiar and excitingly fresh while delivering hours of engaging gameplay and rich narrative world‑building that’s satisfying for veterans or newcomers to the series.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Representing a stunning achievement in world-building, story telling and innovation in the RPG genre,Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 is a high fantasy walk to the gallows, wrapped in beauty and bleakness. The deeply immersive turn-based gameplay and striking narrative are accentuated by a darkly atmospheric world which provides the backdrop for high-stakes emotional tension that few RPGs provide. Between compelling character arcs and overarching existential themes, it’s easy to get attached to the game in a personal way. That alone puts Clair Obscur among the top games of 2025, but adding the excellent tactical encounters that require careful planning and clever thinking is why it tops this list. It’s a must play for anyone who loves not just RPGs but video games in general, providing a shining example of what games can be when story and gameplay merge perfectly.