The Best Video Games of 2025 So Far

The sequel to 2021's Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is another dark fantasy, post-apocalyptic Metroidvania in the same world but set decades later. Changes, though relatively minor, include a revamped battle system. What you are here for is the challenge, and the impeccable design of the setting and characters.

"Much of Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is a triumph, with considerable work put into the Metroidvania's enemies, set pieces and environments. Each boss is more creatively imagined than the last." —The New York Times

The latest indie from the duo of Josef Martinovsky and Christopher Andreasson (Post Void) combines adventure, RPG, roguelike, and management gameplay with pixel-art graphics and an open world. Set in the early 2000's, Keep Driving finds you in possession of your first car and the desire to head to the opposite side of the country to attend a festival. Which routes you take, which hitchhikers you pick up—basically everything you do along the way—is up to you, and it'll take multiple playthroughs to reach all of the endings. Critics were charmed by the game's nostalgic vibe and surprisingly addictive gameplay.

"Overall, I was hooked by the atmosphere and easy-to-learn management of this summer road trip. In a time where games can be a wonderful escape from current world events, Keep Driving brought me back to a younger time when a car meant freedom and opportunity, and a reminder of those good times was more than welcome." —GameCritics

Wacky management games Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus were joined early this year by the equally silly Two Point Museum. And it may just be the best expression of Two Point's formula yet. Museum (also on consoles) tasks you with designing, curating, and running a variety of science institutions—a blend of more typical fare like aquariums and dinosaur museums with less common buildings like one devoted to supernatural exhibits—while managing staff, designing tour layouts, and more. Critics find it deeper, more varied, and more refined than its two predecessors.

"With both Hospital and Campus, once I'd achieved maximum efficiency at each medical facility or school, there wasn't much left to do, and I never felt compelled to revisit them. However, with Museum, I often still felt motivated by the idea of further completing each collection, or decorating each museum more to better showcase existing exhibits. Two Point Museum is arguably one of the most highly-anticipated management games of 2025, and through innovating with a whole new concept while keeping its core structure intact, it absolutely doesn't disappoint." —Screen Rant

Available at Fanatical

Available for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S as well, The Alters is the latest sci-fi survival/management/base-building game from Frostpunk studio 11 bit. As in that game (and its sequel), you are tasked with navigating life on an inhospitable planet, but here the location is not Earth but a hostile exoplanet, where an expedition has crash landed. Your character is the only survivor of the crash, but you do have help: You can create multiple alternate versions of yourself, each influenced by a different decision from your past. Critics like the added emphasis on narrative and the emotional weight of the many difficult choices you need to make to survive.

"The Alters is 11 bit studio's most ambitious, and possibly best game yet. Combining all their experiences in base building, crew management, resource gathering and survival, they try to pull off something they haven't done before. Create an engaging, huge, sci-fi narrative adventure. And they succeed." —Impulsegamer

Available at Fanatical

Also available for PC, this blend of anime-style visual novel with tactical RPG elements comes from Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka and Zero Escape veteran Kotaro Uchikoshi and follows a Japanese high schooler whose neighborhood is invaded by fantastical monsters. Suddenly, he finds himself transported to a school in the middle of nowhere, where he and 14 other students must spend the next 100 days defending the campus against the monstrous invaders. When you aren't busy fighting them off, spend time exploring the wilderness surrounding the school and bonding with your fellow students.

"The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is an utterly unhinged game, with incredible characters, exceptional combat and a whole lot of style." —Loot Level Chill

Available at Walmart

Combining deckbuilding with Into the Breach-style grid-based tactical combat, cartoony indie roguelike StarVaders tasks you with building up a deck from more than 400 unique cards and using them to repel an alien invasion of Earth. (Fortunately, these aliens are more Space Invaders than Alien Xenomorphs.) Critics think the game is both accessible and deep—and yet another addictive and clever entry in the roguelike deckbuilder genre.

"StarVaders strikes a balance between accessibility and deep strategic layers. Whether you're a newcomer to the deckbuilding genre or a seasoned rogue strategist, there's something here for you. With tight mechanics, meaningful progression, and addictive replayability, StarVaders earns its place in the indie strategy spotlight." —KeenGamer

Available at GOG

This even better sequel to 2022's Citizen Sleeper is another indie sci-fi RPG utilizing a dice-based mechanic and modern, minimalist interface. The narrative-driven game finds your character—a corporation-controlled android known as a "sleeper"—awakening in an inhabited asteroid belt. There, you must find a ship and a crew to take you away from the corporation that seeks to retake you. Developed again by solo shop Jump Over the Age, Starward Vector has been praised by critics for its tense, cyberpunk storytelling. It's also available for consoles.

"You could easily look at screenshots of either Citizen Sleeper game and think them a niche interest, but I don't think that's true. It may resemble a visual novel in some ways, but the overall experience it offers feels like a full-fledged RPG. As long as you aren't opposed to reading a lot of good writing, Citizen Sleeper 2 is an indie investment worth considering. With an endearing and well-rounded cast, tight and expressive game systems, and a visionary sci-fi world to get lost in, this is an early frontrunner for 2025 RPGs." —RPG Fan

Available at Humble

The flagship launch title for Nintendo's new Switch 2 console, Mario Kart World has big shoes to fill: It's not just the latest installment in a beloved racing/party-game franchise dating back to 1992, but it follows perhaps the most successful release in the entire series.

Good news: It's not a disaster. (Far from it!) World is just as fun and addictive as prior games, and is bigger all around, with impressive new tracks, a ton of vehicles and characters to choose from, and support for up to 24-player races. (Also bigger: That $80 pricetag!) The only thing holding it back from an even higher Metascore is a halfhearted attempt at introducing an open world into its gameplay.

"Mario Kart World might not completely reinvent the steering wheel, but it's still a bold new vision for the 30-year-old series that takes some big risks with the classic formula. That said, thanks to some visually stunning new tracks, incredible karting tech, and a soundtrack that keeps my head bopping at all times, it's already my favorite Mario Kart game to date, and I can't wait to spend the next few years drifting and wall riding in Knockout Tour, Grand Prix mode, and beyond." —Pocket Tactics

Available at Walmart and Best Buy

Now redesigned, remastered, and expanded, this January Steam title is the first stand-alone release for an indie detective puzzle-adventure originally released as a browser game in 2023. Set in 1998, The Roottrees are Dead tasks you with researching the family tree of the Roottree family after two of the family's billionaire members are killed in a plane crash, leaving their inheritance to their blood relatives. Who gets their billions? That's for you to determine—but you'll have to do so using pre-Google, dial-up technology. (There wasn't even a Metacritic back then!)

"Never has putting a family tree together been so much fun. I couldn't put down The Roottrees are Dead once I started playing it, leaving me feeling like a true detective, searching web pages, library archives and more to piece together this intriguing family's history. This is a must-play for any puzzle fan." —GameSpew

A sequel to the 2020 skiing game Lonely Mountains: Downhill, Snow Riders (also available on Xbox Series X/S) offers relaxing but challenging skiing action across a variety of chilly environments. (And doesn't a chilly environment sound good right about now.) And you might want to forget the "lonely" part of the title: New to the series is cross-platform multiplayer that allows you to ski with (or against) up to seven other competitors.

"Both blissful and demanding, Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders is one of the most beautiful skiing games on PC." —PC Gamer

It's not a Metroidvania; it's a ... Yoyovania. The top-down 2D adventure from Brazilian indie studio Pocket Trap has you exploring a town inhabited by rival crime bosses and a variety of critters. Gameplay—clearly influenced by The Legend of Zelda among others, but featuring a unique yo-yo mechanic that lets you use the toy in a variety of imaginative ways—blends platforming, exploration, combat, and puzzle-solving. Critics find the result clever, charming, and retro.

"A brilliant game, with attention to detail and full of nerdy humor, it doesn't revolutionize the genre, but enhances its features." —The Games Machine

Available at Green Man Gaming

Few microgenres have blown up in recent years like the roguelike deckbuilder, with titles such as Inscryption, Slay the Spire, Balatro, and Monster Train gaining praise and a growing number of users thanks to their highly addictive and often challenging gameplay loops. The latter is the first of those games to get a sequel, and if you liked the first Monster Train, you'll like the follow-up, which features very similar gameplay (think Slay the Spire but with the added dimension of verticality) but with an entirely new set of clans, cards, and enemies to deal with/against and a few new mechanics not found in the original. MT2 is also available on consoles, though not yet on mobile.

"Monster Train 2 is a fantastic upgrade for what was already one of the best deckbuilding roguelites out there. ... I can easily say right now that its endless challenge and the pleasant surprises I'm still discovering within it will keep me coming back for hundreds of hours." —IGN

Available at Fanatical

Also available for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, the first sequel to the 2018 medieval action-RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance doubles the size of that game's open world and continues the story of Henry of Skalitz in 15th century Bohemia as he attempts to restore King Wenceslaus IV to the throne. Critics think the sequel improves greatly upon the original, praising an ultra-realistic and immersive—though demanding—epic.

"Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a game of staggering scope, depth and complexity, allowing you to be a smooth-talking diplomat, a cunning craftsman, a sneaky cutthroat, a chivalrous knight in shining armour, or any combination of the above. Whatever aspects of gaming you enjoy, there's something for you here, and I can confidently say that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a medieval masterpiece." —Hey Poor Player

Available at

The seventh main entry in the 21-year-old action-RPG franchise—and the fastest-selling Capcom game in history—Monster Hunter Wilds is one of the best games of the year so far, according to critics. "Not so fast," say gamers—specifically, PC gamers. While reviewers appreciate how Wilds evolves, refines, and streamlines the Monster Hunter formula, complaints have been piling up on Steam (and elsewhere) about the game's sluggish performance on PC and also about Capcom's less-than-ambitious schedule of updates. (A new update does arrive on June 30, however.)

"Although it's possible that Monster Hunter Wilds could put off some veterans who started early with the series, it's made a massive jump in progress towards being a more well-rounded game that is inviting to a much broader audience. In terms of visuals, it's the best the series has to offer and the seamless world makes the environments come to life like never before. Add on the improved combat and mount controls and it's a game you won't be able to put down once you start." —MMORPG.com

Available at

Not just a graphical remaster of the 2014 puzzle game classic The Talos Principle, this Reawakened release adds a new expansion ("In the Beginning") as well as new content within existing puzzles. It also includes a new puzzle editor that enables community-generated content. Reawakened is also available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

"The Talos Principle: Reawakened is a surprisingly topical game to come back to in 2025, and neither its plot nor its excellent puzzle-solving gameplay has aged a day. Not everything in the experience really benefits from the graphical rework that significantly increases the system expectation, but the new expansion takes full advantage of both the more advanced engine and the player's high understanding of game elements, even if I'd describe it as punishingly difficult." —Noisy Pixel

Available at Fanatical

When pioneering game developer Hideo Kojima released the mysterious, open-world sci-fi action-adventure title Death Stranding in 2019, the game both wowed and confounded critics. But this first sequel is doing only the former. Set nearly a year after the events of the first game—in the same bizarre, post-apocalyptic world, but now mainly in Australia rather than the United States—DS2 returns many of the main characters from the prior release, including those voiced by Norman Reedus, Lea Seydoux, and Troy Baker.

No longer an elaborate "walking simulator," the PS5-exclusive sequel features more action and combat and appears to address just about every complaint leveled at the first game. It also looks fantastic and boasts an impressive cast. But a few critics think the sequel's greater embrace of accessibility makes On the Beach a little less interesting in the process.

"Death Stranding 2 is a sequel worthy of the masterpiece mantle. It's Hideo Kojima at his outrageous best." —The Times

Available at

Yet another unique, critically acclaimed indie from Panic (Thank Goodness You're Here!, Untitled Goose Game), despelote (also available for consoles) is a nostalgic, slice-of-life adventure set in the soccer-obsessed city of Quito, Ecuador in 2001. As eight-year-old Julián—a stand-in for developer Julián Cordero, whose childhood you are effectively playing through—you'll dribble your soccer ball around town at your own pace and interact with a variety of locals. Critics think it's a short but sweet tale that will stay with you longer than its playtime.

"This is fascinating, formally daring stuff that, in its two-hour playtime, asks more questions about the nature of memory, simulation and identity than a dozen 100-hour epics." —The Guardian

The latest title from Swedish studio Hazelight is, like It Takes Two and A Way Out before it, a two-player co-op action game. And while those two games were well-reviewed, Split Fiction is even better. You and a partner play as writers Mio and Zoe—the former a sci-fi specialist while the latter writes fantasy—as each becomes trapped inside their stories by a machine hoping to steal their ideas. (The machine is not named ChatGPT—just making that clear.) You'll have to work together to overcome challenges in an impressive variety of settings as the action plays out in split screen.

That variety—and the overwhelming creativity, ingenuity, and playfulness on display—make Split Fiction an easy recommendation by critics. It's available on Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Switch 2 as well as PS5.

"Split Fiction is a generational work. It's brimming with creativity, tells a resonant story that reflects the current state of the world, and is a sincere love letter to genre fiction that has inspired so many of us." —Inverse

Available at

An eight-year labor of love for cinematographer turned game developer Tonda Ros, Blue Prince is a puzzle adventure inspired by Christopher Manson's 1984 puzzle book Maze—with Manson even providing some of Prince's artwork. Also blending strategy and roguelike elements, the game tasks you with exploring the 45 rooms of an ever-shifting manor, hoping to eventually find your way to a hidden 46th room.

Critics think it one of the best puzzlers in recent memory thanks to its depth, intelligence, and unique design, though it can be difficult at times (and its randomness can frustrate). You can also find it on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

"Blue Prince is a strategic masterpiece with much more to it than meets the eye. Each playthrough feels unique thanks to the draft system, while permanent upgrades preserve your progress. Without a doubt, this is one of the best games of the year." —Gameliner

Available at Fanatical

Metacritic's Best New Game of the First Half of 2025. The first game from French studio Sandfall Interactive is a dark fantasy RPG set in a world where the evil Paintress wipes out every person at or above a certain age—with that number decreasing each time. You control multiple characters who are part of a yearlong expedition that sets out to prevent the next wipe from becoming reality. All prior missions have failed—will yours be any different?

Blending turn-based and real-time gameplay and featuring a voice cast led by Charlie Cox and Andy Serkis, Clair Obscur is one of the year's biggest hits—already selling over 3 million units across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC—while collecting widespread acclaim from critics and gamers alike for its moving story, unique combat mechanics, and striking visuals. Not bad for a debut.

"Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a sheer triumph in every department, evolving beyond its inspirations to present one of the most engrossing RPGs of the last decade." —CGMagazine

Available at