Gabrielle Castania - Game of the year 2025

I usually don't like to speak for everyone, but I'm definitely on to something when I say that 2025 was the definitive year. For better or worse, these were 365 days that definitely happened. At least, we got some really good games out of the deal.

I've probably spent more time gaming this year, both for work and pleasure. From Museum Sims to silly games to kart racers and RPGs, I indulged in a haphazard buffet that I'm not the least bit ashamed to enjoy.

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

The main key art for The Hundred Line - The Last Defense Academy-.

As someone who has long been in love with the Danganronpa series, I was incredibly excited by the concept of taking a ragtag gang of high school kids and throwing them into a life-or-death military strategy situation.

They wouldn't let me do it in real life, but thanks to The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, I got my fill anyway. I'd advise against it if you're not into Danganronpa's quirky anime storytelling twist iconic – there's just too much.

Titan Quest 2

I started playing World of Warcraft earlier this year and have developed a weekly ritual around it with my boyfriend. But since my penchant for questing between play sessions has come to be known as WoW Sundays, I ran into another intense story with Titan Quest 2.

Hours were spent fighting all sorts of creatures and criminals, finding my share of rare loot, and venturing out on so many side quests that I forgot to finish the main game. It's still getting updates, and you can bet I'll be playing them all.

Center for Urban Mythbusting

Meguria at the center of urban myth-busting.

My first taste of Urban Myth Dissolution Center came from a demo on the showfloor at PAX West in 2024, and that intriguing nibble remained in my mouth until the full horror visual novel was released earlier this year.

My schedule for Con was packed, but I flew home after being unable to shake the director's shadow. I loved the notion of using social media to solve supernatural mysteries, and the game's gruesome pixel art style was a statement on screen every time the bright red of blue-grey blood bathed in blood.

Hell is us

Remy is us looking at the grave at the beginning of hell.

Another game whose demo had me reeling, I spent weeks in Hell after getting hands-on with Our Scary Grand Adventure back in May. The story follows a man as he searches for answers about what happened to his birth parents during a brutally realistic civil war, tasked with fighting monsters whose junky moves and hollow bodies still haunt me months later.

When you take inspiration from a subject as dark and serious as a real-life Civil War, you need a heavy dose of respect to make a fun game both because of and despite that reality. Hell is sent to us in spades.

Two Point Museum

Sinking my teeth into a game that lets me build and tailor a collection is always satisfying, as someone who grew up playing Animal Crossing on a mission to get every piece of clothing and every piece of furniture, the Two Point Museum was right up my alley.

I loved the previous two Point titles and the third followed in line nicely, perfectly delivering the curation game with the same fun humor. I have all kinds of special themes – history and hydro and hauntings, oh my! – and I still want to go back to polishing my displays.

AI: Somnium Files – Kaname has no sleep for a date

Aiba in front of the green static in Somnium at No Sleep for Kaname Date.

I love escape rooms, I love anime ridiculousness, I love mystery stories, and I love thinking outside the box. Therefore, I love AI: Somnium Files – No Sleep for Kaname Date.

Dead Tech

Neil Newbone and Ben Starr with black tears on the film screen in front of the director's seat in Dead Take.

Sometimes, just when you think a genre is all but dead, it comes back with a vengeance all thanks to a single title. This year, Dead Tech turned FMV gaming on its head with a brutal look at the dark side of Hollywood.

Neil Newbone and Ben Starr steal the show with their performances, while the atmosphere is saturated with suffocating darkness wherever you are in the mansion. The puzzles were also interesting headscratchers, and I may have even screamed for the jumpscares a few times. I never felt comfortable playing this game, and I loved it.

Raidou Remastered: Secrets of the Soulless Army

A close-up of Raidou Kuzunoha XIV in Raidou remastered The Mystery of the Soulless Army.

The only new personality game we got this year was the Gacha title, but Atlus didn't hold back on giving us another full-sized Shin Megami Tensei Port Rideau Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army. You're a supernatural detective in an alternate-history version of Taisho-era Japan, and it's up to you and your demons to figure out why the timeline is messed up.

The real-time combat was very different from the turn-based gameplay I'm used to as a massive personality fan, but I grew to love it right away. Serving as a rapidfire test, titles in the series required more quick-thinking and adaptability than I'm used to. I can sometimes focus a little too much on Persona, but Raidou Remastered gave me a new appreciation for the other games in the SMT family.

Sonic Racing: Crossworlds

If you told me you had the theme song for this ultra-fun cartoon racing title stuck in your head for weeks, then I hope you read it to the tune of that song when I tell you: You're a Li-R.

All dates!

Several characters from the key art for Date Everything with TheGamer's Game of the Year artwork for Gabriel Castania.

“If you like it so much, why don't you get married?” Joke's on you, idiot – you can't get married in this game, but oh my god, does it still deliver on its name – you really can date everything!

Every few years, a game comes out that is so right up my alley that I fixate on it for ages, and this year, that date was Everything!, the debut title from Sassy Chap Games. The only thing I love more than a dating sim is a silly dating sim, and as someone who spends hours a day on Dream Daddy and Hateful Boyfriend, throwing in dozens of voice actors from shows and games in the genre I love is guaranteed to be a slam dunk for me.

All 100 pieces of furniture in your sexy, sexy home feel distinctly unique from each other, and I spent my summer playing around with each of them a few times to get three different endings. I spoke with Sassy Chaps a few times during its development – once after its announcement and again before its launch – and if you couldn't tell from my Game of the Year trailer and teasers, talking to them confirmed that there's more to this over-the-top dating sim than vulgarity and giggles.