Against all odds, it’s been an incredibly strong year for gaming. From sweeping narrative adventures to cool puzzlers, quirky tales, layered strategy games and more, we’ve seen a host of brilliant video games launching in 2025. At a time when we’ve all needed escapism and play, so many cool experiences were there to provide relief.
By now, most of us will be aware of the challenges facing the modern games industry. The economic downturn has disproportionally impacted game studios around the world and at the same time, publishers and investors have been pulling back.
We’ve seen countless layoffs, even at prominent and successful studios. There have been game cancellations and devastating studio shutdowns. But through it all, great video games have still been released.
In the lead up to the new year, now is the time to look back and remember all the games that made an impact in 2025. To kick off, the ScreenHub team is looking back at its favourite PC, PlayStation and Xbox video games of the year.
Here are our top 10 picks, in no particular order.
Best video games of 2025 – quick links
Avowed
Avowed arrived early in 2025 as a fresh fantasy adventure with layered characters and a colourful world to explore. Treading in the footsteps of Obsidian Entertainment’s Pillars of Eternity video games franchise, it managed to look and feel like its own thing while still carrying the charm and dense lore of its predecessors.
Ahead of launch, many compared this game to Skyrim, and while it is similar in nature, it’s got just enough of its own personal flourish to feel unique. Add in emotive voice acting, and a very tight story about the end of the world, and Avowed is complete. If you missed this game when it first launched, consider adding it back on your list.
South of Midnight
South of Midnight deserved more love this year. What a beautiful, impactful game with such novel ideas! In this adventure you play as Hazel, a young girl who learns she’s destined to be a magical Weaver. This is not only a vast and imaginative fantasy adventure, it’s also a lush coming of age story, all about growing up and untangling – then re-embracing – the bonds of family.
Everything about this game is magical, from its stop motion-style artwork, which evokes a storybook tale, to its wall-to-wall banger soundtrack. It’s a demonstration of just how cohesive and beautiful video games can be when they’re driven by the passion of a talented team.
The Drifter
The Drifter is a phenomenal point-and-click adventure game that delivers a well-paced sci-fi story riddled with wild, well-controlled twists. It’s also very beautiful, buoyed by a clean pixelised art style and sleek animation that adds drama and flair to each story beat.
Read: The Drifter review: a noir video games adventure that takes you ’round the twist
The Drifter is a game that constantly keeps you guessing. The plot advances at a steady pace – while holding its biggest reveals for exactly the right moment. This game really is a staggering achievement for Aussie-based development team Powerhoof.
Promise Mascot Agency
Promise Mascot Agency is a collection of very cool, very bizarre ideas that all work together in seamless fashion. For one thing, this game is a narrative adventure about a mafia enforcer who’s exiled after being blamed for major financial mismanagement.
For another thing, it’s also a creature management game, where you must lead life-sized, sentient mascots through various trials and tribulations as they complete their jobs. It’s also an open world video game collect-a-thon where you must destroy garbage and exorcise spirits in a nature-filled overworld.
Read: My 3 best video games of 2025 – and 7 others that were amazing
Somehow, all of these parts work so well together, encouraging you to lock in and explore for hours and hours, romping through story, cleaning trash and looking after your menagerie of mascot creatures. Perhaps one of the weirdest video games on this list, Promise Mascot Agency is also one of the most endearing.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a massive RPG adventure that takes everything from the original Fantasy Life, and makes it bigger and more impressive. The freedom afforded by this game and its loosey-goosey structure is what really makes it a blast. Here, you can be a warrior fighting dragons and beasties. You can also be a woodchopper, or a fisher, or a cook. You can even be an artist.
No matter which life you choose, you have so many options available to you, all housed within a sweeping fantasy story involving time travel and multi-island adventures. This is a vast game with a very ambitious scope but spending time in its world is so very rewarding.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
It would be unsurprising to see Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sweeping the video game awards over the next few months after all its many nominations. This original fantasy adventure follows a group of travellers pushing back against the call of destiny, as they fight for their freedom and their lives in a dark, dystopian world.
While the narrative reaches fairly grim territory, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33‘s light shines with each step, thanks to a flashy art style and consistently breathtaking visuals. This is a game that brims with real magic, and makes a shocking impact with each twist and turn.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Hollow Knight: Silksong landed with aplomb this year, honouring its predecessor with bolder, more ambitious worlds and equally challenging, moreish gameplay. You’ll need a strong heart and quick hands to defeat every boss in this tale, but there’s nothing quite like the joy of victory in Silksong.
Like The Drifter, this is another brilliant Australian-made experience that made a significant impact on the world of video games in 2025.
It’s really got the works: it’s beautiful and well-designed, its combat is sharp and snappy and its world is entirely enthralling. Hollow Knight: Silksong deserves all the praise it’s been given this year.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger
There’ve been countless Digimon video games released over the years, with some being grander than others. Digimon Story: Time Stranger might be the grandest of all, with this surprisingly big budget game inviting you into a sweeping story charting all corners of the Digital World.
Read: Digimon Story Time Stranger video games review: a breathtaking digivolution
This adventure harks back to the classic Digimon World days, and particularly Digimon World 3. For nostalgic players, it’s a brilliant new entry in the long-running franchise, and one that feels fairly familiar. With a long, winding plot, hundreds of Digimon to collect, and even a variety of cool little mini-games, Time Stranger is an excellent and engrossing adventure.
Hades 2
Hades 2 continues the story laid out in Hades, with Melinoë, sister of original protagonist Zagreus, taking the reigns. Here, Melinoë must attempt to defeat the Titan Chronos and his minions, while charting a twisting underworld filled with all sorts of cool, well-designed beasts and gods.
If you’re familiar with the original game, this is more of the same – but with cooler weapons, more world variety and a host of new and returning characters.
Given the excellence of Hades, it’s certainly a fantastic platform to build on. Supergiant Games does very well to expand on everything that made Hades so beloved, making the action brighter, more colourful, and equally compelling.
Blue Prince
Blue Prince is just excellent. In a year of great puzzle video games, it was a cut above the rest thanks to its many, many layers and how it leads players down rabbit holes.
You begin in a seemingly normal manor, but quickly discover rooms that seem to shift and change around you, with each housing its own array of head-scratching secrets, some of which will disappear when you blink.
In its mix of mechanics and ever-shifting gameplay, Blue Prince is a fantastic, novel experience that feels so different from everything else. While it combines elements from many video games, including virtual escape rooms, there’s nothing expected or typical about how this adventure plays out.
