It baffles me when people say that gaming is dead. 2023 and 2024 were all-timers as far as I’m concerned, with banger after banger releasing and enough variety to suit even the fussiest of gamers out there.
2025 has continued this trend, and if you’ve listened to the Loot Level Chill Podcast Awards, you’ll have noticed that there are so many top quality games this year that it took us about 11 hours of deliberating to find our final lists.
I played and finished about 25 games this year, which is a little lower than I’d normally do, but toddlers and kittens have eaten up my free time unfortunately. Still, I got the chance to play all sorts of exciting and interesting games, and got to enjoy the launch of a new console with the Nintendo Switch 2 releasing, so all in all it’s been a fantastic year for gaming which now needs to be condensed into a list of 10.
Before we get into the numbered entries, let’s take a look at a few honourable mentions…
Honourable Mention: Wheel World
Bicycles are one of the most enjoyable ways to get around in video games, so Wheel World being built around them was always going to tickle my fancy. Throw in a hypnotic pop soundtrack and a bizarre world where everyone’s in a bike gang and all disputes are settled by races and you’ve got the recipe for a wheely good game (sorry).
Honourable Mention: Two Point Museum
As someone who loved Theme Hospital, the first two Two Point games didn’t really grab me. They felt simultaneously too familiar and safe while also being different enough that they didn’t hit the nostalgia nerve in my brain. Two Point Museum managed to fix this by feeling sufficiently different thanks to the new expedition system while also having that cheeky British humour we all know and love. Having multiple museum types that each function differently was a stroke of genius for a game like this, and I was always curious to see what was coming next.
Plus, the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Two Point Museum is a great way to get a portable museum management fix!
Right, on to the list then.
10. Pokémon Legends: Z-A
Despite loving the original Gameboy games enough to have Ash and Pikachu from Pokémon Yellow tattooed on my arm, most Pokémon games since then have left me a little cold. The formula got stale, turn based combat made half the moves feel redundant and, if I’m being honest, most of the post-151 monster designs just aren’t as good as the nostalgia-fuelled originals. That’s why Pokémon Legends: Z-A has been such a pleasant surprise: it shook up the formula, updated the battle system and injected a whole host of Pokémon I don’t recognise. I now announce every Pokémon I catch so that my wife can tell me what it is, turning the game into a semi-collaborative experience that I’m very much enjoying.
Lumiose is an interesting locale to explore, and while the cityscape falls apart a bit under scrutiny, at a macro level it’s actually quite pretty. Side quests are generally short diversions which feel perfect for mopping up in a 20 minute session before bed, and the game actually feels like it’s got something approaching an interesting story. The biggest improvement for me though is the move away from turn-based combat. Moves like Leer and Growl no longer seem like a waste of a turn, and there’s more depth than first meets the eye.
9. The Berlin Apartment
The Berlin Apartment is a short, sweet and often quite dark walking simulator that tells four tales set in one apartment at various points in Germany’s storied history. In my review I likened it to What Remains of Edith Finch, which fans of the genre will know is high praise, and despite it being a small release in a jam packed year, it left a big impression on me.
The four stories, which are interspersed with a modern day framing narrative, range from a cute little love story set against the backdrop of the Berlin Wall, through to a grim Christmas for the occupying family during WW2, and an even darker story about a previous inhabitants exit from the property in the 1930’s. The frequent jumps to new stories and protagonists help keep things moving and you’re never in one spot for too long. For those who place the greatest emphasis on story in their games then this is one of 2025’s finest.
8. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Before anyone corrects me, Metal Gear Solid 3 is the best game in the entire series, and one of the best games of all time. I’ve owned near enough every version of it so feel qualified to make that claim. If Kojima’s batshit craziness was a spectrum from “A bit odd” all the way up to “Whatever is happening in Death Stranding”, MGS 3 falls exactly in the middle. It’s got his signature weirdness and his penchant for waxing lyrical about the military minutiae that was a hallmark in his games of the time, but outside of some double and triple secret agents the story remains largely comprehensible. Weird as fuck, but comprehensible.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater does the unthinkable and remakes the Kojima classic without the man himself, creating one of the most faithful remakes I’ve ever seen. The game is intact in every way you remember it being, only now you’ve got modernised visuals and controls to play around with. You could argue it’s a little too safe, but without Kojima himself involved to expand upon ideas or stories, I think you need to make a 1:1 remake and allow all the original craziness to shine for a new audience, which Delta does perfectly.
7. Powerwash Simulator 2
I’ve put hundreds of hours into the first Powerwash Simulator across multiple platforms, so I was always going to love a sequel. There’s no game that relaxes me quite like these and in my mind they’re the digital equivalent of colouring in. You just switch your brain off and start scrubbing, which at the end of a busy day of work and parenting is sometimes all I can muster.
Powerwash Simulator 2 takes everything great about the first game and refines it. Controls make far more sense now, feeling akin to a modern day shooter, while visuals have been enhanced with some nice new effects. You’re given a slew of new tools and washers to use, but outside of improving your washer strength you’re free to tackle jobs however you see fit. It really is just a lovely way to spend an hour here and there.
6. Ball x Pit
If there was a list of ‘Games I Wish I Played Before Recording the GOTY Pods’ then this would top it. I’d played a couple of hours and could see it was good, but it was only after buying the game on Switch 2 that I did get utterly absorbed into it.
Ball x Pit is just one of the most addictive games I played this year, consuming all my spare time and pulling me away from everything else I wanted to play. While the town building stuff isn’t exactly my bag, I appreciate that it lets you engage with it as much or as little as you want, which in my case using it to throw up a few buildings and then get straight back into the Breakout x Survivors runs.
The highlight of the game for me is the characters, of which there are about 15, and who all feel so very unique. While some have fairly standard modifiers to how they play, others change the entire genre of game and the creativity on show here was hugely unexpected. Even after finishing it I’m still dipping in and out to unlock the last few bits, which isn’t something that happens often for me.
5. Ghost of Yotei
Another lovely surprise, Ghost of Yotei is a really bloody good open world game! I thought Ghost of Tsushima was fairly dull, an Ubisoft-formula game but without the roguish protagonists and historical detail of an Assassin’s Creed. Ghost of Yotei remedies everything I disliked about the original though.
Gone is the constant chastising for playing stealthily or “without honour” – Atsu is a total badass who has no qualms with slinging sand in an opponents eye or slitting their throat from behind if she thinks it’s going to get her closer to her goal. It’s pure power fantasy in a more visually exciting setting than the first game and with one of the best soundtracks of the year, whether you’re listening to Atsu play her Shimasen or the lo-fi beats of the Watanabe mode.
4. South of Midnight
I love the stories, songs and style of the American gothic Deep South, but it’s not something often explored in video games. Thankfully we saw South of Midnight release this year, which blends the 3 together with an unusual stop-motion visual style and a story that feels like a modern fairytale.
While some of the gameplay mechanics weren’t to my taste (the combat), the accessibility options are flexible enough that you can easily tailor the experience, to the point that I basically played it as a platformer. The game’s mix of folklore coupled with Olivier Deriviere’s lyrically-focused music echoes the way in which stories were told and shared throughout history, and creates some truly outstanding moments.
3. Dispatch
If you ever enjoyed any of the old Telltale games, or you just bloody love a good superhero romp then you owe it to yourself to play Dispatch. Impeccably written and acted, it tells the tale of Robert Robertson as he’s forced into retirement after a lifetime of being a superhero and takes up a job as a superhero dispatcher. It’s a great premise made better by the whipsmart humour and star-studded voice cast with every character feeling distinct and fun.
Dispatch takes the classic Telltale formula and refines it to near perfection. Gone are the visible seams as you transition between scenes, or the plodding exploration sections that slowed down the story. Every scene in Dispatch tells a story, whether it’s digging into Robert’s past or exploring potential romances, or even just showing the budding friendship between the beloved Z-Team. There’s a reason it dominates a lot of our LLC Podcast Award categories, and I can’t wait to see what Season 2 brings.
2. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Oh Kojima. You’re mad as a box of frogs and I absolutely love it. Revisiting MGS in the same year as Death Stranding 2: On the Beach really highlights how utterly insane the latter is, but I think it’s possibly one of his most restrained stories yet. Unburdened by the exposition and set-up that the (equally brilliant) Death Stranding was hampered by, this sequel is able to focus on multiple different plots, some of which feel a lot smaller and more personal than anything else from Kojima’s catalogue.
Mechanically the game takes everything brilliant from the first game and smooths away some of the more abrasive bits. Planning out deliveries is more intuitive, as is collecting resources and managing your inventory, leaving you free to focus on exploring the gorgeous representation of Australia. New weather effects, dynamic in-game events like avalanches and even an entire train network take the goal of reconnecting civilisation to new levels and create something both expansive and compelling.
1. Baby Steps
I’ve partially put Baby Steps in the top position as it’s become a bit of a meme within the Loot Level Chill team. A game I’ve referenced so often that I may not be invited back in 2026, but despite it looking like silly physics-based streamer fodder, it’s actually got incredible depth to it that isn’t visible at first glance.
There are so many ways the game can be interpreted and that’s what I love about it. Yes, it’s silly. It’s full of donkey dicks and funny Australian improv humour, and Nate himself is a stuttering nerd in a soiled onesie, but dig below the surface and there’s far more to it. I’ve seen fantastic arguments that it’s a commentary on modern day open world gaming, or depression, or a descent into the afterlife and more.
In my mind it’s a perfect allegory for anxiety, loneliness and death, with Nate’s journey up the mountain mirroring his own ability to overcome his interpersonal struggles. Step by agonisingly difficult step you’ll work your way to the top, meeting a colourful cast of supporting characters and seeing how Nate’s relationships grow and evolve over the 20 hours is as much a reward as the tension and stress leaving your body as you reach the end of the game.
Look past the donkey dicks and you’ll find this year’s most rewarding experience. I’ve thought about it regularly ever since finishing it and it’s one I’m going to be replaying as soon as I get the chance.
