10 best games of 2025: From indie hits to unforgettable adventures

With 2025 coming to an end, it has been another remarkable year of game releases. 2025 in video games can be defined by meaningful storytelling, memorable encounters, and all kinds of immersive worlds to dive into. 

The best video games of 2025 have delivered something for everyone, and unsurprisingly, indie games continue to excel in creativity and in displaying interesting experiences. Numerous sequels also stand out this year, which is good news for existing fans of those titles.

Adventure Gamers’ 10 best games of 2025

So many incredible games made their debuts this year, meaning some of the most popular video games in 2025 may not have made the list. Honorable mentions include Avowed, Ghost of Yotei, and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. However, we break down the very best games to come out of this year, from indie titles taking the spotlight to larger-scale adventures.

10. The Séance of Blake Manor (October 2025)

A supernatural detective mystery set in 1897 in Ireland, where you investigate the disappearance of Evelyn Deane from a hotel that has more secrets than meets the eye when haunted forces come into play. 

As the detective, you will interview and interrogate your suspects, keep tabs on all the evidence you gather, search for clues, and confront characters when you’re ready to make deductions. Each action counts down the day, and there is a (lenient) timer, so discovering the truth about Blake Manor and the séance that has brought the interesting cast together means you have to be in the right place at the right time. 

The Séance of Blake Manor deserves to be among the best PC games of 2025 because of its storytelling and its unique take on murder mystery, which makes uncovering the connections between events more satisfying than ever.

9. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (June 2025)

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach takes place eleven months after its predecessor, while building on what came before it to make the best PS5 game of 2025. Death Stranding’s traversal mechanics are preserved, but many areas of combat have been changed, while vehicles, storage management, and more have been completely overhauled. 

The vast open world is dynamic and will pose its own challenges as you rejoin Sam and set out to extend the network beyond America’s borders into Mexico and beyond. The return of the social strands system means your actions impact someone else’s world, and their actions affect yours, even on this new adventure. 

Not only is Death Stranding 2: On the Beach a worthy successor to an already fantastic game, but it also demonstrates all that makes post-apocalyptic open-world games so great. 

8. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (February 2025)

Another highly anticipated sequel, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, yet again delivered a stellar story that’s not to be missed, but this time, side quests are more impactful. There are more perks to choose from, and close-quarter combat is as rewarding as ever, even if the crossbow is one of the more exciting new weapons to make its way into the game. 

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is bigger and better than its predecessor, resulting in the ultimate medieval experience and one of the best RPG games of 2025. Despite continuing the story of Henry from the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance, you don’t need to play the first entry in the series to understand the events of its successor.

7. Donkey Kong Bananza (July 2025)

Join Donkey Kong and Pauline deep in the underground for a smashing good time in Donkey Kong Bananza, the best Switch game of 2025. Not only have the Void Company stolen the entire stash of golden bananas, but they are causing chaos throughout the underground world that contains vibrant lagoons, frozen terrain, and so much more. 

You can even power up Donkey Kong’s skills and transform into different animal forms with the help of Pauline’s singing. The game supports two-player co-op, either locally or online, allowing a second player to take control of Pauline. Donkey Kong Bananza provides a fresh take on the character while appealing to long-time fans for its imaginative platforming. 

6. Blue Prince (April 2025)

In Blue Prince, you step inside a manor that has shifting rooms. Upon reaching a closed door, you get to decide what room appears behind each door, and your decision forms your path as you make your way through the manor. Every door can reveal fresh chambers that contain their own unique puzzles and challenges. 

Your progress each day is decided by the rooms you select to draft and the tools you find within them, but your primary goal is to reach Room 46. Along the way, you’ll find that this missing room isn’t the only mystery, making Blue Prince one of the best indie games of 2025 because it keeps you digging for secrets in innovative ways. 

5. Dispatch (October 2025)

Dispatch reinvents the superhero genre by bringing an episodic workplace comedy that requires you to balance your role as a dispatcher with office politics, relationships, and your own goal of becoming a hero by reclaiming your role as Mecha Man. You are in charge of rehabilitating a group of ex-supervillains to use their powers for good, as you deploy them to emergencies across the city. 

Dispatch is reminiscent of the narrative choice games from Telltale Games, so expect an intriguing story, elements of strategy, and to make decisions that matter, all coming together to form a memorable experience that’s one of the top games of 2025.

4. Hollow Knight: Silksong (September 2025)

Hollow Knight: Silksong was one of the most anticipated games coming out in 2025, so much so that its delay prompted a domino effect of other indie games around its new release date to delay their respective titles. 

As the sequel to 2017’s Hollow Knight, Silksong takes you on a journey to new Metroidvania lands, allowing you to wield fresh powers and fight against swarms of bugs and beasts, as you discover secrets along the way. It’s bigger, brighter, and notably faster, with exhilarating combat and challenging boss fights. 

3. Split Fiction (March 2025)

As one of the greatest co-op experiences to play right now and one of the best video games of 2025, it came as a surprise when Split Fiction wasn’t nominated for Game of the Year at the Game Awards. You and your partner take control of writers Mio and Zoe, one writes sci-fi and the other writes fantasy. 

They become trapped in their own stories, represented through incredibly detailed, vibrant worlds that push the boundaries of what an adventure game is. In between the platforming and puzzles, Mio and Zoe must find an escape with their memories intact, meaning both characters have to work together, and an unexpected story of hope and friendship unfolds. 

2. Hades II (September 2025)

If you thought the first Hades couldn’t be outdone, Hades II is an unmissable sequel and a one-of-a-kind roguelite. Hades II deepens the already successful formula by making combat more varied than ever, introducing diverse characters with impeccable voice acting, unique events based on how your journey plays out, all set in beautifully crafted mythic environments. 

This captivating world infused with dark sorcery is not only the best roguelite in recent memory, but one of the top games of 2025, overall.

1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (April 2025)

Adventure Gamers’ best game of 2025, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, is a turn-based RPG that makes use of real-time mechanics, crafting builds to suit your playstyle, to make battles immersive and tactical. The backdrop to the intense battles with enemies is a breathtaking fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France. 

The combat is so ambitious and creative that it would be unsurprising if its approach to turn-based fighting influences the future of the RPG genre. 

The narrative revolves around a Paintress who annually paints a cursed number, and anyone past that age disappears. You will command your party of distinct characters through all the twists and turns the story has to throw at you on the way to destroying the Paintress once and for all.