Table of Contents
Preamble
Writing a games of the year post for 2025 feels a bit strange. Mostly because I spent large chunks of the year not engaging with video games at all. This was caused by a combination of seasonal depression and playing a video game that left me feeling even more depressed in a sense. I spent most of the summer reading books instead of playing video games.
In a sense I spent half the year mostly burned out on video games until Hades II came around and I felt that sense of joy I associate with playing a video game I really like. I spent a couple months playing the shit out of Hades II which then left little time or energy for other games.
I honestly debated if writing this post was even a worthwhile endeavour but on the other hand, I like consistency and I’d feel Bad if I didn’t write this post so here we are. Let’s talk about the very few games I am going to put on this list. As usual, these are in no particular order.
Hades II
I think after having written ~4300 words about Hades II I have run out of things to say about this game. This is the game I played the most this year. It is also the game that reinvigorated my interest and love for the medium of video games and as such if I had only one game I could pick for a game of the year, this would be it.
This game is fantastic in every aspect that I can think of. Mechanics, art direction, music, narrative. Okay I am truly out of words for this game. Go read my review of Hades II if you want more. It is the longest single piece of writing I’ve written this year.
Balatro
By all accounts I was late to the Balatro train. I thought that since I had not enjoyed roguelite deckbuilders like Slay the Spire in the past that I would not enjoy Balatro. Turns out I was quite wrong about that.
I didn’t end up picking up the game until I got a Steam Deck late last year and Balatro quickly became one of those “just another round” game that was perfect for playing on the Steam Deck. I ended up playing it a lot after work before bed when other games were too intense for my tired brain. It was really fun to slowly feel myself learning the game’s mechanics and getting better at the game even with RNG fucking me hard countless times.
I played Balatro a fair bit in the first half of this year, mostly on the Steam Deck. I lost interest in it halfway through the year, Steam says my last playtime was in August. This was not due to any fault of the game itself, I lost interest in video games as a whole around that time and never got back to Balatro.
I don’t see myself playing Balatro much in the future but I will almost certainly be returning to it every once in a while.
Megabonk
I first heard about Megabonk after the developer Vedinad was in the news for withdrawing from The Game Awards and more specifically the “Best Debut Game” nomination it had gotten. The developer said that it was not their debut game and as such was not qualified for the award.
The best way to describe Megabonk is its game born after Vampire Survivors and Risk of Rain had hot steamy sex in a car in the parking lot of a Walmart. I haven’t played Risk of Rain but I have played a fair bit of Vampire Survivors, another one of those “perfect for Steam Deck” games so I decided to buy this game and see if it was any good.
Turns out yeah, this game is really damn fun, I have spent a lot of time in December playing Megabonk while listening to podcasts or YouTube videos that don’t require my full attention. It is the ideal “podcast game”, games which don’t require too much of my focus and as such are games where I can zone out a bit.
Like with Balatro, I reckon I’ll lose interest in the game in a few months but for now I’m hooked.
Honorable Mentions
Games that don’t quite merit being on the list but I think are worth mentioning.
- Threes – another “perfect for Steam Deck” game
- BALLxPIT – I bought this along with Megabonk, haven’t had a chance to get really deep into it yet!
- PEAK – fun to play with friends
- 1000xRESIST – narrative heavyweight that I didn’t really click with which in itself is a reason to mention it
Concluding Thoughts
The theme for this year when it comes to video games is – quality over quantity. I played a lot fewer games than I usually do but the ones I did enjoy were really quite good. This was also the year were I came to realize that I no longer enjoy games in the Assassin’s Creed series which means the end of a era for me. Sad but it allows more space for other wonderful games to take its place.
There are games this year that I wish I could have played and enjoyed – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Ghost of Yōtei. I couldn’t play E33 because the parry/dodge combat mechanics were just not for me, it was the only game I refunded on Steam this year. Yōtei because it is currently PS5 exclusive and I don’t have one of those and no desire to buy one just for one game. I know it will eventually come to PC and I will enjoy it when it does.
I don’t know what 2026 looks like as far my interactions with video games goes. There are a couple game I am cautiously excited for (Highguard, Control Resonant) but other than that it is all up in the air. If anything I hope this uncertainty means that I am more open to playing a wider variety of games in the upcoming year and broadening my horizons when it comes to the genres and types of games I enjoy.
That’s all from me. See y’all in the next one.
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