Even for those who try their best, keeping track of every worthwhile game that comes out is downright impossible. Such a challenge only becomes more difficult with each passing year, so that’s never been more true than in 2025, as the number of releases on Steam alone continues to explode. But that sheer quantity is no reflection on the quality level of many of them–there are tons of great games out there, and odds are there are more than a few that you’d love but have never heard of.

With that in mind, we’ve assembled a list of the best hidden gems of 2025: games that we really enjoyed and are generally lesser-known. The main criteria here is the game had to be released in the past year, it can’t be a big-name release, and it didn’t make our top 10 of 2025 (in some cases, perhaps because not enough staff knew of them in time to play!). If you’re looking for even more recommendations along these lines, check out our personal Games of the Year of 2025, as well as our ongoing list of the best indie games.

This is one of our favorite lists to assemble each year, as we get to highlight standouts and hopefully introduce you to one or two (or a couple dozen) that you’ll adore.

Shotgun Cop Man

Available on PC, Switch

Do you like platformers? How about fun movement mechanics? What about confronting a mesh-shirt-wearing, nipples-exposed Satan who repeatedly shows up, says, “F**k you, Shotgun Cop Man!” and flips you off before being carried away by shirtless, flying underlings? Have I got the game for your very specific tastes!

I’m in on any good platformer, but one that makes the moment-to-moment movement interesting in some way–thereby making every second feel distinct from other games–is especially my jam. Shotgun Cop Man does just this, presenting you with a character who moves quite slowly, forcing you to rely on firing your weapon in the opposite direction in order to propel yourself more quickly. That weapon is also used to deal with enemies along the way, presenting you with rapid decisions to make as you consider whether to fire to kill or fire to move–or ideally both simultaneously. It makes for some engaging action, with the added benefit of fairly bite-sized levels that each have challenges (like beating a par time and killing every enemy) that are consistently fun to tackle. — Chris Pereira

GameSpot and Fanatical share a parent company in Fandom.

Monster Train 2

Available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch

The original Monster Train was long my favorite of the many games like Slay the Spire, possibly even surpassing that brilliant roguelike deckbuilder, which effectively launched a whole subgenre. Monster Train 2 doesn’t seek to reinvent the train wheel, instead doubling down on what made its predecessor so good. You still amass a deck of cards used to defend a train, each of which is split into multiple levels and can house both placeable units and enemy units, who try to reach the top and deal damage to its Pyre.

Much of the job stems from finding ways to create what feel like broken combos, dealing massive amounts of damage and min/maxing your way to success. Monster Train 2 adds even more cards, units, and clans, along with new modes to play and ways to customize the experience, like different Pyre Hearts that add an additional element of strategy to each run. There’s so much game here, it can be almost overwhelming, but in a good way: You’ll find it hard to put down, and easy to find reasons to keep playing. — Chris Pereira

Level Devil

Available on PC, mobile

If you’ve ever played a platformer, you can usually glean how things are going to go when you first see the set of obstacles in front of you: Jump over this, dodge that. Level Devil takes those expectations and sticks a giant middle finger in your face, toying with your reflexes and preconceived notions of how each level is going to play out.

By its design, you’re never meant to beat each level on the first try; if that sounds like something that would frustrate you, the game is probably not for you. But if unexpected holes opening, platforms moving, and general obstacles popping up in hilarious fashion does sound appealing, I can’t more highly recommend Level Devil. Without a word of dialogue or any pretense of a story, it elicited more laughs from me than overtly comedic games.

Levels are short enough that the inevitable failures are more amusing than frustrating, and there is still some sense of satisfaction from anticipating the twists and overcoming them on your first try–though my favorite experiences remain those in which the game foresaw me trying to outsmart it and let me know it. — Chris Pereira

Promise Mascot Agency

Available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC

Paradise Killer is one of my favorite games of recent years, and I’d have loved developer Kaizen Game Works to follow it up with another murder-mystery game. Promise Mascot Agency is something else entirely, with a bizarre premise and silly-looking characters that belie a game that is surprisingly full of heart.

PMA is essentially an open-world, N64-style collectathon mashed up with a management sim. As an ex-yakuza member now in hiding (played by Kazuma Kiryu voice actor Takaya Kuroda), you’ll need to recruit living mascots–a bipedal piece of tofu who is always crying, among other wild concepts–and send them on promotional jobs as you seek to deal with a corrupt mayor, hilarious mishaps that occur on said jobs, a curse, and a plot to take down your former family. All the while, you’ll get to know both the mascots and residents of the town, many of whom have a surprising amount of depth to them, and slowly upgrade your vehicle to let you better navigate the island and collect its many secret items.

There’s no arguing it’s not weird on paper, but it’s an unexpected combination of elements that work and are worth seeing through to the end. — Chris Pereira

Abandoned Archive

Available on PC

Abandoned Archive is a roguelike from solo developer Vedal that has been in the works for around half a decade. It finally released in late November, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Think Enter the Gungeon with spells rather than guns. You’ll traverse the tower of Turrim fighting rooms of enemies, choosing different spell upgrades, and facing off against bosses. Wielding lightning, air, gravity, or time itself, you’ll descend through the tower and collect relics that grant passive abilities, meaning that some spells work better together than others, and the build possibilities are hugely varied. The sarcastic mentor Oblome the Orbite is a particular highlight–he’s effectively useless, and needs your protection, but from time to time he’ll protect you in return. Abandoned Archive is an addictive roguelike with near-endless replayability, and its difficulty level will have you cursing enemies and your own decision-making. Learning their attack patterns, especially in the complex boss fights, is crucial to surviving the tower of Turrim. — Cheri Faulkner

Herdling

Available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Switch

Herdling is one of my favorite experiences of 2025 because of its inspiring commitment to portraying human-animal bonding. You’ll spend the game herding fantastical creatures called calicorns out of the city and toward their natural habitat atop a mountain that the herd seems desperate to return to. Along the way, you’ll name each calicorn you find, play with them, tend to their wounds, and protect them from predators. In just a few hours, Herdling exhibits how we humans can use our privileged place to care for, not subjugate, non-human animals with whom we share the planet. It does all this with a gorgeous autumnal color palette and my favorite soundtrack of 2025. It’s a beautiful, incredibly touching experience. — Mark Delaney

Jackbox Party Pack 11

Available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Switch

It may seem strange to use our hidden gems feature to call out the 10th numbered sequel in a series that goes back many years, but we’ve gotten to a point where Jackbox fans probably think they know what they’re getting each year, and that’s where some may be surprised. Jackbox Party Pack 11 offers a really cool twist. Normally, I’m not one for the more video-gamey Jackbox entries, like Devil In The Details or Zeeple Dome, but JPP 11 adds Legends of Trivia, a 2D turn-based RPG where you attack with answers to trivia questions. It’s an exciting blend of traditional video game elements and Jackbox’s typical Q&A or player-prompted modes. Along with other great games in this pack, such as Suspectives and the Quiplash-esque Doominate, Jackbox Party Pack 11 has multiple bangers that make it one of the better packs in the series. — Mark Delaney

Midnight Murder Club

Available on PS5, PC

I’ve said this many times before, probably even on GameSpot, but I legitimately don’t think I ever really outgrew hide-and-seek. Adults should play it too, dammit. It’s too bad we don’t, but thankfully, I have Midnight Murder Club, from Velan, the studio that created Knockout City. Midnight Murder Club is first-person hide-and-seek in the dark, only you get to use a flashlight … and a gun. Across several modes and made more approachable for friend groups thanks to its Friend Pass system–which lets six players play with one purchase–MMC is keeping my hide-and-seek dreams alive. Neither Knockout City nor MMC seemed to take over the multiplayer gaming world, but both seem to exemplify how creative Velan is, and at this point, they’ve become a team I’ll follow closely just to always see what novel ideas they think of next. — Mark Delaney

Wheel World

Available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5

When I’m not gaming, I’m often riding my bike, so 2025’s Wheel World (formerly Ghost Bike) was one heck of an experience for me. I don’t race my bike, and it’s true that Wheel World is primarily a bike-racing game, but there’s also plenty of room to simply explore, collect rare bike parts, and chat with other quirky bikers around the game’s slightly fantastical world. Wheel World feels so good to play, offering what must be thousands of possible bike builds thanks to its parts system, and experimenting with my build to find the right bike for a particular race was a repeatable, joyous moment for me. It was even more up my alley thanks to a dreampop-ish soundtrack that brought it all together, making it the only time I’ve played a biking game where I got some of the same meditative contentment I’ve always felt from riding my bike in real life. — Mark Delaney

Ball X Pit

Available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Switch

Since the breakout success of Vampire Survivors and Balatro, developers have been eager to mash roguelike hooks into every conceivable genre, casino game, and arcade-style structure. Some experiments have worked better than others, but it’s hard to find one that hit harder this year than Ball X Pit.

A roguelike take on classic games like Breakout, you ricochet balls off the walls to attack ever-increasing waves of enemies and bosses, choosing balls with special properties like fire and poison, and unlocking a wide array of characters that fully change how you approach the combat. When you wipe out, you build your town to increase your stats and try again to unlock new stages. Though the townbuilding takes a while to start feeling great, once you get deep into the game, it’s satisfying to position your buildings just-so to farm resources and upgrade buildings. All in all, Ball X Pit is a wildly compelling game that draws you in and doesn’t let go. — Steve Watts

Blade Chimera

Available on PC, Switch

Developer Team Ladybug has a lot of experience with the metroidvania genre, but this is its first attempt at an original IP, and it pays off beautifully. Blade Chimera is set in a near-future dystopia where yokai-style demons roam the streets, and a militarized religious order is the last line of defense to protect humanity. As one of its premiere soldiers, you start to investigate happenings, until an ethereal demon fuses itself to you. Now with something to hide from your compatriots, you begin to question everything and unlock the mysteries of this dark future.

It’s an intriguing premise and Blade Chimera makes the most of it, but what sets the game apart is its incredibly smooth and intuitive combat. Mixing melee combat with ranged gunplay gives you loads of options. And it’s remarkably generous, letting you teleport to any square on the map immediately–which also happens to be a clever way to access some of the game’s many secrets. The care and craftsmanship put into Blade Chimera are truly special–a reverent throwback that looks and plays exactly the way you remember when you first picked up Symphony of the Night in 1997. — Steve Watts

Cauldron

Available on PC, Switch

Cauldron may be my biggest surprise this year. The unassuming pixel-art game appears to be a pretty standard time-waster–a collection of minigames built around a cute hook of idler resource gathering. But then over the course of many hours, it slowly unfolds its layers of depth and complexity, transforming it into something else altogether.

At its most basic level, you play one of three minigames–apple harvesting, mining, or fishing–to afford upgrades, which make your characters stronger for the RPG battles, which open up new sections of the map, which help you harvest faster. Simple enough, right? But then you begin to upgrade, say, your apple harvesting tree. The apple-harvesting game itself starts to change into a more complex game, eventually becoming a full-on arcade shooter. Each element transforms before your eyes. New minigames open and add even more elements. You find new characters and start to upgrade their own abilities. And on and on and on. Even once you’ve beaten the game, there are more layers to uncover.

Cauldron defies easy explanation because it keeps reinventing itself and opening new ideas and game types and mechanics, all of which feed into each other. It’s relentlessly creative, but somehow, it all just harmonizes beautifully. — Steve Watts

Skate Story

Available on PC, PS5, Switch 2

To paraphrase Fatboy Slim, the best time for skateboarding games is right here, right now. Between the Tony Hawk Pro 3 + 4 remasters, Skate kickflipping back to life, and a few older games like Session: Skate Sim, I’ve felt spoiled for choice with everything on offer. But among them, Skate Story emerged as a gem of originality, style, and authenticity.

While the performance on console has been mixed–at the time of writing, I’m currently grabbing a new patch for it on my PS5–there’s an underdog charm to Skate Story that makes it an instant classic. After all, you’re a demon made out of glass and pain who is attempting to destroy the moons of hell with a well-timed pop shove-it, but Skate Story is more than just a good-looking game with wildly imaginative art direction.

Skating has a tangible feel in the game: a sensation of urethane wheels slowly being worn down as you ollie over demons and lean forward to gain some extra speed, your contractually obligated fragility be damned. That feeling of constant danger, a close-up camera angle with a fisheye lens that makes the game look like it was filmed with a Sony DCR-VX1000, and an irreverent sense of humor only add to Skate Story’s charm. — Darryn Bonthuys

And Roger

Available on PC

The less you know about And Roger, the better. I know, it’s annoying as hell to hear that, but just trust me. It’s an interactive visual novel that follows a girl who wakes up one day to find her dad missing and a strange man in his place. And Roger is an interactive visual novel where you use your mouse to interact with the world as the girl sees it, and honestly, it’s some of the best marrying of narrative and gameplay I’ve ever experienced. It tells an emotional and impactful story in just an hour, and believe me, it will stick with you. I’m not going to say much else other than if you want to experience an incredible story told in a way that only games can, you should pick it up for just $5. — Lucy James

Dead Take

Available on PC

Take a dash of psychological horror, a hit of Resident Evil puzzle- solving, a smack of Her Story, add the acting chops of gaming faves Neil Newbon, Jane Perry, and Ben Starr, mix it all together, and you get Dead Take. It’s essentially an escape- room game set in the mansion of a hotshot Hollywood auteur, whose very whims can make you … or break you. You must find your missing friend, but do you dare risk everything to become the star you’ve always dreamed of being? Dead Take is a grimey, creepy tale of Hollywood, power, and the desire to succeed … at all costs. — Lucy James

Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping

Available on PC

Look, I’m not here to answer the question of why so many animals are in detective games these days, but I can tell you that by far my favourite is Eugene McQuacklin, the Duck Detective. The Ghost of Glamping is the follow up to 2024’s excellent The Secret Salami and follows the detective as he tries to, ahem, quack the case and get to the bottom of who or what is haunting a campsite. It’s a very funny de-duck-tion game where the puzzle difficulty is juuuust right and the characters are kooky and funny. You can blast through The Ghost of Glamping in one or two sessions and you’ll soon be making duck puns galore, just like me. — Lucy James

The Roottrees Are Dead

Available on PC

When the billionaire Roottree family dies in a plane crash, things get very complicated. See, generations ago, their great-great grandfather and founder of the family’s candy business decreed that anyone who is a blood relative gets a cut of the lucrative Roottree fortune. It’s up to you as an intrepid investigator to figure out just who is a blood relative and who isn’t by scouring the internet, books, articles, and photos to untangle the relationships and affairs of the Roottrees. Originally an itch.io game, The Roottrees Are Dead was enhanced for its Steam release, and now includes an epilogue that features another family tree to fill out. — Lucy James

The Seance of Blake Manor

Available on PC

Let me tell you: I became so obsessed with The Seance of Blake Manor that I spent an entire Sunday on my couch surrounded by empty coffee cups and scraps of paper and it was one of my favourite days of the year. Blake Manor is a sophisticated detective game that sees you try to deduce what happened to a missing woman and why all these shadowy figures have descended upon an old manor to attend some kind of seance. By rummaging through people’s rooms, cross-referencing details in the library, exploring, solving puzzles, and of course, talking to everyone present, you unweave multiple satisfying mysteries. The game also touches on folklore, religion, and Irish history, and is absolutely fascinating. — Lucy James

Spilled

Available on PC

I find games like PowerWash Simulator very satisfying, and a game I played this year that really scratched that itch other than PowerWash Simulator 2 was Spilled. You play as a little boat that drives around various spoiled bodies of water, dredging up garbage, rescuing animals, putting out fires, and cleaning up spilled oil. By clearing the water of these impurities, you earn money to get upgrades to your boat, allowing you to collect more oil without having to deposit it or get around quicker. It’s a relaxing cleanup game with a good message and a portion of the sales go toward the Whale and Dolphin Conservation charity. — Lucy James

Is This Seat Taken?

Is This Seat Taken? is a whimsical puzzle game where you have to seat various characters in different situations, like on a bus or at a dinner party. But it’s not as simple as just plonking everyone down where there’s an open spot: each … shape? has their own preference on who or what they’d like to be around. Sitting someone wearing a lot of cologne next to someone sensitive to smells or a loud chatter next to a sleepy person is a recipe for disaster, so it’s up to you to use logic to find the perfect place for everyone. It’s a charming game that’ll make you want to get three stars in every level, and its bite-sized levels are perfect on mobile. — Lucy James

Spooky Express

Choo choo, time to lay the train tracks for the Spooky Express. Transylvania’s spookiest residents have places they’ve got to get to, but with various obstacles like small train carriages and pesky humans in the way, you need to plan the best routes to make sure everyone gets to their destination safely. Spooky Express is an adorable puzzle game for PC and mobile that’ll have you scratching your head in no time. — Lucy James

Despelote

Despelote is not your average football game. Set in Ecuador in the early 2000s as the national team inches towards qualifying for the World Cup, it’s a semi-autobiographical tale seen through the eyes of one of the game’s developers, Julián. Explore the town, talk to the people, and kick some balls around. It’s a beautiful and whimsical tale of growing up. — Lucy James

Ambrosia Sky: Act One

Available on PC

Look, I don’t know if PowerWash Sim-like is a game genre yet, but Ambrosia Sky definitely fits the bill. You play as Dalia, and return to a corner of space you used to call home, which is now overrun by a mysterious fungus. It’s up to you to clean up the fungus, all PowerWash Sim-like, and find the remains of the people you left behind–some have left their bodies to science in the hope of helping humanity unlock the secret to immortality. It’s a satisfying gameplay loop that hits some heavy emotional beats that will resonate particularly with anyone who has moved away from home. The first act is about four hours long, with acts two and three set to launch next year. — Lucy James

Dragon Ruins II

Available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S

I love first-person dungeon crawlers. Unfortunately, I do not always have time for first-person dungeon crawlers. For a genre known for exploring grid- and tile-based dungeons and minimal storytelling, it features games that take dozens–even hundreds–of hours to complete. Mercifully, that’s not the case with Dragon Ruins II. In fact, developer Graverobber Inc. billed the first game as a “dungeon crawler for tired people,” and that remains true of the sequel. Dungeons are compact–though not simple, mind you–and combat is an automated event that takes place parallel to the exploration. But while that makes dungeoneering a breeze, Dragon Ruins II is still packed with a large roster of possible characters to try, an interesting skill system, and dozens of questlines that evolve in fun ways as you play. – Brendan Hesse

Birdcage

Available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch

After playing video games for as long as I have, it’s easy to stick to the genres and series I’m familiar with. But in 2025, I decided to expand my horizons–or, more accurately, my verticals–with the vertical-scrolling shooter, Birdcage. This indie gem from two-person studio Polygon Bird looks and sounds like a forgotten PS1 or late-’90s arcade shmup (or STG, if you’re cool). The game is tough, asking players to weave through waves of enemy ships, stage obstacles, and, of course, constellations of projectiles across six replayable stages and multiple game modes.

While your own ship–the prototype gunship Halcyon–sports its own ranged firepower, it also wields a melee energy sword that adds an interesting layer of offensive aggression to your repertoire. This is a genre I have almost zero familiarity with, but after my time with Birdcage, I’m ready for more … once I finally beat stage six. — Brendan Hesse

Tower of Kalemonvo

Available on PC

Diablo might be synonymous with the fast and flashy action-RPG genre these days, but it’s easy to forget that the original game in the series was a much slower, deadlier, and more methodical dungeon crawl than any of its progeny. Luckily, for those of us who’ve yearned for a contemporary return to the original Diablo’s pacing and atmosphere, there’s Tower of Kalemonvo.

But while Kalemonvo isn’t shy about its Diablo inspirations, it’s more than just a simple clone. This game features a hardcore, classic roguelike structure–there’s no town to return to, each dungeon floor is procedurally generated, and permadeath is a constant threat. However, that unpredictability also works in the player’s favor, as the game’s open-ended character-development systems synergize with its randomized loot drops, making each run through the unholy tower a unique experience. Tower of Kalemonvo is the kind of game that invites endless replayability, and I’m excited to rack up even more failed runs in 2026. – Brendan Hesse

Malys

Available on PC

Malys is an interesting follow-up for Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical–I would never have guessed that developer Summerfall Studios would have gone from a Greek myth-inspired, musical-themed visual novel to a roguelike deckbuilder in which you play as a Noah, former priest turned exorcist who’s making his way through a demon-infested city in an effort to defeat the titular villain. It’s a dark and moody story that delights in painting horrifyingly vivid images with its words, and reinforcing each punchy box of text with beautiful artwork.

Noah’s three allies in the game–a mischievous angel, a pragmatic demon, and a femme fatale witch–are criminally sexy too. It’s not fair that I can only spend a few seconds with them each run, but it’s intriguing to see how Noah’s relationship with the three (and the minor characters and city in general) transform across multiple runs, as Noah is able to remember certain events and the people involved run-to-run. This is especially helpful when dealing with the larger-than-life “greater demons” that can only be defeated once you learn who they are. Reflecting the player’s knowledge of the world within the narrative is an interesting take on the “permanent upgrade” part of a roguelike that I haven’t seen before, and the mystery at the center of this trait that Noah has is a strong motivator to keep playing and see how Malys ends.

In addition, reimagining an exorcist’s tools as cards in a deck is a novel approach, reinforcing the strategic element of outthinking a demon by outplaying your opponent with a well-curated deck. The game is quite tough once you get into it but it’s remarkably easy to understand and all too easy to fall into its compelling gameplay loop. Too many times I’ve thought, “I have time for a quick run or two in Malys,” only to look up and realize I’ve been playing for hours. If you like roguelike deckbuilders, don’t let Malys pass you by. — Jordan Ramée

 Even for those who try their best, keeping track of every worthwhile game that comes out is downright impossible. Such a challenge only becomes more difficult with each passing year, so that’s never been more true than in 2025, as the number of releases on Steam alone continues to explode. But that sheer quantity is no reflection on the quality level of many of them–there are tons of great games out there, and odds are there are more than a few that you’d love but have never heard of.With that in mind, we’ve assembled a list of the best hidden gems of 2025: games that we really enjoyed and are generally lesser-known. The main criteria here is the game had to be released in the past year, it can’t be a big-name release, and it didn’t make our top 10 of 2025 (in some cases, perhaps because not enough staff knew of them in time to play!). If you’re looking for even more recommendations along these lines, check out our personal Games of the Year of 2025, as well as our ongoing list of the best indie games.This is one of our favorite lists to assemble each year, as we get to highlight standouts and hopefully introduce you to one or two (or a couple dozen) that you’ll adore. Shotgun Cop Man Available on PC, SwitchDo you like platformers? How about fun movement mechanics? What about confronting a mesh-shirt-wearing, nipples-exposed Satan who repeatedly shows up, says, “F**k you, Shotgun Cop Man!” and flips you off before being carried away by shirtless, flying underlings? Have I got the game for your very specific tastes!I’m in on any good platformer, but one that makes the moment-to-moment movement interesting in some way–thereby making every second feel distinct from other games–is especially my jam. Shotgun Cop Man does just this, presenting you with a character who moves quite slowly, forcing you to rely on firing your weapon in the opposite direction in order to propel yourself more quickly. That weapon is also used to deal with enemies along the way, presenting you with rapid decisions to make as you consider whether to fire to kill or fire to move–or ideally both simultaneously. It makes for some engaging action, with the added benefit of fairly bite-sized levels that each have challenges (like beating a par time and killing every enemy) that are consistently fun to tackle. — Chris PereiraGameSpot and Fanatical share a parent company in Fandom. Get on Fanatical Monster Train 2 Available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, SwitchThe original Monster Train was long my favorite of the many games like Slay the Spire, possibly even surpassing that brilliant roguelike deckbuilder, which effectively launched a whole subgenre. Monster Train 2 doesn’t seek to reinvent the train wheel, instead doubling down on what made its predecessor so good. You still amass a deck of cards used to defend a train, each of which is split into multiple levels and can house both placeable units and enemy units, who try to reach the top and deal damage to its Pyre.Much of the job stems from finding ways to create what feel like broken combos, dealing massive amounts of damage and min/maxing your way to success. Monster Train 2 adds even more cards, units, and clans, along with new modes to play and ways to customize the experience, like different Pyre Hearts that add an additional element of strategy to each run. There’s so much game here, it can be almost overwhelming, but in a good way: You’ll find it hard to put down, and easy to find reasons to keep playing. — Chris Pereira Get on Fanatical Level Devil Available on PC, mobileIf you’ve ever played a platformer, you can usually glean how things are going to go when you first see the set of obstacles in front of you: Jump over this, dodge that. Level Devil takes those expectations and sticks a giant middle finger in your face, toying with your reflexes and preconceived notions of how each level is going to play out.By its design, you’re never meant to beat each level on the first try; if that sounds like something that would frustrate you, the game is probably not for you. But if unexpected holes opening, platforms moving, and general obstacles popping up in hilarious fashion does sound appealing, I can’t more highly recommend Level Devil. Without a word of dialogue or any pretense of a story, it elicited more laughs from me than overtly comedic games.Levels are short enough that the inevitable failures are more amusing than frustrating, and there is still some sense of satisfaction from anticipating the twists and overcoming them on your first try–though my favorite experiences remain those in which the game foresaw me trying to outsmart it and let me know it. — Chris Pereira Get on Steam Promise Mascot Agency Available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PCParadise Killer is one of my favorite games of recent years, and I’d have loved developer Kaizen Game Works to follow it up with another murder-mystery game. Promise Mascot Agency is something else entirely, with a bizarre premise and silly-looking characters that belie a game that is surprisingly full of heart.PMA is essentially an open-world, N64-style collectathon mashed up with a management sim. As an ex-yakuza member now in hiding (played by Kazuma Kiryu voice actor Takaya Kuroda), you’ll need to recruit living mascots–a bipedal piece of tofu who is always crying, among other wild concepts–and send them on promotional jobs as you seek to deal with a corrupt mayor, hilarious mishaps that occur on said jobs, a curse, and a plot to take down your former family. All the while, you’ll get to know both the mascots and residents of the town, many of whom have a surprising amount of depth to them, and slowly upgrade your vehicle to let you better navigate the island and collect its many secret items.There’s no arguing it’s not weird on paper, but it’s an unexpected combination of elements that work and are worth seeing through to the end. — Chris Pereira Get on Steam Abandoned Archive Available on PCAbandoned Archive is a roguelike from solo developer Vedal that has been in the works for around half a decade. It finally released in late November, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Think Enter the Gungeon with spells rather than guns. You’ll traverse the tower of Turrim fighting rooms of enemies, choosing different spell upgrades, and facing off against bosses. Wielding lightning, air, gravity, or time itself, you’ll descend through the tower and collect relics that grant passive abilities, meaning that some spells work better together than others, and the build possibilities are hugely varied. The sarcastic mentor Oblome the Orbite is a particular highlight–he’s effectively useless, and needs your protection, but from time to time he’ll protect you in return. Abandoned Archive is an addictive roguelike with near-endless replayability, and its difficulty level will have you cursing enemies and your own decision-making. Learning their attack patterns, especially in the complex boss fights, is crucial to surviving the tower of Turrim. — Cheri Faulkner Get on Steam HerdlingAvailable on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, SwitchHerdling is one of my favorite experiences of 2025 because of its inspiring commitment to portraying human-animal bonding. You’ll spend the game herding fantastical creatures called calicorns out of the city and toward their natural habitat atop a mountain that the herd seems desperate to return to. Along the way, you’ll name each calicorn you find, play with them, tend to their wounds, and protect them from predators. In just a few hours, Herdling exhibits how we humans can use our privileged place to care for, not subjugate, non-human animals with whom we share the planet. It does all this with a gorgeous autumnal color palette and my favorite soundtrack of 2025. It’s a beautiful, incredibly touching experience. — Mark Delaney Get on Steam Jackbox Party Pack 11Available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, SwitchIt may seem strange to use our hidden gems feature to call out the 10th numbered sequel in a series that goes back many years, but we’ve gotten to a point where Jackbox fans probably think they know what they’re getting each year, and that’s where some may be surprised. Jackbox Party Pack 11 offers a really cool twist. Normally, I’m not one for the more video-gamey Jackbox entries, like Devil In The Details or Zeeple Dome, but JPP 11 adds Legends of Trivia, a 2D turn-based RPG where you attack with answers to trivia questions. It’s an exciting blend of traditional video game elements and Jackbox’s typical Q&A or player-prompted modes. Along with other great games in this pack, such as Suspectives and the Quiplash-esque Doominate, Jackbox Party Pack 11 has multiple bangers that make it one of the better packs in the series. — Mark Delaney Get on Fanatical Midnight Murder ClubAvailable on PS5, PCI’ve said this many times before, probably even on GameSpot, but I legitimately don’t think I ever really outgrew hide-and-seek. Adults should play it too, dammit. It’s too bad we don’t, but thankfully, I have Midnight Murder Club, from Velan, the studio that created Knockout City. Midnight Murder Club is first-person hide-and-seek in the dark, only you get to use a flashlight … and a gun. Across several modes and made more approachable for friend groups thanks to its Friend Pass system–which lets six players play with one purchase–MMC is keeping my hide-and-seek dreams alive. Neither Knockout City nor MMC seemed to take over the multiplayer gaming world, but both seem to exemplify how creative Velan is, and at this point, they’ve become a team I’ll follow closely just to always see what novel ideas they think of next. — Mark Delaney Get on Fanatical Wheel WorldAvailable on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5When I’m not gaming, I’m often riding my bike, so 2025’s Wheel World (formerly Ghost Bike) was one heck of an experience for me. I don’t race my bike, and it’s true that Wheel World is primarily a bike-racing game, but there’s also plenty of room to simply explore, collect rare bike parts, and chat with other quirky bikers around the game’s slightly fantastical world. Wheel World feels so good to play, offering what must be thousands of possible bike builds thanks to its parts system, and experimenting with my build to find the right bike for a particular race was a repeatable, joyous moment for me. It was even more up my alley thanks to a dreampop-ish soundtrack that brought it all together, making it the only time I’ve played a biking game where I got some of the same meditative contentment I’ve always felt from riding my bike in real life. — Mark Delaney Get on Fanatical Ball X PitAvailable on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, SwitchSince the breakout success of Vampire Survivors and Balatro, developers have been eager to mash roguelike hooks into every conceivable genre, casino game, and arcade-style structure. Some experiments have worked better than others, but it’s hard to find one that hit harder this year than Ball X Pit.A roguelike take on classic games like Breakout, you ricochet balls off the walls to attack ever-increasing waves of enemies and bosses, choosing balls with special properties like fire and poison, and unlocking a wide array of characters that fully change how you approach the combat. When you wipe out, you build your town to increase your stats and try again to unlock new stages. Though the townbuilding takes a while to start feeling great, once you get deep into the game, it’s satisfying to position your buildings just-so to farm resources and upgrade buildings. All in all, Ball X Pit is a wildly compelling game that draws you in and doesn’t let go. — Steve Watts Get on Fanatical Blade ChimeraAvailable on PC, SwitchDeveloper Team Ladybug has a lot of experience with the metroidvania genre, but this is its first attempt at an original IP, and it pays off beautifully. Blade Chimera is set in a near-future dystopia where yokai-style demons roam the streets, and a militarized religious order is the last line of defense to protect humanity. As one of its premiere soldiers, you start to investigate happenings, until an ethereal demon fuses itself to you. Now with something to hide from your compatriots, you begin to question everything and unlock the mysteries of this dark future.It’s an intriguing premise and Blade Chimera makes the most of it, but what sets the game apart is its incredibly smooth and intuitive combat. Mixing melee combat with ranged gunplay gives you loads of options. And it’s remarkably generous, letting you teleport to any square on the map immediately–which also happens to be a clever way to access some of the game’s many secrets. The care and craftsmanship put into Blade Chimera are truly special–a reverent throwback that looks and plays exactly the way you remember when you first picked up Symphony of the Night in 1997. — Steve Watts Get on Steam CauldronAvailable on PC, SwitchCauldron may be my biggest surprise this year. The unassuming pixel-art game appears to be a pretty standard time-waster–a collection of minigames built around a cute hook of idler resource gathering. But then over the course of many hours, it slowly unfolds its layers of depth and complexity, transforming it into something else altogether.At its most basic level, you play one of three minigames–apple harvesting, mining, or fishing–to afford upgrades, which make your characters stronger for the RPG battles, which open up new sections of the map, which help you harvest faster. Simple enough, right? But then you begin to upgrade, say, your apple harvesting tree. The apple-harvesting game itself starts to change into a more complex game, eventually becoming a full-on arcade shooter. Each element transforms before your eyes. New minigames open and add even more elements. You find new characters and start to upgrade their own abilities. And on and on and on. Even once you’ve beaten the game, there are more layers to uncover.Cauldron defies easy explanation because it keeps reinventing itself and opening new ideas and game types and mechanics, all of which feed into each other. It’s relentlessly creative, but somehow, it all just harmonizes beautifully. — Steve Watts Get on Fanatical Skate StoryAvailable on PC, PS5, Switch 2To paraphrase Fatboy Slim, the best time for skateboarding games is right here, right now. Between the Tony Hawk Pro 3 + 4 remasters, Skate kickflipping back to life, and a few older games like Session: Skate Sim, I’ve felt spoiled for choice with everything on offer. But among them, Skate Story emerged as a gem of originality, style, and authenticity.While the performance on console has been mixed–at the time of writing, I’m currently grabbing a new patch for it on my PS5–there’s an underdog charm to Skate Story that makes it an instant classic. After all, you’re a demon made out of glass and pain who is attempting to destroy the moons of hell with a well-timed pop shove-it, but Skate Story is more than just a good-looking game with wildly imaginative art direction.Skating has a tangible feel in the game: a sensation of urethane wheels slowly being worn down as you ollie over demons and lean forward to gain some extra speed, your contractually obligated fragility be damned. That feeling of constant danger, a close-up camera angle with a fisheye lens that makes the game look like it was filmed with a Sony DCR-VX1000, and an irreverent sense of humor only add to Skate Story’s charm. — Darryn Bonthuys Get on Fanatical And RogerAvailable on PCThe less you know about And Roger, the better. I know, it’s annoying as hell to hear that, but just trust me. It’s an interactive visual novel that follows a girl who wakes up one day to find her dad missing and a strange man in his place. And Roger is an interactive visual novel where you use your mouse to interact with the world as the girl sees it, and honestly, it’s some of the best marrying of narrative and gameplay I’ve ever experienced. It tells an emotional and impactful story in just an hour, and believe me, it will stick with you. I’m not going to say much else other than if you want to experience an incredible story told in a way that only games can, you should pick it up for just $5. — Lucy James Get on Steam Dead TakeAvailable on PCTake a dash of psychological horror, a hit of Resident Evil puzzle- solving, a smack of Her Story, add the acting chops of gaming faves Neil Newbon, Jane Perry, and Ben Starr, mix it all together, and you get Dead Take. It’s essentially an escape- room game set in the mansion of a hotshot Hollywood auteur, whose very whims can make you … or break you. You must find your missing friend, but do you dare risk everything to become the star you’ve always dreamed of being? Dead Take is a grimey, creepy tale of Hollywood, power, and the desire to succeed … at all costs. — Lucy James Get on Steam Duck Detective: The Ghost of GlampingAvailable on PCLook, I’m not here to answer the question of why so many animals are in detective games these days, but I can tell you that by far my favourite is Eugene McQuacklin, the Duck Detective. The Ghost of Glamping is the follow up to 2024’s excellent The Secret Salami and follows the detective as he tries to, ahem, quack the case and get to the bottom of who or what is haunting a campsite. It’s a very funny de-duck-tion game where the puzzle difficulty is juuuust right and the characters are kooky and funny. You can blast through The Ghost of Glamping in one or two sessions and you’ll soon be making duck puns galore, just like me. — Lucy James The Roottrees Are DeadAvailable on PCWhen the billionaire Roottree family dies in a plane crash, things get very complicated. See, generations ago, their great-great grandfather and founder of the family’s candy business decreed that anyone who is a blood relative gets a cut of the lucrative Roottree fortune. It’s up to you as an intrepid investigator to figure out just who is a blood relative and who isn’t by scouring the internet, books, articles, and photos to untangle the relationships and affairs of the Roottrees. Originally an itch.io game, The Roottrees Are Dead was enhanced for its Steam release, and now includes an epilogue that features another family tree to fill out. — Lucy James Get on Steam The Seance of Blake ManorAvailable on PCLet me tell you: I became so obsessed with The Seance of Blake Manor that I spent an entire Sunday on my couch surrounded by empty coffee cups and scraps of paper and it was one of my favourite days of the year. Blake Manor is a sophisticated detective game that sees you try to deduce what happened to a missing woman and why all these shadowy figures have descended upon an old manor to attend some kind of seance. By rummaging through people’s rooms, cross-referencing details in the library, exploring, solving puzzles, and of course, talking to everyone present, you unweave multiple satisfying mysteries. The game also touches on folklore, religion, and Irish history, and is absolutely fascinating. — Lucy James Get on Fanatical SpilledAvailable on PCI find games like PowerWash Simulator very satisfying, and a game I played this year that really scratched that itch other than PowerWash Simulator 2 was Spilled. You play as a little boat that drives around various spoiled bodies of water, dredging up garbage, rescuing animals, putting out fires, and cleaning up spilled oil. By clearing the water of these impurities, you earn money to get upgrades to your boat, allowing you to collect more oil without having to deposit it or get around quicker. It’s a relaxing cleanup game with a good message and a portion of the sales go toward the Whale and Dolphin Conservation charity. — Lucy James Get on Steam Is This Seat Taken?Is This Seat Taken? is a whimsical puzzle game where you have to seat various characters in different situations, like on a bus or at a dinner party. But it’s not as simple as just plonking everyone down where there’s an open spot: each … shape? has their own preference on who or what they’d like to be around. Sitting someone wearing a lot of cologne next to someone sensitive to smells or a loud chatter next to a sleepy person is a recipe for disaster, so it’s up to you to use logic to find the perfect place for everyone. It’s a charming game that’ll make you want to get three stars in every level, and its bite-sized levels are perfect on mobile. — Lucy James Get on Steam Spooky ExpressChoo choo, time to lay the train tracks for the Spooky Express. Transylvania’s spookiest residents have places they’ve got to get to, but with various obstacles like small train carriages and pesky humans in the way, you need to plan the best routes to make sure everyone gets to their destination safely. Spooky Express is an adorable puzzle game for PC and mobile that’ll have you scratching your head in no time. — Lucy James Get on Steam DespeloteDespelote is not your average football game. Set in Ecuador in the early 2000s as the national team inches towards qualifying for the World Cup, it’s a semi-autobiographical tale seen through the eyes of one of the game’s developers, Julián. Explore the town, talk to the people, and kick some balls around. It’s a beautiful and whimsical tale of growing up. — Lucy James Get on Steam Ambrosia Sky: Act OneAvailable on PCLook, I don’t know if PowerWash Sim-like is a game genre yet, but Ambrosia Sky definitely fits the bill. You play as Dalia, and return to a corner of space you used to call home, which is now overrun by a mysterious fungus. It’s up to you to clean up the fungus, all PowerWash Sim-like, and find the remains of the people you left behind–some have left their bodies to science in the hope of helping humanity unlock the secret to immortality. It’s a satisfying gameplay loop that hits some heavy emotional beats that will resonate particularly with anyone who has moved away from home. The first act is about four hours long, with acts two and three set to launch next year. — Lucy James Get on Steam Dragon Ruins IIAvailable on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|SI love first-person dungeon crawlers. Unfortunately, I do not always have time for first-person dungeon crawlers. For a genre known for exploring grid- and tile-based dungeons and minimal storytelling, it features games that take dozens–even hundreds–of hours to complete. Mercifully, that’s not the case with Dragon Ruins II. In fact, developer Graverobber Inc. billed the first game as a “dungeon crawler for tired people,” and that remains true of the sequel. Dungeons are compact–though not simple, mind you–and combat is an automated event that takes place parallel to the exploration. But while that makes dungeoneering a breeze, Dragon Ruins II is still packed with a large roster of possible characters to try, an interesting skill system, and dozens of questlines that evolve in fun ways as you play. – Brendan Hesse Get on Steam BirdcageAvailable on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, SwitchAfter playing video games for as long as I have, it’s easy to stick to the genres and series I’m familiar with. But in 2025, I decided to expand my horizons–or, more accurately, my verticals–with the vertical-scrolling shooter, Birdcage. This indie gem from two-person studio Polygon Bird looks and sounds like a forgotten PS1 or late-’90s arcade shmup (or STG, if you’re cool). The game is tough, asking players to weave through waves of enemy ships, stage obstacles, and, of course, constellations of projectiles across six replayable stages and multiple game modes.While your own ship–the prototype gunship Halcyon–sports its own ranged firepower, it also wields a melee energy sword that adds an interesting layer of offensive aggression to your repertoire. This is a genre I have almost zero familiarity with, but after my time with Birdcage, I’m ready for more … once I finally beat stage six. — Brendan Hesse See on Steam Tower of KalemonvoAvailable on PCDiablo might be synonymous with the fast and flashy action-RPG genre these days, but it’s easy to forget that the original game in the series was a much slower, deadlier, and more methodical dungeon crawl than any of its progeny. Luckily, for those of us who’ve yearned for a contemporary return to the original Diablo’s pacing and atmosphere, there’s Tower of Kalemonvo.But while Kalemonvo isn’t shy about its Diablo inspirations, it’s more than just a simple clone. This game features a hardcore, classic roguelike structure–there’s no town to return to, each dungeon floor is procedurally generated, and permadeath is a constant threat. However, that unpredictability also works in the player’s favor, as the game’s open-ended character-development systems synergize with its randomized loot drops, making each run through the unholy tower a unique experience. Tower of Kalemonvo is the kind of game that invites endless replayability, and I’m excited to rack up even more failed runs in 2026. – Brendan Hesse Get on Steam MalysAvailable on PCMalys is an interesting follow-up for Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical–I would never have guessed that developer Summerfall Studios would have gone from a Greek myth-inspired, musical-themed visual novel to a roguelike deckbuilder in which you play as a Noah, former priest turned exorcist who’s making his way through a demon-infested city in an effort to defeat the titular villain. It’s a dark and moody story that delights in painting horrifyingly vivid images with its words, and reinforcing each punchy box of text with beautiful artwork.Noah’s three allies in the game–a mischievous angel, a pragmatic demon, and a femme fatale witch–are criminally sexy too. It’s not fair that I can only spend a few seconds with them each run, but it’s intriguing to see how Noah’s relationship with the three (and the minor characters and city in general) transform across multiple runs, as Noah is able to remember certain events and the people involved run-to-run. This is especially helpful when dealing with the larger-than-life “greater demons” that can only be defeated once you learn who they are. Reflecting the player’s knowledge of the world within the narrative is an interesting take on the “permanent upgrade” part of a roguelike that I haven’t seen before, and the mystery at the center of this trait that Noah has is a strong motivator to keep playing and see how Malys ends.In addition, reimagining an exorcist’s tools as cards in a deck is a novel approach, reinforcing the strategic element of outthinking a demon by outplaying your opponent with a well-curated deck. The game is quite tough once you get into it but it’s remarkably easy to understand and all too easy to fall into its compelling gameplay loop. Too many times I’ve thought, “I have time for a quick run or two in Malys,” only to look up and realize I’ve been playing for hours. If you like roguelike deckbuilders, don’t let Malys pass you by. — Jordan Ramée See on Steam  Read MoreGameSpot – All Content