Beyond the blockbuster releases and franchise sequels, 2025 offered a treasure trove of inventive and captivating games that flew under the radar. From the surreal to the sublime, here are some of the year’s most memorable titles you might have missed.
Date Everything! (PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC)
Turn your living room into a dating sim. This sandbox adventure lets players romance over 100 fully-voiced, anthropomorphized household items, from your record player to the very text boxes delivering the dialogue. A witty and meta take on relationship games.
Sorry We’re Closed (PS4/5, Xbox, Switch, PC)
In this neon-drenched survival horror from indie studio à la mode games, the monster is love itself. Set in a dingy London neighborhood, players fight demons, fend off admirers, and survive work shifts in a queer homage to 1990s PlayStation-era scares.
Innocent or Criminal (Web browser)
This daily logic puzzle presents a grid of characters and a simple goal: identify the “innocent” and the “criminal.” The twist? You cannot guess. The game only accepts an answer when it’s certain you’ve deduced it from the clues, offering an idealistic vision of a justice system built on fact.
Blippo+ (Switch, Playdate, PC)
More absurdist art piece than traditional game, Blippo+ simulates channel surfing through an alien cable service. By browsing a virtual TV guide, players tune into intergalactic music videos, psychic weather reports, and bizarre cooking shows, learning about an alien culture through live-action skits.
Stray Children (Switch, PC)
A spiritual successor to the cult classic Moon, this monster-taming adventure tasks players with whispering away the worries of troubled “Olders” who dominate an unfinished video game world. With crunchy pixel art and combat inspired by Undertale, it’s a nostalgic journey that tugs at the heartstrings.
Ball Pit (PS5, Xbox, Switch, Switch 2, PC)
A fiendishly addictive hybrid of horde survival and brick-breaking. Players descend into a demonic pit, firing a continuous stream of ricocheting, elemental balls at enemies until the screen dissolves into a beautiful, brain-melting chaos of visual effects.
T-Pose (PS5, Xbox, PC)
Navigate the trials of adolescence with a unique physical handicap: your arms are permanently stuck in a T-pose. This sweet, family-friendly slice-of-life comedy explores school, friendship, and personal care with unexpected depth, featuring excellent songs from a gourmand giraffe.
Spirit Cycle (PS5, Xbox, PC)
A serene bike-racing game where your ride is possessed by an ancient speed spirit. Glide around a minimalist island of cycling enthusiasts, collect new parts, and race downhill against local gangs. It’s an uncomplicated, stylish, and thoughtfully crafted experience.
The Coma Codex (PC)
Powerhoof’s pixelated point-and-click adventure slowly unveils a dystopian plot, blending influences from classic sci-fi and horror. With a heartfelt story, fantastic audio, and palpable tension, it’s a tale guaranteed to coil its way around your heart.
South of Midnight (Xbox, PC)
Set in an overgrown, misty American deep south, this action game follows Hazel, a young woman battling the evil manifestations of deep-rooted sorrows in the aftermath of a hurricane. Its evocative backdrop and wonderful soundtrack create a beautifully engaging, uncanny atmosphere.
Skin Deep (PC)
A brilliantly silly stealth game where you must save talking cats from space pirates. The execution is hilariously complex, involving vent-crawling, glass-pulling from feet, and deploying sneezing powder and soap bars. It plays like Metal Gear Solid reimagined as a Looney Tunes cartoon.
Sword of the Sea (PS5, PC)
Soar across a desert that moves like an ocean on a knight’s hoverboard. While performing tricks on cresting dunes is fun, the greater joy comes from simply drinking in the game’s breathtaking, nature-infused landscapes at high speed. A gorgeously dreamy take on extreme sports.
Roottree (PC)
Armed with a simulated 1998 web browser, players must unravel the loves, losses, and lies of the sprawling Roottree candy dynasty. A compelling digital detective story that blends the archival mystery of Her Story with the genealogical intrigue of a family saga.
Final Fantasy: The Lost Vanguard (PS4/5, Xbox, Switch, Switch 2, PC)
This remake of a silent PlayStation 1-era title is reborn with Shakespearean dialogue, bruising boss battles, and a tale of class struggle. Excellent voice acting brings new life to the story of commanding society’s most downtrodden, making its themes feel strikingly relevant.
Absolum (PS4/5, Switch, PC)
A colourful co-operative roguelike that combines the addictive progression of Hades with the immediacy of a classic beat ’em up. Roam a lived-in fantasy world, gain satisfying new powers, and enjoy precise combat that adds depth to the genre. A potential co-op classic.
Promise Mascot Agency (PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC)
Play as a disgraced mobster driving the best pickup truck in gaming, accompanied by a giant depraved thumb, in this compact open-world adventure. At its chaotic heart is a story of redemption, as you manage a gang of weirdo mascots to restore a dilapidated community.
Chaos & Craft (PS5, Xbox, PC)
A fantasy RPG that gleefully embraces elemental chaos. Here, fire spells can spread uncontrollably and ice attacks can freeze a dragon’s wings mid-flight, causing it to crash. This colourful piece of whimsy offers fun that genuinely scales with the player’s imagination.
Viewfinder (PS5, Xbox, PC)
A serene hymn to photography and the creative power of solitude. Players learn a beautifully simulated digital camera while exploring exquisitely crafted 3D landscapes. With no puzzles or scores, it’s a pure exercise in developing your eye and appreciating your surroundings.
Rematch (PS5, Xbox, PC)
Closer to Rocket League than a traditional sports sim, this football game masterfully captures the sensation of a five-a-side match. The feel of charging up the field, passing between teammates, and slotting the ball home is rendered with thrilling authenticity.
Learning to Walk (PS5, PC)
A ridiculous and punishing physics-based adventure where you control a grown man in a onesie who has forgotten how to walk. Players must separately control each leg over absurd obstacles, leading to moments of sheer comedy and genuine despair. Painfully funny.
While Waiting (Switch, PC)
This game turns mundane situations—like a car breakdown or a delayed train—into playgrounds for experimentation. By rewarding players for finding fun in idle moments, it offers a surprising lesson in patience and the art of wasting time well.
Strange Antiquities (Switch, PC)
A gothic companion to Strange Horticulture, this game has you dealing in occult objects. Explore Cumbrian locales, identify artefacts via vague tomes, solve puzzles, and occasionally alter fate by giving a customer something other than what they requested.
Old Skies (Switch, PC)
Wadjet Eye Games delivers a sharp point-and-click adventure about time-travelling tourism. Your job is to protect the timeline as clients revisit lost loves and settle old scores. Unfolding like a short story anthology, it offers a compelling surprise on every page.
Table for Two (Switch, PC, iOS, Android)
Sudoku meets speed dating in this cosy puzzle game. As a matchmaker, you seat adorable characters based on their hilarious pet peeves and preferences across various fun settings. The puzzles are relaxing, charming, and never frustrating.
Don’t Look (PC)
An RPG-style survival horror set in an apartment complex where unspeakable horrors occur just outside your window. The core rule: you must not look at them, lest you mutate like your revolting neighbours. A tense experience best played with the curtains drawn.
Deltarune (PS4/5, Switch, Switch 2, PC)
Toby Fox’s episodic RPG continues to charm with its tongue-in-cheek writing, ridiculous creatures, and genre-flipping heart. Like Undertale before it, it’s a witty and heartfelt experience that will leave you eagerly awaiting the next chapter.
Luto (PS5, Xbox, PC)
A psychological horror that states its theme plainly: “This is a story about death.” Playing as Sam, you attempt to escape a home that has become a twisted labyrinth of puzzles and memories. Channelling the dread of PT, it delivers a powerful message about grief.
Time Flies (PS5, Switch, PC)
Live a fly’s life at breakneck speed. Buzz through environments like a home or museum, completing a bucket list of fly activities. The twist? Your in-game time limit is based on the real-world life expectancy of a fly in your actual geographical location.
And Roger (Switch, PC)
A devastatingly emotional narrative experience. With simple, distinct art, it unfolds a three-chapter mystery about a man in a house and a missing father, revealing a tragic and beautiful story about love and family.
Spirit Swap (Xbox, PC)
A seamless fusion of visual novel, dating simulator, and match-three puzzle game. While the classic puzzle gameplay is compelling, the title is a masterclass in character design and writing, with every individual you meet feeling uniquely interesting and well-developed.