Nick Coffman’s Top 10 Games of 2025
Nick shares his favorites from the year.
Not all of this awful year belongs in the can.
Before I get to the games, some nods for the year.
Adult Swim - Cartoon Network’s weekend block was on a heater in 2025. Rick & Morty put out one of its strongest seasons in a while. Smiling Friends broke out big this year. Yet, the two shining gems that have convinced me that we are in the middle of a golden age for adult animation are Common Side Effects and Haha, You Clowns. Two wildly different shows, with wildly different tones and art-styles. Here’s hoping Netflix doesn’t screw the pooch when WB hands the keys over to [as].
Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill - From one of the brains that co-wrote Sinister, Day Zero is an exploration of service roles and AI autonomy. It’s the prequel to Sea of Rust and continues to pull on threads of revolution and human extinction incepted in that first book. In a year filled with stories about what comes after us, Day Zero fits right in.
The Rehearsal - Nathan Fielder flew a commercial jet.
Hard Drive - Year 2 at HD is in the books. Some highlights:
Now let’s get to the list.
10. Humanity
Long live Humanity.
A strong holdover from GOTYSO, Humanity remains a constant delight (the game not actual humanity. Actual humanity has shat the bed.) Just a beautiful game about human folly and freewill.
There is some sadness with Humanity in 2025 though. The developer is no longer supporting player-created levels, as of March 2026. The unhinged efforts of the players kept me coming back long after completing the base game earlier this year. Multiplayer windows are getting shorter for games not called Fortnite or Call of Duty. We live in a world where low player counts are reported (it’s a subgenre of the box office bros). Just look at the recent reports on Rematch’s shrinking player base. Every mouth breather on the internet is ready to point at the steam charts and beat their chest. In 2026 can we just enjoy the games? Can we stop referencing insufficient chart numbers and declaring ‘dead game’ every time there’s a little shrinkage? Everything must come to an end, but we don’t have to be annoying along the way.
9. War Rats: The Rat’em Up
War…
My final review for Game Chronicle (RIP). This goofy looking game will deceive you. I thought I’d breeze through rat armies, blasting and exploding everything along the way. Instead, what I got was a deep rat-and-mouse game that punished me for thinking it would be easy. The game just went 1.0 back in November and I’m looking forward to heading back into the rat trenches.
8. Keeper
The perfect sequel to The Lighthouse.
I’ve gone back-and-forth on Keeper. On one hand, it’s a beautiful puzzle platformer that explores the role we all play in making the world a better place. On the other hand, there’s portions of the game that just aren’t that fun to play (looking at you lighthouse sections). It’s definitely one of those games you recommend with the preamble, “it gets better after sticking out the beginning.”
7. It Takes a War
It’s like CS, minus all the slurs.
More short games please! It Takes a War is a 40-minute adventure that plays like a round of Counter-Strike. It’s a game that begs players to be less toxic on electric playgrounds and to remember the person gunning you down digitally is still a human on the other end of the screen.
6. Dispatch
Team Blazer
Someone online called Dispatch, “Twilight for men,” and as a member of Team Blonde Blazer, I fully agree.
5. Ball X Pit
You don’t pronounce the X.
Ball X Pit came at a time when I needed to shut my brain off and just lose hours to a game. I knew it was going to be the case the moment I loaded up the demo during one of the many Steam Next Fest. By the way, there are way too many of those. Cool it on the Next Fests, Valve. Epic, Gog, and everyone else, where the fuck are your versions. Come on man. Xbox Summer of Arcade moved units in the 00s. Why are you not pursuing something of the same ilk.
Anyway. Ball X Pit did for me, what Vampire Survivors did for a lot of folks a few years ago. The amount characters and village customization adds to the hours I spent lost in Kenny Sun’s latest bop. I’ve barely scratched the service of this one and still have way more to do. Thanks Kenneth!
4. Hollow Knight: Silksong
All my homies hate Groal.
It’s no secret that I disliked Hollow Knight. I played it in 2018, a time in my life where I couldn’t be bothered to commit to Metroidvanias. I could tell the game was going to be a chore and I didn’t want to commit the time to mastering it. 2025 hit and Something happened to me. Hollow Knight: Silksong sneaked onto the scene and sunk its pinchers into me. It was still a chore, but one I was finally ready to meet and take on. It’s got its headaches (looking at you Groal and Judge), but between the crests and the pile of tools at Hornet’s disposal, there was always another angle to take to a fight, even after the hundredth death.
I’m still playing through act three and hope to complete it soon. I’m fascinated with the religious themes throughout. Especially how the three acts mirror the religious experience from converting, all the way to deconstruction. Excited to see how this one ends.
3. South of Midnight
He was my brother. Benjy his name.
I cried constantly throughout my time with South of Midnight. As Hazel, you uncover your neighbors’ secrets in an effort to help them come to terms with their past trauma. Woah boy, do some of these secrets punch you right in the gut. If you thought you were done crying after piecing together one of the games many mysteries, I’m sorry, but the soundtrack is here to deliver another one-two punch. I love the magical realism and the game’s ability to capture the beauty of the American south. Between combat and platforming, I felt like I was back in 2003, playing Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I know Microsoft is a hot mess right now, but I hope Compulsion Games gets to revisit Hazel’s story in the near future.
2. Split Fiction
Sci-Fantasy.
Anyone else tired of all the AI bullshit? The prophesy of AI and the future it will bring are tall tales from men with way too much money and not enough wit. It’s a pipedream of doing less, from a group of people who already bring nothing to the table. CEOs promising a “magical” AI is like the lazy guy in a group project promising you an A on the presentation. Playing through Split Fiction as two artists fighting back the approaching tech industry is a cathartic experience. Mio and Zoe may not be the greatest authors who ever lived, but the worlds they have created come from real and lived experiences. Is the game filled with cliches and tropes? Yes, but that’s the point. Cliches and tropes are human. We put them in our stories because they work. Because we heard them in stories and decided to put our own spin on them. Because we hope our spin will inspire the next generation of storytellers to put their own spin on those same tropes and cliches. Sure, AI is pulling from what has worked in the past, but it completely loses the human element of storytelling. The part where we pass it on to those who come after.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Parry it!
As someone who has suffered tragedy, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 gets a lot right about grief and holding onto the past. Letting go feels like you are leaving a piece of you behind. Like you can’t ever be whole again. At its core E33 argues that you don’t have to let go. You can hold on for as long as you want. But you have to keep moving, keep growing, crying, and laughing, and living for those who will eventually take your place. You can honor those who are gone by living for those who come after. You can bring that piece with you, to cherish and to share.
