Reviewing Every Game I Played in 2025
Year in Review
Same as last year, I’m doing a year-end review about the games I played in 2025. I didn’t do a mid-year review this time (oops!), so we’ve got more ground to cover here.
Deadlock
I mentioned this last year as well, but it’s worth another mention. It dominated my gaming in the first half of 2025, as I played it pretty regularly until until May. I clocked in a total of 280 hours before I quit cold-turkey. It went through a few major updates while I was playing, which kept it feeling fresh and interesting.
There have been even more updates since then, including new characters. Sometimes I’m tempted to return, but I know I’ll need to spend a lot of time getting caught up with all the changes, and I just don’t have the time to dedicate to it. I’ll probably give it another shot after it gets out of early access.
Astro Bot
This was a Christmas present last year. It’s a great game, very fun and very polished. I really enjoyed all the different mechanics and level design ideas. As a long-time PlayStation fan, it was nice getting to see all the homages to characters and games throughout the years.
My kids also played a ton of this game and watched me play it, so it was a great family experience.
It Takes Two
My wife and I played through this incredible couch co-op game together (over about 11 months), me as Cody and her playing May. It is a delightfully clever game designed specifically for co-op, with asymmetrical abilities that complement each other as you navigate the levels and solve puzzles. The gameplay is constantly evolving with new mechanics being introduced constantly, and the levels are interesting and intricate, with lots of incredible set-pieces.
Unlike a lot of co-op games, it’s basically impossible for one person to completely carry the other—since each person has unique abilities you really need to work together. This could have been tedious, but we found it actually very well-balanced and fair. There were some frustrating parts, but the checkpoint system is very good and it really felt like the game respected our time.
While I liked the characters, the story didn’t really click with me and left me feeling a bit underwhelmed compared to the incredible gameplay.
Papers, Please
Another short gem that I’ve been meaning to get around to for a while. I actually started it a few years ago on my Steam Deck, but didn’t get very far. It’s playable on the Deck, but I was struggling with the controls and the time limit. This time I played on my desktop, which was a lot easier, and I made it to the end of the game.
After years of maps littered with icons, Papers, Please just gives you a desk, a rubber stamp, and ambiguous moral choices. It makes for a refeshing palate cleanser.
HuniePop
Snagged this game for free early in the year. The match-3 gameplay is surprisingly difficult. Everything else—the characters, the narrative, the dating gameplay—is pretty poor.
Human Resource Machine
This puzzle game is pretty fun, at least if you like visual programming. It starts simple and builds up in complexity. By the end it’s pretty challenging, but you can debug through your programs to fix any bugs.
7 Billion Humans
This is a follow-up to Human Resource Machine, but with a twist: you have do solve parallel programming problems by instructing a handful of workers who all work in parallel. I found it significantly more challenging to solve, but still fun. It feels like it could have been a DLC instead of a standalone game. Not recommended unless you really enjoyed Human Resource Machine
Coffee Talk
Imagine a late-night Seattle café, but your regulars are succubi, elves, and orcs trying to survive the daily grind. Coffee Talk is cozy visual novel where you talk your way through the personal drama of your customers and brew up drinks.
It’s lo-fi and low stress, but to be honest it didn’t really click with me so I didn’t bother with the sequel.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
My waiting paid off as this game finally came to PlayStation Plus Extra. Back in 2023 I played Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and really enjoyed it. This game improved on a lot of game elements, but for some reason I didn’t really get into it as much. I rolled credits, but didn’t feel compelled to go back trophy hunting like I did for the first game. At least I didn’t have the same technical issues that plagued its launch.
while True: learn()
A cute cat-themed puzzle game about machine learning. Although it’s more machine-learned flavored. Cute and fun through, and it slowly builds up in complexity like Human Resource Machine.
Inscryption
Wow what a ride. This was my 2nd attempt, the first time I tried to play it I kept getting stuck early on. So I reset my progress and started over, and this time I was able to make it past the Trapper.
I’m not going to spoil it, but let’s just say the game takes a number of wild turns. I could see that turning people off, but I really enjoyed the experience. Just play it, it’s worth it!
Blue Prince
I’m ashamed to admit I rage-quit shelved this game after about 30 hours, and it still haunts me. My main beef was that I didn’t feel like I was making progress, and I really don’t have that much time to play games. So wrapping up run after run without learning anything or accomplishing anything drove me crazy. Combined with the fact that I am apparently completely oblivious to multiple layers of puzzles… I don’t even know.
I constantly think about going back and giving it another shot, and one of these days maybe I’ll do it.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Another large 2023 game that I only just got around to. I wrote a longer review of this game here.
This was by far my longest playthrough of the year, and consumed a large chunk of my late summer and fall. The rest of the family was also playing this and Breath of the Wild, so it was a very Zelda year.
Megaquarium
I needed a palate cleanser after Tears of the Kingdom, and Megaquarium was perfect. It’s an aquarium-themed management game, which is relatively simple but complex enough to be satisfying. My favorite part is that setting up new tanks and fish is fiddly up front, but remains stable once you get it dialed in, so you don’t need to micromanage all your fish as the aquarium grows.
I got this game a few years ago to play with the kids. They played it (in sandbox), but until now I never made time for it. My kids enjoyed watching me play through the campaign. My only complaint is that I have the Architect’s Collection DLC and I would have enjoyed using the additional parts in the campaign, but it’s only usable in sandbox mode.
Baldur’s Gate III
Another massive RPG that I’ll be playing for the forseeable future. I’ve only just started Act II and I’ve already put in 65 hours. I’m going to have to pace myself and rotate in some other games to keep myself from burning out before the end.
I don’t have a lot of familiarity with the Dungeons & Dragons rules, but it’s pretty easy to pick up. I’m really enjoying the story and characters, and excited to see where it goes.
Sayonara Wild Hearts
Another quick game squeezed in before it left PlayStation Plus Extra. It only took a few hours and it’s pretty basic, but the music is good and it was an entertaining way to spend a night off.