🏆The Games Letter’s 2025 Games of the Year
Our subscribers voted and here are the winners
2025 was a fantastic year for games. New hardware allowed players to take their games anywhere and provide a boost in performance. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all had their hits, but a number of independent studios also produced their share of must-play games.
We asked our subscribers to choose their favorites from 2025. These are the winners.
Best Sleeper/Indie Darling
Independent games continue to rise in popularity. Games like Dispatch, Blue Prince, The Midnight Walk and Promise Mascot Agency headlined many end-of-year lists. Yet there was one that stood out more than the others, including in our voting.
WINNER: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The beautiful turn-based RPG from a small French studio won over critics, players and subscribers to The Games Letter.
Best Mobile Game
Everyone has a phone, and it has become a go-to platform for some players. From Final Fantasy to Wordle, phone games provide a variety of options for the casual and hardcore players. What game takes home the title in 2025?
WINNER: Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket
A mobile version of the original card game. Rip open packs, collect cards and play against other trainers. Available for Apple and Android devices.
Favorite Gaming-Related Media (show, movie, album, etc.)
Studios continued to tap the video game market for ideas in 2025. The Minecraft Movie, Five Nights at Freddy's 2, Until Dawn and The Last of Us season 2 all debuted. However, it would be the nuclear option that took home the prize from this site.
WINNER: Fallout Season 2
Viewers (and TGL readers) took a road trip to New Vegas at the end of 2025. Follow the hijinks of Lucy and The Ghoul on Amazon Prime.
Most Anticipated Game of 2026
We likely do not yet know some of the top games that will release in 2026. However, games like Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, Marathon and Grand Theft Auto VI have release dates over the next 11 months. So, of the known quantities, which are our subscribers most excited for?
WINNER: 007 First Light
The first James Bond game in over a decade made by the studio that rejuvenated the Hitman franchise looks incredible, and our readers can’t wait to get their hands on it. Check out some of the other games coming out in 2026.
Best Tabletop Role-Playing Game
Tabletop RPGs players make up a small segment of our readership. Still, there are many great games beyond Dungeons & Dragons for those who want to explore other worlds using only their imagination. This year’s winner set those worlds among the stars.
WINNER: Coriolis: The Great Dark
A space-based RPG where you live by the creed explore or perish. As the worlds around you fade, can you and your crew find a better future?
Best Board Game
Board games were forced to adapt to tariffs, but it did not deter creators and publishers from making some fantastic titles. Here are the top three:
3. Gwent
This physical card game allows players to enjoy what was first created in the video game Witcher 3 with their real-life friends.
2. Natera: New Beginning
Play as sentient animal tribes and attempt to control a post-human world.
WINNER: Vantage
Players explore a planet after their ship crashes and they are separated in a game described by the publisher as an open-world cooperative adventure. Investigate locations to try and solve a puzzle for your campaign, and learn more about this foreign land.
Best Video Game
We asked our subscribers to rate their top five games of 2025. We compiled the numbers to come up with our winner and runners up for the year. Here are the top games:
5. (Tie) Dispatch and Hades 2
Dispatch and Hades 2 are both indie gems that were released late in the year. Hades 2 gives players more of what they loved in the first game, while Dispatch is basically an anime where you make dialogue choices and occasionally dispatch heroes.
4. Donkey Kong Bananza
A Switch 2 exclusive featuring everyone’s favorite ape doing what he does best: smashing things and eating bananas.
3. Split Fiction
When a science fiction and fantasy writer are trapped in a device that builds a world around their stories, they are forced to work together to escape. A 2-player game, so find a friend to play it with you.
2. Avowed
A fantasy action role-playing game that redefines the gaming term “mushroom kingdom.” Save a land in peril using magic and might.
WINNER: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The early-year favorite did not fade against other competitors who arrived later in the year. It follows a group of adventurers who attempt to defeat the evil Paintress before she can wave her brush of destruction again. A near perfect combination of story, art, music and gameplay.
Congratulations to all the 2025 winners, and thank you to our subscribers who voted. You can also check out our winners for 2023 and 2024. We look forward to doing it all again in 2026.
