When you boil them down to their most basic essence, games are about combat. So are lists. The A.V. Club‘s regular roster of game critics entered into the arena of debate and after long, hard, blood-soaked hours there was a single survivor: our list of the best games of 2025. Go check that out.
We want to be transparent, though—something you will never hear anybody who actually makes games say. Our 16 writers each submitted a list of their top 10 picks; points were assigned based on placement, with 10 points for number one, down to a single point for the 10th spot. And then, to weigh it even further towards the most frequent picks, any game mentioned on three ballots or more received an extra point per ballot. We probably didn’t need to do that last part, especially since our games editors then refined the final order just a little bit more, to ensure this list truly represents this year and The A.V. Club‘s coverage of it as precisely as possible. And voila: we got ourselves a top 25.
Read on to see the individual ballots of all 16 writers, followed by an alphabetical list of all 74 games that received at least one vote. And then, hey: go play some of them. See you again next year!
Garrett Martin
Top 10
1. Despelote
2. Blippo+
3. Sektori
4. And Roger
5. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
6. Sword of the Sea
7. Skate Story
8. Donkey Kong Bananza
9. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
10. Earthion
Elijah Gonzalez
Top 10
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
2. Hollow Knight: Silksong
3. Silent Hill f
4. Deltarune
5. Death Stranding 2
6. Citizen Sleeper 2
7. Off
8. Donkey Kong Bananza
9. Ender Magnolia
10. The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily
William Hughes
Top 10
1. Baby Steps
2. The Roottrees Are Dead
3. Monster Train 2
4. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
5. Donkey Kong Bananza
6. Type Help
7. Eternal Strands
8. Old Skies
9. Hades II
10. Blue Prince
Jacob Oller
Top 5
1. Blue Prince
2. The Roottrees Are Dead
3. The Séance of Blake Manor
4. Hades II
5. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
Diego Nicolás Argüello
Top 10
1. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
2. Despelote
3. Lumines Arise
4. Citizen Sleeper 2
5. Unbeatable
6. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
7. Keep Driving
8. Skate Story
9. Sektori
10. Horses
Grace Benfell
Top 5
1. Silent Hill f
2. Angeline Era
3. Cronos: The New Dawn
4. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
5. The Light of Our Yearning
Madeline Blondeau
Top 10
1. Hades II
2. Donkey Kong Bananza
3. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
4. Rift of the NecroDancer
5. Silent Hill f
6. Pokémon Legends: Z-A
7. Hell is Us
8. Shadow Labyrinth
9. Mario Kart World
10. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Farouk Kannout
Top 10
1. ENA: Dream BBQ
2. Despelote
3. Blue Prince
4. Blippo+
5. Hollow Knight: Silksong
6. Time Flies
7. Sword of the Sea
8. Hades II
9. Consume Me
10. Artis Impact
Dia Lacina
Top 10
1. Dragon Ruins II
2. Skate Story
3. Civilization VII
4. Despelote
5. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
6. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
7. Blue Prince
8. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
9. Ball x Pit
10. Baby Steps
Catherine Masters
Top 10
1. Umamusume: Pretty Derby
2. Lumines Arise
3. Kirby Air Riders
4. Deltarune
5. And Roger
6. No, I’m Not a Human
7. Many Nights a Whisper
8. Blippo+
9. Is This Seat Taken?
10. Donkey Kong Bananza
Maddy Myers
Top 10
1. The Séance of Blake Manor
2. Hollow Knight: Silksong
3. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
4. Death Stranding 2
5. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
6. Citizen Sleeper 2
7. Blue Prince
8. Keeper
9. Metroid Prime 4 Beyond
10. Elden Ring Nightreign
Marc Normandin
Top 10
1. Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter
2. Donkey Kong Bananza
3. Avowed
4. Shadow Labyrinth
5. Sektori
6. Öoo
7. Dynasty Warriors: Origins
8. Stray Children
9. Changeable Guardian Estique
10. Hades II
Willa Rowe
Top 10
1. Baby Steps
2. The Séance of Blake Manor
3. Old Skies
4. Of the Devil
5. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
6. Cabernet
7. Artis Impact
8. South of Midnight
9. The Roottrees Are Dead
10. Eternal Strands
Moises Taveras
Top 10
1. Despelote
2. Öoo
3. Hollow Knight: Silksong
4. Promise Mascot Agency
5. Eternal Strands
6. Skate Story
7. Mario Kart World
8. Blue Prince
9. And Roger
10. Avowed
Wallace Truesdale
Top 10
1. Citizen Sleeper 2
2. Many Nights a Whisper
3. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
4. Despelote
5. Promise Mascot Agency
6. Consume Me
7. Keep Driving
8. Vile: Exhumed
9. ENA: Dream BBQ
10. And Roger
Bee Wertheimer
Top 10
1. The Séance of Blake Manor
2. Type Help
3. Peak
4. Road to Empress
5. Baby Steps
6. I’m Not a Robot
7. Nubby’s Number Factory
8. Consume Me
9. Despelote
10. Mario Kart World
Every Game That Received a Vote
And Roger
Angeline Era
Artis Impact
Avowed
Baby Steps
Ball x Pit
Blippo+
Blue Prince
Cabernet
Changeable Guardian Estique
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Victory
Civilization VII
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Consume Me
Cronos: The New Dawn
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Deltarune
Donkey Kong Bananza
Dragon Ruins II
Dynasty Warriors: Origins
Earthion
Elden Ring Nightreign
ENA: Dream BBQ
Ender Magnolia
Eternal Strands
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily
Hades II
Hell Is Us
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
I’m Not a Robot
Is This Seat Taken?
Keep Driving
Keeper
Kirby Air Riders
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
Lumines Arise
Many Nights a Whisper
Mario Kart World
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Metroid Prime 4 Beyond
Monster Train 2
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
No, I’m Not a Human
Nubby’s Number Factory
Of the Devil
Off
Old Skies
Öoo
Peak
Pokémon Legends: Z-A
Promise Mascot Agency
Rift of Necrodancer
Road to Empress
Sektori
Shadow Labyrinth
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
Silent Hill f
Skate Story
South of Midnight
Stray Children
Sword of the Sea
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
The Light of Our Yearning
The Roottrees Are Dead
The Séance of Blake Manor
Time Flies
Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter
Type Help
Umamusume Pretty Derby
Unbeatable
Vile: Exhumed