Yo ho ho, Dear Readers! Welcome to my annual Game of the Year wrap-up, where I celebrate my favourite games from the past twelve months. You know the drill, except you don’t because I change the format every year to stop things from getting boring! Here goes…
Rogueliker’s Bestest Game of 2025 is Hades II
There’s no point dragging out the inevitable. Of course Hades II is my Game of the Year. I loved the original, and I loved this sequel almost as much. Supergiant returned with a bigger and mostly better dive into one of the richest periods of ancient mythology. The Greek gods and your enemies all have tons of personality, the combat is tight and responsive, and there are loads of things to see and discover as you look to save your family from, well, I’ll let you find out…
Hades II is the roguelite that captured everyone’s attention at The Game Awards, where it won Best Action Game – and rightly so, given how it’s a mash-up of great action, fun storytelling, and engaging metaprogression.
Of course, it won’t be for everyone, but I think it’s fair to say that it is a good entry-point roguelite, ideal for someone who wants to know more about this genre. Existing fans might not be quite as impressed – after all, we’ve seen it all before – but I’m still giving Supergiant’s sequel the big nod. Based on hours played in the past two years, since it launched into EA, only Balatro has kept me more engaged.
Hades II is an exceptional video game by any measure, and once again, the folks over at Supergiant have delivered one of the most engaging roguelites of the year. Bravo!
RL’s Early Access Drop of 2025 is White Knuckle
To be fair to our Kinix, the following entry isn’t just his favourite EA game this year, it’s his overall GOTY. However, because it is Early Access, I made him pick a finished game, too. Anyway, the next two sub-sections are his…
Your goal in White Knuckle is to climb through a gigantic megastructure filled with secrets to discover and horrors to run from. You collect gear along the way, such as pitons and rope, and you have a limited inventory that you have to manage mid-climb.
It’s a little wonky getting used to the controls and physics, but once mastered, you can get into a seamless flowstate that is incredibly satisfying. The skill ceiling is super high as you find new routes or improvisations through each area, and there’s enough run variety to make each climb feel a little bit different.
Aside from being almost flawless mechanically, White Knuckle has the coolest world. I’ve spent hours reading through lore about just how messed up the Superstructure is. Each area has tons of environmental story to back it up, and literature about how things got so bad in the first place. Reading notes about a group of workers trying to navigate the tram line and explain how Habitation Blue has been decimated is super cool while you yourself are climbing the destroyed railways and on the same path.
The updates since release have made the game better and better, with challenge maps for a quick trial, a new region that is insanely intense, and plenty of new things to discover. White Knuckle is the most fun I’ve had this year, and I’m eager to see it develop further.
RL’s Freedom Shooter of 2025 is Desecrators
Desecrators hit its full release this year and delivered us a rare 6 Degrees of Freedom (6DoF) shooter. I think it is endlessly fun to fly a spaceship around, shoot at everything in sight, and pillage space bases. While there is a lack of weapon and upgrade variety, developer Woodhound makes up for it in fantastic level generation that genuinely ensures that no two runs feel the same.
Rival ships can interrupt your missions and cause three-way battles to the death. These guys can have whatever equipment you do so they’re always scary to encounter. The developers have also been introducing biomorphs, which are alien creatures that will attack everybody. Fighting all these factions and looting the various areas you visit is simple, well-polished fun that I can’t stop going back to. Desecrators is my favourite game to hit 1.0 this year.
RL’s Best Roguenot of 2025 is Hollow Knight Silksong
I love roguelikes and roguelites, you love them, and Kieran does, too. He also loves indies more generally. Thus, Kieran’s here to share his favourite indie game of the year, looking beyond the confines of RL.
It’s fitting that we’re ending the year with both Hades and Hollow Knight in our toplist. Both of their original games catapulted their respective genres to mass popularity and set a standard that few indie titles have been able to reach in the years since their releases.
While the eight-year gap between titles might have been painful, Team Cherry somehow managed to top themselves with Silksong. Hornet’s needle-and-thread combat is intense and blisteringly fast, Pharloom is a far more beautiful and intricately detailed world than Hallownest, and the game’s expanded quest system, clever tools, and fluid traversal make it feel both fresh and expertly refined.
It’s a game I’ve been absolutely glued to since picking it up earlier this year on my Switch 2. As a die-hard fan of souls-likes, I was immediately hooked by its punishing difficulty and the variety of approaches there are to combat, and I can’t wait to dive back in for the free Sea of Sorrow DLC next year.
RL’s Best Survivors-like of 2025 is Megabonk
And you’re back with me for the rest of the article, you lucky souls!
Megabonk is a survivors-like that channels the third-person energy of roguelite greats such as Risk of Rain 2, and injects that into a load of tongue-in-cheek auto-shooter action. Not only that, but it does so with absolutely oodles of depth, a brash-but-brilliant aesthetic, and meta-progression with subtle yet meaningful complexity.
Developer Vedinad has been involved with his community for the ongoing creation of this game, and this close contact has resulted in a carefully tuned experience that offers much more than your standard bullet heaven. To get anywhere near the biggest scores, you’re going to have to really fine-tune your engine building and make every decision count, and this depth has made Megabonk one of the most addictive games in the genre since Vampire Survivors.
RL’s Best Spin-off of 2025 is DRG: Survivor
With Megabonk proving to be my favourite game that wasn’t Hades II, that left Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor somewhat out in the cold, and I didn’t think that was very fair because I thought Funday Games did a smashing job with the Deep Rock Galactic license.
Not only is DRG Survivor one of the nicest-looking survivors-likes out there, especially with its eye-catching pick-ups, electrifying visual effects, and wonderful environmental designs, but there’s tons of depth baked into all aspects of the game. In fact, the whole thing is an extremely polished offering, and both DRG fans and auto-shooter nerds should definitely check it out.
RL’s Nicest Surprise of 2025 is Shape of Dreams
Am I just making these categories up as I go? A little, maybe, but this year has thrown out a bunch of surprises that I just didn’t see coming, and I want to make sure I mention all of them, by hook or by crook. The nicest surprise of them all, in my opinion, was Shape of Dreams, an action-roguelite that managed to shine despite launching alongside Hades II. Not only that; it launched to initially mixed reviews, before the devs pivoted quickly and decisively, turning things around.
This fantastical ARPG supports co-op, but best of all is the game’s approach to character building. The roster is stacked with interesting playable characters, and there is a really robust upgrade system to experiment with. All told, Shape of Dreams is a very good action-roguelite and it’s well worth checking out, especially if Hades II is a little bit too “on-the-rails” for you.
RL’s Best Deckbuilder of 2025 is StarVaders
This year has been a big deal for card games, and StarVaders very nearly missed out to Monster Train 2, which also proved to be highly entertaining. However, this year I’m giving the worthless prize of my admiration to Pengonauts for the studio’s fusion of deckbuilding and Space Invaders-inspired turn-based combat – because it has proven to be a wonderful breath of fresh air.
Not only does StarVaders look and sound charming, but there’s tremendous depth thanks to the different mechs and pilots. I also really enjoyed the feel of the progression loop, which unravels at a natural pace and provides a thoroughly engaging framework for the card-playing and grid-based tactics. Check out my review for all the deets, if you’d like to know more.
RL’s Best Atypical Roguelite of 2025 is Blue Prince
What I’m enjoying most about this list is just how different all of the games are from one another. We’ve got isometric action-RPGs and card games, platformers and third-person shooters.
Blue Prince, while borrowing some roguish elements, is quite unlike anything else mentioned in this article, and I think because of this, it delivers one of the most memorable gaming experiences of the year.
Where Blue Prince transcends tradition is in how it demands a level of engagement and careful thought that you don’t get in anything other than the very best puzzle games. You’ll need a physical notebook by your side if you’re going to keep track of everything you discover in this house that shifts layout every night, and the depth of this naturally evolving conundrum will keep you pushing ever further into this wonderful, peaceful, first-person adventure.
RL’s Best Proper Roguelike of 2025 is Rift Wizard 2
Finally, we should probably wrap things up with a proper roguelike, given the name at the top of the page. This year, I’m highlighting a fantastic little turn-based roguelike and a rare sequel.
Rift Wizard 2 is a tough and challenging puzzle rogue where you must steer a tiny, pixelated wizard across a dungeon filled with increasingly punishing monsters. You know how this dungeon crawling thing works by now, but in this instance your moves are limited and you’ve got a painfully small array of options at any one time.
But don’t worry, despite the constant threat of horrible death-by-monster, you’re able to defend yourself with a deep and fascinating spellbook. There are so many interesting spells to discover, although it will take you a lot of experimentation to put together a truly winning build that can withstand any challenge you encounter.
This year has been an absolutely stellar one for video games, large and small; however, I’m glad that I got to conclude this little GOTY round-up with a couple of titles that ask the player to dig a bit deeper than most interactive entertainment is brave enough to. These are the kinds of experiences that stay with us long after we’ve finished them, and they’re the reason that we all love to play.
