As we’ve noted before, specific kinds of games tend to get nominated for, and win, Game of the Year at The Game Awards every December: glossy, narrative-driven action-adventures and role-playing games. This is true of many other GOTY titles handed out by awards bodies and the media. Gaming culture seems to have a rather fixed opinion on what’s worth singling out for end-of-year honors.
But this leaves out so much of what makes up gaming’s rich tapestry, and so many genuinely brilliant games: sports games, online multiplayer games, visual novels, puzzle games, racing games, fighting games, early access games, and expansion packs, not to mention the huge number of brilliantly creative, genre-breaking indie games released every year.
As we look forward to GOTY season at the end of the year, we thought we’d put together a list of games that (unjustly, in our opinion) are unlikely to make the list of GOTY 2025 front-runners led by Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Death Stranding 2. In a more just and open-minded world, these games should be showered in silverware come the end of the year, too. Over to you, Game Awards jury!
Avowed
Where to play: Windows PC, Xbox Series X, Game Pass
There’s a lot to love about Avowed, the first of three games developed by the ever-busy Obsidian Entertainment this year. Set in the Pillars of Eternity universe, the action-RPG has a refreshingly focused scope, excellent spell-slinging, and weighty decisions that will leave you mulling over conversation choices for minutes at a time. None of that is surprising given Obsidian’s pedigree, but what really took me off guard on my first playthrough was how well Avowed functions as a piece of COVID-19 art. Its excellent story is a clear reflection on the real world pandemic it was created during, exploring how a crisis can be manipulated for political gain. It’s a fierce dissection of authoritarianism and how it preys on societal vulnerability to take root. Despite a muted critical reception in February, Avowed feels like the kind of game whose legacy will only grow with time. —Giovanni Colantonio
Read Jay Castello’s full review of Avowed.
Despelote
Where to play: PlayStation 4 and 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X
Despelote couldn’t be more specific: it’s a memoir by Julián Cordero about his childhood in Ecuador during the country’s qualifying run for the 2002 world cup, and it summons the bustling, economically precarious life at that time of Quito, the capital city, with the combined haziness and exactitude of real memories. But it’s also a wonderfully universal and enveloping game about childhood, that sense of limitless possibility but also existing on the edge of the adult world. Despelote is built out of crude hand-drawn characters and simple environments grained to look like old photographs, yet it’s the most immersive gaming experience I’ve had in years. —Oli Welsh
Read Oli Welsh’s full review of Despelote.
Dune: Awakening
Where to play: Windows PC
Sidestepping Frank Herbert’s notoriously-hard-to-adapt story is one of the best things Funcom did with Dune: Awakening. Paul Atreides and his family drama still play a role, and Funcom uses the alternate universe premise to delve into some nifty background lore about the Fremen. More important than all of that, though, is the story you create by just trying not to die on Arrakis. Funcom avoids the survival-game staple of forcing you to grind for a paltry number of essential materials. You get plenty when you find them, but finding and figuring out how to safely collect them is the struggle. The planet’s brutal ecosystem shapes everything you do, whether you’re hunting down reliable sources of water for long-term habitation, devising a method to escape sand worms without losing everything, or extracting rare minerals from underground. As video game adaptations go, few manage to make you feel like you’re living in the source material more brilliantly than this one. —Josh Broadwell
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
Where to play: Nintendo Switch, Windows PC
After spending countless hours unraveling its mysteries, I still can’t believe that The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy really exists. The collaboration between the creative minds behind the Danganronpa and Zero Escape series is the textbook definition of ambitious, offering a visual novel (and a clever tactics RPG!) with 100 distinct endings — none of which are quick jokes. That fact alone is a writing feat to marvel at, but Last Defense Academy is so much more than its elevator pitch. The sci-fi saga sees an eclectic cast of kids fighting to stave off annihilation, even if it means making incredible sacrifices. It’s a perfect companion piece to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, urging us not to lose hope even if the odds seem against us. There’s always a way to win, even if it means making some impossible choices. —GC
Peak
Where to play: Windows PC
Every year, a wacky co-op game seemingly comes out of nowhere — a game you convince your friends, or get convinced by your friends, to purchase. Multiple games match that description in 2025, but the one that stands out among the pack is Peak. In Peak, you and your scout friends have crash-landed onto an island, and all you need to do is climb to the highest point on the island to be rescued. Sounds simple enough, right?
Wrong!
Peak is essentially following the plot of Lost; you’re actually on an ever-changing island full of mysteries and things that are out to get you. You and the other scouts will have to climb steep cliff faces, interact with mysterious artifacts, and, of course, deal with each other’s antics as you make your way to the top. It’s a challenging journey full of laughter as you and your friends scream your way to the top, or all the way back to the bottom. —Johnny Yu
Sword of the Sea
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC
Like everything to come out of Giant Squid so far, Sword of the Sea is a visually striking game with a compelling story. But the game’s movement mechanics are the real treat here, and are sure to make fans of skateboarding and snowboarding games feel right at home. Created by Journey artistic director Matt Nava and scored by BAFTA-winning composer Austin Wintory, Sword of the Sea is a beautiful, incredibly fun ode to the beauty of nature and the meditative bliss of extreme sports. Its New Game Plus mode adds another layer of fun, giving players the chance to unlock more cool Hoversword tricks, make use of a speedometer, and track their overall score as they play. —Claire Lewis
Read Austin Manchester’s full review of Sword of the Sea.
Elden Ring Nightreign
Where to play: PlayStation 4 and 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Series X
Even as a FromSoftware devotee, I was surprised to find myself pondering the idea that Elden Ring Nightreign warranted GOTY consideration. My early hours with the game left me skeptical: Elden Ring reworked as a live-service-roguelike-Soulslike-battle royale? That stew of hot genres sounded like a deviation from the studio’s strengths. But a dozen or so runs into Elden Ring Nightreign, I found myself hooked. FromSoft has cooked down Elden Ring’s gameplay into a tasty reduction that delivers a massive dose of flavor in satisfying 45-minute chunks. The developer’s trademark challenge and tension are still present in Nightreign, amplified by a breakneck pace and a wild new variable: the random strangers you play with. Also, the game’s regular cadence of updates, delivered through a changing map, remixed boss challenges, and (soon) higher difficulty, has kept Nightreign feeling surprisingly fresh on a week-to-week basis since launch. —Michael McWhertor
Read Maddy Myers’ full review of Elden Ring: Nightrein.
And Roger
Where to play: Nintendo Switch and Windows PC
The bite-sized And Roger opens with a mystery. A little girl wakes up in a place she doesn’t recognize, guarded by an unfamiliar stranger. It’s a tense scene that seems like it’s setting the stage for a kidnapping drama — but how reliable is our narrator? Without giving away the full extent of its powerful narrative turn, And Roger takes notes from 2018’s Florence to create a game that represents an abstracted human experience through interactivity. But where Florence tried to explain the sensation of falling in love with jigsaw-puzzle conversations, And Roger instead tackles a complicated medical condition through effective disorientation. It’s a queasy game that will feel distressingly familiar to those who have experience with its subject matter. The less you know going in, the better. The only primer you do need is that And Roger is a daring use of the medium that asks us to broaden our idea of what experiences gameplay can capture. —GC
Lies of P: Overture
Where to play: PlayStation 4 and 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Series X
Last year, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree made Game of the Year voters ponder if an expansion should receive the coveted award. This year, Lies of P: Overture ought to do the same. Though a prequel to the events of the base game, Overture feels almost essential to the Lies of P experience. Its story enhances the original, introducing wonderful new characters like Lea and the Legendary Stalker, and providing enlightening background information on the player character of P. And that’s to say nothing of its top-tier Soulslike combat. Overture includes some of the game’s best and most fun weapons — I’m still thinking about those Wolverine claws — and the new enemies you can use those weapons against are a spectacular sight. Overture’s first area, the Krat zoo, is home to perhaps the game’s most inventive monsters. Ultimately, if sequels and prequels can be lauded come awards season, why not an expansion? —Austin Manchester
Read Austin Manchester’s full review of Lies of P: Overture.
Koira
Where to play: PlayStation 5 and Windows PC
Koira from Studio Tolma first caught my attention with its similarities to Disney’s Peter and the Wolf. Like in the 1946 animated film, musical instruments take the place of character voices in Koira, but the idea is more than just a stylish flourish and an excuse for animators to show off their talents. It’s Koira‘s heart. You play as a young girl lost and alone in a dark forest — alone, that is, until you find a puppy to travel with. The two use their voices to banish the darkness that surrounds them. That’s true literally, as the light of their presence pushes back the dark clouds blanketing the woods, and metaphorically as well. The goal in Koira is to escape the hunters stalking the woods by means of clever stealth puzzles, but along the way, you’re also helping the lost, lonely, broken animals you meet find strength together. It’s a beautiful little puzzler in more ways than one and my favorite indie of 2025. —JB
REPO
Where to play: Windows PC
Proximity chat with silly horror elements is always a good time, and REPO proves that. As you scour through abandoned areas, trying to carefully loot treasure without breaking it, monsters will appear to hunt you down. To make matters worse, the monsters can hear you, so while you’re giggling with your friends about breaking a valuable vase, here comes the Headman (a literal giant head) to kill you and ruin the fun. There are so many silly moments, whether it’s chortling with all your dead allies in the afterlife while you watch the single living friend realize that everyone else is gone, or hearing your friend’s shriek abruptly cut out from afar, signaling their death. The game gets harder as you get further, so there are also lots of rewarding moments, like barely scraping by to make quota, or taking down a big bad as a group. I think fondly of game nights playing REPO. I should get my friends to play REPO again. —Julia Lee
Tokyo Xtreme Racer
Where to play: Windows PC
Here are three things that never get considered for Game of the Year: early access games, racing games, and retro throwbacks. Tokyo Xtreme Racer, the comeback of a venerable street racing series that has known many names, and its developer Genki, is all three. It looks like a PS2 game (on purpose) and many of its events boil down to insultingly simple straight-line drag races. And yet it has got under my skin like almost nothing else this year. Genki has expertly conjured not just a forgotten flavor of racing game, but an eerie, whimsical, and sublimely vibey nocturnal world peopled by characterful racers called things like Woodpecker Syndrome and Foreign Bookkeeper, and set to a soundtrack of nosebleed techno and menu-screen metal. I just want to be there all the time, accelerating into the night. —OW
Öoo
Where to play: Windows PC
Öoo is a game about bombs, and using the force of their explosions to move your character, a happy blob who looks like a caterpillar when it has two bombs trailing behind it (this shape: Öoo). Part puzzle-platformer, part “Metroidbrainia,” Öoo is an imaginative, minimal game that constantly delights over its few short hours, unlocking new ways to think about movement and progress in a huge maze. It sometimes doesn’t feel like it, but Öoo provides players the tools they need to overcome its brilliantly designed platforming puzzles from the start. Öoo routinely delivers surprises about how to think about movement, character placement, and the environment, and how to weave what a game teaches you over time into your mental toolbox. It inhabits the same space as cleverly designed platformers like Celeste, BoxBoy, and VVVVVV, games that take a simple concept and dissect it to a nearly atomic level. —MM
Umamusume: Pretty Derby
Where to play: Android, iOS, Windows PC
Originally released in February 2021 in Japan, Umamusume: Pretty Derby was finally released globally in June 2025, allowing trainers all over the world to live out their fantasy of creating the best horse girl out there. Nurturing an anthropomorphized horse girl may sound a bit silly, but Umamusume: Pretty Derby is actually a very robust sports simulation game that has a deep connection to real-life racehorses. It functions similarly to any franchise or career mode that other sports games have, as you’ll manage your stats, events, and skills, but nothing compares to the thrill of watching your pride and joy compete in a race. From the highs of seeing your umamusume just barely inch out a lead in the final seconds of the Super Bowl of horse races to the lows of seeing Haru Urara place dead last by a mile, Umamusume: Pretty Derby will give you a genuine sports fan experience that will keep you coming back day after day. —JY
