Finally, a winners list that proves 2025 was bigger than one consensus favorite

Gaming’s awards season ain’t over yet (in fact, it’s not even close). And on Sunday night, the New York Videogame Critics Circle reminded onlookers why there can’t just be one definitive winners list in this town.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 snagged yet another Game of the Year trophy, but the full list of winners included titles like Blippo+, Ball x Pit, and Lumines Arise; the types of games you might only see on comprehensive best-of lists curated by the best minds of a generation (ahem).

No shade to Clair Obsur, which has unfortunately become the easy-to-roll-your-eyes-at villain of gaming’s inverted GOTY conversation. When the loudest, flashiest verdict lands first — The Game Awards looming in December like an Oscar night that forgot to wait its turn — the rest of the year becomes a kind of extended epilogue, a series of ceremonies deciding whether to affirm the obvious or zig where Geoff Keighley’s voting body already zagged.

Expedition 33 has turned that structure into a victory lap. Its nine-win sweep at The Game Awards, including Game of the Year, shattered records and cemented the debut RPG from Sandfall Interactive as the rare indie-adjacent production that flattened the field. As awards season grinds on through DICE, GDC, and beyond, the game remains the prohibitive favorite. The New York Game Awards couldn’t deny Expedition 33 the top prize — remember, it’s good! — but its voters weren’t ready to gift it a sweep either.

Here is the full list of this year’s 2025 New York Game Awards winners, which should frankly win their own award for Cheekiest Dad Joke Category Names:

Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game

Blue Prince

Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game

Blippo+

Statue of Liberty Award for Best World

Hades II

Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game

South of Midnight

Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game

Jennifer English as Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Excelsior Award for Best NY Game

Ball x Pit

Coney Island Dreamland Award for Best AR/VR Game

Lumines Arise

Central Park Children’s Zoo Award for Best Kids Game

Donkey Kong Bananza

A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game

Is This Seat Taken?

High Line Award for Best Remake

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered

Chumley’s Speakeasy Award for Best Hidden Gem

News Tower

NYC GWB Award for Best DLC

Lies of P: Overture

Knickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism

People Make Games

Andrew Yoon Legend Award Recipient

The Pokémon Company