It’s officially 2026, and a whole new year of fantastic video games is upon us. However, we at KeenGamer are here to reflect on the past year and give certain games the credit they deserve. In this article, you’ll hear from several members of the KeenGamer team, all of whom have a game they consider the best of the best from last year.
Some of these picks have been winning awards left and right, others you’ve heard about, but you might have missed out on playing due to how packed the year was. From AAA to the Indie scene, 2025 was one hell of a year for video games.
Here are KeenGamer’s Games of the Year for 2025. Enjoy and have a great 2026.
Arc Raiders
Ali Amir: Arc Raiders is my Game of the Year 2025 because it fundamentally redefined what an extraction shooter can be. For years, the genre lived in the long shadow of Escape from Tarkov, often copying its punishing systems without questioning what makes it so unique. Arc Raiders breaks that mold by keeping the tension and stakes of extraction while making the experience more readable, fair, and welcoming for both hardcore fans and casual players who love to be friends with other raiders. It proves the looter shooter can evolve, focused less on suffering for its own sake and more on meaningful risk, smart systems, and player respect.
One of the most genius aspects of Arc Raiders is its sound design, which might be the best the genre has ever seen and overall best this year, and it deserves more respect. Every gunshot, Arc machine movement, footstep, and environmental cue feels deliberate and layered, turning sound into a core gameplay language rather than background noise.
You don’t just hear danger, you interpret it. The world feels alive through audio alone, whether it’s distant combat echoing through buildings, cameras buzzing when a raider walks by or subtle Arc hums warning you of nearby threats. This level of sound clarity elevates decision-making and immersion in a way that few shooters manage.
Arc Raiders
What truly makes Arc Raiders stand out for me is how carefully the developers have thought about the player experience. I once got stuck in terrain and expected the usual extraction shooter punishment, restart and lose everything, but instead the game offered a “fix stuck” option that saved my run. When my game crashed during a raid, I was given the option to rejoin, and returning to my character felt like a genuine act of developer care.
Even more impressive is how the game handles griefing and cheaters. The first time I was unknowingly placed in an unfair fight, I later received an in-game message explaining the situation and returning my stash and raid loot. That moment alone showed how much Arc Raiders values player trust, making it not just a great extraction shooter, but a landmark title.
Blue Prince
Mina Smith: My game of the year is Blue Prince. Blue Prince is a winding adventure puzzle game about a young boy who needs to complete a puzzle in order to earn his inheritance. You must start each day with only the pack on your back and the handful of permanent items you may have unlocked. This roguelite has a deep story with a ton of lore and is one of the prettiest indie games ever.
Every day, you enter the house, and you have to draft each room, making the layout completely different each time you enter. With every step, you learn more family secrets and about the war that tore the world apart just before you were born. There is so much to find, so much to do, that I poured more than 250 hours into it after it launched in May 2025. If you like roguelikes, puzzle games, or are just looking for something completely unique and gorgeous, you can’t miss with Blue Prince.
Blue Prince
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Morgane Suquet: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is my Game of the Year because of its clear identity and disciplined execution. As a turn-based RPG with Belle Époque–inspired worldbuilding and a distinct visual direction, it commits fully to its tone and structure, resulting in a setting that feels cohesive rather than overstretched. The game’s presentation works in service of a unified atmosphere instead of competing for attention.
Its narrative is built around a clearly defined premise that establishes the player’s role and the stakes of the journey from the outset. The combat system—turn-based at its core, with reactive elements layered on top—supports this framework by emphasizing deliberate pacing and decision-making, reinforcing the game’s themes rather than distracting from them.
What ultimately sets Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 apart for me is its consistency. It does not rely on excess or trend-chasing, but on focus and clarity. That cohesion across story, mechanics, and presentation is why it stands above other games I played this year.
You can find our review of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 here on KeenGamer.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Rafly Wibowo: Now, I have to preface by saying that I haven’t played the first one, and only watched glimpses of it from YouTube playthroughs, but back then, I thought this series was just “Oh well, you’re basically placed as a delivery courier and just walks to points A to B, so on.” I was 18 at the time of Death Stranding‘s release, so this wasn’t really my cup of tea. Fast forward to 2025, where I have expanded my outlook on the gaming scene, and I decided to purchase and play Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.
Lo and behold, the game managed to get me hooked and never let go of its grasp ever since. The characters, the setting, not to mention the beautiful graphics (huge shoutouts to Guerrilla’s Decima Engine!), everything about this game clicks. And at first, I was a bit hesitant because the main breadth of the game is… Well, delivering things. And yet, Death Stranding 2 also manages to subvert and exceed my expectations on that end.
Other games tend to make traversal just a tool to get from Point A to B, but in this game, it’s a dedicated mechanic that makes you think. “What’s my next destination?” “What’s the best route to go there?” “Will I use the bike or the off-roader, or just go on foot?” “Do I have enough supplies and weapons for my journey?” “Will I pick up these orders?” These things help elevate the core system in Death Stranding 2, of which I’m sure has been improved from the first game.
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
Dispatch
Daniel Levitt: I’ve been a fan of episodic games since Telltale’s The Walking Dead, so when I heard former members of the company were creating a superhero sitcom game starring a star-studded cast ranging from online personalities to A-tier actors, I had to get it as soon as possible.
In Dispatch, you play as Robert Robertson, aka Mecha Man, who, after losing a fight with nefarious villain Shroud, you are recruited to join a superhero dispatching service as a dispatcher. You lead a team of ex-villains and amateur heroes through the daily grind of heroism. Of course, it’s not all fun and games; many issues occur within the team, causing you to make important decisions that will affect the outcomes of different characters and the city.
Dispatch
As a fan of superhero stories, I was easily seduced by its invincible-like style of animation & writing. The characters you meet are all fantastic, the ones that stood out the most being Chase and Flambae, who provided many comedic moments alongside a specific scene that made me uncontrollably gasp (hasn’t happened for a while).
The gameplay portion was really fun too. I enjoyed sending each hero out to different jobs and figuring out which were the best options. It’s crazy how Dispatch succeeded in making me miss both the cutscene movie portion and the gameplay portions of each episode every time they transitioned from each other. My only gripe with the gameplay portions was that the episodes ain’t long enough.
You can find our review of Dispatch here on KeenGamer.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
Laura Speller: For my Game of the Year in 2025, it was a toss up between two titles: Mafia: The Old Country and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. After much deliberation, I eventually decided to go with Lost Records. As soon as I heard about Lost Records: Bloom & Rage for the first time, I knew it was a game I desperately wanted to play. There was something really compelling about it. The 90s setting, the four friends reconnecting over a past event, and the mysterious implications was something I had never felt from a game trailer before.
I had to find out for myself what this game was all about. I got Lost Records: Bloom & Rage the moment it was released and was quickly hooked. Although we had to wait two months to play the second and final chapter, this just got me even more hyped – and it paid off. Lost Records seemed to have some kind of power that pulled you into playing and revealing its secrets. This wasn’t so much a game as it was an experience, and one that did not leave me disappointed.
You can find our review of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 here on KeenGamer.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
Skate (2025)
Abi Westy: I realise this may be a bit of a “hear me out” entry for some, but I implore you to indeed, hear me out. EA launched Skate in Early Access in September last year, and still managed to place second on my most played games list in my PlayStation wrap-up. It would’ve got first, however, unfortunately for skate, 2025 was the year I discovered Balatro, and I need say no more.
I will acknowledge the downsides before donning my rose-tinted glasses; Skate is not the return to the franchise that many people, including myself, hoped for in “Skate 4“. The iconic story missions, pro skaters and bone-breaking Hall of Meat mode are missing, and their absence is felt. But Skate still holds up as a fun and moreish skateboarding game.
Skate
The controls feel fresh yet familiar, and the skating feels good, with the updates so far delivering on the promise of more tricks being added each season. Despite the threatening feeling of knowing micro-transactions are present, I’ve not spent a penny yet, still have hours of gameplay, both solo and with friends, and a fair amount of cosmetic items unlocked.
A mechanic, which I also need to mention and which I am probably a bit too charmed by, is the “Shazam”-style approach to music. While skating around the city, you’re able to download the tracks you like the sound of to your phone. It’s the small things, I guess.
Those were our favourite games of 2025. What was your 2025 Game of the Year? Let us know in the comments, and have a fantastic 2026!
