Every new game I played in 2025, ranked

The gaming world is abuzz with the announcement of the 2025 Game Award nominees, and it made me think, "Which games have I bought that came out this year?" Let's take a look!

The only games I bought that were released in 2025

I only have 10 games released in 2025

I rarely buy new games. Steam has such frequent sales that a little bit of patience can save a lot of money in the long run. I did, however, get the urge to buy 10 games that actually came out this year

Game names and genre

Here they are, ordered by release date, starting with January's Ender Magnolia.

Playtime and cost

Here's the list again, showing my hours played and how much each cost me in Japanese yen.

(1 USD ≈ 150 JPY, 1 GBP ≈ 200 JPY, 1 EUR ≈ 175 JPY)

It's amazing that despite the praise for Silksong being so cheap, it has been the most expensive new game I've bought this year!

Ranking the games

It's difficult to rank these because they're all quite different... but let's give it a go!

10. Gentoo Rescue - Very interesting so far, but I only bought it last night and need to play more!

9. Hollow Knight: Silksong - Oh boy... my most anticipated game of the year, the follow-up to one of my favourite games of all time, and it turned out to be my biggest disappointment of the year. The developers leaned way too hard into the more punishing aspects of Hollow Knight - the runbacks, the gauntlets, the primal aspids(!), and made everything else I loved about the original a chore to uncover. What a slog fest!

8. Nubby's Number Factory - A fun plinko-style game, but it didn't hold my interest. I preferred Ballionaire.

7. Matchy Way Tales - A fun, cheap, no frills match-3 game. Only two people have reviewed it, and I'm one of them!

6. Find All 7: Japan - A very cheap and addictive hidden object game, though also very short.

5. Kaizen: A Factory Story - A modern take on Zachtronic's brilliant Opus Magnum. I think I have a soft spot for this game because it follows the story of a foreigner living and working in Japan. The game itself is very good. You have to lay out mechanical arms, levers and drills that can automate the assembly of toys, electrical appliances and even plastic food! I brute-forced most of the solutions, but they're ripe for optimization.

4. Rustbowl Rumble - The third game in the Meteorfall series and the follow-up to my favorite deckbuilding roguelite, Krumit's Tale. I struggled a bit with the complexity of "Rusty Bowl", but ultimately enjoyed it as much as its inspiration, Slay the Spire.

3. The Farmer Was Replaced - A terrific game for newbie and veteran programmers alike. I had a blast using the simplified Python language to automate farming drones. I racked up hours faster in this game than any other all year, all because I needed more pumpkins, more cacti, more sunflower power!

2. Ender Magnolia - My Metroidvania of the Year. A superb sequel to Ender Lilies, very accessible, and ideally suited to those who like exploring and collecting everything on the map.

1. Ligo - When I first tried the demo, I was instantly hooked. It was like a cute, 2D Bonfire Peaks and super satisfying to beat what I think are very challenging puzzles. If you like block-pushing puzzles, this is one of the best.

Ligo - stretching my imagination!

Just the beginning!

While Ligo tops this list, will it still be my Game of the Year when I include all the older games I played? Stay tuned for my official Game of the Year rankings nearer to New Year.