The games that won my vote in the Steam Awards
The Steam Awards are upon us again, and I've already cast my votes! My choices are unlikely to win any grand prizes, but they brought me a lot of entertainment in 2025. Let's see what they were...
It's all very exciting, isn't it?!
Keep in mind that my choices were limited to games I bought that were released this year. In fact, Silksong is the only game from this year's Game Awards nominations that I've played. The rest are far less well known.
Game of the Year Award
Ligo - gotta squash the squids!
Ligo. This delightfully challenging box-pushing puzzle game has enthralled me this year. It was one of the first games of its kind I tried after Stephen's Sausage Roll and just like that one, finishing a puzzle is super satisfying.
You control a "small blob-like creature" which can combine or separate itself from other blob-like creatures. Figuring out which combination of merges to make so that you can reach your goal is extremely compelling (yes, really!) and I have spent many evenings on a single puzzle, just hoping for that moment of success when I finally squash the squids!
VR Game of the Year Award
I skipped this category because I don't have a VR headset, nor did I buy any VR-compatible games this year.
Labor of Love Award
Mr. Kovalsky, mopping up for the mafia!
Crime Scene Cleaner. There are a lot of games that deserve this award, but thinking of games I've played this year, Crime Scene Cleaner definitely deserves a shout-out.
After completing PowerWash Simulator, I was in need of something else to clean, and a few murder scenes fit the bill perfectly. CSC has a lot more depth to it than PowerWash. It's got buckets, mops and sponges for a start, and a protagonist with a great sense of humour! I'm yet to play the extra content that's come out recently, but I look forward to playing the role of school janitor Mr. Kovalsky again.
Best Game on Steam Deck Award
Welcome to the Bramble Royale!
Meteorfall: Rustbowl Rumble. The third installment in the Meteorfall series is my pick for the Steam Deck award based on my experience with the mobile version. Rustbowl Rumble, formerly named Bramble Royale, is a hugely overlooked roguelite deckbuilder in the vein of Slay the Spire.
For me, this is the best turn-based tactics game I've played. Unlike its predecessor, Krumit's Tale, which I enjoyed as a puzzle game, Rustbowl Rumble should feel more familiar to fans of StS or Monster Train. You've got your deck of cards, energy per turn, and choose to attack or defend by playing cards in your hand onto your team of characters. After each battle, you head to town to spend your hard-earned bottle caps at the shop, inn, workshop, oracle, coffee shop, or training ground to upgrade your team and deck. Your choices will either end your run, or lead you to a grand finale against Bramble himself! But watch out for the Uberlich!
Better with Friends Award
I played the original for 160 hours!
PowerWash Simulator 2. Big disclaimer for this one: I haven't played it! The thing is, I haven't bought any new multiplayer games in 2025, so I've chosen PowerWash 2 because I played the original for 160 hours and still regularly play with my brother online. I did try the demo for PW2 and it was much the same, so it gets the nod for this award.
If you've never played it. PowerWash Simulator is an almost meditative experience. There are no timers, no quests, and of course, no enemies. Instead, just put on some music and wash, wash, wash! Enjoy the satisfying ding! sounds whenever you complete a small part of what can be some huge levels! I enjoyed washing a skatepark, underground train station, ferris wheel, and even a castle with its own mini-golf course. And with a friend, it's the perfect activity to do while chatting about completely unrelated stuff.
Outstanding Visual Style Award
The hand drawn art in Silksong is impressive!
Hollow Knight: Silksong. One of the big attractions of the Hollow Knight games is their beautifully hand drawn graphics. I certainly didn't buy the original metroidvania for its hardcore gameplay. Instead, I was won over by its charming characters, gentle colour palette and rich, immersive atmosphere. The follow-up, Silksong, continues to impress with even more detailed and vivid environments.
Best Game You Suck At Award
Hollow Knight: Silksong. This is my most likely pick to actually win an award. I'm definitely not alone in thinking Silksong went overboard with the difficulty, achieving over 40,000 negative reviews, three times more than Hollow Knight. Granted, a lot of those complaints were because of the bad Chinese translation, but even browsing the positive reviews shows that a lot of people find the game very challenging. And I'm one of them. I gave it 40 hours, but I really do suck at it.
Most Innovative Gameplay Award
Program drones to do the farming for you!
The Farmer Was Replaced. This game was a complete surprise to me, but I was immediately captivated by the idea of programming drones to farm a field. I love automation games, but The Farmer takes it further by giving you a blank slate on which to use its built-in Python-like language. How you write your scripts is totally up to you. I must admit that I brute-forced many solutions, but the opportunity to optimize is there, and there are global leaderboards for the world's most efficient farmers!
Outstanding Story-Rich Award
My metroidvania of the year, Ender Magnolia.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist. Of all the games released this year that I played, not many of them had much of a story. In fact, only three games did: Silksong, Kaizen: A Factory Story, and my pick for the Story-Rich award, Ender Magnolia. This 95% Overwhelmingly Positive rated metroidvania follows the story of Lilac, a young "Attuner" who awakens with no memory, but has the power to cleanse corrupted Homunculi - artificial beings driven mad by toxic fumes. She embarks on a journey to recover her memories and uncover the fate of the kingdom! Compelling, isn't it?!
Best Soundtrack Award
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist. This was a very close category for me. Silksong's OST by Christopher Larkin is undoubtedly superb, and one I could listen to as background music. I also love the boppy tunes of Rustbowl Rumble and the soothing, meditative music from Ligo. Ultimately, Ender Magnolia takes the prize for its 2-hour long OST by Project Mili and vocalist Cassie Wei, who also worked on the critically acclaimed soundtrack for the prequel, Ender Lilies.
Sit Back and Relax Award
Longboarding has never been so zen.
Driftwood. I picked up Driftwood back when it was in Early Access. The idea of a sloth skating down mountain roads was something I had to try, and I wasn't disappointed at all. While the speed of the main game is a bit too quick for me, I fell in love with the zen mode and found myself chilling out to its lo-fi hip-hop and indie tracks. I put it in the same category as Ubisoft's winter sports game Steep and its sequel Rider's Republic, but Driftwood boots up much faster - and I really like that.
Conclusion
If you end up buying any of the games I've written about, add me on Steam so I can follow your progress! Oh, and I'm still yet to announce my full list of favorite games I played this year, as this one was mostly limited to games that released in 2025.