New games
Roadcraft
Saber Interactive further cemented their status as simulation game titans in 2025. While they continued to build on older games like Snowrunner andExpeditions, they also delivered Roadcraft which is another clever spin on their winning formula. This sprawling construction and infrastructure sim is all about rebuilding after disasters, both natural and man-made. This sense of rejuvenation is something Snowrunner gestures at, but which Roadcraft really makes the player feel.
Drop Duchy
Our Game of the Year for 2025 is a wonderfully tight and accomplished puzzle game, one which wears the clothes of a medieval-themed strategy and looks very handsome as it does so. Drop Duchy preserves the core of Tetris, but adds on a wide range of clever additions which consistently deliver satisfying challenges. Better still, it is also a thoughtfully crafted roguelike, encouraging more sessions by piling on new tools and mechanics at a pleasing clip.
Cultic: Chapter Two
The quality of some games is never in doubt. Jason Smith’s stellar achievement with his first instalment meant that Cultic: Chapter Two was almost guaranteed to be a great time. Inevitably this retro shooter continuation lacks a certain freshness, but it compensates for this with even more ambitious and impressive level design. The many and varied locales drip with a brilliantly ominous atmosphere, punctuated by many more gripping gunfights with deranged cultists who deserve to be taken down – and are.
Older games
Far Cry 4 (2014)
It seems that I have to be in a highly specific mood to tackle an entry in Ubisoft’s long-running open-world shooter series, which is why I was over a decade late to Far Cry 4. At no point did I regret booking a trip to Kyrat, the war-torn but beautiful setting based on Nepal. It is a continuous pleasure to bomb around this troubled mountain country, carving out a decisive role in an armed revolutionary movement. The side activities and set piece missions are equally exciting, and the visuals are still impressive for the time.
Prey: Mooncrash (2018) and Deathloop (2021)
It was fascinating to play these two Arkane projects back to back. An uncommonly ambitious and experimental DLC, Mooncrash is generally taken to be a prototype for Deathloop, a game which won many plaudits in 2021 but is now seen more guardedly. While they share a time-loop mechanic, the differences between the two are quite stark. Deathloop in particular feels at times like it was a hairsbreadth from genius, while at other moments it seems desperately ill-conceived. These are fascinating experiences, in any case.
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered (2024)
Series custodians Crystal Dynamics and Aspyr – not always highly regarded for their remasters – did a grand job with this new coat of paint on the first three Tomb Raider adventures. Originally released in 1996, 1997, and 1998, Lara Croft’s initial outings stand up remarkably well, certainly when using the new and very welcome modern controls. Working in sunny Derby back in the day, Core Design worked miracles within their tight resource constraints, all with publisher Eidos demanding more from their pony-tailed golden goose.
