cross-posted from: https://ibbit.at/post/140560
When we put together our top 20 games of last year, we specifically called out Civilization 7, Avowed, Doom: The Dark Ages, and Grand Theft Auto 6 as big franchise games we were already looking forward to for 2025. While one of those games has been delayed into 2026, the three others made this year’s list of Ars’ favorite games as expected. They join a handful of other highly anticipated sequels, ranging from big-budget blockbusters to long-gestating indies, on the “expected” side of this year’s list.
But the games that really stood out for me in 2025 were the ones that seemed to come out of nowhere. Those range from hard-to-categorize roguelike puzzle games to a gonzo, punishing mountainous walking simulation, the best Geometry Wars clone in years, and a touching look at the difficulties of adolescence through the surprisingly effective lens of mini-games.
As we look toward 2026, there are plenty of other big-budget projects that the industry is busy preparing for (the delayed Grand Theft Auto VI chief among them). If next year is anything like this year, though, we can look forward to plenty more games that no one saw coming suddenly vaulting into view as new classics.
From Features - Ars Technica via this RSS feed
You know I was just thinking the other day about how badly Ars Technica needs to put out an article of their top video games because if anyone is an expert or can provide valuable ideas to the gaming industry it has to be the absolute garbage nearly tabloid and usually written by AI that never qualifies as real journalism from Ars Technica. I’m not sure if their goal has been to be the complete asses of tech news but they hands down take the cake and then providing this great list only solidifies them into the echos of history that literally no one will ever remember once they go bankrupt and no one cares to archive any piece of their trash of a site.
Boy, you really seem to hate Ars. I consider them one of the better tech publications, though gaming is generally not their wheelhouse.
They used to be good but have greatly enshittified since being acquired by Condé Nast. I’ve been an Ars reader for almost 15 years, until last year. I don’t even bother going there anymore.