This year was rough for me on top of you know, the general everything. I started off 2025 in physical therapy for a few months for my back and leg. Then in July, my father ended up in the hospital and I spent the next month in and out of the hospital until he passed in August. While this was going on and then after he passed, I had to take care of my mother who has mid-stage dementia.
So to say this was not a typical year for gaming for me is an understatement. I spent a lot of time on phone games. I got into free-to-play gacha games as something to do without needing super commitment. It took me months to finish games, after July I basically played two AAA games: Death Stranding 2 and Outer Worlds 2. There’s a lot I didn’t touch this year: Ghost of Yotei, Borderlands 4, anything on the Switch 2 (since I didn’t get one). And there were plenty of smaller games like Ball X Pit that sounded neat but I just never got to.
I did get a Steam Deck, which allowed me to tackle games in my Steam collection and I have to say, I have played a lot more of my vast Steam library than I did prior to 2025 thanks to its handheld nature (and also why I wasn’t particularly pressured to get a Switch 2.)
I still managed to work out a top 10, though. And I surprised myself with how everything ended up shaking out. And this list is getting out at the beginning of 2026 when a best of games list is still relevant-ish, so hopefully you enjoy.
Atma's Weapon 