Zoey Handley’s top picks of 2025

So, wow. What a shit year. It’s been a pretty consistent string of shit years lately, but 2025 is the worst of them all. But on a positive note, I’m talking about my life and not video games.

The video games were great! The ones I could afford, anyway. Which wasn’t all that many. I wrote 67 reviews in 2025, which I think I can top in 2026. There. That’s a New Year’s resolution.

My second New Year’s resolution is to play more dating sims so I can revive my old “Dating Adzuken” column.

2025 was a challenging year for me. I lost my job at Destructoid, which is a mixed blessing because it’s no longer the site that I once dreamt of writing for. My search for a day job bore no fruit, but I’ve taken steps to make 2026 a more fruit-filled one. Uh, crap, just so much went wrong in 2025 that, for a while, it felt like nothing was going right.

Surviving it is an accomplishment, and, in some ways, I also managed to progress. I have some exciting irons in some exciting fires, Maximum Utmost has grown substantially, and I launched the Maximum Utcast alongside my senpai, Jonathan Holmes. Hopefully, if I keep getting one foot in front of the other, good things will keep happening and other things will suck less.

Anyway, before we put 2025 completely in the rearview, let’s take a look at my favourite games of the year.

DEAD LETTER DEPT

The last review I got out the door at Destructoid, Dead Letter Dept. feels oddly appropriate, since it’s a game about having a job, and I was about to not have one. Wow. That hurt my soul. The job in Dead Letter Dept involves deciphering mangled addresses on mail and routing them to the correct location. Meanwhile, things get weirder and weirder, bleaker and bleaker, and eventually, terrifying stuff starts happening. Yet it’s still a lot better than working for Gamurs Group.

THE DRIFTER

Poink adventures are like gated exploration games in that they’re so widespread that I have trouble getting excited about one. I don’t care how “hand drawn” something that is so similar to something I’ve played before is. The Drifter, er, drifted into my radar, and I’m glad it did, because it’s terrific. While it deliberately harkens to LucasArts’’ golden age poinks, its addition of narration, as opposed to simply dialogue, helps it attain an identity on of its own. It helps that the puzzle design is on par.

The narrative itself has some rough edges, but given that it bills itself as a “pulp adventure thriller” and pulp fiction is, traditionally, fast and loose, complaining may be missing the point.

TWO POINT MUSEUM

Gosh, I do love profiting off of services where money has no place. You want education? Pfft. Open that wallet, loser.

I have yet to be disappointed by the Two Point series. What started as a spiritual successor to Theme Hospital has blossomed into an inventive serialized management anthology. Two Point Museum is probably the most well-rounded of the games yet, presenting something closer to a tradition tycoon-style experience that stays entertaining all the way to the bottom.

NO, I’M NOT A HUMAN

The premise of No, I’m Not a Human has you stuck indoors because the world is too hot for habitation during the day, and the weirdos come out at night. Fun fact: around the time that it was released, it was absolutely sweltering in my area, and it went on for weeks. My air conditioner was fighting a losing battle, the plants dried up and died, and it felt like the atmosphere just wasn’t moving. So, it was a little easier than usual to get absorbed into this uncomfortable game about hopelessness.

KEEP DRIVING

When I dream about the perfect road trip game, I’m usually not thinking “Oregon Trail but with cars.” However, YCJY mashed the concepts together, and the result is sublime. Okay, so maybe I’m not cruising down the virtual highway with a nice, stiff gearshift in my hand, but Keep Driving still gets the vibes that I crave. Jamming to a mixtape, surviving on junk food, waving a knife at muggers; it’s got it all. I’ve gone the rest of the year with it scratching at my chest wanting a replay, and yet, somehow, I didn’t. I probably won’t be able to resist much longer.

STRAY CHILDREN

I was prepared to be disappointed by Stray Children. Yoshiro Kimura has delivered some of my favourite games of all time, but I had my doubts that he could provide one more. And yet, here we are. I already named it as my favourite game of 2025. I’ve talked about it quite a bit, so I’m not sure what I should add… Hm… Well, it includes a polyamorous frog who forcedfems his children so he can marry them. Look forward to it.

PROMISE MASCOT AGENCY

The fact that Promise Mascot Agency includes a heaping tonne of open-world micro-progression sticks in my craw. However, I don’t think that it was an intentionally malicious attempt at being addicting. I think it was just the best means to convey the concept. The concept being to help mascots achieve their dreams. Their dreams being centred around entertaining people and drawing in business. It’s a sweet game filled with entertaining dialogue and weird characters. It also features the Japanese voice of Kazuma Kiryu from Yakuza as the protagonist, so you get to play the whole thing in a permanent state of arousal.

STATIC DREAD

Static Dread felt almost like a practice run for No, I’m Not a Human. For me, I mean; they have different developers. There’s a tonne of thematic crossover, and even some character crossover in both games. It’s neat. But whereas No, I’m Not a Human keeps you secluded in your house, Static Dread puts you in a lighthouse with the job of guiding ships. You make a lot of decisions, and they seem impactful. I mean, the world’s probably going to end whether you like it or not, but that’s sort of how things feel in the real world nowadays, so it’s appropriate.

S.P.L.I.T.

This felt like sort of a gentle detour, since S.P.L.I.T. took me all of 45 minutes to complete. However, in that time, it made me feel like a super smart hacker in a super bleak dystopia. And then things got even darker somehow. I just can’t help but respect a game that is tight, short, and effective.

BUTTER SIDE DOWN

Speaking of which, Butter Side Down. It’s a weird little game to unravel. You’re plunked into the chair of an office worker and go about your daily drudgery, depicted here as bizarre personality quizzes. I get the feeling that not nearly enough people played this, so you totally should.

HERE’S TO ANOTHER YEAR

It can’t get any worse, can it? Don’t answer that. I know it can. My anxiety keeps me alert of so many things that could make this year the new worst one ever. But it’s not helpful to focus on those things.

So, I’m just going to do what I always do: put one foot in front of the other and keep on moving. I’ll just try my best and hope things work out. Maybe things will break my way for a change. I have, at the very least, started the year with my head down, writing some cool new things. Some that I might not get to share for quite a while, and other, who knows?

Here’s to another year, and here’s to you. Thanks for being here with us. You reading this right now means a lot to me. I hope everything breaks your way in 2026.