I’ve recently been playing through Quake again (the base game is on Steam) and I’ve really been enjoying it. The beauty however is how easy the game is to mod.
I remember how much I loved picking up CD’s full of total conversions. I remember a Marvel themed Quake TC, and a few other ones stuck out in my mind. Heck Team Fortress started life as a Quake Total Conversion.
I had a few maps that I made and edited a few textures in the 1990s. Usually with garish primary colours, that stood out from the actual game, but it was a formative experience, tinkering and playing with games. Something I still enjoy nowadays. Part of me has got me thinking whilst shooting Fiends, Shamblers and Ogres in the id classic has got me wanting to make a level. Just to dust off my chops.
So seeing it evolve 30 (yes, THIRTY) years later to what it’s become and the modding community getting it’s flowers is nice to see.
Now to find the big box version that I’ve got somewhere.
I lamented in 2024 that video games were beginning a downturn. The games that grabbed me post COVID weren’t going to be a thing going into 2025. I can confirm I was right in my speculations. 2025 was not a good year for video games.
There were good games, no doubt, but again AAA games were all largely disappointing, and indie games – whilst good – weren’t really quite grabbing me. It seems like although art forms require less and less attention spans, video games seem to be sticking with the larger, 40 to 50 hour attention cycle that I just don’t have. Nevertheless, there have been highlights.
The first main one has been being able to explore the Evercade. I’ve a blog post about it within my draft about the systems and why it’s the right mix of curated games and nostalgia (and you physically own the game) mean it’s perfect for those wanting to explore a library but are overwhelmed. It’ll get published soon. But if you end up with one under your Christmas Tree in a few weeks, consider yourself very lucky, as it’s an excellent system.
The second area of joy has been actually making games. I probably should turn the “Games” section of the About Us into it’s own little area highlighting my games, but I get genuine joy when people play or comment on my games. I’ve got a few in the pipeline, but it’s fair to say at the moment I’m preferring making games, rather than playing.
That’s not to say I didn’t have fun playing video games in 2025, oh no. Here’s a list of games I picked up for the first time and enjoyed in 2025.
Games I Enjoyed Playing in 2025
As always, I begin with video games I sunk some serious time into in 2025. These ones weren’t released this year, but short of a couple of quick blasts, these ones I discovered and I loved playing in 2025.
Zeta Wing (C64) by Sarah Jane Avory is a fantastic kind of spiritual successor to one of my favourite little Commodore 64 games and also my favourite arcade shooter – Gemini Wing. This Commodore 64 game has everything that made the first game great, with power ups, great controls and a fantastic soundtrack.
A few years back I listed Yoku Island Express as my favourite game of 2018. In a similar vein is Pinball Spire (PC), a Metroidvania style game where you play a large pinball table that goes up a spire. You get powerups for your ball that allows you to do some fun little tricks, but it keeps to the pinball element a lot better than Yoku. Maybe better? Not sure. It’s a bit short but it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, which is nice. I recommend it highly if you like pinball games or Metroidvanias.
I’m sorry to Snow Bros (Arcade, available on the Toaplan 1 Evercade cartridge) that I always thought of as a weak Bubble Bobble clone. Turns out it is a ridiculously fun high score chase. Slightly random at points, which takes somewhat of the fun out of it, but overall a great high score focussed game.
Probably the weakest game here, Alcon (Arcade, available on the Toaplan 1 Evercade cartridge) – is a Toaplan vertical shooter with an odd quirk. Not kill anything for your first life and dependending on how far you get your next life will begin with a full load out and a shed load of points. There’s a philosophical argument to be made in the less you retaliate, the further you get in life. But I’m not Socrates.
A scrolling beat em up like Yie Ar Kung Fu, Guardian (Arcade, available on the Toaplan 1 Evercade cartridge) is a bit of a guilty pleasure. Probably not a great game by any metric, I really enjoyed it. I was so close to completing the came on a single credit. Not great, of course, but I really enjoyed it.
Although I’ve had it in my collection for a while, and I love the arcade version, the Game Gear port of Wonder Boy is sufficiently different I find to list as it’s own game. You have to play it so much different to the arcade version (which is one of my favourite games ever made), but it’s still great fun. A fun high score game. Probably could complete it if I gave it some more time.
Finally, my latest discovery is Xeno Crisis (Megadrive, available on the Xeno Crisis/Tanglewood cartridge). A modern game in the vein of Smash TV. A beautiful game, that has a cracking soundtrack. Tough, but just a great fun game, with some fantastic action. Recommended.
My favourite game I played the first time in 2025: Life is Strange
Probably my game of 2025. Life is Strange is a fantastic story. The tale of Max Caulfield and her relationship with Chloe Price, and the students and characters in Arcadia Bay is a story that grabbed me. The characters are well rounded. Three dimensional characters and a compelling storyline that develops over the course of the game. When shocking moments occur in the storyline they grab you, including moments that you are stressful, moments that shock you, and moments that make you cry. It’s a great story, with a particularlyevil bad guy, that you genuinely want to see get their comeuppance. The last episode is arguably one of the tensest moments I’ve ever been when playing a video game. So much you could eliminate one of the story arcs from the game, and it’ll still be incredible.
It’s not too difficult, but it’s a majestic storyline (which I’m avoiding here to share anything here to keep it spoiler free). It also has some of the best sound design I’ve experienced in a video game, something I’ve written about before here.
It’s well worth your time, and the last chapter has some of the most tense moments in video games I’ve ever experienced.
Those are the games I played for the first time in 2025, but what of games released this year? Here are those games, including my top 3 games of 2025. I’ll be honest, I’ve missed a lot of the top games and some big hitters (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Blue Prince, Ball x Pit) are on my “to play” list, or I need a better system to play it. Nevertheless here are some of the games released this year that I recommend you check out.
A cosy logic game, Is This Seat Taken? (Steam) is a game with a fairly simple game where you have to arrange people to sit in locations based on their preferences. Every puzzle is possible. There’s a simple story but has some moments that makes you chuckle. Not too taxing but will keep your brain occupied for a decent length of time.
I wasn’t sure if I liked or hated Keep Driving (Steam) when I started it. I abandoned my first run because I wasn’t sure what I was doing. Nevertheless, I started again and I enjoyed it. A driving simulator involving everything but driving. For anybody who has ever completed a road trip, a lot of the game would resonate. Being able to pick up hitchhikers, a great soundtrack (that you have to buy in game), and some interesting side missions, there are multiple ways to complete this game. Best played after an enjoyable road trip.
A fun little Amiga romp, Roguecraft DX (Evercade) is a great little Roguelike where you descend into a procedurally generated dungeon to take on monsters such as scorpions, snakes, and errr… chickens. Has a Rogue like dungeon crawler been done better? Absolutely. Fatal Labyrinth for one for the Sega Megadrive. However it’s a great game, and well worth picking up.
For the longest time this was in my top 3 games for the year, but it dropped off. ReMATCH (Steam) is a third person football game that’s online. Combining the likes of Libero Grande from the arcade and Rocket League, this game sees you play short – 5 minute football matches – with various people online. You can communicate effectively without voice chat, and the game runs and plays well. The shooting system is a bit like Three Lions for the PS1 (remember that?), but plays pretty well. It ultimately dropped off as although I had some really tense moments (including a “golden goal” draw that lasted for a good 15 minutes), I did drop off, as folks got better, and I didn’t, and it took too long to level up and unlock things. Good fun mind!
3. Dispatch (PC)
Honestly, this will once it’s complete, may be the Game of the Year.
Dispatch is – at it’s core – a real time strategy team where you play a Dispatcher for a bunch of misfit superheroes. You have to send out your super heroes to respond to various incidents in the town you are in, and play to their strengths – send out a charismatic member of the team for community outreach work, send out a tall one or one that can fly to rescue a cat from a tree, that kind of thing.
However, at times, the superheroes can act on their own accord, and this is what is engaging. There’s an in depth story here, with a framing of a new employee navigating a brand new workplace. You have choices and there’s a un-nerving “XYZ will remember this” that flashes up whenever you have something that can affect you. I’m at the end of Episode 4 (episodes are framed based on a single day, and take about an hour to complete), and had a choice at the end of it that brought flashbacks to the choices in Life is Strange – where it feels so consequential. I went “Oh no!” at the end, as you do build bonds with these characters, and right now there’s a sense of foreboding….
With a great graphics, a fantastic presentation that sees your choices highlighted wonderfully at the end of each episode, and a compelling list of characters, Dispatch may – when it’s all said and done – by my GOTY 2025.
19th December 2025: I’m now at the end of Episode 5. The song that plays at the end of Episode 5 is up there with the theme from Snake Eater, “Still Alive” from Portal and “Gigi’s Song” from There Is No Game as my favourite song from a video game ever.
Öoo I picked up on a whim, and you play a character with 2 bombs that follow them around (in effect, what the typography of Öoo) is. It’s a fun Metroidvania, whose twist is you get the items all very early on, but you are sent on a loop of a cavern learning tricks with said items. Usually, the last trick will get you into the next cavern. It’s hard to explain but it’s very cleverly done. It offers the “aha” moment that means so much to me in games.
It’s ultimately a speedrun game. Even on a casual playthrough you’re likely to complete it within 3-4 hours, and it’s incredibly charming. The music has that Bubble Bobble-esque loop that is memorable, repeatable but doesn’t get repetitive, and the music evolves as you go through the game. The game is unpolished in a charming way, and well worth picking up for cheap.
One of my favourite games from the last 10 years has been The Return of the Obra Dinn, and any game that scratches that itch will always do well with me.
Add some beige box early internet, well, that scores huge.
The Roottrees are Dead is a fun, 10 hour or so mystery where you examine who inherits the vast Roottrees fortune. Only blood relatives can lay claim to it, so your job is to build the family tree to discover who are actual biological Roottrees. Find their name, their job and what they look like. Dig through library archives and 1998 internet to find out information about individuals. The satisfying elements are when printers whir into action, meaning you’ve uncovered a clue.
I don’t know why it resonated with me so much, probably because it was a simple interface and vely little hand holding meant you had to write notes, interpret documents and – eventually – uncover a secret that ties everything up nicely, works well and is a genuine twist. I’ve talked about the game before on this site as it’s slightly controversial start, but this cosy adventure is well worth 10 hours of your time.
I’ve done a lot of travelling this year and on planes I saw a lot of folks playing versions of a “place blocks to make lines” mobile phone game. I found a copy that I like (Romeow & Julicat – which has been on the Evercade) so thought I’d turn it into a game, themed around the great Welsh export – Mari Lwyd. I added elements to both Welsh Christmasses and some video games I like, so I feel like this is one of the favourite games I’ve built so far.
You can play it below.
Hope you like it! If you do, I’d really like the following:-
Please share this post on social media! Or talk about it on your blog (I accept Webmentions on this post) It really helps. Struggling with what to write about? Share your high score! Even lazier than that? Upvote it on Reddit!
You can download the game for free on Itch.io for Raspberry Pi and the source code for you to build in Pico-8. If you donate £2 or more you get the Windows, Linux and Apple Mac executables. I have also a Ko-Fi page which I am using as a generic “support my endeavours in various things” page. You can make a one-off donation or memberships.
Or you can just play online. Let me know your high scores, my best is 72625.
I was today years old to realise that the music for the Commodore 64 game “Lazy Jones” music is the sample used by Zombie Nation’s “Kernkraft 400“.
Kernkraft 400 became Wales’ anthem after a match away at Belgium in the mid-2010s when the DJ played it at half time. I think the favourable conditions for Wales and the 48 hours of Leffe Blonde meant it was swiftly added to Y Wal Goch’s playlist, so much so that it was played in bars as I travelled around France in Euro 2016, usually the ones filled with the Welsh. We were no trouble, like.
You would have thought I’d have become aware of it, given my love of retro games. But no, I was told today. Thanks Matt!
As annoyingly it’s been a few weeks since I attended, so I’m going to leave the images doing the talking, but if you’re ever in the area and you like nerdy stuff like I do it’s well worth paying a visit. The items in the cave and connected Arcade Archive are beautifully maintained – I am struggling to think of a Street Fighter II machine that was so looked after and presented, it worked perfectly.
Whilst I could wax lyrical about the day and the event (it was good seeing folks again also), I would rather pictures tell the story. I will say my favourite little gimmick was the WH Smith esque area where you could scan the games to play them on a Mister. That was effortlessly cool.
Another one from the list!
The excellent looking WH Smith esque storeThe fabulous NEO GEO Pocket. My brother had one of these, no idea where it went. The joystick is wonderfully clickyA lovely tribute to one of my favourite games ever, DoomAn absolute pristine Unreal Tournament box. Literally immaculateGreat Giana Sisters. Super rare as it’s a bugger to get hold of. It’s a C64 take on Super Mario Brothers and Nintendo got Litigious.Beautiful pins. I want the Lemmings ones. Already looked on eBay. No chanceA complete collection of Codemasters games. I’ve a fair few of these (28 in my collection). Notice the Championship Wrestling game with “Hulk Hogan” on the frontThe Nintendo Kiosk. Is a multisystem that was used to advertise the NES in Japan (I believe). The 3 monitors synced up so I was playing “1 bullet, 1 screen” on Duck HuntI wanted this so much as a child. The Cartoon Classics Commodore Amiga…I had this when I was a child. Shudder to think how long I played it for.At least one person out there paid for WinZip!The Tower of Power. I did add a Game Genie to it too…didn’t work.The Acorn Archimedes was a great machine, used to pray for rain so we would boot these up and play Chuck Rock, Manchester United Europe or Lemmings on them.Serious softwareSo the machine on the left is a joint IBM PC and Megadrive. The machine on the right I think is a machine that was in cars. Not sure of the legality of that but there you go.
If you ever get the chance to go, you should. The Cave is brilliant and would love to go back again one day!
