Half the year has passed and we need to talk about our favorite games so far!
The first half of 2025 has evaporated before our very eyes, which is no surprise given we’ve been distracted playing some awesome video games. With so many indie and triple-A releases, there is a lot on offer at the moment. Let’s take stock of where we are and consider which games are out favorite of 2025 (so far).
Question: What is your 2025 Game of the Midyear?
Blue Prince – Ozzie Mejia, Senior Puzzle Solver
Few games have broken my brain quite like Blue Prince, a game that’s all about finding the way into a manor’s antechamber and then somehow going even further. The puzzles stacked upon puzzles combined with the luck of the roguelike genre have me continuing to rack my brain even now, as I still continue to stumble on new discoveries long after my review went up.
I knew Blue Prince was going to be something special from the first time I saw it. It has lived up to my expectations and then some and stands to go down in the annals of gaming history as something incredible.
Doom: The Dark Ages- David L. Craddock, Doomguy
May seems like a thousand years ago, but Doomguy’s most recent battle against the forces of Hell is fresh in my mind. While Doom Eteral was a miss for me, Doom: The Dark Ages is the best Doom has looked, sounded, and played since the inaugural reboot in 2016 — in fact, I’ll go so far as to say it’s better.
For more on what makes Doom: The Dark Ages my Game of the Midyear, check out my full review.
Death Stranding 2 – TJ Denzer, Senior Porter
Death Stranding 2 was a long journey full of wild ups and downs, and I’m glad I saw it all the way through to the end. If you start it, make sure to finish it. It will stay with you. Also, the gameplay is just altogether improved over the original and doing Coffin Board jumps off of Jump Gates attached to mountains is just absurdly fun.
I did not expect Death Stranding 2 to hit me so hard in 2025, but here we are.
Doom: The Dark Ages – Asif Khan, Slaying demons since 1993
After much deliberation, I have decided that Doom: The Dark Ages is my game of the midyear. That being said, I am still playing through Donkey Kong Bananza which I am also enjoying. Time will tell where my final vote will land, but Doom: The Dark Ages is my GOTY 2025… For now…
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 – Bill Lavoy, Shackmaps Overlord
There have been some great games released in the first half of 2025, but I’m going with something that I’ve not had time to play enough of but easily stands out as the most intriguing game for me. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is exactly my jam, with a world dying to be explored and shenanigans to be had, just like this experience Sam had during his review:
Elden Ring Nightreign – Sam Chandler, Soulsman
Elden Ring Nightreign takes all the best part of the Soulsborne titles and distils it into a bite-sized piece. I love being able to easily jump in with friends. Playing a different build is much more approachable thanks to the Nightfarer classes. And the bosses. My goodness the bosses. They are a brutal challenge, and that’s before you even attempt the Everdark Sovereigns. I’ve racked up 150 hours so far, and that’s only going to grow.
Special shoutout to Peak, which is my current co-op obsession. When I need to chill out after a particularly intense Expedition in Nightreign, I can do a different sort of expedition, a climbing one! I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Donovan Erskine, Expedition Editor
 Like the rest of the gaming community, I was absolutely blown away by Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. From the genre-bending combat, which actually made me appreciate real-time elements in a turn-based RPG, to a story rich with lore and fascinating characters, I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s a phenomenal piece of art, and I’ll be shocked if it gets knocked off the top of the mountain for me come December.
Donkey Kong Bananza – Steve Tyminski, Too many choices!
What is my game of the midyear this year? That is an interesting question to think about because there are a few games that came out this year that have caught my attention. I think this week’s Shack Chat comes down to three games for the Nintendo Switch 2. I played Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma at PAX East and really enjoyed my time with it. It blends RPG elements with the life sim of running a village very well. Then there’s Mario Kart World, a game that gives me joy and drives me crazy. I love playing Knockout Tour in Mario Kart World and the soundtrack has some of the best songs in a Mario game. However, if it was easier to play that mode online with friends, this would be my game of the midyear.
I think I have to give this one to Donkey Kong Bananza. I have had a blast jumping through levels, destroying everything in my path. The game was made by the Super Mario Odyssey people and it shows. Bananza feels like Mario Odyssey with Donkey Kong dropped into it. This is another game that has some great music too. There are plenty of options for game of the midyear this year but I have to give it to Donkey Kong Bananza with Mario Kart World and Rune Factory coming up just short.
There have been a lot of great games released so far in 2025. With such a strong first half, it’s hard to fathom there’s even more great games set to release in the coming months. What’s your favorite 2025 game of the midyear?
Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.Â
