I was planning on posting this last week, but I was holding out in case I finished another game before the end of the year — I didn’t. Now that 2025 has officially come to an end, I can share my list of games that I beat in the year 2025.

Since creating myVGBC back in 2020, I continue to play more and more games each year, but I beat less games. In 2023, I made it through a total of sixteen games. In 2024, my total was about ten. Last year (2025), I reached the credits in twelve games, but I’m sure I have played close to or more than one hundred total games in 2025.

Those extra games I beat in 2023 consisted of a few replays before the arrival of a long-anticipated sequel. This is something I feel like I don’t have the time for these days.

In 2025, my games beat list consists of a split between solo adventures and couch co-op games with my partner. I also happened to finally reach the end of a very long, five-year journey in a game.

I broke the list into three categories — mentioned above.

GAMES BEAT (by category)

Couch Co-op

Cult of the Lamb • Big Helmet Heroes • Cat Quest 2 • Cat Quest 3
Split Fiction • Absolum • (currently playing MARVEL Cosmic Invasion)

Cult of the Lamb is a game that I got into when it first came out. Back then it was only a solo game, but once they added co-op, my partner and I became completely obsessed. Running our cult became a second job. She mainly loved farming and running the cult. I would join her for some farming, but mainly questing, so that we could gain more resources and followers. We are anxiously awaiting the new Woolhaven DLC, which comes out the day after we get married. It’s going to be fun to return home to our little cult after our wedding.

Ever since my buddy showed me Castle Crashers many years ago, I have played that game with many friends — but never reached the end. Big Helmet Heroes felt like a reworked spiritual successor to Castle Crashers, but in HD. We had fun beating this short game. It’s funny that I love trying out new heroes as we unlock them, while my partner enjoys playing with the same hero she’s had since the beginning.

If the original Cat Quest was also a co-op game, we would have beaten that one too. I gave the first game a couple of hours before moving onto the sequel — for the co-op. These are cute little action RPGs that are fun for any cat-loving household. I did notice some changes and improvements game-to-game. I played a bit on my own, but these are much preferred as duo-cat adventures.

The big game we’d been waiting for to play together in 2025 was Split Fiction. We have beaten every Hazelight game, but not in the correct order. It all began with It Takes Two, one of our favorite co-op experiences. We went back and played Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and A Way Out after It Takes Two. In fact, my partner is still upset with me over the controversial ending of A Way Out.

Absolum was a surprise favorite co-op game of 2025 for us. We’d played a couple of Dotemu beat ‘em ups (TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge and Streets of Rage 4) and many other beat ‘em ups, but Absolum was not only the first original story from this team, but they also changed up the gameplay. Absolum is not just your average beat ‘em up, there’s also roguelike elements — which I loved. Even after beating the base game, I can see us jumping back in this year.

We are also currently playing through another Dotemu release, MARVEL Cosmic Invasion, which I was hoping to include on this list. I plan to write about it soon.

Solo Adventures

Bionic Bay • Sword of the Sea • Indiana Jones & the Great Circle • Final Fantasy XVI
(currently playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard & Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora)

Although I spend a lot of time gaming with my partner, I also play my solo games. This solo games list can also be split into two subcategories — SHORTIES and LONGIES.

Bionic Bay and Sword of the Sea are two beautiful indie games that I beat in about a week. I grabbed so many screenshots and videos in each of these games, but they are both stunning in their own way. The only thing they really have in common is that they are both pretty short games.

Bionic Bay is a puzzle platformer which gets tough at times. The real winner in Bionic Bay is death. I failed so many times that I even put together a compilation video. Sword of the Sea is more of a cozy, comfort game that you sometimes feel more like you are watching than playing something. It’s all about the story and exploration.

My two BIG (or LONGIESs) of 2025 were Indiana Jones & the Great Circle and Final Fantasy XVI. I rolled credits on both of these games, but they both also still have some DLC left unfinished. Both games introduced some great characters. Yes, we are all familiar with Indiana Jones, but Troy Baker’s rendition was spot on. Still, many of the other characters within this story were movie-worthy.

Final Fantasy XVI also introduced me to some memorable characters and gave me a great, long story with many false finishes. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, this game took me almost the entire year to finish, with many breaks in between.

I ended 2025 by starting up two other big adventure games at the same time — Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. I will have more to share on these later this year.

The Five-Year Journey

Hades • (another five-year journey game I’m wrapping up Hollow Knight)

Just about a week ago, I finally beat Hades after playing this game on-and-off for the past five years. Also, the sequel was released and that lit a fire inside of me. For a month, I would try to escape from Hades most nights before bed — just one run per night. I finally did it with only a couple of days left in the year. I haven’t started my journey in Hades 2 just yet, but I feel almost ready to begin.

I’m also working on beating the original Hollow Knight before I can move onto Hollow Knight: Silksong. While Hollow Knight is one of my favorite games — for the music, art style, gameplay — it is also one of the most frustrating games. That is why I have taken such long breaks on this one as well.

I’m looking forward to getting into these sequels in 2026.

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Unbeatable Games

All this being said, I did spend a large amount of hours in “unbeatable” games. I spend many hours in some of these games most years. I’m talking about sports and online games. Games that have no real ending — I guess I did finish the story mode in EA F1 25.

For the past couple of years I have spent many hours with each EA F1 game. This year, I jumped in during real-world race weekends. I got back into Madden in 2024 on PlayStation 5. In 2025, we got to see the return of the Madden series to a Nintendo console — Nintendo Switch 2. When I started playing Madden it was on a Nintendo Console — Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).

In the past two months I’ve been obsessively playing Undisputed and EA Sports FC 26. Most nights I play my big story game of the moment, followed by a couple of boxing or futbol matches.

There are also my forever online games that I’ve been playing for years and will continue to hop in whenever I feel like it — Rocket League, Fall Guys, and Splatoon 3. 

It’s a nice feeling to finish off some big game adventures in one year to be ready for fresh new experiences in a new year. From my 2025 backlog, I’m planning on starting Ghost of Yōtei and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 early this year.

What else will I get into in 2026? What games are you looking forward to playing in 2026, both upcoming releases and backlog catalog games. Tell us in the comments below.