My Belated 2025 GOTY Picks

In the post-holiday + rebound mental health issues crush I sort of forgot to post.  My bad for the 1-2 humans and probably many AI/bots who actually view my page.  But alas, I suddenly remembered, so we're all in for a treat...you know, another personal list that may or may not match your personal preferences.  So here it is in all its belated glory--my personal picks for my favorite games of 2025.

#3: PowerWash Simulator 2

I have been slowly working my way through the main storyline in PowerWash Simulator 2 and even though I haven't quite wrapped it up (I think I'm getting close-ish), I find the second incarnation to be just an enjoyable as the first with a few fun improvements.  There's a new fun tool specifically for cleaning up floors, you get your own office that you can decorate with a wide variety of random furniture styles, you now possess not one, but three cats who are not only cute, but can be found in a fun spot in each area you clean, there are a lot more personalization options for decorating your suit, washer, and even your van!

The collectible wall in your new PowerWash office.

The gist of all of this is that the second chapter in the oddly soothing series about nothing more than cleaning up a wide variety of very dirty places has improved and is definitely worth the cost.  Plus, there's the option to clean up with a partner, so it could be a fun activity with a partner or weird friend.  If I had one gripe it would be that there doesn't seem to quite be the same level of background whacky story that the first game had--or at least it's not as much of a central focus.  There's still some weirdness going on in the greater Muckingham area...

#2: Two Point Museum

The Zooseum DLC features plenty of cute critters--large and small!

After Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus it was a bit unclear what the next move in the Two Point series would be.  I suppose there are lots of options for quirky management games but I was excited when they decided to go with a museum theme.  The museum theme gives players the ability to manage several museums with a fun variety of specifically themed locations.  Much of the fun lies in sending your experts out on expeditions to recover new items for display.  Like the other two games you'll be balancing the needs of your staff, your guests, and the many story mode characters who want you to accomplish specific goals.  It's a pretty casual affair that anyone who just enjoys some silliness and management will have fun with.  There's also the sandbox mode where you can cobble together your own supermuseum that offers up multi-themed displays.  Plus, they're still releasing seasonal updates that add fun new items to the game and introduced digital rifts that add in digital experts and require your own experts to unlock unique new rewards (and some are crossovers from other games like Dredge or Vampire Survivors).

#1: Hades II

Scylla and the Sirens are probably my favorite boss fight.

Even though Hades II spent quite awhile in publicly playable early access, I resisted the urge to join in on the unfinished fun and just wait for the full release.  I feel like that was a good choice because the finished product was an absolute blast to play.  At first I was a bit skeptical about changes like increasing the delay between dodges, but Melinoë's added slow ability plus magick attacks made the gameplay feel unique and maybe slightly more strategic than in the original.  The story is great and the fact that there are two different pathways with their own challenges and set of bosses gives it more variety.  Plus, there's a whole new cast of mythological characters to befriend (and even form romantic bonds with--ooh-la-la).  I definitely felt more compelled to continue playing beyond the story in the second game than I did in the first.  I suppose that if I did have one sort of gripe about Hades II it would be that the boss fights were easier than taking down Hades in the original game.  (*I'm not claiming that I one-shotted them or anything, it probably took me an embarrassing amount of time to take down Typhon) Personally, I felt like taking down Hades was always a toss up--it's a ridiculous multiphase fight that didn't seem to get much easier regardless of the number of times you took him down.  Overall though, Hades II manages to take the already great formula from the hit first game and improve it.  I think it'll be a real challenge for Supergiant to figure out what to do next.

So that's my list, I grabbed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as part of the holiday sale and have been working my way through it (I've seen it mentioned on many GOTY lists).  It's definitely different that much of what I play, but the story, graphics, and gameplay have all been great in the short amount of time that I've played.  I hope everyone finds their own personal GOTY and has a great time with it.  Happy holidays (and Steam sale)!