Favorite Computer Games of 2025

It's time to look back at the video games I played last year. My backlog is so large that I was still playing a lot of games from 2012. Although I had a clear number one last year, the rest of my favorites weren't easy to rank. Here is my top 10 for 2025:

1. The Walking Dead - I started with the original editions for Season One and Season Two. I finished up the series playing the Telltale Definitive Series edition. In addition to being my favorite video games of the year, it sparked my interest in The Walking Dead comics. I read every issue including the Clementine series, which followed one of the main characters from the game. This wasn't just a favorite for 2025 but an all-time favorite.
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut - First-person shooter, third-person action, role-playing, puzzle-solving, and stealth gameplay mixed beautifully in this one. It wasn't the first Deus Ex game released. However, this prequel is first in the Deus Ex chronology and is a great jumping-on point.
3. Warlock - Master of the Arcane - Similar to Civilization but with a fantasy setting, I really enjoyed this 4X turn-based strategy game. I struggled whether to rank this #2 or #3. As often happens in this type of game, the endgame can drag a bit so I gave Deus Ex the nod.
4. Out of the Park Baseball 26 - Playing an NALB season with OOTP Baseball every summer is a tradition for me. I usually look forward to it as much as any game out there. I could have placed OOTP 26 at #2 but didn't for a couple of reasons. I experienced one hang and one crash that forced me to replay two games (changing each from a win to a loss). Also, my Brooklyn Knights lost the World Championship Series for the third straight year, which spoiled an otherwise fine season.
5. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - I realized that I had never played this famous game from 2010 and remedied that last November. It was pretty much as good as I remembered the original StarCraft but with updated graphics and various gameplay improvements.
6. Binary Domain - This one came out of nowhere. I wasn't familiar with it but discovered it in my game library and gave it a try. It ended up being a solid third-person shooter that I enjoyed more than I thought I would.
7. Peggle Nights - I liked Peggle so it was a pretty safe bet that I would like Peggle Nights. PopCap Games delivered another satisfying and addicting game.
8. Offspring Fling! - This was a fun little indie puzzle-platform game with cute characters and many satisfying levels to complete.
9. DiRT: Showdown - I'm not a big racing fan but for some reason I really enjoyed this one. I think it was because it was more arcade racing than hardcore racing simulation.
10. Ticket to Ride - Based on the board game series of the same name, this video game adaptation was pretty well done. I never played against human competition but still had fun playing against computer opponents.