Make Craft Game

I am going to go a little off into the wilds today and talk about some of my favorite video games that we played in 2025. We covered a lot of ground this year, from action to puzzle to horror games. It was a big mishmash of genres (we even hit the pinball genre, which I did not know existed). The video games in this article are the ones I wanted to highlight.

I managed to get the list down to fourteen games, but there were definitely more. The games I chose not to talk about in this post are games that are a bit more well-known and maybe don’t need as much spotlight as others. However, I still will write a small section devoted to the other games for people interested in learning more.

The total video game count for 2025 ended up being 68 games. There were some great games, some good games, and some not-so-good ones. But all of them had some charming points, and we were able to finish almost all of them. Some got put down but will be picked up again (my attention span is short). The count for this year is also high due to the Rusty Lake Games (more on this later). Some of their games are on the shorter side, which makes them easier to complete.

As I was putting this list together, I realized that going by any sort of ranking didn’t really work. Comparing a game that only involves puzzles to a game that is about avoiding monsters is not an easy task. So I didn’t do that. Instead, I decided to list them out here based on the order they were played in. 

I also realized how long this would be, so I ended up splitting it into two parts!

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“Smushi Come Home” was a game that really touched my heart. Who wouldn’t love him? Smushi is a tiny little mushroom who got swept away into an unknown forest away from his family. The game consists of his journey traveling through the forest in order to go back home.

Smushi encounters other creatures on his journey that help him and teach him new skills. I found “Smushi Come Home” to be a delightful mix of platforming and puzzle-solving. The game had a cozy vibe, while the characters were charming and somewhat sassy. With the game only being about an average of six hours long, it doesn’t require too much commitment to play and get through.

While Blue Prince is no means a small game, I do think it got a little lost among some of the big hitters that debuted last year. Blue Prince is a game that completely overtook my life. In the best way possible. If I could erase my memory to play this game again with a fresh mind, I would.

The polyomino board game player in me loved the map-building aspect of this game. Every day, there was a new map with a different set of rooms and different directions for the doors. Filling a five-by-nine grid is surprisingly tricky.

And while each day is a puzzle, there is a bigger mystery happening here. There are a great number of puzzles hidden in plain sight. And there were some things I didn’t realize were even puzzles until they revealed themselves. Just because the game “resets” itself for a new day doesn’t mean that the progress is lost.

Blue Prince was a big reason I pulled out my notebook and started keeping notes for the game. The story was so great, my brain could not contain it.

Going from Blue Prince to Rusty Lake was a very interesting shift. Both are a bit moody, and both put me in a puzzle mindset. Although Rusty Lake is a bit more… graphic. And although I am talking about Rusty Lake as if it were one game, there is a series of games involved.

I really enjoyed how many smaller games composed the Rusty Lake Series. Starting a new game didn’t feel like some sort of major commitment. Some games felt connected, while others felt a bit more separated from the others. But it all had a certain weirdness factor that was hard not to connect.

There were several games where the settings would overlap, but not the characters. While others would have characters and not the settings. I thoroughly enjoyed trying to find the things I was familiar with as we played through each game. 

Here’s the full list of what I am calling the Rusty Lake games: Cube Escape: Seasons, Cube Escape: The Lake, Cube Escape: Arles, Cube Escape: Harvey’s Box, Cube Escape: Case 23, Cube Escape: The Mill, Rusty Lake Hotel, Cube Escape: Birthday, Cube Escape: Theatre, Rusty Lake Roots, Cube Escape: The Cave, Rusty Lake Paradise, Cube Escape: Paradox, Paradox – A Rusty Lake Film, The White Door, Samsara Room, The Past Within, Underground Blossom, The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show

I do not believe that Outerwilds needs a spotlight. Some have lauded it as one of the greatest games of all time. And I don’t disagree with them. While I wasn’t that hot on the game when we first started, Outer Wilds rapidly grew on me—having only 20 minutes to explore the universe before it implodes and resets does not seem like a lot of time. But there is a surprising amount to be done in 20 minutes, especially once you’ve found the various tools to help.

As you continue through the game (and I am going to try to be vague here), you will encounter creatures. And these creatures will give you a bit of a challenge. While I love a good sneaking sequence, it is a very different feel from the previous puzzle game. But, if you don’t mind this shift (or are expecting it), Echoes of the Eye is thoroughly enjoyable. It really has stuck in my mind.

The last game on this week’s list is Jelly No Puzzle. This feels like the true essence of a homemade game. And don’t let the title fool you, this game is all puzzles. With Jellies. Although it’s just a short excursion into some merging jelly puzzles, this game was a major challenge.

There were a few puzzles that I had to stop and walk away from because I was getting so caught up in my head.  Even with two people working, there were still times we got stuck. Kudos for the challenge. It was a great group of puzzles that just fit very naturally into my interests.