Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight. I, ZombiePie, am once again honored to be your host as we look back at the important site-related news and best user-created works from the previous week!
There's a new "Suggestions & Bug Box" discussion board on the revived forums in which you can share suggestions and report site bugs! If you have any thoughts or have encountered a glitch, make a thread over here!
Also, as you can hopefully see with this edition of the Community Spotlight, Community Articles are back and better than ever! To give you a better idea of how the sausage is made, I'm taking up some of the staff responsibilities of scanning, editing, and publishing Community Articles. So far, a few issues with formatting have cropped up, especially regarding many wanting to edit articles after they have gone public and the way the hero image is displayed once you click an article you want to read on the site. These are things that will be ironed out over time and Chuck is aware of, so, your patience is greatly appreciated.
Likewise, Chuck has affirmed that publishing what would have been blogs as a Community Article has major advantages compared to posting them on the forums as most are being indexed on Google and getting site SEO support. I also got the okay to put a rotating panel on the front page to showcase a Community Article. So, if you have a cool idea kicking around in your head and you have Premium, consider publishing it! All I ask is that you be a bit patient when it comes to me approving and publishing the articles. It's slow and I'm trying not to disturb or encroach on the cool things the staff are doing.
For those of you that aren't on the Giant Bomb Discord, and missed the last handful of streams, you might have noticed Chuck piloting a version of site chat that runs Twitch, but allows you to watch and engage with the streams on the site. This is still a work in progress and Chuck appreciates all of you for the input you have provided about how to better integrate some form of site chat on the new site.
Finally, the Giant Bomb Community GOTY 2025 has been revealed! The winner shouldn't be too surprising, but Marino has crunched all of the stats for you to marvel over and enjoy when you click that link! Also, huge props to them for doing the voting this year.
Videos & Art
Time Lapse Of Tony Hawk Art For GOTY 2025 List (By: pickle_giraffe)
This week pickle_giraffe has another cool timelapse video showing how they made one of their works of art on their guest GOTY list! You can marvel at the completed image below, but I strongly recommend you check out the timelapse on their bsky account; and also follow them if you have a bsky account.
Giant Bomb Donation On GDQ (By: GamesDoneQuick)
You want to see something rad? How about Giant Bomb and well-known Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero speedrunner Mike Minotti getting a shout out during Awesome Games Done Quick 2026? Seriously, if you haven't seen this clip, you need to right now!
Community Articles
My Favorite Video Game Music of 2025 (By: MajorMitch)
Which games had the best music or JAMS and BOPS in 2025? That's the question at the heart of MajorMitch's first Community Article on Giant Bomb and after giving it a read, feel free to share away your favorite video game OSTs from 2025!
Game of the Year 2025 (By: superharman)
superharman finally got around to making a GOTY 2025 write-up on Giant Bomb and we even have it as a Community Article! Give it a read and feel free to drop a comment in support of your fellow community members.
The 2025 Moosies Video Game Awards Part 1 (By: MooseyMcMan)
MooseyMcMan decided to cut their GOTY 2025 write-up in half but this first part covers a LOOOOOOOOOOT of ground! Give it a read and don't forget to thank them for publishing such a cool article!
JJWeatherman's Games of 2025 -- With Feeling! (By: JJWeatherman)
JJWeatherman makes a glorious return to writing on Giant Bomb and this time around shares what their top gaming experiences were in 2025! Expect the unexpected, and games both big and small with this one.
Game of the Year 2025: Little Dinos' Choice (By: allthedinos)
allthedinos took a break from writing about the gaming industry's biggest messes to instead write about the games and gaming experiences they most enjoyed playing with their kids! For all the parents in the community, this is definitely a must read.
ZombiePie's End Of The Year 2025 Multimedia Extravaganza! (Part 1) (By: ZombiePie)
ZombiePie, yes, that's me, returns to essay writing on the site with the first part of their yearly Multimedia Extravaganza! But, they definitely broke some GOTY rules with how they handed out their superlatives for the year.
Nuttacon's 2025 Games That Aren't Expedition 33 (By: Nuttacon)
Nuttacon's 2025 GOTY article on the site doesn't have Expedition 33 on it because they mostly played retro games last year! So, read all about their favorite retro gaming discoveries from 2025 and see if there's a buried treasure that is right up your alley.
Several Games of the Year: 2025 (By: danjohnhobbs)
danjohnhobbs thought there were SEVERAL gaming highlights from 2025 that deserved extra props that maybe didn't get enough buzz during other GOTY 2025 debates on the internet and you can read all about which games they have in mind in this article.
The 2025 Game Awards (TigerThyme's Version) (By: TigerThyme)
tigerthyme, like many, felt that 2025 was a dumpster fire of a year, but that didn't stop them from having some fun playing games and there were more than a couple that rocked their socks off last year.
Jordan Hass' Top 10 Games of 2025 (By: jordha)
jordha really struggled to limit themselves to just ten games to include on their GOTY 2025 article, but they pulled it off and you can read their fantastic write-up where they share all the juicy details about which games from 2025 they think were the best.
Tosshi's Games of 2025 (By: Tosshi)
Discord mod Tosshi is also up on the site with an in-depth write-up about their favorite games from 2025! As thanks for keeping the Discord server clean and safe, give their article a read and drop a comment thanking them for their service to this community.
Indie Game of the Week 450: Routine (By: Mento)
Mento is BACK and they have their much-beloved "Indie Game of the Week" feature on the site with a review of Routine! The game's vibes are immaculate, but is there more to it than that? Read their article to see what they think.
Forum Posts Worth Checking Out
General Discussion
This Is the Run Suggestion Thread (By: csl316)
Have you been enjoying the revived incarnation of This Is The Run on Giant Bomb with the current series on Absolum? Do you have any recommendations of games you'd like Dan and company to play next?
Final Fantasy VIII Is The Best (By: michaelenger)
The Giant Bomb forums might be new, but some video game battle axes never dies. It just warms my heart to see that the new forums have a thread asking if you are pro- or anti-Final Fantasy VIII! It's like a part of Giant Bomb's past never died!
Sony Has Patented An AI That Will Play Games For You When You Get Stuck (By: bigsocrates)
More details have emerged about Sony's AI "ghost" patent that solves puzzles or sequences players struggle on, but does that change the narrative? Can you think of edge cases that justify this tool? Share your two cents in this thread.
The Giant Bomb Linux Thread (By: zacyzacy)
Have any of you switched from Windows to Linux for PC gaming? How's Bazzite or Proton these days? What are your recommended distros? For those of you that are Linux "pros" share what tips and advice you have for people that are Linux "curious."
Older Gamers And Those Who Have "Lost The Spark" For Gaming - Let's Chat (By: hyperfocus74)
Here's a deeply relatable discussion thread: for those with jobs and are a bit older, how do you keep yourself invested in games and gaming? How do you keep up? Share your thoughts and personal life advice.
What’s A Franchise That You Love But Have Blind Spots In? (By: dovahbeats)
What's a franchise you LOVE but there are blind spots you've never touched or addressed? Is there one game in a series you enjoy or consider yourself a fan of that you've never touched? Join the discussion and share the game and series.
What Are You Playing/Finishing/Abandoning This Week? (January 4, 2026 Edition) (By: laughingman)
So, what did you all play to start 2026 on the best possible note? Was it a long-time fixture in your backlog OR a 2025 release you didn't quite finish or play in time? Share away all of the gaming you've done in the new year in this thread.
Premium-Only
Grubbsnax Question Thread (By: jeffgrubb)
For those of you with Premium subs, you can head on over to the Premium-Only board and possibly get a question answered during Grubbsnax if you write and post it in this thread. Huge props to Grubb for taking the time to engage with the forums to whip up some community engagement!
Suggestions & Bug Box
Premium Discord Link Working? [ANSWERED/SOLVED] (By: dwerkmd)
Chat Size (Mobile) [SOLVED; MORE INPUT ENCOURAGED] (By: zacyzacy)
Bombcast Premium RSS Feed (By: detroit_dva)
Bring Back The "Everything" RSS Feed [ANSWERED] (By: player242)
Pressing "View Forum" Sends Me To My Profile, Not The Forum [ANSWERED/SOLVED] (By: hyperfocus74)
So, there were a bunch of threads that cropped up that inaugurated the new Suggestions & Bug Box board on the forums. Here are the "big ones" and for those of you that might feel like a thread applies to you, I'll mark if Chuck has replied or solved the issue in question. Also, if something has been marked as "SOLVED" but it's still a problem for you, please drop a comment in the thread and consider sending an email to [email protected].
Lists
Favorite Games of 2025 (By: worlddude)
HylianSidekick's Games of The Year 2025 (By: HylianSidekick)
GOTY 2025 (By: munnyshh)
Best of 2025 (By: strait1337)
My Games of the Year 2025 (By: chamurai)
MocBucket62's Top Games of 2025 (By: MocBucket62)
We had just enough new GOTY 2025 lists that I didn't feel like I had enough time or mental bandwidth to write bios or pitches for each of them individually. Nonetheless, all of these thread are definitely worth checking out and dropping a supportive comment in! Also, there's no such thing as a "late" GOTY list! When you finally get around to making a list, I'm always happy to showcase it on the Community Spotlight, but do try to keep me in the loop.
Top Ten Honorable Mentions of 2025 (By: relentlessknight)
Were there any games that were very very good that didn't quite make your GOTY 2025 list? That problem wracked relentlessknight so much that they decided to take the time to write and publish a "Honorable Mentions" list for the year. If you're in the same boat, consider publishing your own version of this list!
Factory Sealed Retirement Plan +
Collection (By: marino)
Do you have any games that remain factory sealed? Marino sure does and some of these games would fetch a pretty penny if they gave a shit about that. However, rest assured that Marino's collection is in good hands and they don't have any plans to pawn off some of these gaming legends.
Also, want to see something bonkers? Well, check out Marino's "Collection" list which lays out over 1,500 games that they personally own. It's a list so massive that Chuck needed intervene personally to allow it to make the migration over to the new site.
User Reviews
Jackbox Party Pack 2 review by jordha
As was the case last week, jordha is whittling away at the Jackbox Party Packs and reviewing them from an entirely single-player or solo perspective. After feeling a bit disappointed with the first pack, how does the second one fare?
Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Xbox Version) review by angryjedi
Wanting to punch and kill Nazis, and with Wolfenstein back in the zeitgeist with reports a new game in the franchise by MachineGames is imminent, angryjedi decided to boot up Return to Castle Wolfenstein on the original Xbox. How has the game aged? Read to discover what they think.
Metroid Prime review by kieran_smith5
After Metroid Prime 4 took Giant Bomb's "Disappointment of the Year," kieran_smith5 penned a review of the first Metroid Prime which relays why returning to its structure and gameplay seems like a no-brainer for the series.