A GOTY list from someone who barely plays many video games (especially new ones)

So maybe I will just talk about the ones that I played in 2025.

Crypt of the Necrodancer - I'm okay at this? Give me the hammer and I'm set. I win at this more than Slay the Spire but I really got into it around September/October. I've always loved the soundtrack and really wanted to try to learn how to play this well (as someone who did not get the rhythm gene from my Filipino family).

Tiny Bookshop - my favorite cozy game of 2025. It's chill, it's gorgeous, slow and I love all of the books you can find in it. The decorations are super cute and adorable and there's actually kind of a lot to discover.

Is This Seat Taken? - short but extremely cute. If you like "Person Z needs to sit next to Person A but Person B smells and can't sit next to Person F" riddles then this game is for you!

Nancy Drew games - there's a few my kid and I played. Well, I played them, my kid chose all of the dialogue choices. We started the year reading 1-2 chapters of the old books every night so I wanted to show her some of the games I currently own. The ones we finished are:

- Secret of the Old Clock - we discussed how different the game was from the book. She liked this one a lot but got frustrated when I couldn't get the golf minigame right. (Look, it's no Neo Turf Masters, okay? Or Super Video Golf, or Everybody Golfs, or Mario Golf, or PGA Tour, or)
- Danger on Deception Island - this one is my personal favorite. She wanted me to play the games in Whale World multiple times lol. OH and she wanted me to make all sorts of gross sandwiches. I think that is very normal for a 6-year old and I was happy to oblige.
- Alibi in Ashes - I love when she says "oh THIS person is the bad guy!" and then she is totally wrong but very unfazed about it.

Ones we didn't finish:
- Secrets Can Kill - she didn't like that there wasn't enough talking to different people.
- Secret of the Scarlet Hand - she didn't like that there was a bunch of running around. (There totally is and it's actually kind of tedious!)
- White Wolf of Icicle Creek - we are working through this one right now but she really just wants to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for everyone. Also the cooking minigame is slightly more complicated than the burger one in Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon. She could care less about doing everyone's dirty laundry and talking to a Fredonian skiier with a BBL.

Clue Crew forever.

aaaaaannnyyyyyyyyywayyyyy

Borderlands 4 - fun shooty game. Kinda took it as far as I wanted tbh. Sometimes I'll log back in to find the Black Market and also to go finish up a collectible.

Diablo 4 - I came back pretty recently to this when the new expansion was announced. I think the game's improved since launch but there's just...so much stuff to do and accomplish that it is slightly overwhelming. I think it's a little easier to get geared up at least. I sort of want to go back to Diablo 3 as the flow in that is probably my favorite out of the two.

Gumshoe Detective Agency: The First Case - short game but kind of fun! Google stuff to find the culprit!

Whisper of the House - picked this up in the winter sale, it's fine? Got some weird tech-y magic stuff going on but it is cute.

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Okay that's all I could think of. Stay hydrated, eat three meals a day, this mom loves you, ok byeeee