A Year That Belonged to Clair Obscur… But Not Only Clair Obscur
2025 will be remembered by many PC gamers as the year of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It dominated The Game Awards, becoming the most decorated game in the show’s history and the first debut title to win Game of the Year. With its stylish homage to classic late 90s JRPGs blended with a distinct French flair, it completely earned that spotlight.
But here is the interesting part. Even with a giant like Clair Obscur leading the charge, 2025 did not feel like a year defined by a single title. Instead it felt like a flood of strange clever and experimental games from studios of all sizes. Rather than one game being the face of the year, every month seemed to have its own standout that pushed some new idea or twist on a familiar formula.
For PC players this was a great reminder that gaming is not just about the biggest open worlds or the most photorealistic graphics. It is also about smart design, bold ideas and smaller projects that stick with you because they dare to be different.
Standout Oddballs: Blue Prince, To a T, and Promise Mascot Agency
One of the most striking examples from this year is Blue Prince, a game that did not make noise on the big award stages but still stood out as one of the most original designs of 2025. On paper it sounds simple: you are exploring an ever changing mansion, slotting together random rooms as you push toward the end. In practice it is a wild mix of roguelite randomness and careful puzzle solving.
Every run gives you different rooms and layouts. Sometimes you might spend multiple attempts just trying to get the exact set of rooms needed to solve a particular mystery. That heavy reliance on RNG will not be for everyone, especially if you like tight controlled runs. But for many players and critics it was a brilliant risk that paid off and easily worthy of a Best Design nod.
Then there is To a T which almost barely behaves like a traditional videogame. Created by the mind behind Katamari Damacy it plays more like an interactive TV show. You follow a teen protagonist who is permanently stuck in a T pose sometimes using that strange body shape to glide onto rooftops or navigate the environment.
The game is more about story and emotion than pure mechanics. It is a heartfelt look at being different and learning to embrace that difference instead of trying to hide it. There are moments when you might wish there were more gameplay systems to chew on but its charm and willingness to be completely weird makes it memorable.
For fans of offbeat Japanese inspired experiences Promise Mascot Agency may be the hidden gem of the year. Imagine taking all the best side activities from a Yakuza game compressing them into a roughly 30 hour adventure and then turning the absurdity dial all the way up.
The game is set in the aging town of Kaso Machi with chunky slightly crusty 3D visuals that actually suit its retro Showa era vibe. You manage strange mascots like a disembodied finger named Pinky or a perpetually crying silken character called To Fu. It is not the sort of project that sweeps global awards but for players who love eccentric worlds and character driven side stories it hits just right.
A Month by Month Showcase of Variety
Beyond those individual titles 2025 felt packed with surprises across the calendar especially for PC gamers.
Ball x Pit took the classic Breakout formula and merged it with roguelite progression. It reportedly became a go to time killer on devices like the Steam Deck thanks to its quick runs and satisfying loop.
Rematch from the team behind Sifu delivered tense competitive football with a fighting game edge that grabbed friend groups for weeks at a time.
Umamusume the horse girl gacha phenomenon finally broke out of Japan and found a new audience worldwide making 2025 an unexpected year of anime horse racing obsession.
Dispatch brought fresh energy back to episodic storytelling with a structure that actually made the format feel exciting again rather than like a relic from the early 2010s.
Arc Raiders blew up later in the year becoming one of those online focused experiences everyone seemed to be talking about at once.
Even on the narrative side experiments continued. Seance of Blake Manor for example is a murder mystery that uses time itself as a resource. Setting the game in Ireland gives it a rarely seen backdrop in gaming which helps it stand out from the usual US or generic fantasy locations.
Looking across the whole year you could almost label months by their defining PC releases. February belonged to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 with its grounded medieval simulation. March was clearly Monster Hunter season. April brought Schedule 1. May was dominated by Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. June managed to be stacked enough to earn the simple label Peak. July was ruled by Umamusume. September was finally the month of Silksong. October brought Battlefield 6 back into the spotlight and November was unquestionably the month of Arc Raiders.
About the only quiet patches were January and August but those gaps just made the rest of the year’s pace feel even wilder.
What This Means for PC Gaming Going Into 2026
When you step back and look at 2025 as a whole a clear theme appears. This was a year where big blockbusters and smaller experimental games coexisted in a really healthy way. Yes huge titles like Clair Obscur and Battlefield 6 grabbed mainstream attention but there was also a constant stream of smaller projects doing strange new things with structure visuals or storytelling.
For PC players that is a great sign. It means there is always something new to test your rig sure but there is also always something new to test your expectations of what a game can be. Whether you prefer tight roguelites inventive mysteries or oddball narrative experiments there was likely at least one game this year that felt like it was made specifically for you.
Looking ahead 2026 has a massive shadow looming over it in the form of Grand Theft Auto 6. It will almost certainly dominate conversation and sales when it launches. But if 2025 taught us anything it is that the most interesting part of a year in gaming is often found in the spaces between the giants. As long as developers keep taking risks and players keep giving those weird little projects a shot the PC gaming scene will stay fun surprising and full of personality.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/2025-has-been-the-pinnacle-of-weird-and-interesting-videogames-and-for-me-not-a-single-one-can-define-the-year-as-a-whole/
