2025 turned out to be an exceptional year for PC gaming: breakthroughs in indie development, the return of cult series, and unexpected hits that reshaped entire genres. PC Gamer gathered votes from its editorial team — each editor nominated up to six favorites, followed by a global discussion to choose the winners. The categories were tailored to the games themselves rather than generic labels, ranging from “Best Cozy Game” to “Best Design.” The result was clear: Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 took Game of the Year in a decisive triumph. Here is the full breakdown by category.

Best Adventure Game: Old Skies

A classic point-and-click adventure from Wadjet Eye Games, Old Skies is a time-travel story filled with clever puzzles and emotional storytelling. Fraser Brown writes that the game “reminds us why adventure games in the 80s and 90s made people buy PCs.” Its atmosphere echoes films like Primer or 12 Monkeys, but with characters whose fates genuinely hurt. Robin Valentine praises how the game fully commits to the consequences of its time-travel rules, delivering both bleak conclusions and powerful emotional payoffs.

Best Immersive Sim: Skin Deep

Devolver Digital and AdHoc Studio created a slapstick Die Hard in space. You play a rescue operative saving cats from pirates aboard space barges. Evan Lahti loves the physics: crawling through vents feels “like your body has been greased with Vaseline.” Built on idTech 4, the game thrives on absurd combinations of pepper, banana peels, and stolen radios. Jake Tucker sums it up perfectly: Skin Deep takes absurdity seriously, and that is what makes it brilliant.

Best Horror Game: Labyrinth of the Demon King

A clear nod to 1990s FromSoftware, set in a castle that feels like Silent Hill. Ted Litchfield describes it as “paralyzing horror, on the level of P.T. or Murder House.” The slow pacing, scarce resources, and an unstoppable yokai create relentless tension. Sean Prescott calls it the only indie horror game of the year that truly stands out among a sea of low-budget scares.

Best Cozy Game: Promise Mascot Agency

A Yakuza-style blend of comfort and madness. An ex-yakuza with a severed finger as his assistant recruits mascots and tries to make money in a dying town. Lauren Morton calls it a masterpiece of “cozy plus insanity.” Wes Fenlon highlights systems where millions of yen barely cover your debt, calling it a mirror of real life. Phil Savage praises the balance of crime drama and absurdity, comparing it to Yakuza at its peak.

Best Roguelike: Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

An evolution of Vampire Survivors with more tactics and fully destructible terrain. Fraser Brown says it is tighter and smarter than its predecessors. Robin Valentine highlights the added tactical depth as a step forward for the genre, while Evan Lahti notes that destructible environments fundamentally change how roguelikes play.

Best Comedy Game: Baby Steps

From Bennett Foddy, the creator of QWOP, comes a walking simulator about a loser in a jumpsuit. Wes Fenlon describes it as a story about hubris, failure, and life itself. The step-by-step physics are pure trolling, but with an underlying philosophical core.

Best FPS: Battlefield 6

Battlefield returns to form with a renewed focus on large-scale chaos. Morgan Park praises the weapon feel, noting that bullet spread makes firefights more interesting. Jake Tucker calls the Escalation mode nearly perfect, while Phil Savage highlights the return of the server browser and editor as long-missing features.

Best Characters: Dispatch

A superhero management game featuring the Z-Team, from a cocaine-addicted tech-bro bat to a crying block of tofu. Harvey Randall describes its vibe as “Discord at 4 a.m.” Fraser Brown notes that the characters feel like real people with conflicts, not quippy MCU caricatures.

Best Action Game: Hollow Knight: Silksong

Team Cherry finally brings Hornet back in Pharloom. Harvey Randall notes the high skill ceiling and compares the sense of mastery to Dark Souls 1. Robin Valentine highlights the game’s atmosphere and the strong personality of its world.

Best Co-op Game: Abiotic Factor

A Half-Life-inspired survival game with cable-built bases and strange monsters. Fraser Brown recalls laughing uncontrollably over moments like cooking sewage soup or stealing plants. Morgan Park says he spent over 130 hours with friends and never got bored.

Best Multiplayer Game: Arc Raiders

A PvPvE extraction shooter featuring deadly AI enemies. Morgan Park praises its relaxed atmosphere, where players often help each other instead of shooting on sight. Jake Tucker notes that it is not Tarkov, and that is exactly its strength.

Best Design: Blue Prince

A roguelike set in a procedurally generated mansion centered around the mystery of Room 46. Christopher Livingston explains that knowledge itself turns bad RNG into good luck. Wes Fenlon calls it a game where every “what if?” actually works.

Game of the Year: Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Warhorse Studios’ medieval RPG sequel takes the crown. Joshua Wolens calls it a “Czech Morrowind.” Morgan Park highlights over 100 hours of interconnected stories, while Fraser Brown describes it as a triumphant simulation of medieval Bohemia.

In Brief

PC Gamer’s best games of 2025: Game of the Year goes to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Other winners include Old Skies for adventure, Skin Deep for immersive sim, Labyrinth of the Demon King for horror, Promise Mascot Agency for cozy game, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor for roguelike, Baby Steps for comedy, Battlefield 6 for FPS, Dispatch for characters, Hollow Knight: Silksong for action, Abiotic Factor for co-op, Arc Raiders for multiplayer, and Blue Prince for design. A year defined by unexpected hits and powerful returns.