The 20 best video games of 2025

An arena warrior on a losing streak takes refuge in a vast forest where she discovers the joy of working in a cosy teashop. From this simple premise comes a joyful game of mindfulness and social interaction, as Alta learns how to serve up witty conversation and decent hot drinks. Colourful and highly stylised, it is a thoughtful study of burnout and recovery. An attempted-murder mystery set in an a 1920s all-girls private school reveals itself to also be an eviscerating takedown of British class politics. Witty and beautifully drawn, it is full of amusing boarding-school stereotypes, from self-interested prefects to a terrifying matron, whose motivations and personal grievances must be slowly unpicked.