Dispatch

Single-player story-driven narrative.

Dispatch might be the funniest game I’ve ever played. It’s extremely well written, absurdly well voice acted and expertly made by the team that used to be Telltale Games.

It gives a real glimpse into the life of a superhero dispatcher and kept me entertained the whole way through.

I’ll be playing whatever Adhoc Studios makes next. I hope it’s Wolf Among Us 2 or another season of Dispatch. Either way, I’m in.

It’s rated Platinum on ProtonDB, so it plays great on Linux.

Steam

Arc Raiders

Third-person PvPvE extraction-shooter.

I wasn’t expecting to like Arc Raiders as much as I did. It makes the sweaty extraction-shooter genre more accessible, even if it is still pretty sweaty.

Escape from Tarkov was a bit too much for me; Arc Raiders has a much better balance. It’s not for everyone, but it’s that well done you might enjoy it even if you don’t like similar games.

Whilst you can get shot by other players, it’s the Arc that are the real threat, and this mix of danger, plus the proximity voice chat, make it unlike any other game out right now.

It won The Game Awards’ Multiplayer Game of the Year , so don’t just take my word for it.

Embark ’s previous game, The Finals , made it onto last year’s list. Maybe we’ll see a third game on next year’s list?

It’s also rated Platinum on ProtonDB.

Steam

Battlefield 6

PvP FPS explosion-simulator.

Battlefield is back!

I’ve played BF games ever since the first one, set all the way back in World War 2. I didn’t buy BF5, and wasn’t that impressed by 2042, so I was happy to see Battlefield make a comeback with 6.

And it was quite the comeback. Two of my friends bought new computers just to play it, and its launch weekend was the most active my little Discord server’s ever been.

It’s moved away from the slower, more tactical feel of its earlier entries though. If that older style is what you’re after, games like Squad and Hell Let Loose now occupy that space.

With 6, Battlefield has settled into being a faster, more accessible squad-based shooter - and judged on those terms it’s an excellent game. No wonder it was the best selling FPS of the year .

Its only letdown is that it needs Secure boot to run the anti-cheat, which means you can’t play it on Linux, so it gets a borked rating on ProtonDB.

Steam

Dying Light: The Beast

First-person single-player/co-op story-driven parkour-action-zombie-killing.

The Beast is the best of the Dying Light series. Techland have improved on every part of the experience. And best of all, since I bought the deluxe edition of the second game, I got it for free!

It looks awesome, it runs well, and it’s loads of fun. I’m still playing through it in co-op, which lets up to 4 people be Kyle Crane, the protagonist from the first game.

Another Platinum rating on ProtonDB.

Steam

Jump Space

Mission-based co-op PvE for up to 4 players.

(Previously known as Jump Ship)

It’s still in early access but Jump Space is more than playable right now. It’s the chosen game for game night for us where once a week we crew a spaceship, fight some robots and one of us expertly puts out fires the others don’t even notice because they’re busy shooting space lasers.

Yet another Platinum rating on ProtonDB.

Steam

Anno 117: Pax Romana

Single-player city-builder.

Anno 117 is apparently very similar to Anno 1800 but in a different setting with different people, which is exactly what I wanted.

You build up an island, or a few of them, from humble beginnings all the way up to a mighty city, managing buildings, production, and trade.

It’s a more relaxing game than the other ones on this list. There is a bit of combat, but its main appeal to me is the city building and the setting.

It gets only a Gold rating on ProtonDB, which I can’t confirm, I haven’t yet tried it on Linux.

Steam

RV There Yet?

Co-op friendslop.

Friendslop is a new word for me. It’s meant to define the low-stakes co-op games that are sold at low prices so that everyone in the group can afford to play them.

I don’t know how true that definition is, I’ve only ever played it with one person, who I can safely say is not qualified to drive an RV, whilst drinking a beer, smoking a cigarette, cooking burgers, being chased by a bear.

I almost put Peak here, but so far I’ve had more fun in RV There Yet?.

This game gets the last Platinum rating on ProtonDB for games released in 2025, because this is the last of that list.

Steam

Not released in 2025

These weren’t released this year; they made the list anyway.

The Beginner’s Guide

Single-player narrative-exploration-art.

The Beginner’s Guide took me a decade to play, and I’m glad I finally did. It came out in 2015 and I got it this year as a Christmas present (thank you!). I played and finished it that same day.

It’s made by the same developer as The Stanley Parable , which I really enjoyed, and it was a very different experience for this one. Whereas TSP was an interesting game, I’d describe TBG as art. It doesn’t involve much gameplay, and instead uses the medium of video games to do interactive storytelling.

Despite the rest of my list, I think you might need to view video games as an art-form, not just zombie-killing-space-laser-shooting-explosion-simulators, to really appreciate this one.

It gets a Platinum rating on ProtonDB and was natively released on Linux. I had to change a setting to make it playable.

Steam

Ministry of Broadcast

Single-player platformer

Another Christmas present I’m really enjoying. It’s perfectly suited for the Steam Deck, so it also works well with a controller, and is the only game on this list where I get to lean back in my chair instead of forward.

It’s inspired by George Orwell’s 1984, which might be why I’m liking it so much. Though I don’t remember Winston falling off as many buildings as I have.

Platinum rated on ProtonDB.

Steam

Baldur’s Gate 3

Single-player / online co-op party-based RPG

I am still playing Baldur’s Gate 3. I am still in Act 1. I know.

This is such a good game that I can’t just turn it on mindlessly for 20 minutes. I need to settle in for an afternoon and play for a few hours at a time - to get into the right mind-frame and settle into being a powerful sorcerer.

Or whatever I am, I don’t know, I’ve never played D&D before. My character keeps wanting to kill things, and I am happy to oblige.

I am sorry bard, I don’t know what came over me.

Gold rated on ProtonDB, which is weird because it has a native Linux build .

Steam