Anyone with their ear to the ground knows 2025 is a stacked year for games. From Like a Dragon Hawaii: Pirate Paradise‘s hotly anticipated first entry without any signs of Kiryu to an absolute wallet-destroying February where everyone from Civilization to Assassin’s Creed fans eats well. While there was no shortage of blockbuster games in 2024, we also saw some sleeper hits like UFO50, Arctic Eggs, Tactical Breach Wizards, and Buckshot Roulette, which raises the question: in a year full of stacked blockbuster releases, why not devote more time to the scrappier and more overlooked titles?

2024 was a year where games got weird. For example, lo-fi experimental titles like Balatro made it to The Game Awards. Also, the gaming press’s attention was captured by a small adventure game where the main point of interaction was slapping people for months. Even the more conventional entries this year were at least a little weird, given that a prominent puzzle-strategy game was about wizards defenestrating people. Every month, it seemed like something new and interesting from a designer or studio with more cult appeal ended up a hit. It was exciting. This should be the energy we take forward into 2025— games should be weird, we should be finding the odd titles we wouldn’t normally, and while not everything is gonna delight people, it’s worth digging through because they’ll find more gems than not.

This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Given the vast number of sales, free games, giveaways, and bundles available, it’s easy to rack up an ever-expanding backlog. The less prominent titles tend to get lost in the shuffle— after all, when you have a game that can take hundreds of hours, who has time for a quick three-day jaunt into an adventure game, or lose full-on decades to the newest cozy life sim? Sure, you could spend time investigating that weird low-poly punk experimental game you saw on a random Youtube crawl, but time and hard drive space are limited. Not to mention–you have another thirty games you’ve waited literal years for. There’s also the cost to consider: Most of the time, you’re spending 50-70 bucks on these games. You have to get your money’s worth.

That’s all the more reason to make smaller games your New Year’s resolution. Sure, games like Assassin’s Creed, Civ, and Like a Dragon are going to be great, but they’ll also be what you expect. It’s worth going through the lesser-known treasures (most of which you could buy three or four of for the price of one blockbuster game and support the smaller teams directly) to experience something new.

Tell us what you think! What games are you anticipating most? What hidden indie gems did you find this year? Should you look forward to smaller games, or the murderer’s row of blockbuster titles? Share your reactions in the comments below or join the discussion on Boss Rush Network’s Discord, Facebook, and Twitter.

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Featured Image Source: Mossmouth