From creepy folklore to a human with half a head, the best hidden gems of 2025 are worth your attention

With the number of games released each year constantly increasing, and plenty of upcoming indie games, it's getting much more difficult to find smaller, stellar games. Some of the best games of any year have a tendency to slip through the cracks, which is why we've compiled a short list of 2025 games we'd like to highlight that might have been overlooked.

Here you'll find a great variety of genres with a little something for everyone – from playful sandboxes, laid-back driving sims, apocalyptic cat-formers, and pulpy detective thrillers, we've given a lot of thought to which games are worth your time and attention.

The games we've listed below may be modest compared to many blockbuster hits this year, but they all deserve to be recognized for their innovation and expression. Please join us in celebrating some of 2025's best hidden gems – be sure to get your wishlists ready.

5. Henry Halfhead

Developer: Lululu Entertainment
Platform(s): PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC

In the mood for mischief? Henry is your guy! An oddball sandbox and object-possession adventure, Henry Halfhead is a game all about finding fun in everyday life. The story follows Henry during different stages of their life, from childhood to adulthood. In each chapter, you explore environments and use your possession power to jump into objects, moving them around and playing with their abilities. With prompts from a cheeky narrator, you're encouraged to play with these objects in a comical, tongue-in-cheek way. Try building a tower as high as you can out of sofa cushions, or bang a bunch of pots and pans like a kitchen drum kit.

The hundreds of fun interactions in Henry Halfhead would bring a smirk to any Debbie Downer. There's a wholesome story here about how Henry needs to regain their sense of childlike fun as they get older, and together with the fun possibilities of each object and the game's chaotic vibe, Henry Halfhead is good-natured fun. There's also a co-op mode if you'd like to invite a friend into the chaos. If you like the mischievousness of Untitled Goose Game or anything by Katamari/Wattam creator Keita Takahashi, Henry should be be at the top of the games you need to play next.

4. The Drifter

Developer: Powerhoof
Platform(s): PC

If you prefer a darker detective tale with twists and turns, you need to play The Drifter. It's a 2D point-and-click mystery game that ticks all the boxes of a pulpy thriller – shady corporations, murder, conspiracy, the lot – but a distinct difference here is that (as the game's Steam page says) it has a dash of "70s Aussie grindhouse", which sounds seriously cool. And it is! Playing as deadbeat Mick Carter, you return to your hometown to clear up some family business, but instead of reconciling with your family, you only go and get yourself caught up in a bloody murder and thrown into a treacherous plot – what a trip.

I'm always wary of puzzles in point-and-click adventure games; they can be silly at best, obtuse and frustrating at worst, but thankfully, puzzles in The Drifter are far from that. You're not going to be clicking on every pixel in a scene here. The game plays on the idea that Mick is a practical guy, and so the puzzles all follow that same practicality. It's in this same vein that the puzzle-solving in point-and-click adventures can grind to a halt, but The Drifter is like a runaway train. It has incredible momentum. Together with a full voice cast of Aussie actors, a deliciously dark synth OST, and some stellar pixel art (watching a molotov cocktail erupt into an inferno is surprisingly beautiful), out of all the games here, The Drifter is the one you won't be able to put down.

3. Everdeep Aurora

Developer: Nautilus Games
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PC

A cat with a power drill. Surely that's enough to convince you to play Everdeep Aurora? For those who need more persuading, you play as a little black cat named Shell, who is on a mission to find her missing mother. An apocalyptic meteor shower has forced the world's population underground, and so using her handy power drill, Shell must venture beneath the surface to discover this subterranean community, speaking with its inhabitants and finding out what happened to her mum.

The story is pretty good, but the platforming, worldbuilding, and secrets of Everdeep make it a true hidden gem. I love how you navigate the world as carving a path with your drill essentially means making your own platforming levels. With plenty of secret caverns, underground dwellings, and buried secrets to excavate, you'll always be a few dirt blocks away from something interesting. There's also no combat, meaning you can drill to your heart's content. Its pixel art and soundtrack are also top-notch; I can almost hear the Game Boy's start-up twinkle each time I boot up the game. Great worldbuilding, fun platforming, and an alluring mystery – Everdeep Aurora has it all, making it easily one of the best cat games.

2. Easy Delivery Co.

Developer: Sam C
Platform(s): PC

A rural community, a mountain town shrouded in fog, and lo-fi PS1 visuals – Easy Delivery Co. might have all the hallmarks of a horror game, but it's actually the total opposite. It's a driving game where you travel back and forth between different mountain towns picking up and dropping off deliveries – meaning it may yet join the rankings of the best delivery games. There's a story to follow and a bigger mystery to uncover (what happened to the previous delivery person everyone talks about?), but you're not going to find frozen corpses or bloody ice chippers here.

Although isolated, the town's anthropomorphic locals are friendly and welcoming, and, for the most part, you'll be delivering packages, fueling up your trusty truck, and drinking copious amounts of coffee to fend off the cold chill. Easy Delivery Co.'s atmosphere is compelling enough, but a big reason it made this list is how it takes elements that we would usually find creepy like darkness, isolation, or fog and finds the positive, even downright cozy, side to them. It's a quiet game, one that doesn't ask much from you. You can toot around, dipping into its mystery at your own pace, or just enjoy the satisfying loop of deliveries. Easy Delivery Co. passes the vibe check; it's a heat pack that will warm your heart in the colder months.

1. The Séance of Blake Manor

Developer: Spooky Doorway
Platform(s): PC

The Séance of Blake Manor is a lavishly gothic detective game set in 1897 Ireland. Playing as detective Declan Ward, you've been hired by a mysterious benefactor to investigate the disappearance of Evelyn Deana, a woman who may or may not be involved with a dubious, supernatural plot.

Blake Manor weaves Irish mythology, shady mystics, and supernatural shenanigans together to create a truly spooky tale, but the game's mystery-solving is what makes Blake Manor so engrossing. You need to whittle down the 20+ suspects by interrogating each person and exploring the manor – your observations, witness statements, and evidence all neatly displayed in a series of brilliant spider diagrams. You'll also be up against the clock, each decision taking away precious time as Miss Deane speeds towards her fate. Blake Manor also does that thing that the best mystery games do, where you're totally left to your own devices and need to make your own deductions and decisions. No hand holding here! The Séance of Blake Manor is a spooky detective puzzle-solving at its best and a must-play for mystery game lovers.

Be sure to check out our The Séance of Blake Manor review, which describes the game as "like horror Clue come to life."

If you're wanting some more obvious picks, be sure to check out the best games of 2025.