My Adventure Game Top Ten of 2025

My top 10 of 2025!

Here are my top ten adventure games of 2025. This list is based on my personal enjoyment of all 28 games I've played this year - not all point 'n clicks, but one and all great narrative experiences! We had a crazy year and it's actually impossible to make a ranking like this, because all these games are SO good in their own field, it really just comes down to how much fun I had playing them. So even the lower ones are still top notch!

10. Slender Threads

The nightmarish journey in Slender Threads isn’t for the faint of heart, but those with a morbid sense of humor will love the fun of unraveling the delightfully quirky goings-on in the strange town of Villa Ventana. 

9. Rosewater

Its obstacles may not put up much of a fight, but Rosewater’s sharpshooting lies with its wonderful production value and freedom of choice in this character-driven Western, earning itself a big “Yeehaw!” for fun and replayability.

8. The End of The Sun

Exploring the magnificent mythological world of The End of the Sun rivals any vacation you could ever take deep into Central Europe yourself, especially when travelling through time to uncover the Slavic valley dwellers’ intimate personal stories.

7. Blue Prince

The immense puzzle game that is Blue Prince is so multi-layered, it keeps you busy for well over 100 hours as almost every detail matters in one way or another. You're in the position to inherit a huge mansion, but its rooms change daily and puzzling your way to the grand prize is no easy feat! I still haven't "really" finished it, and I'll probably never will...

6. Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer

Our hopes for a wonderful sequel have come true, as Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer balances a great dialogue-based serial killer mystery with entertaining puzzles in another sublime point-and-click pixel art adventure game. 

5. The Drifter

The Drifter is an action thriller with supernatural elements, and the game does an excellent job to translate that into an interactive experience, where we put in a sense of urgency which makes the game feel extremely fast-paced. 

4. Dispatch

Dispatch is an interactive animated superhero series filled with dialogue choices and mission management. You play as Robert Robertson, former superhero Mecha Man, who gets recruited by the Superhero Dispatch Network, where he becomes the man in the chair.

3. The Séance Of Blake Manor

The Séance of Blake Manor is one big investigation game where you have to make deductions and decisions and choose how to spend your time. The initial nervousness quickly made place for elation and the accompanying adrenaline rush, causing the search for a missing young woman in supernatural circumstances to become quite addictive.

2. Foolish Mortals

Foolish Mortals  is going to be right up there with old classics. It features beautiful artwork filled with small animations, excellent voice-overs and straightforward inventory puzzles. The story is very engaging, with lots of characters and great dialogue combining background information with clues to the puzzles.

1. Old Skies 

If you are a fan of Wadjet Eye Games, your zeal will be transformed into divine adoration after playing Old Skies. This is just instant classic to me, and it should be instant buy for anyone who's serious about playing adventure games. It doesn't feel like a game; it feels like a work of art. It's entertainment of a whole other level.

Finished "Foolish Mortals" and now I'm dying for more!

The quest for the treasure of Arthur Flab... I mean Bellemore Manor continues!

After playing through Part One and Part Two of Foolish Mortals, where I was allowed to first roam the island, then explore the mansion respectively, Part Three proved to be twice as big with both settings available simultaneously. This took quite a bit of running back and forth, this time trying to find not seven, not five, but the classical three elements needed to continue the story.

Finally...

I noticed now how some environments changed after you completed a particular action, making way for further progress. What I enjoyed the most is that every action Murphy does is animated. In many games these days the screen would fade to black and you might hear the main character putting in some effort or other, to reveal the new situation without actually having seen it change. Not so in Foolish Mortals: here you see Murphy perform every action you make him do, and also see every item he picks up slowly disappear inside his vest or taken out again when he uses something.

I think these guys kidnapped Dalmatian pups in a former life...

I must admit now that I was stuck two times, where I had absolutely no idea what to do. Turned out in the first case I hadn't noticed a much-needed item simply lying around just waiting for me to pick it up. In the second case, however, I had to go back and pick up an item I had already used somewhere else again, thinking at first it had already proven its usefulness.

So much to see and yet so little to actually click on...

Part Four was again quite easy in comparison to the previous part. Immediately I figured out what I had to do here, and it reminded me of the endings of both LeChuck's Revenge and Tales of Monkey Island. Everything worked out in the end, though some story elements still confused me and I don't think I really understand how everything came to pass exactly.

Somehow this scene reminds me of The Goonies...

But with some suspension of disbelief I found myself very much enraptured by this story, the fun puzzles, and the fast-paced rhythm. I finished this game in 12,5 hours but it felt much shorter and I enjoyed every minute of it, especially the movie-like soundtrack fitting every action, revelation and discovery on screen. I certainly hope that David and Sophie Younger of Inklingwood Studios have more stories like this one to tell!

You can buy Foolish Mortals on Steam and GOG!

Halfway through and completely addicted to "Foolish Mortals"

Mirror, mirror, on the dresser... 

After playing through the Prologue chapter, I'm now halfway through Foolish Mortals and I wish I could play this game in one sitting. Everything goes so smoothly. The puzzles all make sense - or at least after a while. The graphics, voices and music are all gorgeous. And the story is very engaging, with lots of characters and great dialogue combining background information with clues to the puzzles.

I'm going to print this out as a fake shopping list and leave it in a cart...

Part One felt like an elaborate fetch quest to find the necessary ingredients for a voodoo spell. Compare it to the recipe to guide your ship to Monkey Island. After exploring the island of Devil's Rock and seeing what's what, I actually found all seven ingredients faster than I had thought I would. 

Not quite Escher, but similarly mind-boggling...

Part Two was a bit trickier. It followed pretty much the same formula, except now I only had to gather five elements together. This time the puzzles weren't only of the inventory variety. There was one puzzle where you had to navigate a magical staircase room. This one had me try out the in-game hint system because I just couldn't figure it out. Turned out I had made the solution harder in my head than it actually was, and after realizing one particular visual element didn't matter at all, it was easy to get past this.

Once again proof I suck at dancing...

Another puzzle involved a dance floor and some basic programming, in fact. This one I finally solved on my own, though it did take a bit before I figured out what all the steps did.

After a little more than six hours of gaming, now it's on to Part Three!

You can buy Foolish Mortals on Steam and GOG!

New game: "Foolish Mortals"

New game!

I've started playing Foolish Mortals by Inklingwood Studios. I'm Murphy McCallan, auditor in charge of finding the lost assets of the Bellemore estate. Three brothers and one sister used to live in the Bellemore manor. When the sister got engaged to be married to a sailor in the employ of the brothers, the brothers mysteriously vanished one by one. The wedding still went on, but instead of the sailor, the sister suddenly decided to marry someone else. Before the new couple could say their vows, however, a green light made everyone inside the manor disappear.

The quaint little town of Deadnettle on Devil's Rock.

Having arrived on the island of Devil's Rock where the manor is situated, Murphy quickly learns the tale isn't simply a ghost story. A local fisherman sends him to Doctor Moray, a voodoo priest with the knowledge of how to find the lost treasure of the Bellemores. Why exactly he didn't go find the treasure himself and instead sends Murphy to do his bidding, I don't know. So I don't really trust him.

I hope there's no crazy lady named Medusa on this boat...

But, Murphy is a good chap, like Guybrush Threepwood in the first Monkey Island game before he became too much of a doofus. So he follows the Doctor's orders, fetches him something from the manor to convince him he's got what it takes, and now goes on a big quest of completing a voodoo spell which will help find the treasure.

What secrets will this haunted mansion hold?

Foolish Mortals starts with an eighty minute Prologue chapter where I first reconnoitered the island. You examine things with a right click, manipulate them with a left click though mostly that only gives a second, more detailed description of the hotspots. The game features beautiful artwork filled with small animations, excellent voice-overs - with A.J. LoCascio in the lead whom I know best as Marty McFly in Telltale's Back to the Future game - and straightforward inventory puzzles.

Yay, a big island to explore!

The only nitpick I have with the game is Murphy's slow walking speed. I double-click on everything so at least he jogs a bit. But it looks like this game is going to be right up there with old classics like The Curse of Monkey Island and Broken Sword as well as new titles like Old Skies and Rosewater. Now, let's start Part One and see how good I am in locating the seven ingredients of that voodoo spell...

You can buy Foolish Mortals on Steam and GOG!

2025 Adventure Game Anticipation!

It's a new year, and there are many adventure game titles scheduled for release. Some already have concrete publication dates, others are more vague on when we will be able to play them. Each one of us probably has their favorites wishlisted for a long time already, but here are a couple of games I'm especially looking forward to.

Whirlight: No Time To Trip is a realistic looking yet still cartoony time-travel adventure by Italian developers imaginarylab, the creators of Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town. That one was a lovely game, waaay too short, but the type of game I like best: no fantasy, no sci-fi, but a modern day setting and environment yet with its own peculiar identity with some history thrown in, clear goals to achieve, no overwhelming amount of possibilities, very structured. So I'm expecting something similar, and hopefully longer, from Whirlight.

Foolish Mortals has been in development for quite a while, but UK-based Inklingwood Studios just confirmed a 2025 release for their debut adventure! It's a traditionally styled mystery point 'n click with a supernatural edge. The game already has the look of an instant classic, so I hope it will also play as one! I for one can't wait to go treasure hunting in 1930's Louisiana!

Old Skies by Wadjet Eye Games shouldn't need an introduction. It's the new game by the creators of the renowned Blackwell series. It doesn't have the developer's signature pixel art style, but it's still a very beautiful game with an amazing soundtrack, excellent voiceovers, and a time-travel story that pulls you in and makes you forget your own timezone! And I know, because I'm a beta tester with 30+ hours on the clock already!

Rosewater by Grundislav Games is a western adventure I've tried to remain spoiler-free of, which is hard because Francisco González is one of the most transparent developers out there, so there are many screenshots and videos to avoid! This game takes place in the same universe as Lamplight City. What interests me most is how you will be playing as part of a team of characters, and the way you play - the choices you make - will affect the relationships and ultimately the story. Many games promise such a thing, however, but I'm confident that if anyone can truly pull that off, it's Francisco Gonzáles!

I really enjoyed the last adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, so I'm looking very much forward to their obligatory - though perhaps not quite original - next title in this franchise: Death on the Nile. After all, how can I not love another opportunity to play as the most famous Belgian detective! It'll once again be developed by Microids Studio Lyon, so I have high hopes for the title, plus it's great incentive to finally go and read the book.

 

 

And if you can't get enough of globetrotting, classic 2D point 'n click adventures, be on the lookout for The Adventures of Bryan Scott, the first game by German developer Radio Silence Studios. To be honest, I haven't heard all that much from this game for a while, so I do hope it will see the light of day by their projected release month, December '25! And that they'll go easy on the adventure game references and retain their own identity, since such tactics are wearing a bit thin lately...

Of course there are many more games coming out this year. Off the top of my head I'm thinking of Elroy and the Aliens, Legends of Castile, Sleepytime Village and Slender Threads, just to name a few. I sincerely hope to play them all someday and write some cool playthrough posts about them!