I am so sorry to hear that, Yael. You're a stand-out and I'm sure will land on your feet. I'll be looking out for things for you.

Shoo cynics, April Fool's Day is my favorite day on the internet. Please share with me all the good jokes you find!

Time is a flat circle - we're back to "just make a really good WAF" again :)

Every year, I do a list of 10 games I loved that year -- this is 2025! My guess is you'll know some of them, and also that you won't know some of them.

Please let me tell you about these fine video games!!

(Links are mostly to Steam, but some are on console too.)

/thread

That sounds more like it for a family event ^_^

Strapping in for a 6-7 hour picklestravaganza?

A screenshot of the full beginning map of Sudokuvania.

I have to impress upon you that Sudokuvania is a fully realized Metroidvania. It is merely expressed as 20+ integrated variant sudokus.

There is nothing else like this. Solving it is one of my proudest achievements. It is a $0 website. Use a laptop.

sudokupad.app/6u61fsw0di?s...

It definitely relies on a lot of magic in not knowing what's going on or what it's asking you to think about, that starts to drain out at the end. But the journey was a very cool one!

The title page for The Seance of Blake Manor, showing a man holding a letter and staring at a moon in the eye of a skull.

The biggest surprise in 2025 for me was The Séance of Blake Manor.

It's set in 1897 Ireland, with hand-drawn 3D animation, great voice acting -- and a talent for scaring without jump-scares.

It deserves its many rave reviews, and you should play it!

store.steampowered.com/app/1395520/...

A screenshot of Astro Prospector, during the upgrade phase.

Not a puzzle or detective game! There's now a big action incremental subgenre. For many, the action is a bit throwaway.

But Astro Prospector actually cares about both - it's a genuinely solid incremental and bullet hell (without hellish difficulty). A+

store.steampowered.com/app/3503440/...

A screenshot of Blue Prince, finding a magnifying glass in a den.

A 2025 video game list must include Blue Prince, a 9-year labor of love. Makes me wish I'd discovered the book Maze as a child as well.

I'm still thinking about Blue Prince many months later. It's a complete classic. Bring a phone camera and some paper.

store.steampowered.com/app/1569580/...

A screenshot of The Electrifying Incident.

The Electrifying Incident is a bite-sized puzzle game, by Draknek et al.

It's at a more accessible difficulty than their others, but with the same level of design and charm they always bring. This was a joy to play with my 5yo, who loved the whole thing.

store.steampowered.com/app/3352300/...

A screenshot of The Incident at Galley House, an upcoming remake of the free web game Type Help.

I virtually never play text games. But Type Help is a (free) arresting detective mystery with wild twists:
william-rous.itch.io/type-help

And it was such a break-out success that 2026 will see a commercial graphical remake! I hope it helps more people see it:
store.steampowered.com/app/3641000/...

A screenshot of the full beginning map of Sudokuvania.

I have to impress upon you that Sudokuvania is a fully realized Metroidvania. It is merely expressed as 20+ integrated variant sudokus.

There is nothing else like this. Solving it is one of my proudest achievements. It is a $0 website. Use a laptop.

sudokupad.app/6u61fsw0di?s...

A screenshot of The Rise of the Golden Idol's fourth DLC, The Curse of the Last Reaper.

Rise of the Golden Idol was on my 2024 list, but the four(!) DLC they made since then, with 17 even weirded detective cases, stand as another whole entry.

They're designed by 4 different teams, each with their own flavor, and license to go wild. Do it!!

store.steampowered.com/app/3333860/...

A screenshot of Strange Jigsaws, showing some...strange jigsaws.

Strange Jigsaws (sequel to 20 Small Mazes by @flebpuzzles.bsky.social) is a short, $5 game that optimizes for variety and surprise. I was delighted the whole way through, even when it was tricking me.

Come on!! You can't afford *not* to play this game!

store.steampowered.com/app/2702170/...

A screenshot of Mind Diver, where someone is restoring a memory in a memory hole.

Mind Diver is a 3D detective game about repairing memories, built out from a Danish student project.

I was completely taken by the native Danish actors, writing, art, and novel concept. A very fresh take on the Obra Dinn model - and deserves more eyes!

store.steampowered.com/app/2259330/...

A screenshot of Öoo, on Steam.

First is Öoo, a brilliant puzzle action game whose name is a screenshot of the protagonist.

It takes a seemingly simple idea about pushing yourself along via bombs, and takes it down one weird rabbit hole after another. Deeply clever, and adorable.

store.steampowered.com/app/2721890/...

Past years' round-ups, for reference:

2024: bsky.app/profile/konk...
2023: x.com/konklone/sta...
2022: x.com/konklone/sta...
2021: x.com/konklone/sta...

Every year, I do a list of 10 games I loved that year -- this is 2025! My guess is you'll know some of them, and also that you won't know some of them.

Please let me tell you about these fine video games!!

(Links are mostly to Steam, but some are on console too.)

/thread

My favorite this year is the interactive tic-tac-toe game + soccer ball with basic physics simulation + arbitrary text marquee. :)

Enjoying seeing people write little unofficial bots on isitchristmas.com during its interactive season. :)

Thanks for doing this! Lots I didn't know in here (and a bunch I did, which offers validation for the rest since those are great!).

I do a top 10 list each year here, with a similar structure and vibe, and I know how long it takes. Thanks for putting in the time to do 50!

Because you're better than being driven by feelings like that.

You're only responding to the people in that demographic who are fighting you. Even when arguing, we should be speaking to the people in that demographic who are watching, who haven't made up their minds about who they are.

I know you mean well. But why are you repeatedly slamming on lower education demographics — who also need help and who we should be working to welcome into a progressive coalition — instead of the people actually making these deceptive AI videos?

I was first introduced to this technique in 14 Minesweeper Variants, which has a mode which will punish you for guessing at unprovable information. They cited some inscrutable academic papers in their credits :)

I'm working on cleaning up my withered online presence, starting with my homepage.

Going back over long-ago (now private) blog posts really hits home that I just didn't know how to write like a grown-up until age 30 or so. Really wish I could have figured that out earlier.

Screenshot of running Archive Warrior to help archive google link shortener links.

Much as I might be giving off some Grinch energy here, I am helping with Archive Team's effort to save links before the shutoff.

I went from 0 to archiving in like 5 minutes, they make it super easy. If you want to help, the simplest way is downloading a VM: wiki.archiveteam.org/index.php/Ar...

6 years is a good long deprecation time. I'm not sure users will really internalize the fragility without at least one big one making a visible impact.

If this reduces how many future links get put behind shorteners, it will be a net positive for the web. If not, it's at least a teachable lesson.