Skybox

The Prestigious Ryan Easby 2025 End-Of-Year Awards – Subversion, Greek Gods, Grinding & Muppet Copulation Ryan Easby joins our GOTY 2025 week with a contributor guest list! It gets weird, let's say.

We've got a contributor GOTY list on deck today, with whatever this nonsense is by @easbygames.bsky.social

Check it out, so we don't regret publishing it:

Skydive producer Kris Cornelisse’s top ten games of 2025 Skybox's 2025 GOTY roundup continues with Skydive producer Kris Cornelisse’s top ten games of 2025

Our next GOTY list is from Skydive podcast producer @kriscornelisse.bsky.social - check it out!

And speaking of Skydive, we have a status update on the Xenogears edit, and what's next after that: www.patreon.com/posts/xenoge...

We're recording The Skybox Podcast! Live!

Join us at twitch.tv/skyboxcritics

Managing Editor Lucas White’s top ten games of 2025 Skybox 2025 GOTY continues with Managing Editor Lucas White’s top ten games of 2025

Skybox staff GOTY week continues with this top ten list from @hokutolucas.bsky.social ⚔️

If you listened to our site GOTY deliberation podcast (if you missed it, check the patreon!), our goal with these is to help y'all get to know us and fill in the context behind the final list.

Read it here:

Editor-at-Large Brian Barnett’s top ten games of 2025 Skybox's written 2025 GOTY extravaganza starts with Editor-at-Large Brian Barnett's top ten games of 2025

We're finally rolling out our written GOTY 2025 lists from the Skybox staff (with some extra bonuses) this week! First up is the official @brianbarnett.bsky.social top ten.

Check it out:

Ep. 23 - Funerals & Ancestry, Digimon Story: Time Stranger, & Super Bomberman OR Podcast Episode · The Skybox Podcast · March 2 · 1h 25m

Apple:

Ep. 23 - Funerals & Ancestry, Digimon Story: Time Stranger, & Super Bomberman OR "A Profane Portrait Bigger Than Her Picture Of Me"

Spotify:

Ep. 23 - Funerals & Ancestry, Digimon Story: Time Stranger, & Super Bomberman OR "A Profane Portrait Bigger Than Her Picture Of Me" | Skybox Get more from Skybox on Patreon

The latest episode of The Skybox Podcast is live!

In it, @brianbarnett.bsky.social @hokutolucas.bsky.social and @kriscornelisse.bsky.social talk about Brian's grandma passing (and subsequent portrait shenanigans), Digimon Story: Time Stranger, Calamity Angels, DiceVaders, & much more

Enjoy!

The duality of Skybox. Thanks @murph04.bsky.social

It’s Never Too Late To Play… Super Metroid Playing Super Metroid for the first time, and contending with "quality of life" functions in official emulators.

It’s Never Too Late To Play… Super Metroid by @joerichardswrites.bsky.social

"I just wish publishers wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss their own history for people who were never interested in the first place."

Read on:

We're live recording The Skybox Podcast!

Tune in at twitch.tv/skyboxcritics

Saudi Arabia bought EVO. We can still fight for the FGC's soul On what the new change of ownership means for EVO and the Fighting Game Community, and what we can do about it.

Saudi Arabia bought EVO. We can still fight for the FGC’s soul by @edgarallanbro.bsky.social

"What we do now, collectively, will determine the future of the FGC."

Read on:

Beyond the Skybox - Gacha Games | Skybox Get more from Skybox on Patreon

Beyond the Skybox episode 4 is available on demand! Temp host @hokutolucas.bsky.social and @kriscornelisse.bsky.social talk gacha games, what they do well and why they’re problematic, and what the future has in store - can making them “real” games work? Or is Octopath 0 a fluke?

Check it out:

Can a Skybox Editor Find Readers After Risking Their Life in a Dungeon? Volume 9: Undernauts A column introducing Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi, a horror-themed DRPG from Experience and Aksys Games.

Can a Skybox Editor Find Readers After Risking Their Life in a Dungeon? Volume 9: Undernauts by @hokutolucas.bsky.social

“Trudging blind through a godless labyrinth and fighting monsters that could wipe your team in an instant shouldn’t be a fun adventure.”

Read on:

My first article with Skybox and it’s my review on Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2. 🥹
It was a lot of fun writing this article! Huge shout out to @hokutolucas.bsky.social for editing this piece.
The video version comes out Monday! ☺️

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 is a soulless sequel that missed the vein A feature on how Bloodlines 2's severe lack of consistency puts it at odds with the original cult classic RPG.

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 is a soulless sequel that missed the vein by @huggablehipster.bsky.social

"Maybe if it hadn’t been titled Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2, it could have just been its own experiment, with a chance to shine on its own."

Read on:

The future of Pokémon is in its past Our new Pokémon column starts with a look at how older ideas could be revisited for new games.

The Future Of Pokemon Is In Its Past by @easbygames.bsky.social

"The Legends series is really what I want from mainline Pokémon... introduce a new mechanic, keep that mechanic around and implement it alongside anything new that GameFreak decides to add."

Read on:
skyboxcritics.com/2026/02/11/t...

The future of Pokémon is in its past Our new Pokémon column starts with a look at how older ideas could be revisited for new games.

The Future Of Pokemon Is In Its Past by @easbygames.bsky.social

"The Legends series is really what I want from mainline Pokémon... introduce a new mechanic, keep that mechanic around and implement it alongside anything new that GameFreak decides to add."

Read on:
skyboxcritics.com/2026/02/11/t...

We're going live to record a new episode of Beyond the Skybox!

Tune in at twitch.tv/skyboxcritics

Heated Rivalry and the hostages of the closet On how HBO's Heated Rivalry portrays the fears and challenges of "the closet" as an antagonistic force.

Heated Rivalry and the hostages of the closet by @rorenado.bsky.social

"For many closeted men, what society and our families want dictates our lives. We’re having to be someone else. Never our true selves."

Read on:

It’s Never Too Late To Play… Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty What's it like to play Metal Gear Solid 2 for the first time in 2026?

It’s Never Too Late To Play… Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty by @joerichardswrites.bsky.social

"Playing Metal Gear Solid 2 for the first time in 2025 was a journey of going 'wait, that’s what that means?'”

Read on:

It’s Never Too Late To Play… Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty What's it like to play Metal Gear Solid 2 for the first time in 2026?

It’s Never Too Late To Play… Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty by @joerichardswrites.bsky.social

"Playing Metal Gear Solid 2 for the first time in 2025 was a journey of going 'wait, that’s what that means?'”

Read on:

The Xenogears logo, a giant red "X," with the words "God Slain" in the Elden Ring font imposed on top of it.

It is done. At last, it is done.

Skybox - Game Of The Year 2025 OR "Inside Of You There Are Two Skateboarding Brians" | Skybox Get more from Skybox on Patreon

Our 2025 GOTY podcast is now available on demand! You can listen to it (and check out the timestamps) on our Patreon page, or find it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts if that's more your speed.

www.patreon.com/posts/skybox...

Dad, from the other room: "You boys better not be in there, standing tall and shaking the heavens!"

The Skybox Bois, 10 hours into the Xenogears podcast:

the Skybox team's 2025 game of the year is officially UNBEATABLE

Get more from Skybox on Patreon A worker-owned games (& other) media site.

Thanks for following our GOTY thread today folks, and If you want to catch up on the discussion before the more polished pod version is released, here’s a link to the Twitch VOD! www.twitch.tv/videos/26821...

And as always, subscribe if you want to help Skybox get bigger and better:

And the 2025 Skybox Game of the Year is…

UNBEATABLE (D-Cell Games, Playstack)

Congrats to @playstack.com and @dcellgames.com and thanks for a game that perfectly captures the essence and fire of the creative spirit, and the fight against all the forces in the world that seek to stamp it out

Our runner-up is Rhythm Doctor (7th Beat Games)

Congrats to @7thbe.at and thanks for the absurdly difficult but absurdly smart musical love story-slash-hospital drama!