These Were 2025's Best-Designed Games | Design Delve

2025 Game Design Awards

The hosts review standout game design across multiplayer, combat, soundtracks, puzzles, time management, level design, and narrative. Their overall game of the year is The Séance of Blake Manor, which also wins for level and narrative design.

Best Multiplayer Design — Elden Ring Nightreign

The game combines roguelike structure with battle-royale-style time pressure, pushing teams to make constant decisions about where to go and what to prioritize. Team composition changes those plans from run to run, while recurring locations and class-specific weapon opportunities reward learning the map.

The hosts also praise how the game makes archery, summoning, and magic viable play styles.

Best Combat Design — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

The turn-based combat lets players dodge or parry enemy attacks. Dodging is more forgiving, while successful parries reward players with action points, making skilled defense worthwhile. Learning enemy patterns can turn fights into tests of timing and mastery rather than just stats; players can also grind for a less demanding challenge.

The hosts note that automatic dodging or parrying options could improve accessibility for players who can’t comfortably use those timing mechanics.

Best Soundtrack — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and Hades II

The hosts praise the memorable recurring musical themes in Expedition 33, the quality of Silksong’s score, and Hades II’s songs, atmosphere, and diegetic duets.

Best Puzzle Design — Blue Prince

Its shifting rooms combine roguelike exploration with a mystery centered on finding the elusive 46th room. New clues can change how players interpret places they’ve already visited, making careful observation and note-taking useful.

The hosts’ main criticism is that randomly appearing rooms can make it frustrating to return to a location after solving a puzzle. More ways to seek out specific rooms would reduce the gap between figuring out a puzzle and acting on that insight.

Time-Management Design — Blue Prince

Each room costs a step from a daily allowance, creating pressure to choose where to explore without imposing a real-time countdown.

Best Level and Narrative Design; Overall Game of the Year — The Séance of Blake Manor

A detective investigates a disappearance at a rural manor in the two days before a séance. Investigative actions and conversations use up minutes, giving decisions weight, but walking around or re-examining clues does not cost time, so players can backtrack without penalty.

A pinboard organizes mysteries and their connections, while learning guests’ schedules opens up new leads. The hosts praise how discoveries reframe earlier locations and feed into an engrossing web of mysteries.

Featured Gamers and Sources

• Presenters: J and Ludo
• Sponsor featured: PlayTracker
• Designer mentioned: Christopher Larkin, composer of Hollow Knight: Silksong’s soundtrack