"It can be tempting, in an era where there are simply way too many great games coming out every month, to give into list inflation. Top 10s become top 25s. Top 25s become top 50s. By 2030, we might even see our first top 100 GOTY list. Kotaku has not been immune to the ebb and flow of year-end trends. In 2022, we slimmed our best game picks down to 10."
"Games are partly defined by the actions they allow. Hand the controller to someone who rarely plays games and you'll quickly see reasonable assumptions about exploration and play collide with the idiosyncratic limitations of games many of us take for granted. "Why can't I go there? Why can't I do this?" For decades, platformers have been oriented around moving through carefully calibrated environments. Fancy Rube Goldberg machines that nevertheless remains static under the hood."
"Donkey Kong Bananza turns everything on its head with one simple transgression that has huge consequences: what if you could break stuff? It's a question so bold, the game comes with a level reset button baked in because the possibilities are so chaotic you could very well wreck your playthrough. The results are endlessly rewarding though, letting you dig tunnels, stack bridges, and co"
Year-end game lists have expanded as more titles release, producing list inflation from top 10s to top 50s and beyond. Lists varied in recent years, slimming to ten entries in 2022 and expanding to fifteen in 2024. The 2025 list returns to twelve entries to focus on the strongest releases and accept painful omissions at the cutoff. The approach emphasizes curation and the importance of what gets left off as much as what makes the list. Donkey Kong Bananza reimagines platforming by allowing environmental destruction, offering a level reset for chaotic experimentation and emergent construction such as tunnels and stacked bridges.
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