Gaming’s awards season ain’t over yet (in fact, it’s not even close). And on Sunday night, the New York Videogame Critics Circle reminded onlookers why there can’t just be one definitive winners list in this town.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 snagged yet another Game of the Year trophy, but the full list of winners included titles like Blippo+, Ball x Pit, and Lumines Arise; the types of games you might only see on comprehensive best-of lists curated by the best minds of a generation (ahem).
No shade to Clair Obsur, which has unfortunately become the easy-to-roll-your-eyes-at villain of gaming’s inverted GOTY conversation. When the loudest, flashiest verdict lands first — The Game Awards looming in December like an Oscar night that forgot to wait its turn — the rest of the year becomes a kind of extended epilogue, a series of ceremonies deciding whether to affirm the obvious or zig where Geoff Keighley’s voting body already zagged.
Expedition 33 has turned that structure into a victory lap. Its nine-win sweep at The Game Awards, including Game of the Year, shattered records and cemented the debut RPG from Sandfall Interactive as the rare indie-adjacent production that flattened the field. As awards season grinds on through DICE, GDC, and beyond, the game remains the prohibitive favorite. The New York Game Awards couldn’t deny Expedition 33 the top prize — remember, it’s good! — but its voters weren’t ready to gift it a sweep either.
Here is the full list of this year’s 2025 New York Game Awards winners, which should frankly win their own award for Cheekiest Dad Joke Category Names:
Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game
Blue Prince
Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game
Blippo+
Statue of Liberty Award for Best World
Hades II
Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game
South of Midnight
Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game
Jennifer English as Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Excelsior Award for Best NY Game
Ball x Pit
Coney Island Dreamland Award for Best AR/VR Game
Lumines Arise
Central Park Children’s Zoo Award for Best Kids Game
Donkey Kong Bananza
A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game
Is This Seat Taken?
High Line Award for Best Remake
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Chumley’s Speakeasy Award for Best Hidden Gem
News Tower
NYC GWB Award for Best DLC
Lies of P: Overture
Knickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism
People Make Games
Andrew Yoon Legend Award Recipient
The Pokémon Company
