The first ever Adventure Game Hotshot Awards – 2025 Final Nominees

• Features by Jack Allin
• Published:

Once upon a time, in a land both near and far from here, the staff of Adventure Gamers and I started an annual event called the Aggie Awards to recognize the top new adventure game releases. Years later, we here at Adventure Game Hotspot chose not to immediately create a competing event out of respect for the legacy of the Aggies.

But that was then, and this is now. Times change and the circumstances are now ripe to fill an Aggie-sized void with a brand new accolade of our own:

The Adventure Game Hotshot Awards!  

The Hotshot Awards (aka “the Hotshots”) will be split into different categories to acknowledge the best aspects of each year’s greatest games. It’s a full team endeavour, with everyone on staff having an equal voice in a rigorous voting process. It HAS to be, with nearly four hundred eligible games in 2025 alone!

It’s not yet time for the grand reveal, but today we are pleased to present our nominee finalists.... Some of our nominee finalists, that is. We have some additional awards to present when the time comes, which we’ll keep to ourselves for now.

Games are listed in alphabetical order, so no hidden puzzle clues here!

If you don’t see your favourite game listed, don't consider it a snub, just a reflection of what an outstanding year 2025 was for adventure games! MANY more games were nominated and are deserving of acclaim, but the line has to be drawn somewhere.

When do we announce the winners? 

Tune in Friday, March 6th to find out which adventure games are our inaugural Hotshots! (Which would make their developers… Hotties?!)

Best Story 

A story is a game’s driving force, the foundation upon which its interactivity is built. The best keep us glued to our screens, eager to solve that next puzzle, talk to that next character, explore that next location to see what happens next. Not all games are narrative-heavy, but even a minimalist premise, when done right, provides a compelling motivation to keep playing. 

• Dispatch 
• The Drifter 
• Foolish Mortals 
• Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer 
• Old Skies

Best Setting 

The best game settings aren’t merely locational backdrops, but almost living characters in their own right. They’re noticeably distinctive, and tell stories through their spoken or unspoken world-building details. They can be lovely, or grungy, or scary, or whimsical, but they’re absolutely integral to the experience, making them wonderful places to visit, even if you wouldn’t necessarily want to live there.

• Daymare Town
• Foolish Mortals
• Gloomy Eyes 
• Keeper
• Neyyah

Best Graphics 

Does a great game need great graphics? Of course not. The genre was founded on text! But boy, when a game dazzles us with its art, it takes the experience to a whole other level of immersion. And yet beauty is in the eye of the beholder, with so many different looks and visual designs to choose from, from hi-res 3D, to stylishly hand-drawn, to meticulously placed pixels. One thing that's certain, though, is that the best graphics catch the eye, elevating the experience and becoming forever associated with the game it depicts.

• Brassheart 
• Bye Sweet Carole
• The Drifter 
• Foolish Mortals
• Keeper

Best Music 

Music is perhaps one of the least appreciated aspects of adventures, precisely because good game accompaniment is often meant to be felt more than heard. The sweeping orchestral scores and catchy toe-tapping tunes are the most memorable, certainly, and have us scrambling to see if a soundtrack is sold separately. But music can often be ambient in nature, designed not to draw attention to itself but to complement the on-screen action in a way you don’t even notice until it’s gone.

• The Drifter
• Foolish Mortals
• Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer 
• The Midnight Walk 
• Old Skies

Best Acting (voice or live-action) 

As a costly and difficult element on a budget, acting in games is often omitted entirely, but when done right, it adds so much to the experience. Whether filmed live (what’s the Tex Murphy series without Chris Jones?) or recorded in a sound studio, quality acting brings characters indelibly to life. As much as we loved a silent Guybrush Threepwood already, how much more instantly relatable did Monkey Island’s protagonist become when Dominic Armato gave him a literal voice? So too do many other fine actors imbue their characters with the quirkiness or rich emotion required.

• The Drifter 
• Foolish Mortals 
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage 
• Old Skies 
• Rosewater

Best New Character 

When you think about memorable adventures, it’s often not even the games you think of first, but rather their unforgettable characters: Gabriel Knight. April Ryan. Sam & Max. Or more recently, The Walking Dead’s young Clementine. Or sometimes it’s the BAD guys that get the juiciest parts, and how often is a supporting role the one that steals all the scenes – LeChuck and Murray would like a word. We all have our favourites, and this category is to recognize the newest stars sure to be looked back on just as fondly in later years. 

• Chase, Dispatch 
• Mick Carter, The Drifter 
• Fia Quinn, Old Skies
• Ace Hardway, SpaceVenture
• Daniel, Wildwood Down

Best Concept 

The definition may be intentionally vague, but a concept is any idea, or different way of looking at things, or an entirely new innovation altogether. Perhaps it’s not even executed flawlessly – pioneers become the shoulders on which others later stand taller – but for a genre that in many ways has remained unchanged for decades, it has many clever, creative designers who are constantly pushing the envelope in unique ways. It can be mechanical, or narrative, or visual, or something else entirely. Some catch on and become trends, others are bold and brilliant one-offs. But the best of them leave their mark on the genre as notable experiments to appreciate. 

• Blue Prince
• CARIMARA: Beneath the forlorn limbs
• Dispatch
• The Roottrees Are Dead
• to a T

Best Gameplay 

It’s tempting to call this “Best Puzzles” because puzzles have long been the primary gameplay staple in (traditional) adventures. And surely a well-conceived brain-teasing challenge is a wonderful thing, that uplifting “a-ha!” moment an achievement to be cherished. But there’s more to adventure games than just puzzles, and the best games manage to weave together exploration, player interactivity and character interaction (where applicable) into seamless, well-rounded experiences in thoughtful, immersive ways.

• Blue Prince
• The Drifter
• Foolish Mortals 
• Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer
• The Roottrees Are Dead 
• The Séance of Blake Manor

Best Comedy 

Laughter may be the best medicine, but so few games are able to fill that prescription. Perhaps because there’s a stigma against comedy as something lesser than drama – a notion that deserves a well-aimed pie to the face. It’s such a treat when games make us laugh out loud, chuckle frequently, or even just play for hours with an amused smile on our faces. What else is able to achieve that? This category is for games that best integrate a clear focus on funny, even if delivered within a more dramatic framework. 

• The Biggleboss Incident 
• Dispatch 
• Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping 
• SpaceVenture 
• Wildwood Down 

Best Fantasy  

Tolkien may have spoiled us for fantasy, but the genre isn't all about dwarves and elves, dungeons and dragons. (Although it certainly can be, and often does so fabulously.) Fantasy is escapist reality that takes us to other realms and worlds with unnatural forces beyond the understanding of science – even the most futuristic, fictional kind. It’s myths and magic, with places and creatures only dreamed of in imagination. This category is for games that best integrate significant fantastical elements that are central to the experience.

• The End of the Sun 
• Foolish Mortals 
• Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island 
• Near-Mage
• Simon the Sorcerer Origins 

Best Horror 

We have to be a little masochistic to take pleasure in trying to scare ourselves. Good thing for us, lots adventure game developers are sadists. (In only the best way!) The horror gaming genre is a treasure trove of things that go bump in the night, or emit ghostly wails, or stalk us with an axe, or torment our tortured psyches. This category is for the best games that most successfully send a chill down our spine, make our skin crawl, and occasionally even cause us to pee a little involuntarily – all without a constant struggle for survival (though a little threat of danger is welcome).

• Dead Letter Dept. 
• KARMA: The Dark World 
• Little Nightmares III
• The Midnight Walk
• No, I’m not a Human

Best Mystery 

Whodunits may be the most famous kind of mystery, but when a crime or something else that defies explanation occurs, there are so many other questions to ask: what, when, where, why and how?! Adventure games excel at asking these questions, whether putting players in a position to answer themselves, or simply connecting the dots for an experienced detective or other amateur investigator to do so on-screen. This category is for the games that best exemplify the mystery-solving experience as a core component of their gameplay.

• Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile
• KathyRain 2: Soothsayer
• Penelope Pendrick and the Art of Deceit
• The Roottrees Are Dead
• The Séance of Blake Manor

Best Sci-Fi 

There’s no limit to what science can do when left to the imagination. The best sci-fi incorporates its make-believe (yet entirely believable) technologies in interesting, thought-provoking ways, whether manipulating quantum mechanics, defying the laws of nature, visiting other planets, traveling through time, or the utterly absurd, never-to-be-realized creation of sentient artificial intelligence. (Ahem.) Often the best part of sci-fi, however, is how it uses a fictional lens to view humanity in intriguing new ways. Whatever the focus, this category is for the games that best utilize a science-based framework to present advanced alternate or potential realities. 

• Dispatch 
• The Drifter 
• Elroy and the Aliens 
• Neon Hearts City 
• Old Skies
• SpaceVenture

Best Modern Adventure 

Adventure games are often accused of being stuck in time, forever adhering to mechanics popularized in the 1990s. There’s certainly some truth to that belief, but it does a great disservice to the many developers who are continually innovating in often subtle but ingenious ways to keep the genre fresh. Adventure games now come in all shapes and sizes and styles, to the point where it’s harder than ever to even determine what an adventure game is. This category is for the top games with progressive designs that continue to move the genre forward, one iteration at a time.

• Blue Prince 
• Dispatch 
• Keeper
• The Roottrees Are Dead
• The Séance of Blake Manor 

Best Traditional Adventure 

So are old-school point-and-click games just outdated and passé? Heck no! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Not every game needs to reinvent the wheel, as there’s a reason the genre classics remain so beloved decades after the fact. But in repeating an ever-so-familiar formula we’ve seen a thousand times before, it becomes harder and harder for new games to stand out. Yet some are indeed outstanding, and this category recognizes those games that may stick to tried-and-true gameplay conventions from the genre’s Golden Era, but do it so brilliantly that they manage to shine just as brightly as their enduring inspirations.

• The Drifter
• Foolish Mortals 
• Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer 
• Old Skies 
• Rosewater 

Best Adventure Game of 2025 

The title says it all: the best of the best, the crème de la crème, the last game standing, the adventure game of the year, the hottest of Hotshots for 2025.

But no sneak peeks. Tune in March 6th for the grand champion and all the winners!

Hotshot Award chalice designed as part of the Adventure Game Hotspot logo by Tag of Joy's Šarūnas Ledas.