The other day I told my students my ‘lifelong hobby’ was probably game-playing, and the numbers seem to confirm this. In other words, time again for the end-of-year post about my game buying (and playing).

In 2025 I purchased a total of 82 games, which is the 6th highest total in the 33 years I’ve kept data. 72 of the games were for the Switch, 7 for the Switch 2, and 1 each for Gameboy, DS and 3DS. The games were purchased in four countries, and a decent chunk of them (20%) were purchased on one of my Japan trips.

In total I spent $2342.51, not including the cost ($449.99) of the Switch 2. While this is also the 6th highest total for spending, it’s notable that the average game price remains low, at only $28 for a Switch game. The most I paid for a single game in 2025 was ¥16500 (about $107) for Elminage II: DS Remix, which I may even play one day!

This is the fifth year in a row where Switch games have dominated my buying, and indeed at 72 games, I bought more games for the Switch in 2025 than I have ever bought for a single console in any previous year. If you’re keeping track my Switch collection now numbers 358 games.

This year was noticeable for another reason, and to explain let’s move on to my favourites from 2025…

Wizardry: Proving Grounds Of The Mad Overlord (Switch)

To say I was looking forward to the remake of what I consider one of the best games ever made was an understatement, and it absolutely delivered! While it contained some quality of life improvements for a modern audience, this was still Wizardry through-and-through and I had a great time playing it again for the first time in decades. And yes I had a full-party kill which required a very tense rescue operation. I liked this game so much I bought three copies 😉

Wizardry: The Five Ordeals (Switch)

This is a Switch port of a Japanese PC game from several years ago, and is very much Wizardry in the ‘old style’ (ie. before Wizardry 6). The game has several scenarios and the basic one is well-designed and arguably even better than any of the main Wizardry games. But what made this package incredibly good is the ability to play user-created scenarios. I downloaded a high-rated one made by a Japanese creator that added an entire randomized loot (like Diablo) system and I was just lost in it for a week or more. This was as good as gaming got for me in 2025!

Wizardry Daphne (iOS)

This game was released just over a year ago, and I downloaded it when we landed in Japan last December. After a couple of weeks I wrote”too addictive” in my notes and deleted it. It’s an official Wizardry gacha game which sounds weird enough, but it’s also difficult to the point of being almost aggressively anti-player, and I didn’t want to get sucked in. I never stopped thinking about it, and when I got my new phone quickly downloaded it again. And now I’m sucked in, and I’ll stay until the end. This is an amazing game, extremely well designed, and so paradoxically unlike all other gacha games I’m amazed it even exists.

Unexpectedly, 2025 was a Wizardry renaissance! In addition to the games this past year saw a continuation of the light novel series, two new Wizardry manga series and the announcement of an anime! As a massive fan and collector (does anyone else on Earth own as many wizardry games as me?) this pleases me greatly and I hope it heralds even more new Wizardry games in the future 🙂

There were many other great games I played this year, and as usual I’ll follow up in a few days with a brief comment on every single one of them.