New Games That Feel Like They Will Become Cult Classics

Between indie and triple-A releases, it’s impossible to keep up with every great game that releases every year. Inevitably, good games will fall through the cracks. They may get some attention from critics and players, but then a bigger game comes along, and the old are cast aside. However, gamers all have backlogs, and sometimes these overlooked games gain a second life and become cult classics once enough players get around to checking them out.

There’s no official timeline for when something becomes a cult classic, so for this list, we’re going with games released in the last two years. 2024 and 2025 were loaded with fantastic video games, but these next games still haven’t gotten the love they deserve. As such, while they haven’t quite reached cult classic status just yet, they’re well on their way.

Blue Prince

A Brilliant Roguelite Puzzler

Blue Prince got a lot of love critically and from those who played it, and even got a couple of Game Awards nominations, but it didn’t get the runway that a game of this depth should. That’s largely due to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 releasing three weeks later and completely stealing the spotlight. No shade on Clair Obscur, it’s a fantastic game, but it definitely stole Blue Prince’s ​​​​​​thunder.

Those who played Blue Prince know how special this roguelite puzzle game is, but for many, the concept likely seems a bit intimidating. It doesn’t help that it’s a game best suited to going in blind; the more you know ahead of time, the less impactful it will be. However, it remains one of the most praised games of 2025, and as more players fish it out of their backlog, its legacy will only grow.

Absolum

A Fantasy Beat-‘Em-Up With Incredible Lore

2025 was a year full of roguelites. There was Hades 2, Ball X Pit, Megabonk, and even the aforementioned Blue Prince. The one roguelite that seems to have fallen through the cracks is Absolum. It was released right after Ghost of Yotei, two weeks after Hades 2, and a week before Ball X Pit. There just wasn’t enough room in the public conversation to give it the attention it deserved.

That’s bound to change, because Absolum is arguably the most unique roguelike of the year. It’s a beat-’em-up at its core, developed by Guard Crush Games, the studio behind Streets of Rage 4. That pedigree alone should tell you the kind of quality that Absolum offers. What isn’t immediately obvious is how fascinating the game’s lore is. Right from the outset, its blend of typical fantasy tropes and surprising sci-fi elements is enticing, but there’s so much more to discover beneath the surface.

1000xRESIST

A Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Narrative Adventure

There’s always room in the cult classic category for a narrative adventure. 1000xRESIST isn’t rife with intense combat or tricky platforming, but it tells a unique story in a wildly imaginative setting and in a way that will stick with you far longer than most action-packed triple-A titles do.

It’s set in a far future where aliens have wiped out most of the human race through a deadly plague. All that remains are a few clones of the same person, and you play one of those clones. A typical playthrough takes about 11 hours, so while it’s not exactly a one-night wonder, 1000xRESIST is pretty easy to complete over a weekend. It’s deeply existential, wonderfully written, and has something deeper to say. It has a weird title, and its aesthetics give the impression that it could be an 80-hour JRPG in disguise, so it’s understandable why it hasn’t been widely played. Now that it’s available on consoles, that’s likely to change.

Animal Well

A Revolution In Player-Driven Exploration

Animal Well does a lot with very little. There’s no combat, no dialogue, and only two things you can do: jump and interact. Everything is presented in this very minimalist, pixel art aesthetic, revealing very little but giving you lots of details to mull over. With that, you need to start exploring.

Despite seeming like a small game on the surface, there is a lot to discover in Animal Well. So much, in fact, that two players could each put five hours into the game and never see the same areas. Puzzles are remarkably unique, forcing you to rely on environmental clues rather than game mechanics to solve them. Much like Blue Prince, it’s a deep game with plenty to find, and while it has a small but devoted community behind it today, that group is likely to grow tremendously as more players pick it up.

Skate Story

It’s The “Story” Part That Makes This One Truly Special

How special could a skateboarding game be, right? If you truly want to know, try out Skate Story. Yes, it’s still a game about pulling off a variety of creative skateboarding tricks and routes through increasingly unusual maps. Completing trials unlocks new decks, wheels, and tricks.

What makes Skate Story different from, say, Tony Hawk is the “Story” part. You play a demon made of glass, and the Devil has given you an impossible task: skateboard out of the Underworld and through the Emptylands until you reach the moon. Then, if you consume the moon, the Devil will set you free. This recontextualizes everything, from the gameplay to the setting to the visual style, and it provides a very different motivation for successfully skateboarding through levels than a typical skating game would. There are also puzzles, side quests, and even some light combat, all set to a fantastic and moody soundtrack. Skate Story is unlike anything you’ve ever played, and that’s why it’s going to earn itself a legacy.

Despelote

A Pristine Example Of Why Indie Games Are So Important

How familiar are you with what life was like in Ecuador in 2002? Yes, that’s an oddly specific question, but it’s an oddly specific setting, embraced wholeheartedly by Despelote. Set during Ecuador’s push to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, this semi-autobiographical game follows the life of eight-year-old Julián Cordero, one of the game’s developers.

In the game, you explore the city of Quito and interact with a variety of objects and people with your soccer ball. You can kick or pass the ball, triggering environmental interactions or character cutscenes depending on your target. It’s a purely narrative-driven experience, but it’s a special one, transporting you to a time and place so genuinely realized that you’ll swear you were actually there to see it for yourself. It’s a game in the vein of Gone Home or What Remains of Edith Finch, and Despelote will likely be just as fondly remembered as those cult classics.

Dead Take

A Top-Tier Cast Given Top-Tier Performances

Through a fascinating blend of FMV and gameplay, Dead Take is a psychological horror game that follows Chase, an actor investigating the disappearance of his friend at a secluded mansion in the Hollywood Hills. He infiltrates the mansion during a party, only to discover the horrors hidden in its depths and the terrifying lengths the attendees will go to secure their continued fame.

Dead Take is a perfect bite-sized game that can be completed in about four hours, but what it does with those hours will stick with you. That’s laregly due to the all-star cast that lend their talents to the game, including Neil Newbon (Astarion from Baldur’s Gate 3) as Chase, and Ben Starr (Verso from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33), Matt Mercer (of Critical Role fame), Laura Bailey (Abby from The Last of Us Part 2), and Sam Lake (game director on Control, Alan Wake 2, and more) in supporting roles. Dead Take is a lot like watching a great movie, but one that you can control and directly influence. Thanks to its short runtime and stellar cast, this is one of those games that people will naturally gravitate to over time, and its reputation will grow as a result.

Lorelei And The Laser Eyes

Horror, Puzzles, And Surrealism In One

From Sayonara Wild Hearts developer Simogo, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a surreal horror puzzle game set in an old mansion. You play a woman who is part of an unknown project taking place in the mansion, and you need to explore and solve the many obtuse puzzles hidden in the space to discover the nature of the project and the mansion’s history.

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes has a very distinct visual style. Cast almost entirely in black and white, the characters are all high-res while the environments resemble the low-polygon look of the PS2 and Xbox era. It’s a distinct choice that makes every room and item memorable. The narrative is a strange one, but it all comes together and is definitely worth parsing through. It’s just a weird game, but it embraces that weirdness, and like Sayonara Wild Hearts, it will likely continue to grow in popularity as more people get around to it.

Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown

Potentially The Last Epic Gasp Of A Classic Franchise

The one triple-A entry on this list, it’s a shame that Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown may end up being the final single-player story-driven entry in the iconic Prince of Persia series, at least, if the recent “structural changes” at Ubisoft are anything to go by. It’s even more of a shame because The Lost Crown is great, not just as a Prince of Persia game, but as a Metroidvania as well.

Between the classic PoP time powers and some inspired quality-of-lifeimprovements to the Metroidvania progression system, which streamline things without making them easier, The Lost Crown deserved a lot more attention than it got. It has tight combat, fantastic platforming, and some of the best boss fights of any game from 2024. It was overlooked largely because of Ubisoft’s rapidly deteriorating reputation, but Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is absolutely worth a revisit.

I Am Your Beast

The Fastest Game Of 2024

If you’re a fan of Neon White or Hotline Miami, I Am Your Beast is the best game you may have never heard of. Each level can be completed in about three minutes, but you’ll be pressed to repeat them to improve your time (there’s the Neon White influence). Thankfully, the combat is so tight and responsive that even incremental improvements can be seen through quick and clever changes in your tactics.

From guns to knives to beehives to your bare fists, there are very few tools that aren’t on the table when it comes to taking out the bad guys. Sure, there’s a story, which involves a secret agent hiding out in the wilderness as he’s hunted down by the agency he used to work for. It serves its purpose, but the draw here is the game’s willingness to let you improvise. Just like Jason Bourne, the environment is full of killing tools if you know what to look for. Each level reveals new options to cause chaos. Knowing which option to choose and which target to prioritize is where the true challenge lies. If there’s one thing I Am Your Beast succeeds at, it’s presenting you with that challenge, and then letting you revel in overcoming it in the coolest, baddest, most brutal way you can think of, and getting it all done in record time.