2 Min Read
Now that the end of 2025 is nearly upon us, Apple has revealed its picks for top games and apps of the year. The list for 2025 includes a few familiar faces alongside newer debuts, giving fellow developers a look at what games resonate on different Apple platforms and allowing a much-needed space to celebrate stand out titles alongside their creators.
Apple’s Game of the Year list is largely divided by platform, with iPad, iPhone, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro each naming their own best game. The full list also includes a few additional winners for different categories like Apple Arcade Game of the Year and multiple Cultural Impact awards.
[Pokemon TCG Pocket](https://apps.apple….
2 Min Read
Now that the end of 2025 is nearly upon us, Apple has revealed its picks for top games and apps of the year. The list for 2025 includes a few familiar faces alongside newer debuts, giving fellow developers a look at what games resonate on different Apple platforms and allowing a much-needed space to celebrate stand out titles alongside their creators.
Apple’s Game of the Year list is largely divided by platform, with iPad, iPhone, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro each naming their own best game. The full list also includes a few additional winners for different categories like Apple Arcade Game of the Year and multiple Cultural Impact awards.
Pokemon TCG Pocket, released by The Pokemon Company snagged top honors for the iPhone category. The card battler, released in October 2024, saw rapid interest right at launch, amassing 30 million downloads in its first two weeks online. By October 2025 that number had risen to over 150 million.
Black Salt Games’ horror fishing game Dredge was named Game of the Year over on the iPad side of the fence. While Dredge first launched for console and PC back in 2023, it made its iPad and iOS debut earlier this year on February 27. Meanwhile CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, another familiar face, walked away as the Game of the Year on Mac, followed by Apple Vision Pro winner Porta Nubi, developed by Michael Temper, and Apple Arcade Game of the Year What The Clash from the folks at Triband.
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Interestingly, Apple has opted against selecting a single winner for its Cultural Impact award, instead selecting 3 games and 3 apps to represent how games can drive meaningful change.
“These apps and games were recognized for their positive impact, providing users with helpful tools, promoting understanding, and shaping a more inclusive world,” explains a post from Apple.
This year’s Cultural Impact winners include Art of Fauna by Klemens Strasser, a puzzle game featuring wildlife illustration and is praised for its accessible game design, Chants of Sennar from Playdigious, a vivid adventure game built around the power and complexities of language, and Panic, Inc’s despelote, a slice of life game about the comradery of soccer amidst national turmoil.
Check out the full list of winners over on the Apple website.
About the Author
Editorial Director, GameDeveloper.com
As the Editorial Director of Game Developer, Alissa McAloon brings a decade of experience in the video game industry and media. When not working in the world of B2B game journalism, Alissa enjoys spending her time in the worlds of immersive sandbox games or dabbling in the occasional TTRPG.