It’s a new year and a new season of Fantasy Gaming, where we “draft” video games and their review scores in our version of fantasy sports.
Which one of our 2025 contestants — Allison, Amanda, David, Gary, Sam, or Zack — takes home the crown? Plus, we invite Kei Isobe to lead a new team in our 2026 draft. Find out all the details in this action-packed, expletive-laden episode.
In case you’re not audio-inclined, we also have visual companions and details below the audio information. Keep scrolling for League Rules, the 2025 Standings, and the 2026 Teams. Enjoy!
MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Timestamps
- 0:00 – Intros: Some of Our Favorite Games of 2025
- 05:22 – 2025 Fantasy Gaming Results
- 30:58 – Goodbye (for now!) to Allison
- 35:58 – The 2026 Draft
- 01:19:21 – Debriefing the Draft & Most Anticipated Games of 2026
- 01:33:06 – Outros: What We’re Playing, Watching, and Reading
Song Credits
- “Death to Cronos” from Hades II (composer: Darren Korb)
- “Introduction Slides” from Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo (composers: Leonardo Lima and Henrique Lorenzi)
- “Strive” from Hollow Knight: Silksong (composer: Christopher Larkin)
- “Pocket Trap” from Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo (composers: Leonardo Lima and Henrique Lorenzi)
- “An Honest Living” from Yakuza 0 (composer: Hidenori Shoji)
The Punished Backlog’s Fantasy Gaming Rules
- Overview: There are six (6) teams, each led by a writer at The Punished Backlog. Each player will pick seven (7) video games for their team during the draft. Five (5) of these games sit in “active” slots, while two (2) sit on a player’s “bench.” At the end of the year, the five (5) active games on the team roster’s scores are counted, leading to the average overall team score.
- Drafts: We do an annual draft in January. We draft in inverse order (the lowest-scoring team drafts first, next-lowest team goes second, and so on). We go in snake order. Players are “on the clock” so to speak while drafting for up to ~90 seconds.
- Scoring: Games are scored based on their Metacritic score. If a game has multiple scores on the aggregator site (e.g., a multiplatform game), we default to the platform with the highest sample size of reviews. Once a game begins receiving review scores, it is locked into place on a person’s team unless it is formally dropped during our annual Waiver Wire (see below). If a game doesn’t release but is left in an active slot, it counts as a 0. If a game releases but doesn’t garner enough reviews on Metacritic, it is counted as a 0. (Please note: As of writing, we don’t submit to Metacritic. We do submit to OpenCritic, however, which is why we don’t base scores off of that aggregator.)
- Bench Slots: Added in the 2025 season onward, this allows a “keeper” functionality for the next year. Players can save up to two (2) games from their bench for the next season; however, players must sacrifice their first one (1) to two (2) draft picks accordingly. Players can switch unscored games between their active roster and bench. Once a game is scored, it’s locked into place and cannot be moved.
- Waiver Wire: We do one waiver wire session in the late summer after all of the big industry news that typically comes out around that time. During the waiver wire, players can drop up to two (2) games of their choosing and redraft replacement games to fill their lineup. Similar to the draft at the top of the year, we draft in inverse order of standings. If a team has no scored games at the time of the waiver wire, they’re considered “N/A” in the standings and given lowest draft priority.
- Draft Eligibility:
- Games must “exist” to be drafted. That means they have an official title and/or an official trailer with a placeholder title (e.g., The Witcher IV as of writing). No speculative picks like “the next 3D Mario game.”
- No DLC unless it’s truly a standalone title. In other words, it must not need the original game to be played.
- No ports and no remasters; old games have to be significantly remade or reimagined in some way to be considered.
- Early access games are allowed, but note that Metacritic largely no longer indexes early access scores as part of a game’s profile.
- Games that have multiple “episodes” are counted as one title, with each episode’s reviews scores being averaged to determine the total. To be eligible for a given year, all episodes must release within the same year. (There are rare exceptions; David drafted Deltarune last year with the caveat that future episodes would no longer be eligible.)
- In cases of disagreement on any of the above, the league commissioner (David Silbert) will call for a league vote.
The 2025 League Standings (With Images)
Click to reveal (spoilers!)
In Sixth Place…
In Fifth Place…
In Fourth Place…
In Third Place…
In Second Place…
In First Place…
Congrats to David for the second year in a row!
The 2026 Draft (In Order, Text-Only)
Click to reveal (spoilers!)
- Kei – Forza Horizon 6
- Zack – Grand Theft Auto VI (retained)
- Sam – Marvel’s Wolverine (retained)
- Gary – Replaced (retained)
- Amanda – 007: First Light
- David – Resident Evil Requiem (retained)
- David – Slay the Spire 2
- Amanda – Saros
- Gary – Control Resonant
- Sam – Pragmata
- Zack – Nioh 3
- Kei – Mewgenics
- Kei – The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon
- Zack – Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave
- Sam – The Duskbloods
- Gary – Onimusha: Way of the Sword
- Amanda – Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties
- David – Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
- David – Mina the Hollower
- Amanda – MOUSE: P.I. For Hire
- Gary – Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter
- Sam – Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls
- Zack – Phantom Blade Zero
- Kei – Fields of Mistria
- Kei – The Witcher IV
- Zack – The Adventures of Elliott: The Millennium Tales
- Sam – Vampire Crawlers
- Gary – Stranger Than Heaven
- Amanda – Norse: Oath of Blood
- David – Fable
- David – Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophecy
- Amanda – Reanimal
- Gary – Mixtape
- Sam – LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
- Zack – Super Meat Boy 3D
- Kei – Pony Island 2: Panda Circus
- Kei – Crimson Desert
- Zack – Witchbrook
- Sam – Rhythm Heaven Groove
- Gary – Romeo Is a Dead Man
- Amanda – TR-49
- David – Demon Tides
The 2026 Teams (With Images)
Click to reveal (spoilers!)
Thanks for reading and/or listening!
A video game outlet that blends quality words with inclusive voices. For business inquiries and review requests, reach us at press [at] punishedbacklog [dot] com.
David is the founder of The Punished Backlog. He has a problem finishing games he starts.
Just beat: Hollow Knight: Silksong.
Working on: Yakuza 0, Iconoclasts, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
Can't wait for: Demon Tides.
Follow David on Twitter at @David_Silbert to keep up to date with all things The Punished Backlog.
Sam has been playing video games since his earliest years and has been writing about them since 2016. He’s a big fan of Nintendo games and complaining about The Last of Us Part II. You either agree wholeheartedly with his opinions or despise them. There is no in between.
A lifelong New Yorker, Sam views gaming as far more than a silly little pastime, and hopes though critical analysis and in-depth reviews to better understand the medium's artistic merit.
Twitter: @sam_martinelli.
Amanda Tien (she/her or they) loves video games where she can pet dogs, punch bad guys, make friends, and have a good cry. She started writing for the site in 2020, and became an editor in 2022. She enjoys writing about mystery games, indies, and strong femme protagonists.
Her work has also been published in Unwinnable Monthly (click here to read her cover feature on Nancy Drew games), Salt Hill Journal, Poets.org, Litro Magazine, Public Books, and more. She was the Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Columbia University's Culinarian Magazine, and served for two years as the Managing Editor of Aster(ix) Literary Journal.
She recently graduated with a MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. Her writing, art, graphic design, and marketing work can be viewed at www.amandatien.com.
She does not post a lot on social, but you can find her on X and on Instagram.
Gary is a jack-of-all-trades video game enthusiast based in Boston, MA. A semi-professional fighting game player, even less professional Apex Legends player, and even less professional adult, he spends most of his time poking at strange indie gems and reading about the need for more diverse voices in gaming criticism. He invites anyone to recommend anything he's missed in the gaming world via Twitter or BlueSky, where he can found under the username @grtnpwrfl. When he isn't spending his time playing games, Gary is an avid New England Patriots fan and frequent hiker.
Allison has been playing all sorts of games since the late ‘90s. She particularly enjoys life sims, casual games, tactical RPGs, and anything Mario. Her dream jobs are to be a Stardew Valley speed runner and a Mary Tyler Moore historian. As a recent MBA graduate, Allison hopes to use her extra time tackling her backlog and the never-ending list of 2023 releases.
Zack has been hooked on games ever since his older brother taught him where to find the secret warp whistles in Mario Bros. 3. He has never felt more joy than when Yoshi congratulated him on getting 120 stars in Mario 64 or more sadness than when he played Kingdom Hearts 3 after waiting 14 years for it. Zack mails a letter to Nintendo every day asking them to bring back Chibi Robo and will gladly tell you all about why it’s one of the greatest games of all time. He was hoping that writing for the site would help him get through his backlog, but it actually just made it worse now that he’s hearing about so many more great hidden gems. Oops…
Huge video game, comic book, and anime fan. Spends way too much time watching things he doesn’t like. Hates Zack Snyder. Mains Falco.
lol @ Amanda for choosing Mouse P.I. For Hire