9 Kings added quests
One of the few games that I've kept on my computer since it came out this year is 9 Kings, a kind of deckbuilder/autobattler/city-grid game that came out this past may. I wrote about it previously here. Since I last mentioned it, the game has added some additional kings to play as - new decks to get cards from, essentially - as well as a quests mode.
The quests are little scenarios where your deck, kingdom, or base game functionality have been altered in weird ways. There's one where you start with two gold-generating buildings, but can't earn any gold. There's one where you start with a load of wizard spells. There's one where you don't get any cards for free anymore, and have to buy them all instead. There is one quest where you are surrounded by forests that increase your units' health, but the game is constantly giving you Boar cards. (I suppose the fiction is that countless pigs are rushing at you out of the forests, and you have to find some way to use them, haha.)
I've found all these quests extremely difficult. I'm not a genius at this game and haven't really dug into some of the crazy stuff that people do online in the endless mode, where very strange synergies are possible. I've found myself banging my head against the quests in a way that is both frustrating and enjoyable. When I do finally manage to beat one, I'm very satisfied.
9 Kings remains one of my favorite little time-wastey games from the last year. I fell off it a bit after making a lot of progress on every king's several progress tracks... but I've been digging into these quests quite a bit since they were added on the 21st. I appreciate that they're short and simple. They've been a good way to force my brain to swap between tasks, now that I'm without a day job... I still spend every day at my desk, but I'm spending my time on several much smaller contracts and personal responsibilities. A game that takes me 10 minutes to complete is a great way to force a focus-change or reward myself for completing a task.
This game is going to be one of my favorites of 2025 not because it's particularly splashy or impactful, but because it's an agreeable (and surprisingly deep) little experience that managed to find a place in my life without abusing its welcome. I'm sincere with this praise - it's hard to find a game like this that isn't going to waste your time or demand more money from you.
Anyway, I recommend checking it out!