A psychic baby and whacky control scheme undersell the mundane brilliance of one of my favourite games this year
It's hard to say goodbye to Goodnight Universe.
(Image credit: Skybound Games)
Personal Pick
(Image credit: Future)
In addition to our main Game of the Year Awards 2025, each member of the PC Gamer team is shining a spotlight on a game they loved this year. We'll post new personal picks each day throughout the rest of the month. You can find them all here.
As unfair as it may be, snap judgments serve a purpose in a gaming landscape where over 1,000 games (at least) launch on Steam every month. I know, 'never judge a book by its cover', but what about 10,000 books by their covers and a few screenshots?
If I could attach that judgment to a single focal point, I'd say it's Goodnight Universe's use of your webcam. And, well, the fact that you play as a baby. Okay, there's a lot going on.
Before being allowed to actually play the game, you have to look into your webcam (assuming you have one), close your eyes a couple of times, then feign a smile, a frown, and a neutral expression. Other than using your mouse to look around and occasionally click, those are all the controls you are given.
Playing as the 6-month-old Isaac, the webcam of it all is a good literary device to explain how poor you are at communicating with your family. You are ultra-intelligent and capable of complex thought, yet you struggle to get that across to your family, and don't even know if you want to tell them just yet.
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(Image credit: Skybound Games)
That is, until you discover that you can telekinetically move objects, close your eyes to build structures, and generally wreak tiny baby-size havoc. Thus begins a story of cat and mouse, where you use your powers to subtly help your family, whilst trying to escape the claws of an evil company that may have figured you out.
Despite 'psychic baby game you control with a webcam' being the selling point of Goodnight Universe, this isn't what made me love it so much. What really captured me is the effortless prettiness of its family dynamic and the little nuances that come with it. Looking up at your father, mother and sister, just trying to muster words while they dote on you, is a wonderfully warm experience and one that is made only better with characters that are emotionally intelligent and flawed in their own ways.