The Croaki Awards

The winner for the second annual Game of the Year for the Croakitoad community has to be Red Dead Redemption 2. This was a first-time playthrough, and the beginning of the game was even hampered by the decision not to pursue every achievement on Xbox and instead enjoy a casual PlayStation 4 run. The story was so rich that there are not many games capable of matching it. Following Arthur Morgan and the entire cast across the land created an adventure that will not be forgotten anytime soon. Community support for the playthrough was also incredibly strong, and plenty of viewers enjoyed the cosplay throughout the game. Several nominees came close, but Red Dead Redemption 2 stands on its own as the grand winner.

ABZÛ completely snuck up as a major contender. It was not even on the original nominee list until it was played in mid-December. The Xbox achievement run became an incredibly pleasant and cozy experience. The game is built around exploring underwater depths, swimming through brilliant colors and discovering vibrant sea life. There are plenty of collectibles, but the journey never became overwhelming. This was an extremely difficult category, yet this last-minute discovery won through the pure feeling of adventure and exploration it delivered.

Nobody expected Burger King’s mascot to become Character of the Year, but the lasting impression of The King after the February Pocket Bike Racer playthrough was impossible to ignore. Burger King sound effects and memes continued throughout nearly the entire year. Other nominees may have deeper stories, but few characters had such an unexpectedly lasting effect on the Croakitoad community after one unassuming Xbox 360 achievement run.

Nearly every finalist made a convincing case, but Clock Tower: Rewind won because Limited Run Games and WayForward brought back a niche classic and gave it meaningful extras. The reimagined music, new anime-style backstory cutscene and preservation of the original atmosphere made this edition special. Playing it on Halloween night while dressed as Jill Valentine added another personal connection. The original Clock Tower remains iconic, Scissorman is still wonderfully creepy, and this is exactly the kind of game made for a late Halloween night with the lights off.

Getting through Driver’s infamous training garage and then completing the entire campaign without cheats or save states was one of the most satisfying accomplishments of 2025. The parking garage tutorial alone caused countless rage quits over the years, while later missions can be brutally affected by unfair police spawns and unpredictable roadblocks. Completing the game legitimately during a first playthrough made this an especially proud achievement.

Chrono Trigger earned the soundtrack award over several excellent nominees. Vice City was a major contender, but copyright concerns meant its radio stations remained off through most of the playthrough. Chrono Trigger, meanwhile, delivered one of gaming’s all-time great collections—from Frog’s Theme and Robo’s Theme to its instantly recognizable opening music. The classic JRPG simply delivered from top to bottom.

The Croakitoad community played an enormous amount of multiplayer in 2025, but PEAK became the one game that consistently made everyone excited for another community night. NASCAR remained a strong contender, but server closure news ended those races prematurely while the peaking continued. PEAK produced countless hilarious moments, featured many friends across Twitch and stayed fresh because the mountain changes every day.

PowerWash Simulator 2 was one of the year’s most anticipated releases and brought the community back together to wash an entirely new campaign. The group may have blasted through it too quickly, but the experience recreated the fun of discovering the original game for the first time. Sharing the campaign with many different Croakitoad community members made it the defining cooperative experience of the year.

Before the playthrough even began, the promise was made that Unown would reach the Elite Four as captain of the team. That plan survived the entire journey. Unexpected shiny Pokémon appeared along the way, but Unown remained the heart of the run and even nearly landed the final blow against Trainer Red. What started as something many viewers considered a joke became a multi-stream feel-good achievement and one of the year’s defining moments.

The Rox Rage could not be ignored in 2025. PC problems, a forced CPW platform switch and frustrating achievement requirements all made strong cases, but Roxas997 brought unmatched consistency. Whether drowning in lava during PEAK or being choked by a ghost in Phasmophobia, the volume and timing made every multiplayer night unpredictable. Everyone simply learned to keep the volume down when Roxas joined.

Four people received recognition for very different contributions. Cokesodacan continued providing broad technical, archival and behind-the-scenes support. Celestia1416 became the quote master, building much of the stream’s quotation database. Zazzeris maintained and expanded a library of more than 700 sound effects. AzurRayne helped install the replacement motherboard and brought extra energy to CPW through Twitch predictions. Together, they represented the support structure that keeps Croakitoad accessible, organized and fun.

Repo Man’s classic WWF theme became an unexpectedly massive community meme. The sound effect caught on so strongly that Repo Man eventually appeared in Croakitoad Pro Wrestling and captured the Young Lion’s Championship. That kind of crossover from stream soundboard joke to ongoing wrestling storyline made !repoman impossible to beat.