Madden NFL 25

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox X/S, Xbox One, Windows
Buy it from: Amazon | Best Buy
Current goal: Make Aaron Rodgers proud

Playing College Football 25 after having gone 11 long years since NCAA Football 14 was fun, but I’m ready for my annual trip to the big leagues. Madden 25 is here, and my plans for this weekend (and likely many others to come) are officially spoken for.

The school I graduated from doesn’t have a football team, so a lack of an emotional attachment to the incredibly detailed jerseys on my screen prevented me from sticking with CF25 once its novelty wore off. However, my long-suffering Jets fandom tends to keep me almost as loyal to Madden as I am to Gang Green itself. Within my first few days of playing last year’s Madden 24, I logged 29 hours almost exclusively in Franchise mode turning the Jets into Super Bowl champs, Robert Saleh into Coach of the Year, and running back Breece Hall into league MVP and the record-holder for most touchdowns in a single season—the latter of which was accomplished mostly because I suck at passing and can’t read defenses beyond the line of scrimmage.

In honor of my quarterback hopefully completing a full season IRL after suffering a catastrophic injury in Week 1 last year, I’ll be spending the next few days trying to improve my passing so Aaron Rodgers can retire an MVP and my Jets can be back-to-back Super Bowl champs. What are video games for if not opportunities to live out your wildest (and most improbable) fantasies? —Austin Williams