Google Play’s best apps, books and games of 2025
General summary
Google Play announced the Best of 2025 apps, games, and books, which highlight innovation and quality. Focus Friend by Hank Green won best app, and Pokémon TCG Pocket won best game. Check out the complete list of winners on the Google Play store and read more on the Google Play blog.
Summaries were generated by Google AI. Generative AI is experimental.Bullet points
- Google Play's Best of 2025 awards are here, celebrating awesome apps, games, and books.
- Focus Friend by Hank Green is the best app for helping you disconnect and stay present.
- Pokémon TCG Pocket wins best game for bringing the card game to a new era.
- Luminar: Photo Editor and Disney Speedstorm win for best multi-device experiences.
- The awards also highlight favorites in books, plus apps and games for various devices.
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Google Play Best of 2025’s winners are here. This year’s awards celebrate the incredible apps, games and books that impressed us with their brilliance, ingenuity and quality.
This excellence is a reflection of our ongoing work to make Google Play more than a store and into an experience built entirely around you. We’ve tailored the experience on Play, unified the gaming experience, boosted rewards and made finding the content you’re looking for easier, all to better support the developers who make Play a beloved destination for billions of users.
Play is only successful when our developers are successful — their innovation is what fuels the platform and provides the content these awards are designed to honor. We look forward to seeing how developers and publishers continue to help people discover new apps, games and books across all of their devices.
We also caught up with the winners of our “Best App,” “Best Game,” “Best Multi-device App” and “Best Multi-device Game” awards to hear how they crafted these award-winning experiences, and you can find out more in the videos below. Read on for the full list of award winners in the U.S. You can also see all the winners on the Best of 2025 page on Play, and read blog posts about the local winners in Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
Best overall app and game
Best App: Focus Friend by Hank Green
In a world full of noise, how do you find your focus? This year, one app helped us all to disconnect in order to reconnect. Focus Friend by Hank Green is a simple yet effective tool that helps you stay present. It’s the essential, helpful (and cute!) app we all needed this year.
Best Game: Pokémon TCG Pocket
This year Pokémon TCG Pocket went above and beyond to deliver an authentic version of the iconic trading card game. From tearing open booster packs to fawning over beautifully designed cards, there’s a tactile element to everything. These thoughtful touches bring the card game into a new era, earning it the coveted award of Best Game of 2025.
Best multi-device app and game
Best Multi-device App: Luminar: Photo Editor
Luminar’s powerful suite of AI-powered tools empowers everyone from aspiring photographers to seasoned professionals to create stunning, high-quality images, no matter where they are. It’s a shining example of what a multi-device experience should be: fluid, powerful, and designed to let your creativity flow.
Best Multi-device Game: Disney Speedstorm
We found Disney Speedstorm to be a high-octane delight as we raced across iconic locations from Disney worlds. From its beautiful visuals to its responsive controls, everything has been optimized for perfect play across PC, tablet or mobile. True to its name, this racer took us by storm, firmly earning its place as our Best Multi-device game of 2025.
Best apps of 2025
- Best for Fun: Edits, an Instagram app
- Best for Personal Growth: Focus Friend by Hank Green
- Best Everyday Essential: Wiser - 15 Minute Audio Books
- Best Hidden Gem: Pingo AI Language Learning
- Best for Families: ABCmouse 2: Kids Learning Game
- Best for Watches: SleepisolBio: sleep, alarm
- Best for Large Screens: Goodnotes: Notes, docs, PDF
- Best for Cars: SoundCloud: The Music You Love
- Best for XR Headsets: Calm - Sleep, Meditate, Relax
Best games of 2025
- Best Multiplayer: Dunk City Dynasty
- Best Pick Up & Play: Candy Crush Solitaire
- Best Indie: Chants of Sennaar
- Best Story: Disco Elysium
- Best Ongoing: Wuthering Waves
- Best on Play Pass: DREDGE
- Best for Google Play Games on PC: Odin: Valhalla Rising
Our 2025 books picks
- Fiction
- Favorite fantasy: “The Raven Scholar” by Antonia Hodgson (ebook)(audiobook)
- Favorite thriller: “Famous Last Words” by Gillian McAllister (ebook)(audiobook)
- Favorite romance: “Promise Me Sunshine” by Cara Bastone (ebook)(audiobook)
- Favorite contemporary fiction: “The Emperor of Gladness” by Ocean Vuong (ebook)(audiobook)
- Favorite horror: “Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zheng” by Kylie Lee Baker(ebook)(audiobook)
- Favorite historical fiction: “Herod the Great” by Zora Neal Hurson (ebook)(audiobook)
- Favorite science fiction: "Remember You Will Die” by Eden Robins (ebook)(audiobook)
- Favorite graphic novel:“Buddha Jumps over the Wall, and Other Curiously Named Classic Chinese Dishes” by Ying Chang Compestine (ebook)
- Favorite manga: “The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All Vol 1” by Sumiko Arai (ebook)
- Favorite light novel: “Witch and Mercenary volume 1” by Chohokiteki Kaeru (ebook) (audiobook)
- Nonfiction
- Favorite memoir: “This American Woman” by Zarna Garg (ebook)(audiobook)
- Favorite business book: “The Ambition Trap: How to Stop Chasing and Start Living” by Amina AlTai (ebook)(audiobook)
- Favorite self help: “Validation: How the Skill Set That Revolutionized Psychology Will Transform Your Relationships, Increase Your Influence, and Change Your Life” by Caroline Fleck (ebook)(audiobook)
- Favorite nonfiction: “Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America” by Bridget Read (ebook)(audiobook)
- Kids & Teens
