Round Up: It's April Fools' Day, Here Are The Best Gaming Gags We've Seen (2025)

Nintendo was kind and decided to host its Switch 2 Direct tomorrow, which means we can spend a whole day questioning news articles today.

Yes, April Fools Day is once again upon us, and a bunch of familiar faces from around the gaming industry are getting in on the fun, providing a giggle or two. The day is still young, but we thought it was only right to give our prospective comedians some time in the spotlight with the following round-up of the best gaming gags we've seen this year.

We'll continue to add more if we spot any extras that make us crack a smile, but for now, here are the top laughs we've seen so far...

2025's Best April Fools' Gaming Gags

NieR: Automata Goes 8-Bit

Oof, this one stings. We'd take an 8-bit 'demake' of NieR: Automata any day, so to see PlatinumGames dangle these screenshots before our eyes is a tough pill to swallow.

Croc's C64 Text Adventure Origins

We love an April Fool's prank that took some effort, and Argonaut Games has gone all out this year with a playable Commodore 64 text adventure starring Croc (thanks to our friends at Time Extension for spotting this one). The following video gives a rundown of the game's 'origins', and you can find out how to play it on the Argonaut website.

Dave The Diver: Remastered

Pixel art visuals are sooo 2023, that's why MINTROCKET is working on 'Dave The Diver: Remastered'. This revamped version of the game comes complete with 3D models and a shredding electric guitar soundtrack. Expect to see it in 2049.

PowerWash Simulator's New Feature

Hmm, this is one that could almost be real. PowerWash Simulator has introduced a new 'Dual-Wielding' feature for PowerWash Simulator 2. What makes us convinced it's a joke? The fact that it's followed up by the announcement of 'Triple-Wielding', 'Quad-Wielding', 'Quin-Wielding' etc. Oh well, we can dream...

Level-5's 'Life Crossing: Fantasy Horizons'

Let's admit it, we've all looked at Fantasy Life and thought it looked a little Animal Crossing-y, no? Well, Level-5's trailer for the totally real 'Life Crossing: Fantasy Horizons' takes that inspiration even further. Come on, the friendly raccoon 'Tim Crook' made us chuckle.

SEGA's 'The Weekly Hedgehog'

The Japanese Sonic Twitter account announced a new issue of 'The Weekly Hedgehog'. Articles mentioned in this edition include (via Google Translate) "Knuckles hires a group of thieves to guard the emeralds" and "Rising prices mean more rings are needed to get 1UP". Actually, that sounds like a good read.

Dredge Shipping Container Update

What if the spooky fishing game, Dredge, had a bigger boat? Well, that's the moral question asked by Black Salt Games' April Fools video, and we'd be lying if we said it didn't bring a little smile to our faces.

One More Thing...

Of course, we Nintendo Lifers couldn't help but get in on the fun too! Introducing, PLAYi...

Are you tired of constantly having to play your games? Do you wish there was a handy little device that would do it for you, leaving you time to focus on the important things in life? Well, you might be interested in PLAYi, a revolutionary new device from Danish creator Navn Mann. The following trailer will fill you in on the details — does anyone else think those faces look familiar..?

There's a small selection of some of our favourite gaming gags so far this year — but we'll be keeping an eye out for more over the course of today!

What's your favourite so far? Let us know in the comments.