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Alright, how was 2025 in your family? Was it truly wonderful as one might claim on social media? Overflowing with A-grades for your offspring and wild dress-up birthday parties for the adults? Maybe it felt like a ocean of disappointment with only occasional fun moments? And was any of it actually real, or have we all become digitally altered virtual entities with celebrity teeth?

I have gathered everyone for a reflection, willing or unwilling, to discuss the most important thing in a calendar year: what titles we enjoyed the most. Let's get started:

Release Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

On her phone, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "searching for adequate healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In real life."

Release Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I refuse to play games on my phone." He took umbrage that I even asked. I respect that.

Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into theatre school, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her character has a thriving utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has in the real world.

Release the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at 60% completion and finished the year at eighty-two percent. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.

Release I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he protests, I reply that I am behaving this way to prepare him so he can mature and play games for adults. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is incredible. Superior than I was at my peak gaming days in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

No other game compared to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted deck building competitive game, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that constantly evolve their range is you have a moment of clarity and see it is all just an attempt to suck you into compulsion-based microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Excellent reinvention of a classic franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the start. I wish I could dispatch my problems so effectively in real life.

Game I Wish I Had Played More (Puzzle-Focused Edition)

Blue Prince

I refuse to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just didn’t have the time or headspace to give it what it needed earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the late night after family time.

Game That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was last year's surprise hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is remarkable. It just gets every single thing right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the effects behind the different wild cards are so imaginative it has become a game I literally would play any time. Throw in the cleverness of the card design, and this is an true peak of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Title I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a wave of criticism when I mentioned how a technical issue in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I recognized even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the commenter who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I mention that as written, because I respect the passion, and they are obviously an excellent judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. Give me a brutally difficult exploration-focused thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". How delightful. I get that it looks ace and is perfection if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my current stage of life. I was around back when all games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Close call between business deals that caused concern, and high launch costs. Both ethically dubious and repugnant.

Games I Would Name My Children After, Were I I Was Ever Stupid Enough to Have More

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all be unique names called from the garden at tea time.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. No joke. I don’t know if it’s because of button mashing or doomscrolling, but it is sore like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after back in the day.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2026

Grand Theft Auto VI.
And it will come out in 2026, even if we have to wait patiently until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.