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Alright, how did you experience 2025 in your household? Was it entirely positive as one might claim on online? Overflowing with academic success for your offspring and riotous themed fancy dress birthday parties for the adults? Maybe it felt like a ocean of disappointment with only rare enjoyable flotsam? Is any of this actually real, or have we all become digitally altered virtual entities with perfect teeth?

I've assembled everyone for a reflection, willing or unwilling, to debate the paramount thing in twelve months: what titles we enjoyed the most. So here goes:

Game First Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my personal ranking."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "attempting to locate decent healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In real life."

Release Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I refuse to play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that I suggested it. I respect that.

Release Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into drama school, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with significantly better healthcare than her eldest sister has outside the game.

Game the Wife 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 phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins.

Release I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he complains, I reply that I am engaging in this to prepare him so he can be a man and play games for mature audiences. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Notable Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

It wasn't even close for this one. She is a machine. Even better than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

No other game compared to the hours I spent on this exceptionally well-crafted strategy wizard’s poker, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The catch about games that endlessly add to their range is you have a moment of clarity and understand it is all just an attempt to suck you into fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it went into the bin.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a legendary franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the off. I wish I could dispatch my problems so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition)

Blue Prince

I refuse to rush this stunning, original game and I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after family time.

Game That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is remarkable. It just gets each element right. Crazy Poker is a wonderful concept, but the abilities behind the different special cards are so inventive it has become a game I literally would play constantly. Add in the cleverness of the card design, and this is an absolute peak of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Game I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a bit of backlash when I mentioned how a glitch in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I recognized even more after experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the reader who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I mention that verbatim, because I acknowledge the engagement, and they are obviously an excellent judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a brutally difficult non-linear thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". Great fun. I get that it has great art and is flawless if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my current stage of life. I was around back when many games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Debate between business deals that raised eyebrows, and expensive game releases. Both morally indefensible 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 sound good names shouted from the garden at bedtime.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. No joke. I don’t know if it’s because of video games or doomscrolling, but it is sore like hellfire 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 end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.