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Alright, how was this year in your household? Did it seem entirely positive as people post on online? Full of A-grades for your offspring and wild costume celebrations for the adults? Or perhaps it was a swamp of frustration with only rare enjoyable flotsam? Could any part be authentic, or is everyone now seven-fingered virtual entities with unrealistic dental work?

I've assembled my thoughts together, willing or unwilling, to debate the crucial thing in a calendar year: which video games we were obsessed with the most. Let's get started:

Release Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"It’s not my definitive list."

On her phone, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "searching for decent healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In real life."

Release Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. I respect that.

Game Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into theatre school, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her avatar has a thriving utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her eldest sister has outside the game.

Title the Partner Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at sixty percent completion and finished the year at 82%. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. On her phone: 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 build character so he can be a man and play games for mature audiences. It’s a very Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Impressive Gaming Family Member This Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is a machine. Superior than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this insanely well-crafted card game competitive game, with its constantly evolving 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 eventually realize and realise it is all just an attempt to trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So enjoyment soured halfway through the year and it went into the bin.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a iconic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could eviscerate my problems so effectively in real life.

Game I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I'm unwilling to rush this stunning, original game and I just was short on the time or headspace to give it what it needed earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the wee small hours after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was 2024’s sleeper hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is remarkable. It just gets every single thing right. Its gameplay loop is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different joker cards are so imaginative it has become a game I could play any time. Throw in the charm of the card design, and this is an definite high-water mark of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Title I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a minor pile-on when I wrote about how a glitch in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I recognized even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the reader who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I mention that as written, because I appreciate the effort, and they are obviously an astute judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a punishingly tough exploration-focused thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". Great fun. I understand that it has great art and is ideal if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my adulthood. I was around back when most games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was okay when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Close call between corporate partnerships that raised eyebrows, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify and repugnant.

Games I Would Name My Children After, If I Was Ever Foolish Enough to Have More

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names called from the doorstep at bedtime.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. Seriously. I don’t know if it’s because of console gaming or endless scrolling, but it burns like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after back in the past.

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 make 2026 last until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.