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Alright, how was 2025 in your home? Was it truly wonderful as you pretended on online? Full of academic success for your offspring and elaborate dress-up gatherings for the grownups? Or was it a sea of letdowns with only occasional enjoyable moments? And was any of it authentic, or are we all AI-generated AI slop beings with perfect dental work?

I've assembled everyone for a reflection, willing or unwilling, to debate the crucial thing in any given year: what titles we were obsessed with the most. Let's get started:

Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"This isn't my games column."

In the mobile realm, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "searching for reasonable healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In reality."

Release Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He took umbrage that I even asked. Fair enough.

Game Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into acting, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her older sibling has outside the game.

Release the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at 82%. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.

Game I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he protests, I reply that I am engaging in this to prepare him so he can mature and play games for adults. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Notable Gaming Family Member 2025

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.

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 strategy competitive game, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that endlessly add to their range is you eventually realize and realise it is all just an attempt to trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it was deleted.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Excellent reinvention of a iconic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the start. I wish I could deal with my demons so effectively in real life.

Game I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition)

Blue Prince

I'm unwilling to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just didn’t have the time or headspace to give it what it required earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was last year's surprise hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is remarkable. It just gets each element right. The core concept is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different special cards are so imaginative it has become a game I would happily play constantly. Throw in the cleverness of the card design, and this is an true peak of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Game I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a bit of backlash when I wrote about how a technical issue in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I recognized even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the individual who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I mention that verbatim, because I respect the passion, and they are obviously an sharp judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a brutally difficult Metroidvania-esque thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". Great fun. I understand that it has great art and is perfection if you are into challenging games, 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 acceptable when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Toss-up between questionable alliances that sparked debate, 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 shouted from the garden at tea time.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. Honestly. I don’t know if it’s because of console gaming or endless scrolling, but it burns like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs protected back in the 90s.

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.