🔗 Share this article

Well, how was the past year in your family? Was it all as good as you pretended on Facebook? Packed with top marks for your offspring and riotous themed fancy dress gatherings for the adults? Or was it a swamp of letdowns with only sporadic enjoyable moments? Could any part be actually real, or have we all become seven-fingered AI slop beings with unrealistic teeth?

I've corralled my thoughts for a chat, ready or not, to discuss the most important thing in twelve months: what titles we enjoyed the most. So here goes:

Title Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "attempting to locate reasonable healthcare."

"Digitally?"

"In the actual world."

Title Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

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

Title Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into acting, but when she took a break from vocals, she was playing Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her avatar has a thriving utopia with far better healthcare than her big sister has in the real world.

Title the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

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

Title I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he objects, I reply that I am behaving this way to build character so he can mature and play games for grownups. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Notable Gaming Family Member 2025

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is incredible. Superior than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

Nothing came close to the hours I spent on this exceptionally well-crafted deck building digital pastime, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The worst thing about games that endlessly add to their range is you wake up one day and see it is all just an attempt to lure you into fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it went into the bin.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a legendary franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the beginning. 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 beautiful, unique game and I just lacked the focused attention to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the wee small hours after family time.

Game That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was 2024’s breakout game, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is exceptional. It just gets each element right. Crazy Poker is a brilliant concept, but the effects behind the different special cards are so imaginative it has become a game I could play any time. Throw in the cleverness of the card design, and this is an definite pinnacle of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.

Game I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced a minor pile-on when I mentioned how a glitch in another game soured 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 experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the commenter who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I mention that in the exact way, because I appreciate the effort, and she is obviously an astute judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a bastard-hard exploration-focused thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". What a joy. I get that it looks ace 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 all games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was okay when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Toss-up between business deals that caused concern, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify and unpleasant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all sound good names bellowed from the garden at dinner time.

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 phone use, but it is sore like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured 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 end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.