🔗 Share this article

So, how was this year in your family? Could it be described as entirely positive as you pretended on online? Full of academic success for the children and wild themed fancy dress birthday parties for the adults? Or was it a ocean of frustration with only sporadic entertaining highlights? And was any of it authentic, or are we all AI-generated AI slop beings with perfect smiles?

I have gathered my thoughts for a chat, willing or unwilling, to debate the most important thing in a calendar year: which video games we were obsessed with the most. So here goes:

Game Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"This isn't my games column."

Meanwhile, on mobile, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "searching for adequate healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In reality."

Game Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He was offended that I suggested it. Fair enough.

Game Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into drama school, but when she took a break from vocals, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her avatar has a thriving utopia with far 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 ended it at eighty-two percent. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.

Game I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Whenever I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a persistent critic. When he complains, I reply that I am doing this to toughen him up so he can mature and play games for grownups. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Impressive Gaming Family Member 2025

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is a machine. Even better 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 remarkably well-crafted deck building digital pastime, with its ever-changing 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 see it is all just an attempt to trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a legendary franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the start. I wish I could deal with my problems so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just was short on the time or headspace to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I will be playing this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was 2024’s surprise hit, but I was late to it. And it is incredible. It just gets absolutely everything right. The core concept is a wonderful concept, but the abilities behind the different wild cards are so creative it has become a game I could play any time. Combine that with the charm of the card design, and this is an true pinnacle of gaming. I wouldn't mind 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 wave of criticism when I mentioned how a specific bug 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 send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I present that as written, because I appreciate the effort, and he is obviously an sharp judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. Give me a punishingly tough Metroidvania-esque thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". Great fun. I acknowledge that it is beautiful and is perfection if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my adulthood. I was around back when many games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was okay when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Close call between questionable alliances that caused concern, and expensive game releases. Both morally indefensible and concerning.

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

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

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. Seriously. I don’t know if it’s because of video games or phone use, but it burns like hellfire 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 make 2026 last until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.