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Alright, how was this year in your family? Was it truly wonderful as people post on online? Packed with top marks for the children and wild themed fancy dress celebrations for the adults? Or perhaps it was a swamp of disappointment with only sporadic enjoyable flotsam? Is any of this genuine, or is everyone now seven-fingered virtual entities with unrealistic dental work?

I have gathered my thoughts for a chat, willing or unwilling, to reflect on the paramount thing in a calendar year: which releases we were obsessed with the most. Without further ado:

Game Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

In the mobile realm, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "attempting to locate decent healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In real life."

Release Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He was offended that the question was posed. I respect that.

Title Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into theatre school, but when she took a break from vocals, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her character has a thriving utopia with far better healthcare than her eldest sister has outside the game.

Game 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. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Game I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any 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 protests, I reply that I am behaving this way to build character so he can grow up and play games for grownups. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

It wasn't even close for this one. She is unstoppable. More impressive than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

No other game compared to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted card game competitive game, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that frequently update their range is you wake up one day and understand it is all just an attempt to suck you into fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a iconic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the start. I wish I could eviscerate 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 didn’t have the time or headspace to give it what it needed earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the early morning after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was last year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is incredible. It just gets every single thing right. Crazy Poker is a fantastic concept, but the abilities behind the different joker cards are so creative it has become a game I literally would play at any hour. Throw in the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute high-water mark of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Title I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a bit of backlash when I mentioned how a specific bug 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 playing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the individual who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I share that in the exact way, because I appreciate the effort, and he is obviously an astute judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. Give me a bastard-hard Metroidvania-esque thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". What a joy. I understand that it looks ace and is ideal 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 all games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was okay when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Close call between questionable alliances that caused concern, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify and repugnant.

Games I Would Name My Children After, If I Was Ever Stupid 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. Honestly. I don’t know if it’s because of button mashing or doomscrolling, but it aches like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured 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 stretch time until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.