🔗 Share this article

Well, how did you experience 2025 in your household? Did it seem all as good as people post on online? Overflowing with top marks for your offspring and riotous dress-up birthday parties for the adults? Or perhaps it was a sea of letdowns with only rare entertaining moments? Could any part be actually real, or are we all digitally altered virtual entities with unrealistic dental work?

I've assembled my thoughts for a chat, willing or unwilling, to discuss the most important thing in any given year: what titles we played the most. Let's get started:

Game First Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"It’s not my personal ranking."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "searching for reasonable healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In real life."

Game Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

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

Release Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into acting, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was playing Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her avatar has a blooming utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her eldest sister has outside the game.

Title the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at 60% completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Release I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

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

Most Notable Gaming Family Member This Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is unstoppable. Even better 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 exceptionally 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 see it is all just an attempt to suck you into fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Excellent reinvention of a iconic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could dispatch my demons so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Puzzle-Focused Edition)

Blue Prince

I'm unwilling to rush this stunning, original game and I just lacked the time or headspace to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the late night after evening drinks.

Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was last year's sleeper hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is exceptional. It just gets every single thing right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the abilities behind the different joker cards are so creative it has become a game I would happily play at any hour. Throw in the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute peak of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Game I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a wave of criticism when I critiqued how a glitch in another game ruined 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 playing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the reader who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I present that verbatim, 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

Fine. Give me a brutally difficult exploration-focused thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". Great fun. I understand that it is beautiful and is flawless if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my mid-fifties. I was around back when all games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Close call between business deals that raised eyebrows, and premium pricing. Both morally indefensible and unpleasant.

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

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

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. No joke. I don’t know if it’s because of video games or doomscrolling, but it aches like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after back in the day.

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.