🔗 Share this article

Alright, how was this year in your household? Did it seem all as good as people post on Facebook? Full of academic success for your offspring and riotous themed fancy dress celebrations for the parents? Or perhaps it was a sea of frustration with only occasional enjoyable flotsam? Could any part be actually real, or have we all become digitally altered synthetic personas with unrealistic dental work?

I've corralled the family for a chat, willing or unwilling, to reflect on the most important thing in any given year: what titles we were obsessed with the most. So here goes:

Release Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "attempting to locate adequate healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In reality."

Release Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He seemed insulted that I even asked. I respect that.

Release 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 immersed in Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where the Shark has a blooming utopia with significantly better healthcare than her big sister has outside the game.

Release the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins.

Title 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 classic comedy bit. When he objects, I reply that I am doing this to prepare him so he can grow up and play games for grownups. This defines our 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 incredible. More impressive than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this exceptionally well-crafted deck building digital pastime, with its regularly updated 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 have a moment of clarity and understand 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 got uninstalled.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a classic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the start. I wish I could eviscerate my issues so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Puzzle-Focused 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 needed earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I will be playing this in the late night after family time.

Title That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was the previous year's surprise hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is exceptional. It just gets every single thing right. Crazy Poker is a wonderful concept, but the effects behind the different joker cards are so inventive it has become a game I could play any time. Combine that with the cleverness of the card design, and this is an definite pinnacle of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Title I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a wave of criticism when I critiqued how a technical issue in another game damaged 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 slogging through 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 "missing the point". I mention that in the exact way, because I acknowledge the engagement, and she is obviously an astute judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. Give me a bastard-hard exploration-focused thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". Great fun. I understand that it is beautiful and is perfection if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my current stage of life. I was around back when many games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Close call between corporate partnerships that sparked debate, and high launch costs. Both ethically dubious and concerning.

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 shouted from the back door at dinner 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 doomscrolling, but it is sore like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs protected 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 stretch time until the end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.