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So, how did you experience 2025 in your family? Was it entirely positive as one might claim on Facebook? Full of top marks for the children and wild dress-up gatherings for the adults? Or was it a swamp of disappointment with only occasional entertaining flotsam? And was any of it genuine, or are we all digitally altered AI slop beings with unrealistic smiles?

I've corralled the family for a reflection, willing or unwilling, to discuss the paramount thing in a calendar year: which releases we enjoyed the most. Let's get started:

Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

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

"In the game?"

"In reality."

Release Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. Point taken.

Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into theatre school, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her avatar has a blooming utopia with significantly better healthcare than her big sister has in real life.

Release the Wife 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.

Release I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he protests, I reply that I am doing this to toughen him up so he can be a man and play games for mature audiences. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Impressive Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is a machine. Superior than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

Nothing came close to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted deck building wizard’s poker, with its ever-changing range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The catch about games that endlessly add to their range is you wake up one day and understand it is all just an attempt to trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So affection became resentment 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. Immersive atmosphere from the off. I wish I could eviscerate my demons 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 mental bandwidth to give it what it required earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the wee small hours after family time.

Title That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was the previous year's breakout game, but I was late to it. And it is exceptional. It just gets absolutely everything right. Its gameplay loop is a wonderful concept, but the abilities behind the different joker cards are so creative it has become a game I literally would play any time. Throw in the wittiness of the card design, and this is an true pinnacle of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.

Title I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced a minor pile-on when I critiqued how a specific bug 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 valued even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the reader who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I present that verbatim, because I acknowledge the engagement, and they are obviously an excellent judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a bastard-hard exploration-focused thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". Great fun. I get that it looks ace and is ideal if you are into the genre, 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 acceptable when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Toss-up between questionable alliances that raised eyebrows, and high launch costs. Both morally indefensible and repugnant.

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 bellowed 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 button mashing or doomscrolling, but it burns like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after 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 stretch time until the heat death of the universe.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.