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Well, how did you experience 2025 in your family? Was it entirely positive as you pretended on Facebook? Packed with academic success for the kids and elaborate costume birthday parties for the grownups? Or was it a ocean of disappointment with only sporadic entertaining flotsam? Could any part be actually real, or is everyone now digitally altered AI slop beings with perfect teeth?

I have gathered everyone for a chat, willing or unwilling, to discuss the paramount thing in any given year: what titles we played the most. Without further ado:

Release Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"This isn't my personal ranking."

On her phone, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "trying to find adequate healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In real life."

Game Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that I suggested it. Fair enough.

Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into acting, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where the Shark has a thriving utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has outside the game.

Title the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at 60% completion and ended it at 82%. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.

Game I Found Amusing That 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 classic comedy bit. When he protests, I reply that I am behaving this way to prepare him so he can mature and play games for mature audiences. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Impressive Gaming Family Member This Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

It wasn't even close for this one. She is incredible. More impressive 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 exceptionally well-crafted card game wizard’s poker, with its ever-changing range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The catch 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 fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So enjoyment soured halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a classic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the start. I wish I could dispatch my problems so effectively in real life.

Game I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral 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 relatives staying over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is remarkable. It just gets absolutely everything right. Its gameplay loop is a fantastic concept, but the abilities behind the different wild cards are so inventive it has become a game I would happily play constantly. Combine that with the wittiness of the card design, and this is an absolute high-water mark 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 Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a wave of criticism when I critiqued how a glitch in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I recognized even more after experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the reader who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I present that verbatim, because I respect the passion, and they are obviously an astute judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a bastard-hard non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". How delightful. I acknowledge that it looks ace 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 most games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was okay when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Close call between corporate partnerships that sparked debate, and expensive game releases. Both ethically dubious and unpleasant.

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 shouted from the garden 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 button mashing or doomscrolling, but it is sore like hellfire 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 wait patiently until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.