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Alright, how did you experience 2025 in your home? Was it all as good as people post on Facebook? Full of A-grades for the kids and wild themed fancy dress celebrations for the parents? Or perhaps it was a ocean of letdowns with only rare entertaining highlights? Could any part be actually real, or are we all digitally altered AI slop beings with perfect dental work?

I've corralled everyone for a reflection, willing or unwilling, to debate the crucial thing in any given year: which releases we were obsessed with the most. Without further ado:

Title Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"You can't expect my personal ranking."

On her phone, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "attempting to locate decent healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In reality."

Release Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I refuse to play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. I respect that.

Title Third 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 elaborated in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her character has a thriving utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her eldest sister has outside the game.

Title the Wife Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

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

Release I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he complains, I reply that I am doing this to prepare him so he can be a man and play games for grownups. It’s a very Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Notable Gaming Family Member This Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is unstoppable. Superior than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

No other game compared to the hours I spent on this insanely well-crafted card game digital pastime, with its ever-changing range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that constantly evolve their range is you eventually realize and realise it is all just an attempt to trap you with fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So enjoyment soured halfway through the year and it was deleted.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a classic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could dispatch my demons so effectively in real life.

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

Blue Prince

I refuse to rush this stunning, original game and I just was short on the focused attention to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the late night after evening drinks.

Title That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was 2024’s sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is exceptional. It just gets each element right. Crazy Poker is a brilliant concept, but the powers behind the different joker cards are so inventive it has become a game I would happily play at any hour. Add in the wittiness of the card design, and this is an absolute peak of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Title I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a minor pile-on when I critiqued how a glitch 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 appreciated even more after slogging through 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 appreciate the effort, and they are obviously an astute judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a punishingly tough non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". How delightful. I get that it is beautiful and is ideal if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my current stage of life. I was around back when all games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was fine when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Toss-up between business deals that sparked debate, and premium pricing. 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 sound good names bellowed from the garden at dinner 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 endless scrolling, but it is sore like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured 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 wait patiently until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.