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Well, how was this year in your household? Was it entirely positive as one might claim on Facebook? Full of A-grades for the kids and wild dress-up gatherings for the adults? Or was it a ocean of frustration with only rare fun moments? And was any of it actually real, or are we all seven-fingered AI slop beings with perfect dental work?

I've assembled everyone together, ready or not, to discuss the crucial thing in twelve months: which releases we enjoyed the most. So here goes:

Title First Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "trying to find decent healthcare."

"Digitally?"

"In real life."

Game Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. Fair enough.

Game Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into acting, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her character has a thriving utopia with significantly better healthcare than her big sister has in the real world.

Title the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

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

Title I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Whenever I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he objects, I reply that I am engaging in this to prepare him so he can grow up and play games for mature audiences. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Impressive Gaming Family Member 2025

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is a machine. More impressive than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this exceptionally well-crafted card game competitive game, with its ever-changing 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 understand it is all just an attempt to trap you with fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it went into the bin.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

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

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I refuse to rush this stunning, original game and I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is remarkable. It just gets absolutely everything right. The core concept is a brilliant concept, but the abilities behind the different wild cards are so imaginative it has become a game I could play any time. Throw in the wittiness of the card design, and this is an definite pinnacle of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.

Game I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a wave of criticism when I critiqued how a specific bug in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan 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 write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I mention that verbatim, because I respect the passion, and she is obviously an excellent judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. 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 has great art 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 okay when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Close call between business deals that caused concern, and high launch costs. Both ethically dubious and repugnant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all be unique names shouted from the back door 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 console gaming or phone use, but it is sore like the mines of sulphur 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 wait patiently until the end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.