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Alright, how was 2025 in your family? Did it seem entirely positive as people post on social media? Packed with top marks for the children and wild dress-up birthday parties for the grownups? Or was it a swamp of disappointment with only sporadic fun highlights? And was any of it actually real, or are we all digitally altered AI slop beings with perfect teeth?

I've assembled everyone together, ready or not, to debate the most important thing in any given year: which video games we were obsessed with the most. Let's get started:

Release Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my games column."

In the mobile realm, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "trying to find reasonable healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In the actual world."

Game Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He was offended that the question was posed. I respect that.

Release Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into acting, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was playing Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where the Shark has a successful utopia with significantly better healthcare than her big sister has in the real world.

Game the Wife Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at 60% completion and finished the year at eighty-two percent. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.

Title I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Whenever I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he protests, I reply that I am engaging in this to build character so he can grow up and play games for adults. It’s a very Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is unstoppable. Even better than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

Nothing came close to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted strategy digital pastime, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The catch about games that frequently update their range is you eventually realize and realise 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

Excellent reinvention of a iconic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could eviscerate my issues so effectively in real life.

Game 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 needed earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I know 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. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the effects behind the different wild cards are so creative it has become a game I would happily play any time. Throw in the charm of the card design, and this is an true high-water mark of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.

Game I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a bit of backlash when I wrote about how a specific bug 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 appreciated even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the commenter who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I share that verbatim, because I appreciate the effort, and they are obviously an sharp judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a punishingly tough exploration-focused thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". Great fun. I acknowledge that it has great art and is ideal if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of 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 the same could be said for many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Toss-up between corporate partnerships that raised eyebrows, and high launch costs. Both difficult to justify and repugnant.

Games I Would Name My Children After, Were I I Was Ever Stupid 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. Seriously. I don’t know if it’s because of console gaming or doomscrolling, but it burns 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 stretch time until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.