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Alright, how did you experience 2025 in your household? Did it seem all as good as you pretended on Facebook? Packed with A-grades for the kids and elaborate dress-up celebrations for the parents? Or was it a swamp of frustration with only rare entertaining flotsam? And was any of it authentic, or is everyone now seven-fingered AI slop beings with celebrity dental work?

I've assembled my thoughts for a chat, willing or unwilling, to discuss the most important thing in twelve months: what titles we enjoyed the most. Let's get started:

Title First Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"This isn't my games column."

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

"Digitally?"

"In real life."

Release Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

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

Game Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into acting, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her avatar has a thriving utopia with significantly better healthcare than her eldest sister has in the real world.

Title the Partner 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 remove pins.

Release I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he objects, I reply that I am doing this to toughen him up so he can mature and play games for adults. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member This Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is a machine. Even better than I was at my peak gaming days in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted deck building digital pastime, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that constantly evolve their range is you eventually realize and understand it is all just an attempt to suck you into fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

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

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

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this stunning, original game and I just lacked the mental bandwidth to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was 2024’s surprise hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is remarkable. It just gets absolutely everything right. Its gameplay loop is a wonderful concept, but the abilities behind the different wild cards are so imaginative it has become a game I literally would play constantly. Throw in the charm of the card design, and this is an true peak 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 endured a minor pile-on when I mentioned how a technical issue in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I appreciated even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the reader who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I share that verbatim, because I acknowledge the engagement, and she is obviously an astute judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. Give me a punishingly tough non-linear thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". Great fun. I understand 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 all games were like this, and I'm over it. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Toss-up between business deals that caused concern, and expensive game releases. 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 called from the doorstep at bedtime.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. No joke. I don’t know if it’s because of video games or phone use, but it is sore like hellfire 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 heat death of the universe.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.