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So, how was 2025 in your home? Could it be described as all as good as you pretended on social media? Packed with academic success for your offspring and wild dress-up gatherings for the parents? Maybe it felt like a ocean of letdowns with only occasional entertaining highlights? Is any of this actually real, or is everyone now seven-fingered AI slop beings with celebrity smiles?

I've assembled my thoughts for a reflection, willing or unwilling, to discuss the most important thing in any given year: which releases we played the most. So here goes:

Release Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "attempting to locate adequate healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In the actual world."

Release Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

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

Game Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into theatre school, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where the Shark has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her eldest sister has outside the game.

Game the Partner Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at 60% completion and finished the year at eighty-two percent. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Release I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he protests, I reply that I am engaging in this to toughen him up so he can mature and play games for adults. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Impressive Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is incredible. More impressive than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

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

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The worst thing about games that constantly evolve their range is you wake up one day and see it is all just an attempt to suck you into fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it went into the bin.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

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

Game I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition)

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just lacked the time or headspace to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the early morning after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was last year's breakout game, but I was late to it. And it is incredible. It just gets every single thing right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the abilities behind the different special cards are so creative it has become a game I literally would play at any hour. Add in the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute peak of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Game I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a wave of criticism when I wrote about how a technical issue in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I valued even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the individual who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I share that in the exact way, because I acknowledge the engagement, and he is obviously an sharp judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a bastard-hard non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". Great fun. I get that it looks ace and is perfection if you are into this kind of thing, 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 I’ve had enough. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many outdated things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Close call between corporate partnerships that raised eyebrows, and high launch costs. Both ethically dubious and unpleasant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names bellowed from the back door at bedtime.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. Honestly. I don’t know if it’s because of console gaming or doomscrolling, 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 make 2026 last until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.