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Well, how did you experience this year in your family? Was it entirely positive as one might claim on social media? Full of top marks for your offspring and elaborate dress-up gatherings for the grownups? Maybe it felt like a sea of frustration with only occasional enjoyable highlights? Is any of this genuine, or are we all AI-generated synthetic personas with unrealistic teeth?

I've corralled the family for a reflection, ready or not, to debate the paramount thing in a calendar year: which releases we enjoyed the most. Without further ado:

Release First Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my games column."

On her phone, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "searching for adequate healthcare."

"Digitally?"

"In reality."

Title Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He was offended that I suggested it. Point taken.

Game Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into theatre school, but when she wasn’t singing, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where the Shark has a thriving utopia with far better healthcare than her older sibling has outside the game.

Release the Wife Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at 60% completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Game 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 classic comedy bit. When he complains, I reply that I am doing this to build character so he can mature and play games for grownups. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member 2025

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

It wasn't even close for this one. She is unstoppable. 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 remarkably well-crafted card game wizard’s poker, 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 have a moment of clarity 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 was deleted.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a classic franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the off. I wish I could deal with my demons so effectively in real life.

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

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just lacked the time or headspace to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after family time.

Title That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was last year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is exceptional. It just gets each element right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the effects behind the different special cards are so creative it has become a game I would happily play at any hour. Combine that with the charm of the card design, and this is an true high-water mark of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.

Game I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a bit of backlash when I wrote about how a technical issue in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I recognized even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out 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 respect the passion, and they are obviously an excellent judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a bastard-hard non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". What a joy. I get that it is beautiful and is ideal if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my adulthood. I was around back when most games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Toss-up between corporate partnerships that raised eyebrows, and premium pricing. Both morally indefensible and concerning.

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 garden at tea time.

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 endless scrolling, but it is sore like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after back in the day.

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 end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.