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Alright, how did you experience this year in your family? Could it be described as truly wonderful as people post on social media? Overflowing with A-grades for the children and riotous costume gatherings for the parents? Or was it a sea of letdowns with only sporadic fun flotsam? Could any part be actually real, or are we all seven-fingered AI slop beings with celebrity teeth?

I have gathered my thoughts together, whether they wanted to or not, to reflect on the most important thing in a calendar year: which releases we enjoyed the most. Let's get started:

Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

On her phone, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "attempting to locate adequate healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In the actual world."

Release Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He took umbrage that I even asked. Fair enough.

Release Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into acting, but when she wasn’t singing, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her avatar has a blooming utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has outside the game.

Release the Wife Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins.

Title I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he protests, I reply that I am behaving this way to build character so he can be a man and play games for grownups. It’s a very 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 a machine. Even better 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 insanely well-crafted card game competitive game, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The worst thing about games that endlessly add to their range is you eventually realize and realise it is all just an attempt to trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a classic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the off. I wish I could eviscerate my problems so effectively in real life.

Game I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition)

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just was short on the focused attention to give it what it required earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the late night after evening drinks.

Game That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was last year's sleeper hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is exceptional. It just gets each element right. Crazy Poker is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different wild cards are so imaginative it has become a game I would happily play constantly. Throw in the cleverness of the card design, and this is an definite pinnacle 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 Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced a wave of criticism when I mentioned how a specific bug in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I valued 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 "missing the point". I present that in the exact way, because I appreciate the effort, and he is obviously an excellent judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. Give me a punishingly tough non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". How delightful. I get that it has great art 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 mid-fifties. I was around back when many games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Toss-up between questionable alliances that sparked debate, and premium pricing. Both ethically dubious and repugnant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all sound good names shouted from the garden 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 video games or doomscrolling, but it is sore like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured back in the 90s.

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.