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So, how did you experience the past year in your household? Did it seem all as good as people post on online? Overflowing with top marks for your offspring and wild themed fancy dress celebrations for the adults? Maybe it felt like a sea of letdowns with only rare enjoyable moments? Could any part be genuine, or have we all become seven-fingered AI slop beings with unrealistic smiles?

I have gathered the family for a chat, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the most important thing in twelve months: what titles we were obsessed with the most. So here goes:

Title Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"This isn't my personal ranking."

Meanwhile, on mobile, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "attempting to locate adequate healthcare."

"Digitally?"

"In real life."

Title Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He was offended that the question was posed. I respect that.

Game Youngest 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 elaborated in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her avatar has a blooming utopia with significantly better healthcare than her eldest sister has outside the game.

Title the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at 82%. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Game I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he complains, I reply that I am engaging in this to prepare him so he can grow up and play games for mature audiences. It’s a very Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Impressive Gaming Family Member This Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is a machine. More impressive than I was at my peak gaming days in my prime.

Game 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 endlessly add to their range is you eventually realize and realise it is all just an attempt to suck you into fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So enjoyment soured halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a legendary franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the beginning. 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 didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the wee small hours after evening drinks.

Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was the previous year's breakout game, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is incredible. It just gets each element right. Its gameplay loop is a wonderful concept, but the abilities behind the different joker cards are so creative it has become a game I could play at any hour. Combine that with the cleverness of the card design, and this is an absolute peak of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Game I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced a minor pile-on when I critiqued how a glitch 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 recognized even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the reader who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I share that as written, because I appreciate the effort, and she is obviously an astute judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a bastard-hard non-linear thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". Great fun. I get that it is beautiful and is flawless if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my adulthood. I was around back when many games were like this, and I'm over it. It was fine when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Debate between corporate partnerships 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 Crazy Enough to Have More

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names called from the back door at dinner time.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. No joke. I don’t know if it’s because of console gaming or endless scrolling, but it burns like hellfire 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 stretch time until the end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.