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Well, what did you think of the past year in your home? Could it be described as entirely positive as one might claim on social media? Overflowing with academic success for the children and elaborate costume celebrations for the grownups? Or perhaps it was a ocean of frustration with only sporadic enjoyable highlights? Could any part be genuine, or is everyone now seven-fingered synthetic personas with perfect teeth?

I've assembled everyone for a reflection, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the most important thing in any given year: what titles we were obsessed with the most. So here goes:

Title First Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

In the mobile realm, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "searching for reasonable healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In the actual world."

Title Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

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

Release Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into acting, but when she took a break from vocals, she was playing Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her character has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her older sibling has in real life.

Title the Wife Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.

Game I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my adult 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 behaving this way to toughen him up so he can be a man and play games for adults. This defines our 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 incredible. More impressive than I was at my peak gaming days in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

Nothing came close to the hours I spent on this insanely 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 downside about games that frequently update their range is you wake up one day and see 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

Stunning reinvention of a iconic 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 refuse to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just was short on the mental bandwidth to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I will be playing this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Was a Lifesaver 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 exceptional. It just gets every single thing right. Crazy Poker is a brilliant concept, but the powers behind the different wild cards are so inventive it has become a game I literally would play at any hour. Combine that with the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute pinnacle of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Title 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 ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I valued even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the reader who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I present that verbatim, because I acknowledge the engagement, and she is obviously an excellent judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a brutally difficult non-linear thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". Great fun. I acknowledge that it is beautiful and is flawless if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my mid-fifties. I was around back when all games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was fine when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Toss-up between corporate partnerships that caused concern, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify and unpleasant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all sound good names called from the garden 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 video games or phone use, but it is sore like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs protected 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 wait patiently until the end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.