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Well, how did you experience 2025 in your household? Was it entirely positive as you pretended on online? Full of A-grades for the kids and elaborate costume gatherings for the grownups? Or perhaps it was a swamp of frustration with only sporadic entertaining highlights? Could any part be authentic, or is everyone now AI-generated virtual entities with celebrity teeth?

I've corralled my thoughts for a reflection, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the most important thing in any given year: which releases we were obsessed with the most. Let's get started:

Release First Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"It’s not my personal ranking."

In the mobile realm, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "attempting to locate reasonable healthcare."

"Digitally?"

"In the actual world."

Release Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I refuse to play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. I respect that.

Title Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into theatre school, but when she wasn’t singing, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with far better healthcare than her big sister has in real life.

Game the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started 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 remove pins.

Release I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Whenever I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he complains, I reply that I am doing this to build character so he can grow up and play games for grownups. It’s a very Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

It wasn't even close for this one. She is a machine. Even better than I was at my peak gaming days in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this exceptionally well-crafted strategy wizard’s poker, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The worst thing about games that endlessly add to their range is you wake up one day and understand it is all just an attempt to trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it was deleted.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a legendary franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could eviscerate my issues so effectively in real life.

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

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this stunning, original game and I just didn’t have the focused attention to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the late night after evening drinks.

Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was last year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is incredible. It just gets absolutely everything right. The core concept is a wonderful concept, but the powers behind the different special cards are so inventive it has become a game I could play constantly. Throw in the wittiness of the card design, and this is an true pinnacle of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.

Title I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced a wave of criticism when I wrote about how a technical issue in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I appreciated even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the reader who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I present that as written, because I respect the passion, 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 Metroidvania-esque thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". How delightful. I acknowledge that it is beautiful 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 all games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Toss-up 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 shouted 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 burns like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs protected 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 wait patiently until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.