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So, how did you experience this year in your household? Did it seem truly wonderful as one might claim on social media? Full of top marks for your offspring and riotous themed fancy dress gatherings for the adults? Maybe it felt like a sea of letdowns with only occasional enjoyable highlights? And was any of it authentic, or are we all digitally altered synthetic personas with unrealistic smiles?

I have gathered everyone for a chat, whether they wanted to or not, to discuss the crucial thing in a calendar year: what titles we were obsessed with the most. So here goes:

Game Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my games column."

On her phone, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "searching for reasonable healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In real life."

Release Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I refuse to play games on my phone." He took umbrage that I even asked. Fair enough.

Title Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into acting, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her avatar has a blooming utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has in real life.

Game the Wife Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at 60% completion and ended it 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.

Game I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he complains, I reply that I am engaging in this to toughen him up so he can be a man and play games for grownups. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member This Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is unstoppable. Superior than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

No other game compared to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted strategy competitive game, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that endlessly add to their range is you eventually realize and realise 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 legendary franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the start. I wish I could dispatch my problems so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I'm unwilling to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just didn’t have the time or headspace to give it what it needed earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the early morning after family time.

Game That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was late to it. And it is incredible. It just gets absolutely everything right. The core concept is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different joker cards are so creative it has become a game I could play any time. Throw in the cleverness of the card design, and this is an absolute high-water mark 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 Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced a bit of backlash when I critiqued how a glitch in another game damaged 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 experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the reader who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I mention that as written, because I respect the passion, and they are obviously an excellent judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. 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 understand that it has great art and is flawless if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my current stage of life. I was around back when all games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was okay 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 sparked debate, and expensive game releases. Both ethically dubious and repugnant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all be unique names shouted from the doorstep at tea time.

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 endless scrolling, but it burns like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs protected 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 wait patiently until the end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.