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Well, how did you experience 2025 in your home? Did it seem truly wonderful as you pretended on online? Packed with A-grades for the kids and wild themed fancy dress celebrations for the grownups? Maybe it felt like a swamp of frustration with only rare fun highlights? Could any part be actually real, or is everyone now seven-fingered synthetic personas with celebrity teeth?

I've assembled everyone for a reflection, ready or not, to reflect on the paramount thing in any given year: which video games we played the most. So here goes:

Title Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my personal ranking."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "searching for adequate healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In the actual world."

Game Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He took umbrage that I even asked. Point taken.

Title Youngest 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 character has a blooming utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has outside the game.

Title 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 marathon not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.

Release I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he objects, I reply that I am behaving this way to build character so he can mature 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

It wasn't even close for this one. She is unstoppable. Superior than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

No other game compared to the hours I spent on this insanely well-crafted card game digital pastime, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that constantly evolve their range is you have a moment of clarity and see it is all just an attempt to suck you into fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it was deleted.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a classic franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could deal with my demons 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 mental bandwidth to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the late night after family time.

Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was last year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is remarkable. It just gets absolutely everything right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the abilities behind the different wild cards are so creative it has become a game I could play constantly. Combine that with the wittiness of the card design, and this is an true peak of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Title I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced a wave of criticism when I critiqued how a technical issue in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I valued even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the individual who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I present that verbatim, because I respect the passion, and she is obviously an astute judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a bastard-hard exploration-focused thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". What a joy. I acknowledge that it has great art and is ideal if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my adulthood. 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 outdated things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Toss-up between corporate partnerships that sparked debate, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify and concerning.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names called 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 button mashing or phone use, but it aches like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured 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 stretch time until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.