🔗 Share this article

Well, how was the past year in your home? Could it be described as entirely positive as one might claim on social media? Packed with academic success for your offspring and elaborate dress-up celebrations for the grownups? Or perhaps it was a swamp of letdowns with only occasional enjoyable flotsam? Could any part be authentic, or is everyone now seven-fingered AI slop beings with celebrity smiles?

I've corralled the family for a chat, ready or not, to reflect on the paramount thing in twelve months: which video games we were obsessed with the most. Let's get started:

Game 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, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "searching for decent healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In real life."

Release Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. 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 immersed in Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her character has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her big sister has in real life.

Title the Partner Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at sixty percent completion and finished the year at eighty-two percent. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.

Title I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he objects, I reply that I am engaging in this to build character so he can be a man 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

There was no contest for this one. She is unstoppable. More impressive 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 remarkably well-crafted strategy digital pastime, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The catch about games that endlessly add to their range is you wake up one day and realise it is all just an attempt to suck you into compulsion-based microtransactions. So enjoyment soured halfway through the year and it went into the bin.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Excellent reinvention of a iconic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the off. I wish I could dispatch my issues so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition)

Blue Prince

I decline 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 aim to experience this in the wee small hours after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was 2024’s sleeper hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is exceptional. It just gets absolutely everything right. Crazy Poker is a brilliant concept, but the powers behind the different special cards are so imaginative it has become a game I literally would play constantly. Combine that with the charm of the card design, and this is an true high-water mark of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Title I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a wave of criticism when I wrote about how a specific bug in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – 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 "poorly reasoned". I share that verbatim, because I appreciate the effort, and she is obviously an sharp judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a brutally difficult exploration-focused thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". What a joy. I get that it looks ace and is flawless if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my current stage of life. I was around back when most games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Toss-up between corporate partnerships that sparked debate, and expensive game releases. Both morally indefensible and unpleasant.

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 bellowed from the garden at tea 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 doomscrolling, but it aches like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after 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 heat death of the universe.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.