The Household Unofficial Gaming of the Year Awards for This Year

So, how did you experience 2025 in your home? Did it seem entirely positive as one might claim on Facebook? Overflowing with top marks for the kids and wild costume birthday parties for the grownups? Maybe it felt like a sea of letdowns with only rare entertaining flotsam? Is any of this authentic, or have we all become seven-fingered synthetic personas with celebrity dental work?

I have gathered my thoughts together, ready or not, to reflect on the paramount thing in a calendar year: what titles we enjoyed the most. Without further ado:

Release Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"It’s not my personal ranking."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "trying to find decent healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In reality."

Release Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I refuse to play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that I suggested it. I respect that.

Game Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into theatre school, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her avatar has a successful utopia with significantly better healthcare than her eldest sister has in real life.

Release the Wife 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. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Game I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Whenever I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he objects, I reply that I am engaging in this to toughen him up so he can be a man and play games for adults. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is incredible. More impressive than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix 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 card game digital pastime, with its regularly updated 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 understand it is all just an attempt to suck you into fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it went into the bin.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Excellent reinvention of a iconic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could eviscerate my demons so effectively in real life.

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

Blue Prince

I'm unwilling to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just lacked the focused attention to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the early morning after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was last year's breakout game, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is exceptional. It just gets absolutely everything right. Crazy Poker is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different wild cards are so creative it has become a game I would happily play at any hour. Add in the charm of the card design, and this is an true peak of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Title I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced a bit of backlash when I mentioned how a glitch 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 appreciated even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the commenter who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I mention that verbatim, because I appreciate the effort, and they are obviously an excellent judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. 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 acknowledge that it has great art and is perfection if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my adulthood. I was around back when all games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Toss-up between corporate partnerships that raised eyebrows, and expensive game releases. Both morally indefensible 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 back door 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 video games or doomscrolling, but it burns like the mines of sulphur 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 cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.