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Well, how was the past year in your home? Could it be described as truly wonderful as you pretended on social media? Full of A-grades for your offspring and riotous themed fancy dress celebrations for the adults? Or perhaps it was a ocean of frustration with only sporadic enjoyable highlights? Could any part be actually real, or are we all AI-generated virtual entities with celebrity smiles?

I've assembled the family together, willing or unwilling, to reflect on the most important thing in any given year: which releases we were obsessed with the most. Without further ado:

Game First Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"This isn't my personal ranking."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "attempting to locate reasonable healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In the actual world."

Game Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that I even asked. Fair enough.

Game Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into drama school, but when she took a break from vocals, she was playing Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her avatar has a thriving utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has in real life.

Game the Partner Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at sixty percent completion and finished the year at 82%. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Title I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he complains, 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 of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is a machine. More impressive 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 exceptionally well-crafted deck building digital pastime, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The catch about games that frequently update their range is you wake up one day and realise it is all just an attempt to trap you with fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it was deleted.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a iconic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the start. I wish I could eviscerate my demons 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 was short on the focused attention to give it what it required earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Saved My Soul 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. The core concept is a fantastic concept, but the abilities behind the different special cards are so imaginative it has become a game I could play at any hour. Throw in the wittiness of the card design, and this is an definite high-water mark 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.

Game I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a bit of backlash when I mentioned how a glitch in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I recognized even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the individual who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I present that in the exact way, because I acknowledge the engagement, and he is obviously an astute 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 don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". How delightful. 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 am less interested in in my mid-fifties. I was around back when most games were like this, and I'm over it. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Close call between questionable alliances that raised eyebrows, and high launch costs. Both ethically dubious and repugnant.

Games I Would Name My Children After, If I Was Ever Foolish 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 video games or endless scrolling, but it aches like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured 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 cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.