The Household Personal Gaming of the Year List for 2025
Well, how did you experience 2025 in your family? Could it be described as all as good as you pretended on Facebook? Packed with A-grades for the children and elaborate dress-up celebrations for the adults? Or perhaps it was a sea of disappointment with only sporadic enjoyable moments? Could any part be genuine, or is everyone now seven-fingered AI slop beings with perfect teeth?
I've assembled my thoughts for a chat, whether they wanted to or not, to reflect on the most important thing in a calendar year: what titles we were obsessed with the most. Let's get started:
Release Oldest Daughter Played the Most
Just Dance 2024
"Can’t you pick just one?"
"You can't expect my games column."
In the mobile realm, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "searching for adequate healthcare."
"In the game?"
"In reality."
Game Middle Son Played the Most
Overwatch
"I have no interest in games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. Point taken.
Game Third Daughter Played the Most
Resident Evil Biohazard
She's attempting to get into acting, but when she took a break from vocals, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her avatar has a thriving utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has outside the game.
Release the Partner Played the Most
Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time
She started the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at 82%. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. On her phone: 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 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he complains, I reply that I am behaving this way to prepare him 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 of the Year
Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024
There was no contest for this one. She is unstoppable. Even better than I was at my peak gaming days in my prime.
Game I Played the Most
Marvel Snap
It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted card game competitive game, with its ever-changing 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 fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.
Title I Wish I Had Played More
Doom: The Dark Ages
Excellent reinvention of a classic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the off. I wish I could eviscerate my issues so effectively in real life.
Game I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)
Blue Prince
I'm unwilling to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just was short on the mental bandwidth to give it what it needed earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the early morning after appropriate hospitality.
Game That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It
Balatro
I know Balatro was last year's breakout game, but I was late to it. And it is remarkable. It just gets each element right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the effects behind the different special cards are so creative it has become a game I literally would play any time. Add in the cleverness of the card design, and this is an true peak of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.
Game I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising
Outer Worlds 2
I experienced a bit of backlash when I critiqued how a technical issue in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I recognized even more after playing 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 "missing the point". I mention that verbatim, because I respect the passion, and she is obviously an sharp judge of character.
Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Alright. Give me a punishingly tough non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". Great fun. I acknowledge that it has great art and is perfection if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my adulthood. I was around back when many games were like this, and I'm over it. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.
Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025
Debate between questionable alliances that sparked debate, and premium pricing. Both ethically dubious and concerning.
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 bellowed from the garden at tea 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 anything 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 make 2026 last until the cows come home.
Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036
The Witcher 4.
