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Alright, what did you think of 2025 in your household? Could it be described as all as good as people post on social media? Overflowing with top marks for your offspring and wild dress-up celebrations for the grownups? Or was it a swamp of letdowns with only rare enjoyable flotsam? And was any of it authentic, or is everyone now seven-fingered AI slop beings with unrealistic smiles?

I've corralled my thoughts for a reflection, ready or not, to discuss the most important thing in a calendar year: which video games we played the most. So here goes:

Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"This isn't my definitive list."

In the mobile realm, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "attempting to locate reasonable healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In reality."

Game Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He was offended that I even asked. I respect that.

Title Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into acting, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her avatar has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her eldest sister has in real life.

Release the Spouse 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. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.

Release I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he objects, I reply that I am doing this 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 This Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

It wasn't even close for this one. She is unstoppable. Superior than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Game 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 regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The worst thing about games that frequently update their range is you eventually realize and see it is all just an attempt to trap you with fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it was deleted.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a iconic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the start. I wish I could eviscerate my issues so effectively in real life.

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

Blue Prince

I refuse to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it required earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the early morning after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was 2024’s sleeper hit, but I was late to it. And it is incredible. It just gets every single thing right. The core concept is a wonderful concept, but the powers behind the different special cards are so imaginative it has become a game I literally would play any time. Combine that with the wittiness of the card design, and this is an absolute peak of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.

Title I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a bit of backlash when I critiqued how a glitch in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I appreciated even more after experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the commenter who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I share that in the exact way, because I appreciate the effort, and she is obviously an sharp judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a punishingly tough non-linear thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". Great fun. 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 current stage of life. 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 News of 2025

Close call between business deals that raised eyebrows, and expensive game releases. Both ethically dubious and concerning.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all be unique names shouted from the garden at dinner time.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. Honestly. I don’t know if it’s because of console gaming or endless scrolling, but it is sore like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after 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.