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Well, how did you experience 2025 in your family? Did it seem entirely positive as you pretended on online? Overflowing with top marks for the kids and wild costume celebrations for the adults? Or perhaps it was a swamp of frustration with only occasional enjoyable highlights? And was any of it actually real, or have we all become seven-fingered synthetic personas with celebrity smiles?

I have gathered my thoughts for a reflection, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the most important thing in any given year: what titles we played the most. Let's get started:

Game First Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my definitive list."

In the mobile realm, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "searching for reasonable healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In real life."

Title Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. Fair enough.

Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into acting, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her character has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her older sibling has outside the game.

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%. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Game I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he objects, I reply that I am behaving this way to build character so he can mature and play games for grownups. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Notable Gaming Family Member 2025

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is unstoppable. More impressive than I was at my peak gaming days in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

Nothing came close to the hours I spent on this exceptionally well-crafted deck building wizard’s poker, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The worst thing about games that endlessly add to their range is you have a moment of clarity 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 got uninstalled.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a legendary franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could dispatch my demons so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I refuse to rush this stunning, original game and I just didn’t have the focused attention to give it what it needed earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was 2024’s surprise hit, but I was late to it. And it is exceptional. It just gets each element right. Crazy Poker is a brilliant concept, but the powers behind the different joker cards are so creative it has become a game I literally would play at any hour. Add in the charm of the card design, and this is an definite high-water mark of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.

Title I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a minor pile-on when I wrote about how a specific bug in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I appreciated even more after experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the individual who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I mention that as written, because I acknowledge the engagement, 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 bastard-hard Metroidvania-esque thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". How delightful. I get that it looks ace and is perfection if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in 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 less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Debate between corporate partnerships that raised eyebrows, and premium pricing. Both ethically dubious and concerning.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names called from the garden 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 is sore like the mines of sulphur 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 wait patiently until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.