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Alright, how was this year in your home? Was it entirely positive as one might claim on online? Full of academic success for your offspring and riotous costume gatherings for the grownups? Or was it a ocean of disappointment with only occasional enjoyable highlights? Is any of this actually real, or is everyone now AI-generated AI slop beings with unrealistic teeth?

I've assembled my thoughts for a chat, willing or unwilling, to discuss the most important thing in a calendar year: what titles we played the most. Let's get started:

Release First Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my games column."

On her phone, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "trying to find decent healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In reality."

Game Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

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

Title 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 playing Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where the Shark has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her big sister has in the real world.

Game the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at 60% completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Game I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Whenever I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a persistent critic. 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 Impressive Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

It wasn't even close for this one. She is incredible. More impressive than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

No other game compared to the hours I spent on this exceptionally well-crafted card game competitive game, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that constantly evolve their range is you wake up one day and understand it is all just an attempt to trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it went into the bin.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a iconic franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the start. I wish I could dispatch my issues so effectively in real life.

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

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just was short on the time or headspace to give it what it required earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I will be playing this in the wee small hours after family time.

Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was 2024’s sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is exceptional. It just gets each element right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the abilities behind the different joker cards are so imaginative it has become a game I could play any time. Combine that with the wittiness of the card design, and this is an true high-water mark of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Game I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a wave of criticism when I wrote about how a specific bug in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I appreciated even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the commenter who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I mention that in the exact way, 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

Sure. Give me a brutally difficult non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". How delightful. I understand that it looks ace and is perfection if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my mid-fifties. I was around back when most games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many outdated things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Toss-up between questionable alliances that sparked debate, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify and unpleasant.

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

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

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. No joke. I don’t know if it’s because of button mashing or doomscrolling, but it is sore like anything 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 heat death of the universe.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.