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Well, how did you experience this year in your home? Was it entirely positive as you pretended on Facebook? Overflowing with A-grades for the kids and wild dress-up celebrations for the grownups? Or perhaps it was a swamp of frustration with only rare entertaining highlights? Is any of this actually real, or is everyone now seven-fingered virtual entities with celebrity dental work?

I've corralled everyone together, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the paramount thing in twelve months: which video games we enjoyed the most. Let's get started:

Release Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"It’s not my definitive list."

In the mobile realm, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "attempting to locate decent healthcare."

"Digitally?"

"In real life."

Game Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I refuse to play games on my phone." He took umbrage that I suggested it. I respect that.

Game Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into acting, but when she wasn’t singing, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with far better healthcare than her eldest sister has outside the game.

Title the Wife Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at sixty percent completion and finished the year at eighty-two percent. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins.

Game I Teased My Kids About 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 persistent critic. When he protests, I reply that I am behaving this way to toughen him up so he can grow up and play games for grownups. It’s a very Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member This Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is a machine. More impressive than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

Nothing came close to the hours I spent on this insanely 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 downside about games that endlessly add to their range is you have a moment of clarity 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.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a legendary franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could eviscerate my demons so effectively in real life.

Game I Wish I Had Played More (Puzzle-Focused 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 deserved 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 acknowledge 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 abilities behind the different special cards are so creative it has become a game I would happily play constantly. Combine that with the charm of the card design, and this is an true peak of gaming. I wouldn't mind 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 minor pile-on when I critiqued how a specific bug 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 recognized even more after slogging through 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 "missing the point". I present that in the exact way, because I acknowledge the engagement, and he is obviously an sharp judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a bastard-hard Metroidvania-esque thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". How delightful. I understand that it looks ace and is ideal 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 most games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Toss-up between questionable alliances that caused concern, and premium pricing. Both difficult to justify and repugnant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all sound good names bellowed from the doorstep 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 button mashing or endless scrolling, but it aches like hellfire 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 wait patiently until the end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.