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So, how was the past year in your household? Was it entirely positive as one might claim on online? Full of academic success for your offspring and riotous themed fancy dress celebrations for the parents? Maybe it felt like a swamp of disappointment with only sporadic entertaining highlights? Could any part be authentic, or is everyone now digitally altered AI slop beings with unrealistic teeth?

I've corralled everyone for a chat, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the paramount thing in twelve months: which video games we enjoyed the most. Without further ado:

Game First Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"This isn't my games column."

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

"Digitally?"

"In the actual world."

Title Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He took umbrage that I even asked. Point taken.

Game Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into theatre school, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her eldest sister has outside the game.

Title the Partner Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

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

Game I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he objects, I reply that I am engaging in this to toughen him up so he can grow up and play games for adults. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Notable Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

It wasn't even close for this one. She is a machine. 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 insanely well-crafted card game wizard’s poker, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The catch about games that frequently update their range is you have a moment of clarity and realise it is all just an attempt to suck you into fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So enjoyment soured halfway through the year and it was deleted.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Excellent reinvention of a classic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the off. I wish I could dispatch my demons so effectively in real life.

Game I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just didn’t have the focused attention to give it what it required earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was the previous year's breakout game, but I was late to it. And it is exceptional. It just gets each element right. Crazy Poker is a brilliant concept, but the abilities behind the different joker cards are so imaginative it has become a game I would happily play any time. Combine that with the cleverness of the card design, and this is an true pinnacle of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Title I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced a bit of backlash when I critiqued how a glitch 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 valued even more after experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the individual who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I present that verbatim, because I appreciate the effort, and they are obviously an sharp judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a bastard-hard Metroidvania-esque thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". Great fun. I acknowledge that it looks ace and is perfection if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my adulthood. I was around back when all games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Close call between business deals that sparked debate, and expensive game releases. Both ethically dubious and repugnant.

Games I Would Name My Children After, Were I I Was Ever Crazy 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 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 stretch time until the heat death of the universe.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.