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Alright, how was the past year in your family? Could it be described as all as good as people post on online? Packed with A-grades for the kids and elaborate dress-up birthday parties for the adults? Maybe it felt like a ocean of disappointment with only sporadic enjoyable flotsam? And was any of it genuine, or is everyone now digitally altered AI slop beings with unrealistic dental work?

I've corralled the family together, whether they wanted to or not, to reflect on the paramount thing in a calendar year: what titles we were obsessed with the most. So here goes:

Release Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"This isn't my definitive list."

On her phone, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "trying to find adequate healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In real life."

Game Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He took umbrage that I suggested it. Fair enough.

Title Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into theatre school, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her avatar has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her eldest sister has outside the game.

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 long haul not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Game I Laughed at 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 complains, I reply that I am behaving this way to toughen him up so he can be a man and play games for adults. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Impressive Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is a machine. Even better than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted card game digital pastime, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The catch about games that endlessly add to their range is you wake up one day and understand it is all just an attempt to suck you into compulsion-based 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

Excellent reinvention of a iconic franchise. Captivating 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 decline to rush this stunning, original game and I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it deserved 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 slow on the uptake. And it is exceptional. It just gets every single thing right. The core concept is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different special cards are so creative it has become a game I could play constantly. Throw in the charm of the card design, and this is an definite pinnacle of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Title I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a wave of criticism when I wrote about how a technical issue in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I recognized even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the commenter who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I mention that verbatim, because I acknowledge the engagement, and he is obviously an astute judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a brutally difficult exploration-focused thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". How delightful. I get that it has great art 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 most 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 Scandal of 2025

Close call between corporate partnerships that caused concern, and high launch costs. Both difficult to justify and unpleasant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all be unique names called from the back door at dinner time.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. Seriously. 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 insured 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 heat death of the universe.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.