This Household Personal Game of the Year Awards for The Past Year
Well, what did you think of 2025 in your family? Was it entirely positive as people post on online? Overflowing with top marks for the children and wild costume celebrations for the grownups? Or perhaps it was a ocean of frustration with only occasional fun moments? And was any of it genuine, or is everyone now AI-generated AI slop beings with celebrity teeth?
I've corralled the family for a chat, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the crucial thing in any given year: which releases we played the most. So here goes:
Title First Daughter Played the Most
Pikmin
"Is it impossible to pick just one?"
"You can't expect my personal ranking."
Meanwhile, on mobile, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "searching for reasonable healthcare."
"Virtually?"
"In reality."
Title Middle Son Played the Most
Overwatch
"I refuse to play games on my phone." He was offended that I even asked. Fair enough.
Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most
Resident Evil Biohazard
She's attempting to get into acting, but when she took a break from vocals, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her character has a blooming utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has in real life.
Title the Wife Played the Most
Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time
She began the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at 82%. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins.
Title 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 protests, I reply that I am behaving this way to build character so he can grow up and play games for mature audiences. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.
Most Notable Gaming Family Member of the Year
Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024
There was no contest for this one. She is a machine. Superior 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 deck building digital pastime, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.
Title I Wish I Had Played Less
Marvel Snap
The downside about games that frequently update their range is you wake up one day and understand it is all just an attempt to trap you with fear-of-missing-out driven 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
Glorious reinvention of a iconic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the off. I wish I could deal with my issues so effectively in real life.
Title 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 time or headspace to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the late night after family time.
Title That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It
Balatro
I know Balatro was the previous year's breakout game, but I was a late adopter. And it is exceptional. It just gets absolutely everything right. Its gameplay loop 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. Throw in the cleverness of the card design, and this is an true pinnacle of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.
Title I Got the Most Flak For Criticising
Outer Worlds 2
I received a wave of criticism when I mentioned how a glitch in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I recognized even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the reader who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I present that as written, 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
Alright. Give me a bastard-hard non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". Great fun. 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 I'm over it. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but so was many outdated things.
Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025
Toss-up between questionable alliances that raised eyebrows, and high launch costs. Both difficult to justify and unpleasant.
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 garden at bedtime.
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 phone use, but it burns like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs protected 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 heat death of the universe.
Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036
The Witcher 4.
