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Well, how did you experience the past year in your household? Could it be described as entirely positive as you pretended on Facebook? Full of A-grades for the children and wild dress-up gatherings for the grownups? Or perhaps it was a ocean of frustration with only occasional fun highlights? Could any part be authentic, or have we all become digitally altered AI slop beings with perfect dental work?

I've assembled everyone together, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the crucial thing in twelve months: which video games we were obsessed with the most. So here goes:

Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "trying to find decent healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In real life."

Title Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

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

Release Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into theatre school, but when she wasn’t singing, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has outside the game.

Release the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at sixty percent completion and finished the year at 82%. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Title I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he protests, I reply that I am behaving this way to toughen him up so he can grow up and play games for mature audiences. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is a machine. More impressive than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix 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 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 compulsion-based microtransactions. So love turned to hate 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 legendary franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the off. I wish I could dispatch my demons so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition)

Blue Prince

I refuse to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was the previous year's breakout game, but I was late to it. And it is incredible. It just gets each element right. Its gameplay loop is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different joker cards are so creative it has become a game I would happily play any time. Throw in the wittiness of the card design, and this is an true peak of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Title I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a bit of backlash when I critiqued how a specific bug in another game ruined 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 reader who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I present that verbatim, because I respect the passion, 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 Metroidvania-esque thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". What a joy. I understand that it has great art and is ideal if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my adulthood. I was around back when many games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Debate between questionable alliances that raised eyebrows, and expensive game releases. Both morally indefensible 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 be unique names bellowed from the back door 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 console gaming or phone use, but it burns like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured 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 cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.