🔗 Share this article

So, how did you experience the past year in your family? Did it seem entirely positive as you pretended on social media? Full of A-grades for your offspring and wild dress-up celebrations for the adults? Or was it a sea of letdowns with only sporadic fun highlights? Could any part be actually real, or have we all become digitally altered virtual entities with perfect dental work?

I've assembled the family for a chat, willing or unwilling, to discuss the paramount thing in twelve months: what titles we played the most. So here goes:

Title Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"This isn't my personal ranking."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "attempting to locate decent healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In the actual world."

Release Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

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

Title Third 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 went on in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her character has a thriving utopia with significantly better healthcare than her big sister has outside the game.

Game the Wife Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at sixty percent completion and ended it 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 extract pins.

Release I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a persistent critic. When he protests, I reply that I am engaging in this to prepare him so he can mature and play games for grownups. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member 2025

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is incredible. More impressive than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

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

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that endlessly add to their range is you eventually realize and realise it is all just an attempt to suck you into fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So affection became resentment 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. Immersive atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could dispatch my demons so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I refuse 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 holiday guests over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after evening drinks.

Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was 2024’s surprise hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is incredible. It just gets absolutely everything right. Its gameplay loop is a fantastic concept, but the effects behind the different wild cards are so creative it has become a game I would happily play at any hour. Combine that with the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute 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 Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced a bit of backlash when I critiqued how a technical issue in another game soured 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 experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the reader 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 she is obviously an astute 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 provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". What a joy. I acknowledge that it has great art and is perfection if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my adulthood. I was around back when many games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many outdated things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Debate between corporate partnerships that sparked debate, and expensive game releases. Both ethically dubious 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 sound good names called from the doorstep at dinner time.

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 doomscrolling, but it aches like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after back in the past.

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 cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.