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So, how did you experience 2025 in your family? Did it seem all as good as you pretended on online? Packed with top marks for the kids and riotous themed fancy dress gatherings for the grownups? Or was it a swamp of frustration with only sporadic entertaining highlights? Could any part be genuine, or is everyone now AI-generated virtual entities with celebrity dental work?

I've corralled my thoughts for a chat, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the most important thing in a calendar year: which releases we played the most. Let's get started:

Title Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my definitive list."

In the mobile realm, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "trying to find decent healthcare."

"Digitally?"

"In real life."

Title Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He was offended that the question was posed. Fair enough.

Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into acting, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her character has a thriving utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her eldest sister has in real life.

Release the Wife Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started 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 extract pins.

Release I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a persistent critic. 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 Skilled Gaming Family Member 2025

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is unstoppable. Even better 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 card game competitive game, with its constantly evolving 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 understand it is all just an attempt to trap you with fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it was deleted.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Excellent reinvention of a legendary franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the beginning. 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 stunning, original game and I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it needed earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I will be playing this in the late night after evening drinks.

Title That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was the previous year's surprise hit, but I was late to it. And it is exceptional. It just gets every single thing right. Its gameplay loop is a fantastic concept, but the abilities behind the different special cards are so creative it has become a game I could play at any hour. Combine that with the cleverness of the card design, and this is an absolute pinnacle of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.

Title I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a bit of backlash when I critiqued how a specific bug in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I appreciated even more after experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the commenter who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I present that in the exact way, because I appreciate the effort, and they are obviously an astute judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. Give me a brutally difficult exploration-focused thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". Great fun. I understand that it looks ace and is ideal if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my current stage of life. I was around back when most games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Debate between questionable alliances that caused concern, and premium pricing. Both difficult to justify and repugnant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all sound good 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 console gaming or endless scrolling, but it burns like anything 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 make 2026 last until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.