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Well, how did you experience this year in your home? Did it seem entirely positive as you pretended on online? Full of top marks for your offspring and riotous costume celebrations for the adults? Or was it a swamp of frustration with only sporadic entertaining highlights? Is any of this actually real, or are we all seven-fingered AI slop beings with celebrity dental work?

I've corralled the family together, willing or unwilling, to reflect on the crucial thing in twelve months: which video games we played the most. So here goes:

Release Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"It’s not my definitive list."

In the mobile realm, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "searching for decent healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In real life."

Game Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He was offended that I even asked. Fair enough.

Game 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 playing Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her character has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her big sister has in real life.

Title the Partner Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at 60% completion and finished the year 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.

Release I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Whenever I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he complains, I reply that I am behaving this way to toughen him up so he can grow up and play games for adults. It’s a very 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 a machine. Superior 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 exceptionally well-crafted deck building competitive game, with its ever-changing range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The worst thing about games that endlessly add to their range is you wake up one day and see it is all just an attempt to suck you into compulsion-based microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it was deleted.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a classic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the off. I wish I could eviscerate my problems so effectively in real life.

Game I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition)

Blue Prince

I refuse to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just didn’t have the time or headspace to give it what it needed earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after family time.

Game That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is exceptional. It just gets every single thing right. Crazy Poker is a brilliant concept, but the abilities behind the different special cards are so inventive it has become a game I could play any time. Combine that with the cleverness of the card design, and this is an absolute pinnacle of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Title I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a minor pile-on when I critiqued how a glitch in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I valued even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the commenter who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I mention that as written, because I respect the passion, and he is obviously an astute judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a punishingly tough Metroidvania-esque thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". What a joy. I acknowledge that it is beautiful and is perfection if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my current stage of life. I was around back when most games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Toss-up between business deals that caused concern, and high launch costs. Both morally indefensible and repugnant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all sound good names called from the back door 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 endless scrolling, 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 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.