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Well, how was 2025 in your family? Could it be described as entirely positive as people post on social media? Overflowing with A-grades for the children and elaborate dress-up gatherings for the grownups? Or was it a swamp of disappointment with only sporadic entertaining flotsam? And was any of it actually real, or have we all become seven-fingered AI slop beings with celebrity dental work?

I've assembled everyone for a chat, ready or not, to reflect on the crucial thing in any given year: which video games we played the most. So here goes:

Release Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my definitive list."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "searching for reasonable healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In reality."

Title Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. Point taken.

Release Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into drama school, but when she took a break from vocals, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has in the real world.

Title the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Game I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he complains, I reply that I am engaging in this to build character so he can be a man and play games for grownups. 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 Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

No other game compared to the hours I spent on this exceptionally well-crafted deck building wizard’s poker, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that constantly evolve their range is you wake up one day and realise it is all just an attempt to lure you into compulsion-based microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Excellent reinvention of a legendary franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the start. I wish I could eviscerate my issues 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 lacked the mental bandwidth to give it what it required earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was last year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is incredible. It just gets every single thing right. Crazy Poker is a wonderful concept, but the effects behind the different special cards are so inventive it has become a game I could play any time. Throw in the charm of the card design, and this is an true high-water mark of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Title I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a wave of criticism 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 playing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the reader who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I mention that as written, because I appreciate the effort, and they are obviously an astute judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a bastard-hard exploration-focused thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". How delightful. I understand that it looks ace and is perfection if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my mid-fifties. I was around back when many games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was fine when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Toss-up between corporate partnerships that raised eyebrows, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify and concerning.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all sound good names shouted from the doorstep at tea time.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. No joke. I don’t know if it’s because of video games or doomscrolling, but it burns like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured 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 heat death of the universe.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.