This Household Unofficial Gaming of the Year List for 2025

Well, how did you experience this year in your household? Was it truly wonderful as you pretended on Facebook? Overflowing with A-grades for the children and elaborate themed fancy dress celebrations for the parents? Or was it a ocean of letdowns with only occasional entertaining highlights? Is any of this authentic, or have we all become digitally altered AI slop beings with perfect dental work?

I've corralled my thoughts together, ready or not, to debate the crucial thing in any given year: what titles we enjoyed the most. Let's get started:

Release Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"This isn't my personal ranking."

In the mobile realm, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "trying to find decent healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In reality."

Game Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that I even asked. Point taken.

Release Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into theatre school, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her avatar has a successful utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her eldest sister 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 ended it at eighty-two percent. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins.

Title I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Whenever I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he complains, I reply that I am doing this to toughen him up so he can be a man and play games for mature audiences. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Notable Gaming Family Member of the Year

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

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.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The catch about games that frequently update their range is you eventually realize and realise it is all just an attempt to lure you into compulsion-based 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 eviscerate my problems so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition)

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this stunning, original game and I just didn’t have the focused attention to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the early morning after family time.

Game That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was late to it. And it is incredible. It just gets each element right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the effects behind the different wild cards are so inventive it has become a game I would happily play at any hour. Add in the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute pinnacle of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Game I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a minor pile-on when I critiqued how a technical issue 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 recognized even more after experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the reader who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I mention that in the exact way, because I respect the passion, and she is obviously an excellent judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. Give me a brutally difficult Metroidvania-esque thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". How delightful. I understand that it has great art and is flawless if you are into the genre, 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 I’ve had enough. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but so was many outdated things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Close call between corporate partnerships that caused concern, and premium pricing. Both ethically dubious 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 make interesting names bellowed from the doorstep at bedtime.

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 doomscrolling, but it burns like the mines of sulphur 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 stretch time until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.