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Alright, how was the past year in your household? Could it be described as truly wonderful as you pretended on Facebook? Overflowing with A-grades for the kids and elaborate themed fancy dress celebrations for the adults? Or perhaps it was a sea of disappointment with only occasional entertaining flotsam? And was any of it authentic, or is everyone now AI-generated AI slop beings with perfect teeth?

I've assembled everyone for a chat, willing or unwilling, to discuss the paramount thing in any given year: what titles we enjoyed the most. So here goes:

Game Eldest Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"This isn't my games column."

In the mobile realm, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "searching for reasonable healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In the actual world."

Title Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He took umbrage that I even asked. Fair enough.

Release Youngest 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 spoke at length in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her avatar has a thriving utopia with far better healthcare than her eldest sister has in the real world.

Game 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 marathon not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to remove 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 relentless heckler. When he complains, I reply that I am behaving this way to build character so he can grow up and play games for adults. 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. Even better than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted deck building wizard’s poker, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that frequently update their range is you eventually realize and see it is all just an attempt to suck you into compulsion-based microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a iconic franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the start. 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 beautiful, unique game and I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it needed earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was late to it. And it is exceptional. It just gets each element right. The core concept is a fantastic concept, but the effects behind the different special cards are so inventive it has become a game I would happily play at any hour. Throw in the cleverness of the card design, and this is an absolute pinnacle of gaming. I fantasize about 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 bit of backlash when I wrote about how a specific bug in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I recognized even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the commenter who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I share that verbatim, because I appreciate the effort, and she is obviously an astute judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a bastard-hard non-linear thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". Great fun. I get that it is beautiful and is ideal if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my adulthood. I was around back when most games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was okay when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Close call between corporate partnerships that caused concern, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify and repugnant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names bellowed from the garden at tea time.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. Seriously. I don’t know if it’s because of button mashing or doomscrolling, but it is sore like the mines of sulphur 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 stretch time until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.