The Household Personal Game of the Year Awards for This Year

Well, how did you experience 2025 in your household? Was it truly wonderful as people post on online? Overflowing with academic success for the children and elaborate dress-up celebrations for the parents? Or perhaps it was a ocean of disappointment with only occasional entertaining flotsam? Is any of this authentic, or are we all AI-generated virtual entities with unrealistic dental work?

I have gathered the family for a chat, ready or not, to discuss the paramount thing in twelve months: what titles we enjoyed the most. Let's get started:

Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my games column."

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

"In the game?"

"In real life."

Game Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. I respect that.

Title Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into drama school, but when she took a break from vocals, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her character has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her big sister has outside the game.

Title the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at 60% completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins.

Release I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he objects, I reply that I am behaving this way to prepare him so he can be a man and play games for grownups. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Notable Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is a machine. 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 insanely well-crafted card game digital pastime, with its ever-changing range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that frequently update their range is you wake up one day and realise 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.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a legendary franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the off. I wish I could dispatch my problems so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I'm unwilling to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just didn’t have the focused attention to give it what it needed earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I will be playing 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 breakout game, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is remarkable. It just gets each element right. Crazy Poker is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different joker cards are so imaginative it has become a game I would happily play any time. Combine that with the wittiness of the card design, and this is an true pinnacle of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Title I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a minor pile-on when I mentioned how a specific bug in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I valued even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the reader who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I present that as written, because I acknowledge the engagement, and they are obviously an excellent judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a punishingly tough Metroidvania-esque thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". How delightful. I acknowledge that it looks ace and is flawless if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my mid-fifties. I was around back when many games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was fine when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Debate between questionable alliances that sparked debate, and premium pricing. Both difficult to justify and unpleasant.

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 bellowed from the doorstep at dinner time.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. Honestly. I don’t know if it’s because of button mashing or phone use, but it burns like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after 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 end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.