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Alright, what did you think of the past year in your family? Was it all as good as people post on Facebook? Full of A-grades for the children and riotous dress-up birthday parties for the grownups? Or perhaps it was a swamp of frustration with only rare enjoyable flotsam? Is any of this authentic, or is everyone now AI-generated virtual entities with celebrity dental work?

I've corralled everyone for a chat, willing or unwilling, to debate the paramount thing in any given year: which video games we played the most. Let's get started:

Release First Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my personal ranking."

In the mobile realm, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "attempting to locate adequate healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In reality."

Title Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I refuse to play games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. Fair enough.

Game Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into acting, but when she took a break from vocals, she was playing Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her avatar has a thriving utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her big sister has in the real world.

Title the Wife Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at 60% completion and ended it at 82%. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Release I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time 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 mature audiences. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Impressive Gaming Family Member 2025

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

It wasn't even close for this one. She is incredible. Superior than I was at my peak gaming days 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 strategy digital pastime, with its ever-changing range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that endlessly add to their range is you wake up one day and understand it is all just an attempt to trap you with fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Excellent reinvention of a iconic franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the start. I wish I could dispatch 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 deserved earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is incredible. It just gets every single thing right. Crazy Poker is a wonderful concept, but the abilities behind the different joker cards are so imaginative it has become a game I would happily play any time. Add in the charm of the card design, and this is an definite pinnacle of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.

Title I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced 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 massive gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I valued even more after slogging through 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 "missing the point". I mention that verbatim, because I acknowledge the engagement, and he is obviously an excellent judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a brutally difficult exploration-focused thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". How delightful. I understand that it looks ace and is flawless if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my adulthood. I was around back when many games were like this, and I'm over it. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Debate between business deals that raised eyebrows, and high launch costs. Both morally indefensible 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 called 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 button mashing or phone use, but it aches like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs protected 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.