This Household Unofficial Video Game of the Year Awards for This Year

So, how was 2025 in your home? Was it truly wonderful as you pretended on online? Overflowing with A-grades for the kids and riotous costume gatherings for the grownups? Or perhaps it was a swamp of letdowns with only rare fun moments? Could any part be genuine, or have we all become digitally altered synthetic personas with unrealistic smiles?

I've corralled everyone together, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the paramount thing in any given year: which video games we were obsessed with the most. So here goes:

Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

On her phone, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "trying to find adequate healthcare."

"Digitally?"

"In reality."

Game Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. I respect that.

Game Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into theatre school, but when she took a break from vocals, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with significantly better healthcare than her eldest sister has in real life.

Title the Partner Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at 82%. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins.

Game 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 objects, I reply that I am behaving this way to build character so he can grow up and play games for grownups. It's a classic 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. Even better 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 card game competitive game, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

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

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a legendary franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could dispatch my issues so effectively in real life.

Game 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 time or headspace to give it what it needed earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the late night after evening drinks.

Game That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was last year's breakout game, 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 joker cards are so creative it has become a game I literally would play constantly. Add in the wittiness of the card design, and this is an absolute high-water mark 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.

Title I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a bit of backlash when I critiqued how a glitch in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I appreciated even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the individual who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I present that verbatim, because I acknowledge the engagement, and she is obviously an sharp judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a brutally difficult non-linear thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". Great fun. I understand that it is beautiful and is perfection if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my adulthood. I was around back when most games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was okay when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Debate between corporate partnerships that raised eyebrows, and expensive game releases. Both ethically dubious and repugnant.

Games I Would Name My Children After, Were I I Was Ever Crazy 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 video games or doomscrolling, but it is sore 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 stretch time until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.