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

So, how was this year in your home? Did it seem all as good as you pretended on online? Packed with A-grades for the kids and elaborate costume birthday parties for the grownups? Maybe it felt like a sea of letdowns with only occasional fun highlights? And was any of it authentic, or have we all become seven-fingered AI slop beings with unrealistic dental work?

I have gathered my thoughts together, whether they wanted to or not, to discuss the most important thing in any given year: which releases we played the most. So here goes:

Release Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"It’s not my personal ranking."

In the mobile realm, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "searching for reasonable healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In real life."

Title Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. Fair enough.

Release Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into acting, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was playing Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her character has a blooming utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her eldest sister has in real life.

Game the Partner Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at 60% completion and finished the year at eighty-two percent. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.

Release I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a persistent critic. When he protests, I reply that I am engaging in this to prepare him so he can grow up 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 my peak gaming days in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

No other game compared to the hours I spent on this insanely well-crafted card game wizard’s poker, with its ever-changing range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The worst thing about games that constantly evolve their range is you have a moment of clarity and realise it is all just an attempt to trap you with fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it was deleted.

Title I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Glorious reinvention of a legendary franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the off. I wish I could eviscerate my issues so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Puzzle-Focused Edition)

Blue Prince

I'm unwilling to rush this stunning, original game and I just lacked the focused attention to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the early morning after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is exceptional. It just gets every single thing right. Crazy Poker is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different wild cards are so imaginative it has become a game I literally would play constantly. Combine that with the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute peak of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Game I Got the Most Flak For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a wave of criticism when I wrote about how a technical issue in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I recognized even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the commenter who took the time to write in 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 excellent judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a brutally difficult Metroidvania-esque thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". What a joy. I acknowledge that it has great art and is flawless if you are into this kind of thing, 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 my patience is gone. It was okay when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Close call between corporate partnerships that raised eyebrows, and expensive game releases. 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 make interesting names bellowed from the garden 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 protected 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 make 2026 last until the heat death of the universe.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.