This Household Personal Video Game of the Year Roundup for 2025

So, what did you think of 2025 in your household? Was it all as good as you pretended on Facebook? Overflowing with top marks for the children and elaborate themed fancy dress birthday parties for the parents? Or was it a ocean of letdowns with only rare fun highlights? And was any of it genuine, or is everyone now digitally altered synthetic personas with celebrity smiles?

I have gathered everyone for a reflection, ready or not, to reflect on the most important thing in a calendar year: which video games we played the most. So here goes:

Release Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"This isn't my personal ranking."

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

"In the game?"

"In real life."

Release Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I refuse to play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. Point taken.

Release Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting 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 avatar has a successful utopia with significantly better healthcare than her eldest sister has in real life.

Release the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at sixty percent 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.

Game I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Whenever I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he complains, I reply that I am doing this to toughen him up so he can be a man and play games for grownups. It’s a very Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Notable Gaming Family Member 2025

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

It wasn't even close for this one. She is unstoppable. Superior than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

No other game compared to the hours I spent on this exceptionally well-crafted deck building digital pastime, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The worst thing about games that endlessly add to their range is you eventually realize and see it is all just an attempt to lure you into 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 classic franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could dispatch my demons so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just lacked the focused attention to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was last year's breakout game, but I was a late adopter. And it is exceptional. It just gets each element right. Crazy Poker is a wonderful concept, but the abilities behind the different joker cards are so imaginative it has become a game I could play any time. Throw in 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 minor pile-on when I wrote about how a glitch in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I appreciated even more after experiencing 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 appreciate the effort, and they are obviously an excellent judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. Give me a punishingly tough exploration-focused thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". What a joy. I get that it is beautiful and is ideal if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my adulthood. I was around back when many games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was okay when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Toss-up between corporate partnerships that caused concern, 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 make interesting names bellowed from the back door at tea time.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. No joke. I don’t know if it’s because of console gaming or endless scrolling, but it burns 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.