🔗 Share this article This Household Unofficial Gaming of the Year Awards for This Year Alright, how did you experience this year in your family? Could it be described as truly wonderful as you pretended on online? Overflowing with top marks for the children and riotous dress-up gatherings for the adults? Maybe it felt like a sea of letdowns with only sporadic entertaining highlights? Is any of this authentic, or is everyone now seven-fingered AI slop beings with celebrity smiles? I've assembled my thoughts for a chat, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the paramount thing in a calendar year: which releases we were obsessed with the most. Let's get started: Release Eldest Daughter Played the Most Horizon Zero Dawn "Can’t you pick just one?" "It’s not my games column." On her phone, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "searching for adequate healthcare." "Digitally?" "In reality." Title Middle Son Played the Most Overwatch "I don’t play games on my phone." He was offended that I suggested it. Point taken. Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most Resident Evil Biohazard Her goal is to get into theatre school, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was playing Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her character has a blooming utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her big sister has in the real world. Game the Spouse Played the Most Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time She began the year at sixty percent 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 unscrew pins. Game I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing Minecraft Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he protests, 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 Skilled Gaming Family Member 2025 Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 It wasn't even close for this one. She is incredible. Even better 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 insanely well-crafted deck building 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 have a moment of clarity and understand it is all just an attempt to suck you into compulsion-based microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it was deleted. Game I Wish I Had Played More Doom: The Dark Ages Stunning reinvention of a iconic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the beginning. 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 decline to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it needed earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after family time. Title That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It Balatro I acknowledge Balatro was 2024’s breakout game, but I was a late adopter. And it is remarkable. It just gets each element right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the effects behind the different joker cards are so imaginative it has become a game I could play constantly. Add in the wittiness of the card design, and this is an definite peak of gaming. I fantasize about 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 wave of criticism when I critiqued how a glitch in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive 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 commenter who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I share that in the exact way, because I acknowledge the engagement, and he is obviously an astute judge of character. Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get Hollow Knight: Silksong Sure. Give me a brutally difficult non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". 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 desire less in my current stage of life. I was around back when many games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was okay when I was a kid, but so was many outdated things. Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025 Debate 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 Foolish Enough to Have More Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names bellowed from the back door 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 endless scrolling, but it aches like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after 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 end of days. Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036 The Witcher 4.