🔗 Share this article This Household Personal Gaming of the Year Roundup for The Past Year Well, how was 2025 in your home? Was it truly wonderful as people post on online? Full of academic success for the kids and wild dress-up gatherings for the adults? Maybe it felt like a ocean of frustration with only sporadic enjoyable flotsam? Could any part be genuine, or have we all become seven-fingered AI slop beings with perfect teeth? I have gathered the family for a reflection, ready or not, to discuss the crucial thing in any given year: which releases we played the most. Without further ado: Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most Pikmin "Is it impossible to pick just one?" "It’s not my definitive list." Meanwhile, on mobile, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "searching for decent healthcare." "Digitally?" "In real life." Release Second Son Played the Most Overwatch "I don’t play games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. I respect that. 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 blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her big sister has in real life. Release 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 long haul not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins. Release I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing Minecraft Whenever I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he objects, I reply that I am doing this to toughen him up so he can mature and play games for grownups. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship. Most Impressive Gaming Family Member This Year Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 It wasn't even close for this one. She is a machine. More impressive than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix 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 insanely well-crafted strategy competitive game, with its regularly updated 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 trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So enjoyment soured halfway through the year and it went into the bin. Title I Wish I Had Played More Doom: The Dark Ages Excellent reinvention of a classic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could dispatch my problems so effectively in real life. Title I Wish I Had Played More (Puzzle-Focused Edition) Blue Prince I refuse to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just didn’t have the focused attention to give it what it required earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I will be playing this in the early morning after appropriate hospitality. Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It Balatro I know Balatro was 2024’s sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is incredible. It just gets every single thing right. Its gameplay loop is a fantastic concept, but the effects behind the different wild cards are so creative it has become a game I literally would play at any hour. Add in the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute peak 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 Backlash For Criticising Outer Worlds 2 I endured a wave of criticism when I wrote about how a specific bug in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I recognized even more after experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the individual who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I present that as written, because I acknowledge the engagement, and he is obviously an sharp judge of character. Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get Hollow Knight: Silksong Fine. Give me a bastard-hard non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". How delightful. I get that it is beautiful and is flawless if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my adulthood. I was around back when all games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things. Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025 Close call between corporate partnerships that sparked debate, and high launch costs. Both morally indefensible and repugnant. 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 called from the garden 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 doomscrolling, but it is sore like anything 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 wait patiently until the cows come home. Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036 The Witcher 4.