🔗 Share this article This Diamond Family Unofficial Game of the Year Roundup for The Past Year So, how did you experience 2025 in your household? Could it be described as entirely positive as people post on Facebook? Full of A-grades for your offspring and wild themed fancy dress gatherings for the grownups? Or perhaps it was a ocean of disappointment with only sporadic entertaining highlights? Is any of this genuine, or have we all become AI-generated virtual entities with unrealistic smiles? I have gathered everyone for a chat, ready or not, to reflect on the crucial thing in a calendar year: what titles we enjoyed the most. Without further ado: Title Eldest Daughter Played the Most Just Dance 2024 "Why can't you pick just one?" "This isn't my personal ranking." On her phone, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "trying to find decent healthcare." "Digitally?" "In reality." Release Middle Son Played the Most Overwatch "I have no interest in games on my phone." He seemed insulted that I even asked. I respect that. Title Third Daughter Played the Most Resident Evil Biohazard Her goal is to get into acting, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where the Shark has a successful utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her older sibling 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 82%. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins. Game I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing Minecraft Every time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he complains, I reply that I am engaging in this to prepare him so he can mature and play games for grownups. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship. Most Notable Gaming Family Member 2025 Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 There was no contest for this one. She is incredible. More impressive than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime. Title I Played the Most Marvel Snap Nothing came close to the hours I spent on this insanely well-crafted strategy wizard’s poker, with its ever-changing range of cards and game variations. Title I Wish I Had Played Less Marvel Snap The downside about games that endlessly add to their range is you eventually realize and see it is all just an attempt to suck you into fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it went into the bin. Game I Wish I Had Played More Doom: The Dark Ages Excellent reinvention of a iconic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the off. I wish I could eviscerate my demons so effectively in real life. Title I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition) Blue Prince I decline to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just lacked the focused attention to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the early morning after family time. Title That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It Balatro I know Balatro was the previous year's surprise hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is incredible. It just gets every single thing right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the powers behind the different joker cards are so creative it has become a game I could play any time. Combine that with the wittiness of the card design, and this is an absolute pinnacle of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it. Game I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising Outer Worlds 2 I experienced a minor pile-on when I critiqued how a specific bug in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal 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 write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I share that in the exact way, because I respect the passion, and they are obviously an excellent judge of character. Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get Hollow Knight: Silksong Fine. Give me a punishingly tough non-linear thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". How delightful. I acknowledge that it is beautiful 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 adulthood. I was around back when many games were like this, and I'm over it. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many less comfortable things. Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025 Toss-up between corporate partnerships that raised eyebrows, and high launch costs. Both ethically dubious and concerning. 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 shouted from the doorstep at bedtime. Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming Right Thumb Joint. No joke. I don’t know if it’s because of button mashing or endless scrolling, but it aches like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured back in the past. 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.