🔗 Share this article The Household Personal Game of the Year List for 2025 Well, how did you experience this year in your home? Was it truly wonderful as one might claim on social media? Overflowing with top marks for your offspring and riotous dress-up birthday parties for the parents? Or was it a ocean of disappointment with only sporadic fun moments? And was any of it actually real, or is everyone now AI-generated virtual entities with unrealistic teeth? I've corralled everyone for a chat, willing or unwilling, to debate the paramount thing in any given year: which video games we played the most. So here goes: Game Eldest Daughter Played the Most Pikmin "Can’t you pick just one?" "You can't expect my personal ranking." Meanwhile, on mobile, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "attempting to locate reasonable healthcare." "Digitally?" "In the actual world." Title Second Son Played the Most Overwatch "I don’t play games on my phone." He was offended that I suggested it. Point taken. Release Third Daughter Played the Most Resident Evil Biohazard She is trying to get into theatre school, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where the Shark has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her big sister has in the real world. Title the Wife Played the Most Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time She began the year at 60% completion and finished the year at 82%. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins. Game I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing Minecraft Any time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he complains, I reply that I am engaging in this to prepare him so he can be a man and play games for adults. It’s a very Scottish father/son relationship. Most Skilled Gaming Family Member This Year Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 She was the clear winner for this one. She is unstoppable. Superior than I was at my peak gaming days in my prime. Game I Played the Most Marvel Snap Nothing came close 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 downside about games that frequently update their range is you wake up one day and realise it is all just an attempt to suck you into fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So enjoyment soured halfway through the year and it got uninstalled. Game I Wish I Had Played More Doom: The Dark Ages Stunning reinvention of a classic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the start. I wish I could eviscerate my demons so effectively in real life. Game I Wish I Had Played More (Puzzle-Focused Edition) Blue Prince I'm unwilling to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just was short on the focused attention to give it what it needed 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 acknowledge Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was late to it. And it is exceptional. It just gets each element right. Crazy Poker is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different joker cards are so imaginative it has become a game I literally would play constantly. Throw in the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute pinnacle of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a elevator 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 minor pile-on when I wrote about how a glitch in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I appreciated even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the individual 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 sharp judge of character. Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get Hollow Knight: Silksong Alright. Give me a punishingly tough Metroidvania-esque thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". Great fun. I understand that it is beautiful and is perfection if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my mid-fifties. I was around back when most games were like this, and I'm over it. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many outdated things. Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025 Toss-up between questionable alliances that sparked debate, and high launch costs. Both ethically dubious 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 sound good names shouted 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 video games or phone use, but it aches like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured 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.