Our Diamond Family Unofficial Gaming of the Year List for The Past Year
Alright, how did you experience 2025 in your home? Could it be described as all as good as people post on Facebook? Full of top marks for your offspring and wild costume birthday parties for the grownups? Or perhaps it was a swamp of frustration with only rare enjoyable highlights? Could any part be actually real, or are we all seven-fingered AI slop beings with unrealistic smiles?
I have gathered my thoughts together, whether they wanted to or not, to discuss the most important thing in a calendar year: which video games we enjoyed the most. Without further ado:
Title Oldest Daughter Played the Most
Horizon Zero Dawn
"Why can't you pick just one?"
"You can't expect my games column."
In the mobile realm, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "trying to find decent healthcare."
"In the game?"
"In real life."
Title Middle Son Played the Most
Overwatch
"I don’t play games on my phone." He was offended that I even asked. Fair enough.
Game Youngest Daughter Played the Most
Resident Evil Biohazard
She's attempting to get into drama school, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with far better healthcare than her big sister has in the real world.
Title the Spouse Played the Most
Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time
She started the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.
Title I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing
Minecraft
Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he complains, I reply that I am behaving this way to prepare him so he can mature and play games for adults. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.
Most Skilled Gaming Family Member This Year
Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024
There was no contest for this one. She is unstoppable. More impressive 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 card game 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 endlessly add to their range is you wake up one day and realise it is all just an attempt to trap you with fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.
Game I Wish I Had Played More
Doom: The Dark Ages
Glorious reinvention of a legendary franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the off. I wish I could deal with my problems so effectively in real life.
Game I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)
Blue Prince
I decline to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just didn’t have the time or headspace to give it what it needed earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after family time.
Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It
Balatro
I'm aware Balatro was 2024’s sleeper hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is remarkable. It just gets absolutely everything right. Its gameplay loop is a wonderful concept, but the abilities behind the different wild cards are so imaginative it has become a game I literally would play at any hour. Add in the wittiness of the card design, and this is an definite high-water mark of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.
Game I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising
Outer Worlds 2
I experienced a wave of criticism when I wrote about how a specific bug in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I valued even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the commenter who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I present that verbatim, because I acknowledge the engagement, and they are obviously an astute 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". What a joy. I acknowledge that it is beautiful and is ideal if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my mid-fifties. I was around back when most 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 Scandal of 2025
Toss-up between business deals that raised eyebrows, and expensive game releases. Both morally indefensible and unpleasant.
Games I Would Name My Children After, If I Was Ever Crazy 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. Seriously. I don’t know if it’s because of button mashing or endless scrolling, but it is sore like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after 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 make 2026 last until the heat death of the universe.
Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036
The Witcher 4.
