🔗 Share this article The Household Personal Gaming of the Year List for This Year So, how did you experience the past year in your home? Could it be described as entirely positive as you pretended on social media? Packed with academic success for your offspring and wild costume gatherings for the parents? Maybe it felt like a sea of disappointment with only rare enjoyable moments? Could any part be genuine, or have we all become AI-generated virtual entities with perfect teeth? I've corralled the family together, whether they wanted to or not, to reflect on the crucial thing in a calendar year: what titles we enjoyed the most. So here goes: Game First Daughter Played the Most Pikmin "Can’t you pick just one?" "This isn't my personal ranking." In the mobile realm, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "attempting to locate reasonable healthcare." "In the game?" "In reality." Release Second Son Played the Most Overwatch "I don’t play games on my phone." He was offended that the question was posed. Fair enough. Game Third Daughter Played the Most Resident Evil Biohazard Her goal is to get into drama school, but when she took a break from vocals, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with significantly better healthcare than her eldest sister has in the real world. Title the Wife Played the Most Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time She started 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 unscrew pins. Release I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing Minecraft Every time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he protests, I reply that I am behaving this way to build character so he can grow up and play games for adults. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship. Most Skilled Gaming Family Member of the Year Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 She was the clear winner for this one. She is unstoppable. Superior than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime. Game I Played the Most Marvel Snap Nothing came close to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted card game competitive game, 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 understand it is all just an attempt to lure you into compulsion-based microtransactions. So enjoyment soured halfway through the year and it was deleted. Title I Wish I Had Played More Doom: The Dark Ages Excellent reinvention of a legendary franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could deal with my problems so effectively in real life. Title I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition) Blue Prince I'm unwilling to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just lacked the focused attention to give it what it needed earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I will be playing this in the wee small hours after family time. Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It Balatro I'm aware Balatro was last year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is incredible. It just gets absolutely everything right. Crazy Poker is a wonderful concept, but the powers behind the different special cards are so imaginative it has become a game I literally would play any time. Combine that with the wittiness of the card design, and this is an definite high-water mark of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it. Game I Got the Most Flak For Criticising Outer Worlds 2 I endured a bit of backlash when I critiqued how a technical issue in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of production values – 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 "poorly reasoned". I present that in the exact way, because I acknowledge the engagement, and they are obviously an sharp judge of character. Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get Hollow Knight: Silksong Alright. Give me a punishingly tough non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". Great fun. I acknowledge that it looks ace and is ideal if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my mid-fifties. I was around back when all games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many outdated things. Biggest Gaming News of 2025 Toss-up between corporate partnerships that sparked debate, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify and repugnant. Games I Would Name My Children After, Were I I Was Ever Stupid Enough to Have More Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names bellowed from the back door 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 doomscrolling, but it burns like anything 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 make 2026 last until the end of days. Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036 The Witcher 4.