🔗 Share this article The Household Alternative Game of the Year List for The Past Year Alright, how was the past year in your home? Was it truly wonderful as one might claim on social media? Overflowing with academic success for your offspring and riotous dress-up celebrations for the adults? Or perhaps it was a sea of disappointment with only sporadic enjoyable flotsam? Is any of this genuine, or have we all become AI-generated virtual entities with perfect teeth? I've corralled the family for a chat, ready or not, to reflect on the most important thing in a calendar year: which video games we enjoyed the most. Without further ado: Release First Daughter Played the Most Horizon Zero Dawn "Is it impossible to pick just one?" "This isn't my games column." In the mobile realm, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "attempting to locate reasonable healthcare." "Digitally?" "In reality." Title Second Son Played the Most Overwatch "I don’t play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that I even asked. Fair enough. Release Third Daughter Played the Most Resident Evil Biohazard She's attempting to get into acting, but when she took a break from vocals, she was playing Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where the Shark has a successful utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her older sibling has outside the game. Title the Spouse Played the Most Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time She began the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins. Title I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing Minecraft Whenever I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he objects, I reply that I am behaving this way to toughen him up so he can grow up and play games for adults. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship. Most Impressive Gaming Family Member 2025 Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 It wasn't even close for this one. She is incredible. 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 remarkably well-crafted deck building digital pastime, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations. Game I Wish I Had Played Less Marvel Snap The catch about games that endlessly add to their range is you have a moment of clarity and realise it is all just an attempt to suck you into fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it was deleted. Title I Wish I Had Played More Doom: The Dark Ages Stunning reinvention of a legendary franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the off. I wish I could eviscerate my issues so effectively in real life. Game I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition) Blue Prince I refuse to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just didn’t have the time or headspace to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the early morning after evening drinks. Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It Balatro I know Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is incredible. It just gets every single thing right. Crazy Poker is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different wild cards are so creative it has become a game I literally would play constantly. Add in the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute peak of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it. Game I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising Outer Worlds 2 I received a wave of criticism when I critiqued how a specific bug in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I valued even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the reader who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I mention that in the exact way, because I appreciate the effort, and they are obviously an sharp judge of character. Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get Hollow Knight: Silksong Fine. Give me a brutally difficult non-linear thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". How delightful. I understand 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 so was many less comfortable things. Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025 Debate between business deals that caused concern, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify and concerning. Games I Would Name My Children After, If I Was Ever Stupid Enough to Have More Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all be unique names shouted from the garden at tea time. Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming Right Thumb Joint. Honestly. I don’t know if it’s because of button mashing or phone use, but it aches like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs protected 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 cows come home. Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036 The Witcher 4.