🔗 Share this article This Dominik Diamond Personal Game of the Year List for 2025 So, how was the past year in your household? Did it seem truly wonderful as one might claim on online? Overflowing with A-grades for the children and riotous themed fancy dress celebrations for the grownups? Maybe it felt like a swamp of frustration with only sporadic fun highlights? And was any of it actually real, or are we all AI-generated virtual entities with perfect dental work? I have gathered my thoughts for a reflection, whether they wanted to or not, to discuss the crucial thing in twelve months: which video games we played the most. So here goes: Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most Pikmin "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 Second Son Played the Most Overwatch "I refuse to play games on my phone." He was offended that the question was posed. Point taken. Title Third Daughter Played the Most Resident Evil Biohazard She is trying 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 achievements on The Sims, where her avatar has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her eldest sister has in the real world. Title the Spouse Played the Most Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time She started the year at 60% completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: 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 rib him like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he objects, I reply that I am doing this to prepare him so he can mature and play games for grownups. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship. Most Skilled Gaming Family Member of the Year Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 It wasn't even close for this one. She is unstoppable. Superior than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime. Title I Played the Most Marvel Snap It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this exceptionally well-crafted strategy competitive game, with its ever-changing range of cards and game variations. Game I Wish I Had Played Less Marvel Snap The worst thing about games that constantly evolve their range is you have a moment of clarity and realise it is all just an attempt to trap you with fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it got uninstalled. Title I Wish I Had Played More Doom: The Dark Ages Stunning reinvention of a iconic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the start. I wish I could deal with my demons 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 mental bandwidth to give it what it needed earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the early morning after evening drinks. Game That Kept Me Sane 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 absolutely everything right. Its gameplay loop is a wonderful concept, but the abilities behind the different joker cards are so imaginative it has become a game I could play at any hour. Add in the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute pinnacle of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a broken-down lift for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it. Game I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising Outer Worlds 2 I received a minor pile-on when I critiqued how a technical issue in another game soured 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 experiencing 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 share that in the exact way, because I appreciate the effort, and she is obviously an astute 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 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 current stage of life. I was around back when many games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was fine when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many less comfortable things. Biggest Gaming News of 2025 Debate between corporate partnerships that caused concern, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify 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 bellowed from the back door at bedtime. 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 the mines of sulphur 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 wait patiently until the heat death of the universe. Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036 The Witcher 4.