🔗 Share this article This Household Personal Video Game of the Year Awards for 2025 So, how did you experience the past year in your household? Did it seem all as good as people post on online? Full of academic success for the children and riotous costume gatherings for the parents? Or perhaps it was a swamp of letdowns with only occasional enjoyable moments? And was any of it actually real, or is everyone now seven-fingered virtual entities with unrealistic smiles? I've corralled the family for a chat, whether they wanted to or not, to reflect on the crucial thing in a calendar year: which video games we enjoyed the most. So here goes: Title First Daughter Played the Most Pikmin "Why can't you pick just one?" "You can't expect my personal ranking." In the mobile realm, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "trying to find reasonable healthcare." "Digitally?" "In real life." Game Middle Son Played the Most Overwatch "I refuse to play games on my phone." He was offended that I even asked. Fair enough. Title Third Daughter Played the Most Resident Evil Biohazard She is trying to get into theatre school, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was playing Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where the Shark has a thriving utopia with significantly better healthcare than her big sister has in the real world. Release the Partner Played the Most Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time She began the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins. Game I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing Minecraft Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he protests, I reply that I am doing this to build character so he can grow up and play games for mature audiences. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship. Most Skilled Gaming Family Member 2025 Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 She was the clear winner for this one. She is incredible. Superior than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime. Game I Played the Most Marvel Snap It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this insanely well-crafted card game wizard’s poker, with its regularly updated 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 have a moment of clarity and understand it is all just an attempt to lure you into compulsion-based microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it was deleted. Game I Wish I Had Played More Doom: The Dark Ages Excellent reinvention of a iconic franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the start. I wish I could dispatch my issues so effectively in real life. Title I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition) Blue Prince I decline to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just lacked the time or headspace to give it what it required earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the wee small hours after family time. Title That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It Balatro I know Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is remarkable. It just gets absolutely everything right. Crazy Poker is a wonderful concept, but the effects behind the different special cards are so inventive it has become a game I literally would play constantly. Combine that with the cleverness of the card design, and this is an true pinnacle of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it. Title I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising Outer Worlds 2 I experienced a wave of criticism when I critiqued how a technical issue in another game soured 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 slogging through 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 appreciate the effort, and he is obviously an astute judge of character. Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get Hollow Knight: Silksong Sure. Give me a bastard-hard exploration-focused thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". How delightful. I get that it has great art and is flawless if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my adulthood. I was around back when most games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many outdated things. Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025 Debate between corporate partnerships that sparked debate, and premium pricing. Both ethically dubious 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 sound good names bellowed from the garden at dinner 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 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 end of days. Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036 The Witcher 4.