🔗 Share this article This Dominik Diamond Alternative Game of the Year List for The Past Year Well, how was 2025 in your home? Could it be described as all as good as you pretended on online? Packed with A-grades for your offspring and riotous dress-up gatherings for the adults? Or perhaps it was a swamp of letdowns with only occasional entertaining highlights? Is any of this actually real, or is everyone now AI-generated AI slop beings with celebrity smiles? I've corralled my thoughts for a reflection, ready or not, to reflect on the crucial thing in any given year: what titles we were obsessed with the most. Let's get started: Game Eldest Daughter Played the Most Pikmin "Can’t you pick just one?" "It’s not my definitive list." Meanwhile, on mobile, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "searching for adequate healthcare." "Virtually?" "In the actual world." Game Second Son Played the Most Overwatch "I refuse to play games on my phone." He was offended that I even asked. Fair enough. Release Third Daughter Played the Most Resident Evil Biohazard She's attempting to get into theatre school, but when she wasn’t singing, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where the Shark has a thriving utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her eldest sister has in the real world. Title the Partner Played the Most Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time She began the year at 60% completion and finished the year at 82%. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins. Release I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing Minecraft Any time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time 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 Impressive Gaming Family Member of the Year Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 It wasn't even close for this one. She is a machine. Even better 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 regularly updated range of cards and game variations. Title I Wish I Had Played Less Marvel Snap The catch about games that frequently update their range is you have a moment of clarity and understand it is all just an attempt to lure you into fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it went into the bin. Game I Wish I Had Played More Doom: The Dark Ages Glorious reinvention of a legendary franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the off. I wish I could deal with my problems so effectively in real life. Game I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition) Blue Prince I decline to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just lacked the mental bandwidth to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the late night after family time. Game That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It Balatro I'm aware Balatro was 2024’s breakout game, but I was a late adopter. And it is incredible. It just gets absolutely everything right. Crazy Poker is a brilliant concept, but the powers behind the different joker 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 definite peak of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it. Game I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising Outer Worlds 2 I endured a wave of criticism when I wrote about how a glitch 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 thank you to the reader who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I share that verbatim, because I appreciate the effort, and he is obviously an excellent judge of character. Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get Hollow Knight: Silksong Fine. Give me a bastard-hard exploration-focused thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". How delightful. I get that it looks ace and is ideal if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my current stage of life. I was around back when many games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was okay when I was a kid, but so was many outdated things. Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025 Toss-up between questionable alliances that raised eyebrows, and high launch costs. Both morally indefensible 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 be unique names shouted from the doorstep 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 console gaming or doomscrolling, but it burns like anything 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 stretch time until the cows come home. Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036 The Witcher 4.