🔗 Share this article The Household Alternative Video Game of the Year Awards for The Past Year So, what did you think of 2025 in your home? Did it seem entirely positive as people post on Facebook? Overflowing with academic success for your offspring and wild costume birthday parties for the grownups? Or was it a ocean of frustration with only sporadic enjoyable flotsam? Is any of this actually real, or are we all seven-fingered synthetic personas with perfect teeth? I've assembled everyone together, ready or not, to discuss the paramount thing in twelve months: which releases we played the most. Let's get started: Release First Daughter Played the Most Pikmin "Why can't you pick just one?" "You can't expect my games column." Meanwhile, on mobile, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "trying to find decent healthcare." "In the game?" "In reality." Title Middle Son Played the Most Overwatch "I refuse to play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. Fair enough. Release Third Daughter Played the Most Resident Evil Biohazard She is trying to get into drama school, but when she wasn’t singing, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her character has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her big sister has in real life. Release the Spouse Played the Most Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time She began the year at sixty percent 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 extract pins. Title I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing Minecraft Every time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he complains, I reply that I am behaving this way to toughen him up so he can grow up and play games for mature audiences. It’s a very Scottish father/son relationship. Most Impressive Gaming Family Member of the Year Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 She was the clear winner for this one. She is a machine. Superior than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime. Title I Played the Most Marvel Snap No other game compared to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted card game digital pastime, with its constantly evolving 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 wake up one day and realise it is all just an attempt to suck you into compulsion-based microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it went into the bin. Title I Wish I Had Played More Doom: The Dark Ages Excellent reinvention of a iconic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the start. I wish I could deal with my issues so effectively in real life. Game I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition) Blue Prince I'm unwilling to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just lacked the mental bandwidth to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the wee small hours after appropriate hospitality. Game That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It Balatro I know Balatro was last year's sleeper hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is remarkable. It just gets each element right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant 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 cleverness of the card design, and this is an true peak of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it. Title I Got the Most Flak For Criticising Outer Worlds 2 I endured a minor pile-on when I mentioned how a glitch in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I appreciated even more after experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the individual who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I present that in the exact way, because I acknowledge the engagement, and he is obviously an sharp judge of character. Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get Hollow Knight: Silksong Fine. Give me a bastard-hard non-linear thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". Great fun. I understand that it looks ace and is flawless if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my mid-fifties. I was around back when many games were like this, and I'm over it. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many questionable things. Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025 Close call between questionable alliances that raised eyebrows, 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 shouted from the doorstep 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 phone use, but it burns like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured back in the day. 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.