This Household Alternative Gaming of the Year List for 2025
Alright, what did you think of 2025 in your home? Did it seem all as good as one might claim on social media? Overflowing with A-grades for the children and elaborate themed fancy dress gatherings for the grownups? Or was it a swamp of frustration with only occasional enjoyable highlights? Could any part be authentic, or are we all digitally altered AI slop beings with unrealistic dental work?
I've assembled the family for a chat, ready or not, to discuss the crucial thing in a calendar year: what titles we enjoyed the most. Without further ado:
Release Eldest Daughter Played the Most
Horizon Zero Dawn
"Why can't you pick just one?"
"This isn't my games column."
Meanwhile, on mobile, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "searching for decent healthcare."
"Virtually?"
"In the actual world."
Game Middle Son Played the Most
Overwatch
"I don’t 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 acting, but when she stepped away from the mic, 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 eldest sister has in the real world.
Release the Wife Played the Most
Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time
She began the year at sixty percent completion and finished the year at eighty-two percent. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.
Game I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing
Minecraft
Whenever 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 mature and play games for adults. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.
Most Notable Gaming Family Member of the Year
Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024
It wasn't even close for this one. She is incredible. Even better than I was at my peak gaming days in my prime.
Title I Played the Most
Marvel Snap
No other game compared to the hours I spent on this remarkably well-crafted deck building competitive game, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.
Title I Wish I Had Played Less
Marvel Snap
The worst thing about games that frequently update their range is you wake up one day and realise it is all just an attempt to lure you into fomo-fuelled microtransactions. So enjoyment soured halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.
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 decline to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it required earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the late night after family time.
Title That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It
Balatro
I'm aware Balatro was 2024’s sleeper hit, but I was late to it. And it is incredible. It just gets absolutely everything right. Its gameplay loop is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different special cards are so imaginative it has become a game I would happily play any time. Combine that with the cleverness of the card design, and this is an definite pinnacle of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a broken-down lift 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 minor pile-on when I wrote about how a specific bug in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I appreciated even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the reader who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I present that as written, because I respect the passion, and he is obviously an excellent judge of character.
Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Alright. Give me a brutally difficult exploration-focused thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". Great fun. I understand that it is beautiful and is perfection if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my mid-fifties. I was around back when many games were like this, and I'm over it. It was okay when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.
Biggest Gaming News of 2025
Debate between business deals that sparked debate, and premium pricing. Both ethically dubious and repugnant.
Games I Would Name My Children After, If I Was Ever Foolish Enough to Have More
Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names called from the doorstep at dinner 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 hellfire 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 heat death of the universe.
Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036
The Witcher 4.
