🔗 Share this article Our Diamond Family Alternative Gaming of the Year Awards for 2025 Alright, what did you think of the past year in your family? Was it all as good as you pretended on social media? Full of academic success for the children and riotous costume gatherings for the parents? Or perhaps it was a swamp of letdowns with only sporadic fun flotsam? Is any of this authentic, or are we all AI-generated virtual entities with unrealistic teeth? I've corralled the family for a reflection, willing or unwilling, to reflect on the paramount thing in a calendar year: what titles we enjoyed the most. So here goes: Release Eldest Daughter Played the Most Pikmin "Is it impossible to pick just one?" "This isn't my definitive list." Meanwhile, on mobile, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "attempting to locate adequate healthcare." "In the game?" "In real life." Title Middle Son Played the Most Overwatch "I have no interest in games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. I respect that. Title Youngest 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 tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where the Shark has a blooming utopia with significantly better healthcare than her big sister has in real life. Game the Spouse Played the Most Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time She began the year at 60% completion and ended it at 82%. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins. Game I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing Minecraft Any time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I rib 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 grownups. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship. Most Notable Gaming Family Member 2025 Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 It wasn't even close for this one. She is incredible. Superior than I was at classic rhythm games 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 digital pastime, with its ever-changing range of cards and game variations. Game 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 trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So enjoyment soured halfway through the year and it was deleted. Game I Wish I Had Played More Doom: The Dark Ages Excellent reinvention of a legendary franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the off. I wish I could deal with my problems so effectively in real life. Title I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition) Blue Prince I refuse to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just lacked the mental bandwidth to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the early morning after appropriate hospitality. Game That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It Balatro I know Balatro was 2024’s sleeper hit, but I was late to it. And it is incredible. It just gets each element right. The core concept is a fantastic concept, but the effects behind the different joker cards are so imaginative it has become a game I could play constantly. Throw in the charm of the card design, and this is an definite high-water mark 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 Backlash For Criticising Outer Worlds 2 I experienced a wave of criticism when I wrote about how a specific bug in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I valued even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the individual who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I present that verbatim, because I respect the passion, and they are obviously an excellent judge of character. Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get Hollow Knight: Silksong Alright. Give me a punishingly tough non-linear thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". What a joy. I understand that it has great art and is perfection if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my mid-fifties. I was around back when most 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 Toss-up between corporate partnerships that caused concern, and expensive game releases. Both ethically dubious and unpleasant. 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 back door at tea time. Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming Right Thumb Joint. Seriously. I don’t know if it’s because of video games or endless scrolling, but it aches like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured 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 end of days. Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036 The Witcher 4.