Our Diamond Family Alternative Video Game of the Year Roundup for This Year
Alright, how did you experience 2025 in your household? Did it seem truly wonderful as you pretended on online? Packed with A-grades for your offspring and wild dress-up birthday parties for the grownups? Or was it a ocean of frustration with only occasional entertaining highlights? And was any of it actually real, or is everyone now digitally altered virtual entities with perfect dental work?
I've corralled my thoughts for a reflection, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the paramount thing in twelve months: which releases we were obsessed with the most. Without further ado:
Release Oldest Daughter Played the Most
Pikmin
"Canât you pick just one?"
"This isn't my personal ranking."
Meanwhile, on mobile, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "searching for adequate healthcare."
"Digitally?"
"In reality."
Game Second Son Played the Most
Overwatch
"I refuse to play games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. Point taken.
Release Youngest Daughter Played the Most
Resident Evil Biohazard
She's attempting to get into acting, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was playing Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where the Shark has a thriving utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her older sibling has in the real world.
Game the Partner Played the Most
Crash Bandicoot: Itâs About Time
She started the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.
Game I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing
Minecraft
Every time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he protests, I reply that I am doing this to toughen him up so he can be a man and play games for grownups. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.
Most Impressive Gaming Family Member This Year
Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024
She was the clear winner for this one. She is incredible. Even better than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.
Title I Played the Most
Marvel Snap
Nothing came close to the hours I spent on this insanely well-crafted deck building competitive game, with its ever-changing 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 wake up one day and see it is all just an attempt to trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So love turned to hate halfway through the year and it went into the bin.
Game I Wish I Had Played More
Doom: The Dark Ages
Excellent reinvention of a legendary franchise. Immersive 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 decline to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just was short on the time or headspace to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the early morning after appropriate hospitality.
Game That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It
Balatro
I'm aware Balatro was the previous year's surprise hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is incredible. It just gets absolutely everything right. The core concept is a fantastic concept, but the effects behind the different joker cards are so inventive it has become a game I could play constantly. Throw in the cleverness of the card design, and this is an absolute pinnacle of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.
Game I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising
Outer Worlds 2
I endured a bit of backlash when I wrote about how a technical issue in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of overall polish â which I recognized even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the individual who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I present that verbatim, because I acknowledge the engagement, and she is obviously an sharp judge of character.
Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didnât Get
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Alright. Give me a punishingly tough exploration-focused thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". Great fun. I get that it is beautiful 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 my patience is gone. It was okay when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.
Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025
Close call between questionable alliances that sparked debate, and premium pricing. Both difficult to justify and repugnant.
Games I Would Name My Children After, Were I I Was Ever Foolish Enough to Have More
Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names bellowed from the garden at dinner time.
Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming
Right Thumb Joint. No joke. I donât know if itâs because of button mashing or endless scrolling, but it burns like the mines of sulphur 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 wait patiently until the cows come home.
Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036
The Witcher 4.
