Our Diamond Family Alternative Video Game of the Year Roundup for 2025

So, how was 2025 in your household? Could it be described as entirely positive as you pretended on social media? Packed with academic success for your offspring and elaborate costume celebrations for the parents? Or was it a swamp of frustration with only rare entertaining moments? Could any part be authentic, or have we all become digitally altered virtual entities with unrealistic smiles?

I've corralled the family for a reflection, ready or not, to discuss the paramount thing in a calendar year: which video games we played the most. Let's get started:

Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"It’s not my personal ranking."

On her phone, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "trying to find adequate healthcare."

"Digitally?"

"In real life."

Game Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. Point taken.

Game Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into acting, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where the Shark has a thriving utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her big sister has outside the game.

Title the Partner Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at sixty percent completion and finished the year at eighty-two percent. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Title 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 relentless heckler. When he complains, I reply that I am behaving this way to build character so he can mature and play games for grownups. It’s a very 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 unstoppable. 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 insanely well-crafted card game digital pastime, 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 understand it is all just an attempt to trap you with fear-of-missing-out driven 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 classic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the off. 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 decline to rush this stunning, original 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 wee small hours after appropriate hospitality.

Game That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was 2024’s sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is remarkable. It just gets each element right. Crazy Poker is a wonderful concept, but the powers behind the different special cards are so inventive it has become a game I would happily play constantly. Combine that with the cleverness of the card design, and this is an true pinnacle of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a broken-down lift 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 bit of backlash when I mentioned how a specific bug in another game damaged the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I appreciated even more after playing 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 mention that verbatim, because I appreciate the effort, and he is obviously an sharp judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a brutally difficult Metroidvania-esque thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". How delightful. I get that it looks ace and is perfection 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 all games were like this, and I'm over it. It was fine when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Close call between business deals that raised eyebrows, and premium pricing. Both difficult to justify 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 called from the garden 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 button mashing or endless scrolling, but it aches like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after 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 cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.