🔗 Share this article The Dominik Diamond Unofficial Game of the Year Awards for The Past Year Well, how did you experience this year in your family? Was it all as good as you pretended on social media? Overflowing with A-grades for your offspring and riotous themed fancy dress birthday parties for the grownups? Or was it a swamp of frustration with only rare enjoyable highlights? And was any of it genuine, or is everyone now seven-fingered virtual entities with unrealistic dental work? I've corralled everyone for a chat, whether they wanted to or not, to discuss the paramount thing in any given year: which releases we enjoyed the most. Without further ado: Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most Just Dance 2024 "Why can't you pick just one?" "It’s not my personal ranking." Meanwhile, on mobile, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "trying to find reasonable healthcare." "Digitally?" "In real life." Title Second Son Played the Most Overwatch "I have no interest in games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. Point taken. Title Third Daughter Played the Most Resident Evil Biohazard She's attempting to get into theatre school, but when she took a break from vocals, she was immersed in 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 eldest sister has outside the game. Release the Partner Played the Most Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time She began the year at 60% completion and finished the year at 82%. She's in it for the long run not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins. Release I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing Minecraft Whenever I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he objects, I reply that I am behaving this way to prepare him so he can grow up and play games for grownups. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship. Most Skilled Gaming Family Member 2025 Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024 She was the clear winner for this one. She is a machine. More impressive than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime. Game I Played the Most Marvel Snap Nothing came close to the hours I spent on this remarkably 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 catch about games that constantly evolve their range is you eventually realize and see it is all just an attempt to suck you into fomo-fuelled 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. Immersive atmosphere from the off. I wish I could dispatch my problems so effectively in real life. Game I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition) Blue Prince I'm unwilling to rush this stunning, original game and I just was short on the focused attention to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the late night after appropriate hospitality. Title That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It Balatro I acknowledge Balatro was the previous year's sleeper hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is remarkable. It just gets absolutely everything right. Crazy Poker is a wonderful concept, but the powers behind the different joker cards are so inventive it has become a game I would happily play constantly. Throw in the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute peak 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 endured a bit of backlash when I mentioned how a specific bug in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I valued even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the commenter who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I present that verbatim, because I respect the passion, and they are obviously an astute judge of character. Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get Hollow Knight: Silksong Sure. Give me a brutally difficult exploration-focused thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". How delightful. I acknowledge that it is beautiful and is flawless if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my adulthood. I was around back when all games were like this, and I’ve had enough. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things. Biggest Gaming News of 2025 Toss-up between questionable alliances that sparked debate, and expensive game releases. Both morally indefensible and unpleasant. Games I Would Name My Children After, If I Was Ever Foolish Enough to Have More Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all be unique names bellowed from the garden 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 doomscrolling, but it is sore like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after 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 cows come home. Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036 The Witcher 4.