The Diamond Family Unofficial Game of the Year Awards for 2025

Well, how was the past year in your household? Was it all as good as one might claim on Facebook? Packed with top marks for your offspring and elaborate themed fancy dress birthday parties for the grownups? Maybe it felt like a sea of frustration with only sporadic entertaining flotsam? Is any of this genuine, or have we all become AI-generated synthetic personas with unrealistic dental work?

I've assembled my thoughts for a chat, whether they wanted to or not, to discuss the most important thing in a calendar year: which video games we were obsessed with the most. So here goes:

Title First Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my definitive list."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "searching for decent healthcare."

"Digitally?"

"In real life."

Game Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. Fair enough.

Game Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting 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 achievements on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with infinitely better healthcare than her older sibling has outside the game.

Game the Spouse 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.

Release I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he complains, I reply that I am behaving this way to toughen him up so he can mature and play games for adults. It’s a very Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member 2025

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

There was no contest for this one. She is incredible. 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 deck building competitive game, with its constantly evolving 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 understand it is all just an attempt to lure you into fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So affection became resentment 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. Captivating atmosphere from the start. I wish I could dispatch my demons so effectively in real life.

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Puzzle-Focused Edition)

Blue Prince

I refuse to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it needed earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I will be playing this in the wee small hours after evening drinks.

Game That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was last year's breakout game, but I was a late adopter. And it is remarkable. It just gets absolutely everything right. Crazy Poker is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different special cards are so inventive it has become a game I literally would play any time. Add in the cleverness of the card design, and this is an definite peak of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Game I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a bit of backlash when I critiqued how a glitch in another game ruined 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 my appreciation goes out to the commenter 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 acknowledge the engagement, and she is obviously an sharp 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 don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". What a joy. I get that it has great art and is perfection if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my adulthood. I was around back when many games were like this, and I'm over it. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Toss-up between corporate partnerships that raised eyebrows, and premium pricing. Both morally indefensible and unpleasant.

Games I Would Name My Children After, If I Was Ever Stupid Enough to Have More

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all sound good names called 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 doomscrolling, but it aches 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 stretch time until the heat death of the universe.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.