The Diamond Family Alternative Game of the Year Roundup for 2025
Alright, what did you think of this year in your household? Could it be described as entirely positive as people post on social media? Overflowing with A-grades for the kids and wild costume birthday parties for the grownups? Maybe it felt like a ocean of letdowns with only sporadic enjoyable highlights? Could any part be actually real, or is everyone now AI-generated virtual entities with celebrity smiles?
I have gathered my thoughts together, willing or unwilling, to discuss the crucial thing in a calendar year: what titles we played the most. So here goes:
Release Eldest Daughter Played the Most
Just Dance 2024
"Is it impossible to pick just one?"
"It’s not my definitive list."
In the mobile realm, she's invested time in Cityscapes and "trying to find adequate healthcare."
"Digitally?"
"In reality."
Title Second Son Played the Most
Overwatch
"I refuse to play games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. Point taken.
Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most
Resident Evil Biohazard
Her goal is to get into theatre school, but when she took a break from vocals, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with far better healthcare than her older sibling has in real life.
Release the Spouse Played the Most
Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time
She started the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins.
Release I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing
Minecraft
Whenever I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he objects, 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 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 a machine. More impressive 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 strategy digital pastime, with its regularly updated 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.
Title I Wish I Had Played More
Doom: The Dark Ages
Stunning reinvention of a iconic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could deal with my demons so effectively in real life.
Game I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition)
Blue Prince
I'm unwilling to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just lacked the mental bandwidth to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I plan to dive into this in the wee small hours after appropriate hospitality.
Game That Was a Lifesaver When I Needed It
Balatro
I know Balatro was the previous year's breakout game, but I was a late adopter. And it is exceptional. It just gets every single thing right. Crazy Poker is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different joker cards are so imaginative it has become a game I would happily play at any hour. Add in the charm of the card design, and this is an definite peak of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a small space 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 glitch in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I appreciated even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the reader who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I present that verbatim, because I respect the passion, and he is obviously an excellent judge of character.
Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Fine. Give me a bastard-hard Metroidvania-esque thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "look around". Great fun. I get that it looks ace and is flawless if you are into this kind of thing, 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 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 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 sound good names bellowed from the garden at dinner 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 doomscrolling, but it burns like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured back in the past.
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.
