This Dominik Diamond Personal Game of the Year List for 2025
So, how was 2025 in your home? Was it truly wonderful as people post on online? Packed with top marks for your offspring and elaborate costume gatherings for the parents? Or perhaps it was a sea of frustration with only sporadic enjoyable flotsam? And was any of it authentic, or have we all become seven-fingered AI slop beings with unrealistic teeth?
I've corralled my thoughts together, willing or unwilling, to reflect on the most important thing in a calendar year: which releases we played the most. Let's get started:
Title First Daughter Played the Most
Just Dance 2024
"Is it impossible to pick just one?"
"Itâs not my games column."
On her phone, sheâs been playing Cityscapes and "searching for decent healthcare."
"In the game?"
"In reality."
Release Middle Son Played the Most
Overwatch
"I donât play games on my phone." He took umbrage that I suggested it. I respect that.
Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most
Resident Evil Biohazard
She's attempting to get into acting, but when she wasnât singing, she was immersed in Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her character has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her older sibling has in real life.
Game the Partner Played the Most
Crash Bandicoot: Itâs About Time
She started 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 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 adult son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he protests, I reply that I am behaving this way to toughen him up so he can be a man and play games for grownups. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.
Most Notable Gaming Family Member of the Year
Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024
It wasn't even close for this one. She is a machine. Even better 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 exceptionally well-crafted deck building digital pastime, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.
Game I Wish I Had Played Less
Marvel Snap
The downside 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
Glorious reinvention of a classic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the off. I wish I could eviscerate my problems so effectively in real life.
Title I Wish I Had Played More (Thoughtful Edition)
Blue Prince
I'm unwilling 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 late night after appropriate hospitality.
Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It
Balatro
I acknowledge Balatro was the previous year's breakout game, but I was late to it. And it is exceptional. It just gets every single thing right. The core concept is a fantastic concept, but the abilities behind the different special cards are so inventive it has become a game I could play any time. Add in the wittiness of the card design, and this is an definite high-water mark of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.
Title I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising
Outer Worlds 2
I received a wave of criticism when I critiqued how a technical issue in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of production values â which I valued even more after slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the reader who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I mention that as written, because I respect the passion, and they are obviously an astute judge of character.
Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didnât Get
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Alright. Give me a bastard-hard Metroidvania-esque thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". What a joy. 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 mid-fifties. I was around back when most games were like this, and Iâve had enough. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.
Biggest Gaming News of 2025
Close call between questionable alliances that sparked debate, and high launch costs. Both difficult to justify and concerning.
Games I Would Name My Children After, Were I I Was Ever Stupid Enough to Have More
Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names called from the garden at dinner time.
Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming
Right Thumb Joint. Seriously. I donât know if itâs 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 wait patiently until the heat death of the universe.
Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036
The Witcher 4.
