This Dominik Diamond Alternative Game of the Year Roundup for 2025

Alright, how did you experience 2025 in your family? Was it all as good as you pretended on Facebook? Overflowing with A-grades for the kids and elaborate themed fancy dress gatherings for the adults? Or was it a ocean of letdowns with only sporadic enjoyable highlights? Could any part be authentic, or have we all become seven-fingered synthetic personas with celebrity smiles?

I've corralled my thoughts together, whether they wanted to or not, to discuss the paramount thing in a calendar year: which video games we were obsessed with the most. Let's get started:

Game First Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"This isn't my personal ranking."

In the mobile realm, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "trying to find decent healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In reality."

Game Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I refuse to play games on my phone." He was offended that I suggested it. Point taken.

Title Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

Her goal is to get into theatre school, but when she wasn’t singing, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where the Shark has a successful utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has in the real world.

Release the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at 60% completion and ended it at 82%. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Release I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Whenever I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I rib him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he objects, I reply that I am engaging in this to build character so he can be a man and play games for adults. This defines our Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Notable Gaming Family Member This Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is a machine. Even better than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Game I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this exceptionally well-crafted deck building digital pastime, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The catch about games that frequently update their range is you wake up one day and realise it is all just an attempt to trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it got uninstalled.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

Stunning reinvention of a classic franchise. Engrossing atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could dispatch my demons so effectively in real life.

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

Blue Prince

I'm unwilling to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just was short on the time or headspace to give it what it needed earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the wee small hours after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was the previous year's surprise hit, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is exceptional. It just gets every single thing right. The core concept is a fantastic concept, but the effects behind the different joker cards are so creative it has become a game I literally would play constantly. Add in the charm of the card design, and this is an definite high-water mark of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have the perfect excuse but play it.

Game I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a minor pile-on when I mentioned how a technical issue in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I recognized even more after experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the individual who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I mention that verbatim, because I respect the passion, and she is obviously an excellent judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Sure. Give me a brutally difficult non-linear thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". What a joy. I get that it has great art and is ideal if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my adulthood. I was around back when all games were like this, and my patience is gone. It was okay when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many outdated things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Toss-up between corporate partnerships that sparked debate, and expensive game releases. Both ethically dubious and repugnant.

Games I Would Name My Children After, Were I I Was Ever Crazy 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. Honestly. I don’t know if it’s because of video games or endless scrolling, but it aches 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 stretch time until the heat death of the universe.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.