The Dominik Diamond Unofficial Game of the Year List for The Past Year

Alright, how did you experience 2025 in your home? Was it truly wonderful as you pretended on Facebook? Packed with top marks for the children and riotous dress-up gatherings for the adults? Or was it a ocean of frustration with only sporadic enjoyable highlights? And was any of it actually real, or are we all seven-fingered AI slop beings with unrealistic dental work?

I have gathered my thoughts together, ready or not, to reflect on the most important thing in a calendar year: which releases we enjoyed the most. So here goes:

Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Just Dance 2024

"Can’t you pick just one?"

"It’s not my definitive list."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "attempting to locate adequate healthcare."

"Digitally?"

"In real life."

Title Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He was offended that I even asked. I respect that.

Title Third Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into theatre school, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where the Shark has a thriving utopia with significantly better healthcare than her eldest sister has outside the game.

Title the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at 60% completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. Her mobile diversion: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Game I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a persistent critic. When he protests, I reply that I am doing this to toughen him up so he can mature and play games for grownups. It’s a very Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Skilled Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is unstoppable. More impressive than I was at classic rhythm games in my prime.

Game 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 ever-changing range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The downside about games that endlessly add to their range is you eventually realize and realise 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

Excellent reinvention of a classic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the off. I wish I could dispatch my issues so effectively in real life.

Game I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I'm unwilling to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just lacked the mental bandwidth to give it what it needed earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the early morning after evening drinks.

Game That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was 2024’s surprise hit, but I was late to it. And it is exceptional. It just gets each element right. Its gameplay loop is a fantastic concept, but the powers behind the different joker cards are so inventive it has become a game I would happily play at any hour. Throw in the charm of the card design, and this is an definite pinnacle of gaming. I dream of 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 minor pile-on when I wrote about how a specific bug in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a massive gaming achievement in terms of art, sound, acting – which I valued even more after experiencing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the commenter who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "missing the point". I present that as written, because I acknowledge the engagement, and he is obviously an sharp judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. Give me a bastard-hard non-linear 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 looks ace and is ideal if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my current stage of life. I was around back when many games were like this, and I'm over it. It was fine when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2025

Close call between business deals that caused concern, and high launch costs. Both difficult to justify and unpleasant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all be unique names shouted from the back door 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 video games or endless scrolling, but it is sore like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured 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 cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.