Our Dominik Diamond Alternative Game of the Year Roundup for 2025

Alright, how did you experience 2025 in your household? Did it seem all as good as people post on social media? Overflowing with A-grades for your offspring and wild dress-up birthday parties for the parents? Or perhaps it was a swamp of disappointment with only rare entertaining highlights? Is any of this authentic, or have we all become digitally altered virtual entities with perfect smiles?

I have gathered the family for a reflection, willing or unwilling, to reflect on the paramount thing in any given year: which video games we played the most. Let's get started:

Release Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"You can't expect my games column."

Meanwhile, on mobile, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "attempting to locate reasonable healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In reality."

Game Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I have no interest in games on my phone." He took umbrage that the question was posed. I respect that.

Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into acting, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with far better healthcare than her older sibling has in real life.

Title the Wife 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 long haul not a sprint for her. On her phone: something called Woodle, where you have to extract pins.

Game I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my adult son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he objects, I reply that I am doing this to prepare him so he can be a man and play games for mature audiences. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Impressive Gaming Family Member This Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

It wasn't even close for this one. She is incredible. More impressive 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 strategy competitive game, with its constantly evolving range of cards and game variations.

Game I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The worst thing about games that constantly evolve their range is you have a moment of clarity and see it is all just an attempt to suck you into fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So affection became resentment halfway through the year and it was deleted.

Game I Wish I Had Played More

Doom: The Dark Ages

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

Title I Wish I Had Played More (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just was short on the mental bandwidth to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I will be playing this in the wee small hours after family time.

Game That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was last year's surprise hit, but I was late to it. And it is incredible. It just gets every single thing right. Its gameplay loop is a brilliant concept, but the effects behind the different wild cards are so imaginative it has become a game I would happily play at any hour. Combine that with the charm of the card design, and this is an absolute pinnacle of gaming. I fantasize about being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have an opportunity but play it.

Game I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a wave of criticism 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 commenter who took the time to write in to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I share that in the exact way, because I acknowledge the engagement, and they are obviously an astute judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t 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". Great fun. I get that it has great art and is flawless if you are into challenging games, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I desire less in my mid-fifties. I was around back when many games were like this, and I'm over it. It was okay when I was a kid, but the same could be said for many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Toss-up between corporate partnerships that sparked debate, and high launch costs. Both ethically dubious and repugnant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all make interesting names shouted from the doorstep at bedtime.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. Seriously. I don’t know if it’s because of console gaming or endless scrolling, but it aches like hellfire in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs protected back in the day.

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.