Our Dominik Diamond Alternative Game of the Year List for 2025

Alright, how was 2025 in your household? Did it seem entirely positive as you pretended on online? Overflowing with A-grades for your offspring and riotous costume birthday parties for the adults? Maybe it felt like a sea of frustration with only rare entertaining moments? Is any of this authentic, or have we all become digitally altered AI slop beings with celebrity smiles?

I've assembled my thoughts for a chat, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the most important thing in a calendar year: which releases we were obsessed with the most. So here goes:

Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my personal ranking."

Meanwhile, on mobile, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "trying to find decent healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In reality."

Title Second 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

She's attempting to get into acting, but when she wasn’t singing, she was playing Resident Evil. She also went on in great detail about her accomplishments on The Sims, where her character has a successful utopia with significantly better healthcare than her older sibling has outside the game.

Release the Partner Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She started the year at 60% completion and finished the year at eighty-two percent. It's a long haul not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to remove pins.

Game I Teased My Kids About My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Every time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a relentless heckler. When he objects, I reply that I am behaving this way to prepare him 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

There was no contest for this one. She is a machine. More impressive than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

Nothing came close to the hours I spent on this insanely well-crafted strategy wizard’s poker, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The catch about games that frequently update their range is you have a moment of clarity and understand it is all just an attempt to suck you into fear-of-missing-out driven microtransactions. So love turned to hate 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. Captivating atmosphere from the beginning. I wish I could eviscerate my problems so effectively in real life.

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

Blue Prince

I refuse to rush this stunning, original game and I just was short on the time or headspace to give it what it required earlier this year. With relatives staying over the festive period, I will be playing this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was 2024’s sleeper hit, but I was late to it. And it is incredible. It just gets every single thing right. The core concept is a wonderful concept, but the powers behind the different wild cards are so imaginative it has become a game I would happily play any time. Throw in 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 nothing to do but play it.

Game I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a wave of criticism when I wrote about how a glitch 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 slogging through Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the individual who took the time to send a message to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "bitter, confused resentment". I present that in the exact way, 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

Sure. Give me a punishingly tough Metroidvania-esque thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". How delightful. I understand that it looks ace and is flawless if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my mid-fifties. I was around back when many 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 outdated things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Toss-up between questionable alliances that caused concern, and expensive game releases. Both morally indefensible and concerning.

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 shouted from the garden at bedtime.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. No joke. I don’t know if it’s because of button mashing or endless scrolling, but it burns like the mines of sulphur in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs looked after 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 make 2026 last until the end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.