This Dominik Diamond Alternative Game of the Year Awards for This Year

Well, how did you experience this year in your family? Did it seem truly wonderful as you pretended on online? Full of top marks for the kids and wild dress-up gatherings for the parents? Or perhaps it was a swamp of disappointment with only rare enjoyable flotsam? Is any of this actually real, or is everyone now AI-generated synthetic personas with celebrity teeth?

I've assembled the family for a reflection, ready or not, to discuss the most important thing in a calendar year: which releases we enjoyed the most. So here goes:

Game First Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"This isn't my personal ranking."

In the mobile realm, her go-to has been Cityscapes and "searching for adequate healthcare."

"In the game?"

"In reality."

Game Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He seemed insulted that the question was posed. I respect that.

Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She is trying to get into theatre school, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her successes on The Sims, where the Shark has a thriving utopia with far better healthcare than her eldest sister has in real life.

Release the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at sixty percent 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.

Game I Laughed at My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Whenever I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a persistent critic. When he complains, 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 This 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.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

No other game compared to the hours I spent on this insanely 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 downside about games that frequently update their range is you eventually realize and realise it is all just an attempt to trap you with compulsion-based microtransactions. So love turned to hate 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 iconic franchise. Captivating atmosphere from the off. I wish I could eviscerate my demons so effectively in real life.

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

Blue Prince

I decline to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just lacked the mental bandwidth to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the late night after evening drinks.

Title That Kept Me Sane When I Needed It

Balatro

I acknowledge Balatro was last year's surprise hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is remarkable. It just gets every single thing right. Crazy Poker is a brilliant concept, but the abilities behind the different special cards are so imaginative it has become a game I literally would play constantly. Combine that with the cleverness of the card design, and this is an true peak of gaming. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a elevator for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Game I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I experienced a minor pile-on when I critiqued how a specific bug in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a gargantuan gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I valued even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So thank you to the reader 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 acknowledge the engagement, and she is obviously an sharp judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Alright. Give me a brutally difficult non-linear thing and provide little guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". How delightful. I get that it looks ace and is flawless if you are into the genre, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I want less of in my mid-fifties. I was around back when all games were like this, and I'm over it. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but so was many less comfortable things.

Biggest Gaming News of 2025

Debate between questionable alliances that sparked debate, and high launch costs. Both morally indefensible and concerning.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all sound good names called from the back door 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 phone use, but it is sore like hellfire 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 make 2026 last until the end of days.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.