Our Dominik Diamond Alternative Game of the Year Awards for 2025

Well, how did you experience this year in your home? Could it be described as truly wonderful as one might claim on Facebook? Full of A-grades for the kids and riotous dress-up birthday parties for the parents? Maybe it felt like a sea of letdowns with only sporadic entertaining flotsam? Could any part be genuine, or is everyone now AI-generated AI slop beings with celebrity smiles?

I have gathered my thoughts for a reflection, whether they wanted to or not, to reflect on the crucial thing in a calendar year: what titles we enjoyed the most. Let's get started:

Game First Daughter Played the Most

Horizon Zero Dawn

"Is it impossible to pick just one?"

"It’s not my games column."

In the mobile realm, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "attempting to locate decent healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In real life."

Title Middle Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He took umbrage that I suggested it. Fair enough.

Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into acting, but when she took a break from vocals, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also elaborated in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her avatar has a blooming utopia with far better healthcare than her big sister has in real life.

Game the Wife Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at 60% completion and ended it at 82%. It’s a marathon not a sprint for her. Her phone game: something called Woodle, where you have to unscrew pins.

Game I Found Amusing That My Kids for Still Playing

Minecraft

Any time I see my 21-year-old son playing Minecraft, I set about him like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he objects, I reply that I am engaging in this to prepare him so he can grow up and play games for adults. It's a classic Scottish father/son relationship.

Most Impressive Gaming Family Member of the Year

Eldest Daughter on Just Dance 2024

She was the clear winner for this one. She is a machine. Superior than I was at my peak gaming days 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 ever-changing 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 eventually realize and understand it is all just an attempt to lure you into fear-of-missing-out driven 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

Stunning reinvention of a classic franchise. Immersive atmosphere from the start. I wish I could deal with my issues so effectively in real life.

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

Blue Prince

I'm unwilling to rush this gorgeous, distinctive game and I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to give it what it required earlier this year. With family visits over the festive period, I will be playing this in the late night after appropriate hospitality.

Title That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I'm aware Balatro was the previous year's surprise hit, but I was a late adopter. And it is incredible. It just gets every single thing right. Crazy Poker is a brilliant concept, but the powers behind the different wild cards are so creative it has become a game I literally would 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 elevator for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Title I Got the Most Criticism For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I received a wave of criticism when I critiqued how a specific bug in another game ruined the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of production values – which I recognized even more after playing 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 "poorly reasoned". I present that in the exact way, because I acknowledge the engagement, and they are obviously an astute judge of character.

Title Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a bastard-hard exploration-focused thing and leave me without guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "figure it out". Great fun. I get that it looks ace and is perfection if you are into this kind of thing, 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’ve had enough. It was acceptable when I was a kid, but so was many questionable things.

Biggest Gaming Scandal of 2025

Close call between corporate partnerships that sparked debate, and expensive game releases. Both difficult to justify and repugnant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all sound good names bellowed from the doorstep at dinner time.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. Seriously. I don’t know if it’s because of video games or endless scrolling, but it is sore like anything in the mornings now. I knew I should have got my thumbs insured 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 stretch time until the cows come home.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.