The Dominik Diamond Alternative Game of the Year Awards for The Past Year

Alright, how was this year in your household? Could it be described as all as good as you pretended on Facebook? Packed with A-grades for your offspring and wild costume birthday parties for the grownups? Or was it a swamp of letdowns with only rare enjoyable moments? Is any of this genuine, or are we all AI-generated AI slop beings with celebrity smiles?

I've assembled the family together, whether they wanted to or not, to debate the crucial thing in any given year: which releases we were obsessed with the most. Let's get started:

Game Oldest Daughter Played the Most

Pikmin

"Why can't you pick just one?"

"You can't expect my definitive list."

On her phone, she’s been playing Cityscapes and "attempting to locate reasonable healthcare."

"Virtually?"

"In the actual world."

Release Second Son Played the Most

Overwatch

"I don’t play games on my phone." He was offended that I even asked. Fair enough.

Title Youngest Daughter Played the Most

Resident Evil Biohazard

She's attempting to get into acting, but when she stepped away from the mic, she was tackling Resident Evil. She also spoke at length in great detail about her achievements on The Sims, where her avatar has a blooming utopia with significantly better healthcare than her big sister has in real life.

Title the Spouse Played the Most

Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time

She began the year at sixty percent completion and ended it at eighty-two percent. 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 adult son playing Minecraft, I give him a hard time like a cross between a classic comedy bit. When he objects, I reply that I am doing this to toughen him up so he can mature and play games for mature audiences. This defines our 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. Superior than I was at Dancing Stage MegaMix in my prime.

Title I Played the Most

Marvel Snap

It was in a league of its own to the hours I spent on this insanely well-crafted strategy competitive game, with its regularly updated range of cards and game variations.

Title I Wish I Had Played Less

Marvel Snap

The worst thing about games that frequently update their range is you wake up one day and understand it is all just an attempt to lure you into compulsion-based 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 legendary 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 (Cerebral Edition)

Blue Prince

I'm unwilling to rush this beautiful, unique game and I just was short on the mental bandwidth to give it what it deserved earlier this year. With holiday guests over the festive period, I aim to experience this in the early morning after family time.

Game That Saved My Soul When I Needed It

Balatro

I know Balatro was 2024’s breakout game, but I was slow on the uptake. And it is remarkable. It just gets absolutely everything right. Crazy Poker is a brilliant concept, but the effects behind the different wild cards are so imaginative it has become a game I literally would play at any hour. Add in the wittiness of the card design, and this is an definite high-water mark of gaming. I dream of being stuck in a small space for hours just so I have nothing to do but play it.

Title I Got the Most Backlash For Criticising

Outer Worlds 2

I endured a minor pile-on when I mentioned how a specific bug in another game soured the experience for me, but that other title is still a colossal gaming achievement in terms of overall polish – which I valued even more after playing Outer Worlds 2. So my appreciation goes out to the individual who took the time to contact me to say that my Outer Worlds 2 review was "poorly reasoned". I share that verbatim, because I appreciate the effort, and she is obviously an excellent judge of character.

Game Everybody Loved That I Just Didn’t Get

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fine. Give me a bastard-hard non-linear thing and don’t tell me guidance on what I am supposed to be doing, except "explore". Great fun. I get that it has great art and is ideal if you are into this kind of thing, but I cannot think of a gaming experience I am less interested in in my current stage of life. I was around back when all 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

Debate between corporate partnerships that caused concern, and expensive game releases. Both morally indefensible and unpleasant.

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

Clair Obscur, Despelote and Bananza would all be unique names called from the doorstep at bedtime.

Part of My Body That Aches Most From Gaming

Right Thumb Joint. Honestly. I don’t know if it’s because of console gaming or endless scrolling, but it aches like the mines of sulphur 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 wait patiently until the heat death of the universe.

Game I Am Looking Forward to the Most in 2036

The Witcher 4.