Game of the Year '24

the best video games of 2024

This year, I played a whole bunch of video games.

Like, more than ever before.

Much like my recent Album of the Year '24 post, I wanted to sit down and celebrate some of the best video games I’ve played throughout this year—especially now that The Game Awards is officially in the rearview mirror. Compiling lists of this sort is admittedly pretty silly. Who am I to say what is or is not the best game of the year? Still, I find the process can be a pleasant, engrossing exercise. Putting together lists like this one is a lesson in reflection. It’s a chance to survey the medium and consider the evolution of my own personal taste. Art, in all its permutations, is worthy of our regard. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the games I ended up enjoying in 2024. Despite a historic distaste for certain genres I’ve experimented with in the past, I found myself enjoying JRPGs, visual novels, and even hero-shooters over the course of the year in equal measure.

Even still, cataloguing all of my favorite games in 2024 without acknowledging the elephant in the room would feel altogether short-sighted. While I am merely a hobbyist in the space, it’s worth taking a few hundred words to assess the state of video games in 2024 before diving into the medium’s sterling examples. Despite the fact that it has been a pretty stupendous year for the artistic merits of video games, it’s been a catastrophic period for the industry as a whole. Ever since the shockwaves of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 saw the value of video games artificially skyrocket as people found themselves locked away indoors, the industry has found itself in a steep decline.

Increasingly, games are seemingly rushed out the door to appease shareholders (if they’re ever released at all.) Those that do find their way onto digital storefronts and physical shelves are released in a poor state, riddled with bugs to the point that many projects feel like beta tests rather than complete and polished works of art. As is always the case under an economic system that hoards wealth for CEOs and shareholders at the cost of developers, the penalty falls on working people. No one has experienced the tumult of the video game industry quite like the developers, who’ve suffered from catastrophic layoffs. As the industry has continued to bleed its most valuable resource—repeating and ultimately surpassing one of the worst trends of 2023—it’s difficult to simply celebrate video games as an anti-capitalist.

The industry is a contested space and it often feels discouraging to watch from the sidelines as the poor decisions of management wreak havoc on the rank-n-file. But all is not lost. The video game industry has also seen a wave of unionization efforts in recent years. As Nicole Carpenter noted for Polygon this past June, video games developers across the world have been organizing to defend their rights as workers. SAG-AFTRA’s interactive media wing went on strike this year to fight against the slow creep of AI in video games. And independent video games remain some of the most cherished and beloved darlings both critically and commercially.

After all, there is reason to delight in the stories that bring us joy. The experiences that bind us to one another. The memories we build in tandem with those we love most. And to that end I have compiled a list of the best video games of 2024.

Contenders

The following is a list of contenders for my 2024 Game of the Year listed in alphabetical order:

• Animal Well

• Astro Bot

• Balatro

• Cryptmaster

• Dragon’s Dogma 2

• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

• Infinity Nikki

• Marvel Rivals

• Metaphor: ReFantazio

• Multiversus

• Palia

• Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - Remake

• Pokémon TCG Pocket

• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

• Princess Peach: Showtime!

• Summer House

• Thank Goodness You’re Here!

• The Last of Us, Pt. II - Remastered

• UFO 50

• Zenless Zone Zero

A quick-note: although I made mention of remakes, remasters, and DLCs on this list, they ultimately don’t count (at least, in my mind) as real contenders for Game of the Year. A lot of fuss was made with the Game Awards announced that Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree was a contender for Game of the Year. While I think there are certainly arguments to be made to put DLC in contention, none of them work particularly well in my mind. Just my two cents for now, but more on Shadow of the Erdtree in a moment.

Honorable Mentions

What follows are a few of my honorable mentions:

Cryptmaster

I had a blast playing through Cryptmaster when I first stumbled across it during Steam Next Fest this past summer. In fact, I suspect Cryptmaster would have made it onto my official list if I had actually been able to play more of it. Alas, gaming on a Mac makes even point-and-click typing grim dark adventures nigh impossible (much to my chagrin.) Still, for those who love old school pen-and-paper RPGs mixed with a healthy dosage of word puzzles, Cryptmaster definitely scratches the itch. The inventive mechanics, general levity, and sense of humor make for a one-of-a-kind experience. This game flew under a lotta folks’ radar and is criminally under-appreciated.

Princess Peach: Showtime!

When Nintendo first announced a Princess Peach game, I was beyond elated. The central mechanic was undeniably enticing. Dressing Peach up in different costumes and tying those get-ups to new power-ups is, on its face, a pretty brilliant idea that borrows in equal measure from the novelty of both Mario and Kirnby’s general approach to video game design where every new level is built around an entirely fresh mechanic to explore. Alas, Princess Peach: Showtime! was a bit too underwhelming. While I enjoyed my time with the game, Princess Peach: Showtime! was clearly intended for a younger audience. While I often delight in kids’ games, this particular iteration ultimately became too formulaic and rote.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Just because it doesn’t really count doesn’t mean it ain’t worth celebrating! Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a brilliant bit of DLC for the critically-acclaimed 2022 video game. The build-crafting is here. The balls-to-the-wall boss fights are present, too. Just like its predecessor, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree rewards players’ inquisitive inclinations. Exploration is central to the experience. Rather than mapping out specific, defined levels like other Soulbourne games, Shadow of the Erdtree invites players to poke and prod at every nook and cranny over the course of their 30+ hr return to the Lands Between. I still boot up Elden Ring every now and again just to inhabit the strange, treacherous, and vile world painstakingly crafted by FromSoftware. While Shadow of the Erdtree was a delight, to be sure, so much of it blurs into the haze of joy and frustration that made Elden Ring so noteworthy in 2022. Shadow of the Erdtree is more Elden Ring—and that is both its greatest asset and most significant shortcoming.

Top 10

And now, the moment you’ve all been patiently waiting for. Here are my Top 10 Games of 2024 in descending order:

10. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

A late addition to my GotY list, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a stunning and exhilarating Metroidvania. The combat is fast-paced and cutthroat, the platforming is stylish and fluid. But what makes The Lost Crown so singular and appealing, in my mind, is its host of quality-of-life features. Metroidvanias can feel like labyrinths (intentionally so) and while this is certainly part of their charm, it can also lead to tedium and even frustration when circling back for the umpteenth time to a place you’ve already been on numerous occasions while searching for that one forgotten corner to explore now that you’ve unlocked a new power-up. The map in The Lost Crown takes so much of the weight off players’ shoulders by allowing you to take a screenshot and pin them directly to the map. An excellent game on its own merits and inarguably the best Prince of Persia game to release in quite sometime. Still, it was steep competition this year for Metroidvanias. But more on that later.

9. Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket

As soon as the Pokémon company announced Pokémon TCG Pocket, they had my rapt attention. Embarrassing though it maybe to admit, I still hold a special place in my heart for the Pokémon TCG. There is something absolutely magical about holding gorgeous artistic renders of Pocket Monsters in hand, an alchemy only surpassed by the joy of building cunning decks and battling it out with friends, family, or strangers. But the cost involved for building competitive decks has always put me off the physical card game. Although I certainly have more cards than I’d care to admit, what enticed me about this mobile game was the opportunity to have a massive catalogue of cards without the waste of superfluous cardboard piling up in a closet drawer. But Pokémon TCG Pocket doesn’t just offer a convenient way to collect ’em all. The game also streamlines the TCG’s battle mechanics a la a modern card battler like Marvel Snap or Hearthstone, keeping games short and sweet. Even as a purely free-to-play game, I’ve never struggled to get new cards or build awesome decks and, for that, Pokémon TCG Pocket easily secures a slot on my GotY list.

8. Summer House

Summer House is another underrated favorite on this list. A stripped-down game in the vein of a city-builder, Summer House keeps its focus restrained to a singular, pixelated scene. But what it lacks in expansiveness, Summer House more than makes up for in aesthetic depth. The game rewards player creativity with delightful, cozy vistas that are the perfect way to lazily unwind after a long workday. At just $4.99 on Steam (when it’s not on sale,) Summer House is a steal even if it’s just a way to while away an afternoon or two.

7. Animal Well

I hate puzzle games, but I fucking love Animal Well. Of all the video games I’ve compiled here, Animal Well is probably the one that vexed and frustrated me most. Perhaps it’s ironic, then, that it placed so highly on my list. Even though I have yet to finish Animal Well in its entirety, I would never deny the novelty and nuance of its design. A Metroidvania that makes you feel like a literal genius whenever you solve one of its myriad puzzles, Animal Well has a depth that will keep me coming back to plumb the well for many years to come. Animal Well is nothing short of a stupendous accomplishment.

6. Dragon’s Dogma 2

When I put together this list, I did a double-take when I clocked Dragon’s Dogma 2. “Really,” I thought, “that came out this year!?” Dragon’s Dogma 2 is like a half-remembered reverie that ebbs from the mind as you blink awake. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an enigmatic puzzle-box, one just as likely to prick you as it is to dazzle you. Obtuse. Obnoxious. Infuriating. Those are just a few of the words that spring to mind when I think about the time I spent playing Dragon’s Dogma 2. But they are far from the only terms Dragon’s Dogma 2 conjures in my brain. Ingenious. Devious. Hysterical. If a slapstick buddy comedy and a self-serious political fantasy had a bastard lovechild, it would look something like Dragon’s Dogma 2. Some of the most ludicrous moments I spent gaming this year happened while exploring the dangerous, silly regions of Vermund, Battahl, and the Sacred Arbor. Although I have absolutely no desire to return to Dragon’s Dogma 2 any time soon now that I’ve rolled credits, I also wager it will be a delight to rediscover its idiosyncrasies five years down the line. Dragon’s Dogma 2 may not be the best RPG I played this year, but it is absolutely the funniest and for that it more than earned its placement on my GotY list.

5. Metaphor: ReFantazio

I could fill an entire blog post, an entire academic paper, with my critiques of Metaphor: ReFantazio. On paper, Metaphor is extremely My Shit. The game is a mix of high fantasy and political intrigue that circles around the ideal of utopia, both as a political project and a narrative genre. As I explored at length in the first post I ever made on this blog, utopia is a contested space, one laid claim to simultaneously by diabolical fascists, reformist liberals, and revolutionaries of all stripes. What Metaphor achieves in this game is, at times, absolutely beautiful and genius and touching. From its colorful cast of memorable characters to its expansive playspace of mechanical possibility, Metaphor is regularly firing on all cylinders. The game’s profound meditations on hierarchy, religion, racial animosity, and human suffering are some of the most noteworthy I’ve ever experienced in a video game.

Yet, for all its strengths, Metaphor ultimately offers an embarrassingly facile conclusion that privileges the status quo. At times, the game absolutely blunders, fumbling moving narratives that have spanned hours with tried and rote tropes that paint social revolutionaries as villains to be castigated. In part, I suspect my disappointment stems from my own radical political perspective. Despite the fact that Metaphor regularly sees you dispatching enemies with stupendous (and often decisive) violence, the game seems unable—or unwilling—to offer the same shades of gray to revolutionary violence as it does to many of its other remarkable themes. For a game so decidedly imaginative, it fumbles the opportunity to imagine a world beyond the state. Alas, while Metaphor suffers in its back half from an overlong story and a number of decidedly irksome deus ex machina narrative quirks, I still think this is the most compelling RPG of the year and arguably the best game Atlus has ever released.

4. Thank Goodness You’re Here!

   

I don’t think I have ever cackled at a video game as often as I did with Thank Goodness You’re Here! An absolutely devious, byte-sized narrative about a tiny, yellow fella punching and kicking and causing chaos, Thank Goodness You’re Here! is one of those rare games that centers comedy as the core of its gameplay loop. As you circle through its cozy little town littered with dry, wry British humor, Thank Goodness You’re Here! reveals an increasingly ludicrous sandbox for you to explore and exploit. The hand drawn aesthetics, the recurring gags, and the delightful sense of place all contribute together to a dynamic, slapstick game that never overstays its welcome. Genuinely one of the best of the year, it’s bonkers that everyone isn’t talking about it to this day.

3. UFO 50

UFO 50 is nothing short of a marvel. What started as a thought experiment from a handful of indie devs transformed into a metatextual toy box containing dozens of retro-styled games. Not mini-games, mind you. UFO 50 has no less than fifty full-fledged video games contained in its humble package. In some ways, it feels almost unfair to include UFO 50 so low on this list. Unfortunately, I was only able to play a handful of the games on UFO 50 through Whisky, the compatibility layer that lets you run Windows games on a Mac. Nevertheless, what I did play of UFO 50 speaks to the creativity, ingenuity, and sheer doggedness of its dev team and I cannot wait to continue poking at it in the days, weeks, and years ahead.

2. Balatro

Balatro is a masterpiece. Full-stop. The sheer delight of Balatro cannot be overstated. From its infectious, droning music that casts a spell over you from the start to its gobsmacking array of Joker cards to its genuine commitment to celebrating video games by including Kings, Queens, and Jacks stylized off popular indie games, Balatro has captured me in its web all goddamn year. Of all the games on this list, I single-handedly sunk the most hours into Balatro. Currently, I have no less than 105 hrs in Balatro on my Nintendo Switch alone. Balatro scratches that itch of “just one more run” over and over again and, for that reason and so many more, it is one of the very best games I played all year.

1. Astro Bot

In a year where focused, singular, and joyful experiences took center stage, there is really only one option when it comes to Game of the Year. Astro Bot could be understandably critiqued as a “commercial” for Sony. So much of the game is spent collecting delightful little robotic renditions of characters who’ve appeared throughout this history of PlayStation. The cynic in me is sympathetic to this sort of over-the-top sensationalizing of intellectual property. So why is it, then, that Astro Bot is my Game of the Year in 2024?

Put simply, it is a joy.

Let me explain. Every single aspect of Astro Bot is made to inspire and cultivate a euphoric, childlike sense of whimsy. Now, I know that sounds a bit hyperbolic, but stay with me. Each of Astro Bot’s little details gradually add up so that the whole of the game is greater than the sum of its parts. And that’s saying something, given the silliness of the PlayStation Dualsense controller’s haptic feedback or the playful interactions of the game’s miniature bots or the lavish levels devoted entirely to celebrating certain games from Sony’s noteworthy history.

And that, ultimately, is why Astro Bot shines. Sure, I have a soft place in my heart for The Last of Us or the new God of War remakes. But Astro Bot is not content to simply rest on the laurels of great PlayStation games. If Astro Bot is not your very first platformer as a child, then it unabashedly wants to make you to feel like a kid again.

Remove the nostalgia and what is left? An utterly compelling platformer that feels tailored to pinpoint precision. A game where every mechanic, every artistic flourish, comes together to create an inspired and astounding package. I cannot count the amount of times I giggled, whooped, or delighted playing or watching my partner or one of our kids play this game. Over the entirety of its runtime, Astro Bot brought me joy, joy, joy.