Like many fans of Giant Bomb, I find myself eagerly anticipating the annual Game of the Year season. It’s a fun celebration of the year in gaming and to be a part of that celebration – in any small way I can – is a huge honor.
If you hadn’t noticed, 2024 has had some pretty good video games. Some I suspect we’ll be hearing about for years to come; likely in discussions for Best Ever. Some of those ended up making my list.
While games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Mouthwashing, Indika, and Animal Well, to name a few, all left strong impressions on me this year, they didn’t quite resonate with me in the same way those on my list did.
Before I get to my list, I want to briefly highlight a few games that I spent a ton of time with this year but didn’t end up enjoying as much as I thought I would. Despite their flaws, I’d still like to recognize them for capturing my attention in ways that a lot of other things couldn’t this year.
Anyway, let’s get started. Thanks in advance for reading!
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Although technically a 2022 release, Marvel’s Midnight Suns took up quite a bit of my free time this year. While the card-based X-Com-adjacent combat is genuinely cool, exciting, and fun, the writing can often be grating and some characters are borderline insufferable. (I’m looking at you, Stark.) Every character relies on the same crutch of “witty” banter and snark, using it as often as possible.
The Marvel snark has turned into a staple for them so I expected it going in, but it can be laid on quite thick here. Even the main character, someone who is meant to be a kind of ageless guardian resurrected after ~300 years after their death, ends up becoming a lame, anachronistic snark sponge. I try not to let that kind of stuff bug me but I considered stopping early on because of it.
That being said, the game grew on me, with characters like Magik and Nico standing out. I just wish the game had more of that. Perhaps the roster is too crowded with Avengers in a game about the Midnight Suns.
Although I put a substantial amount of time into the game, I still haven’t finished it yet. I generally take my time with these types of games but this one seems much longer than I anticipated – for better or worse.
Writing aside, I’m still looking forward to finishing it up someday in the near future.
The Rise of the Golden Idol
2018’s Return of the Obra Dinn is probably one my favorite games of all ___ and because of it, the “Word Bank Detective” genre quickly became my most ____ after.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much of it out there so finding anything like it was a challenge. Thankfully, in 2022, we got The Case of the _____ Idol; an incredible game that I _____ it as quick as I could. Finding out that Rise was in the cards, I was absolutely ____ and could not wait to ___ it.
Don’t get me wrong, I _____ every second I spent solving the cases in The Rise of the _____ Idol but I felt a little more ____ at the end of each case than I did in the previous ____. Of course, it’s likely I missed a few _____ here and there but some of the connections seemed a bit more of a ____ and often left me ____.
Not only that but the _______ ______ seemed to have grown _____ and it comes off more as _______ than ____ when ______ to the ____ and it always made me _____ having to get to that _____. In some ways, it’s an ______ ______ that you have to face when you’re doing a fill-in-the-____ style game, so maybe the ____ is just too ____ and I ____ just ____ it, but it honestly ______ a bit of the _____ for me.
Still definitely worth checking out though! (Unless, of course, ___ ___ ___ ____.)
Look, I’ll be honest, I have yet to touch the Elden Ring DLC.
After hitting a Commander Niall sized wall in the base game, I set it down for a bit. I’d occasionally pick it up to try and get just one more inch closer to beating the game, but I kept hitting the same wall. I’d eventually get to it, but I never had the right amount of energy to get back in (a pro-gamer, I am not).
When Shadow of the Erdtree came out, the general Elden Ring buzz ignited my desire to try again. A couple of dozen tries later, I finally made progress and unlocked a giant portion that remained unexplored for so long. With that victory, I fell back in love with everything Elden Ring has to offer; a beautiful, near-perfect work of art that feels incredible to explore even if/when you’re struggling to survive.
After picking it up again this year, I put in such a substantial amount of hours into it… again. Mostly using that time messing around and picking up anything that I missed.
I was hoping to jump into Erdtree this year, but I hit another wall in the shape of Malenia. After I wrap up the year, I’ll be trying again to bang my head against that wall because I know that there’s still a ton more waiting for me underneath the Erdtree’s shadows. It will likely fill a good portion of 2025 and I cannot wait.
For the remaining few people out there who are still on the fence about getting Elden Ring, perhaps now’s the time. Game’s good. Game’s reeeeal good.
Maybe this is a good game, maybe it just came out at the right time, or maybe I spent too much time earlier this year with XDefiant. Whatever the case may be, this year’s Call of Duty has been fantastic; the best in a while.
The multiplayer is as addicting as ever with plenty to upgrade and unlock. The “omni-movement” they’ve integrated this year feels great and is a welcomed addition to those of us who like sliding, slipping and flopping around like tactical fish. (positive)
On top of the multiplayer, what I’m most surprised by was this year’s Campaign and Zombies modes. While they both have stories that, honestly, might as well be white noise, the stuff you’re doing in the game feels inspired and varied offering interesting departures from the banal military shooter malaise that has plagued the series for so long. Each mission of the campaign almost feeling like a completely different game and you never quite know what style it’s going to ape next. It’s a fresh drive for the campaign that sets it apart from other shooters.
The Zombies mode is still the convoluted mess it’s always been but each map is still some sort of a weird puzzle box shooting range you can solve with friends. None of it is intuitive, it’s loud and pointless, it’s dumb and inscrutable, but it’s still super fun.
If Call of Duty has never been your thing then you might not get a lot out of Black Ops 6’s multiplayer, but to those wanting a good shooter with a lot of variety, the campaign is actually pretty great.
Undeniably one of the purest games to come out this year, Balatro also happens to be one of the years most addicting and deceptively intricate.
It’s a game capable of appealing to more people than any other game in years; gamers and non-gamers alike. It’s poker, but it’s also the only game you’ll ever really need.
Having put in a substantial amount of time into the demo before the full release, I knew that Balatro would be a big hit but I didn’t quite realize just how big it would get and how important it might become. After finally picking it up back in September, I can confidently say that all the accolades are well deserved.
There are games, like some on this list, that I am content with finishing as soon as possible – sometimes sooner the better! Alternatively, there are games, like some on this list, that I’m happy to let take their time. But Balatro…I’m hard pressed to think of a game I’m more content with having as a “forever game”. Something that I can rely on to be there whenever I need to make time vanish. Something to put on when choice paralysis stunlocks me.
Oddly enough, Balatro is a game potentially in the conversation for Best Game Ever, but it’s still not quite at the top of my list for 2024.
Thank Goodness You’re Here is an absolute delight and a late addition to my list. It feels like watching a cartoon and I enjoyed every second of its ~2-3 hour playtime. I was smiling the whole way through and, as soon as it was over, I just wanted to play it again.
It’s charming, funny, quirky, dumb, clever and EXTREMELY British. Though it can feel fairly straight-forward and simple at times, the absurd humor holds it all together and propels you forward. The fictional English town of Barnsworth feels like a living town stuffed with plenty of fun gags. Most of these jokes will continue throughout the game, with many of them having superb payoffs
It brought me back to a time where quirky games were short, sweet and oozing with charm and personality. Games like Katamari Damacy, Parappa the Rappa, and Mister Mosquito were all short and insanely replayable and they became iconic classics with their legacies evergreen. Thank Goodness knows exactly what it’s doing and nails every second of it, ending exactly when it needs to.
I absolutely adored every moment in his game so much that I might end up revisiting it on a yearly basis.
Grab your notebooks and sharpen your pencils.
It’s tough to merge story, puzzles and style into a cohesive whole, but Lorelei and the Laser Eyes does it with such elegance and confidence that it makes exploring the intricate and mysterious Hotel Letztes Jahr one of the greatest puzzle sandboxes in a game since 2016’s The Witness.
Lorelei is filled with puzzles galore set in a Resident Evil inspired mansion with a deep and affecting story that hooked me right away. Unlike The Witness’ singular puzzle design, Lorelei offers a wide range of concepts that will have you scratching your head. However, like any good puzzle, it’s only complicated until it’s not. You just gotta find out how it works.
There’s books to read, Lorelei prototypes to play, mazes, and plenty more to keep you progressing through the story. There’s always somewhere to go, something to do, and some way to feel dumber than you did seconds ago.
I’ve heard a lot of people getting turned off by the game due to its difficulty and I get it, but it’s worth pushing through if you enjoy puzzles. From start to finish, the red-tinged mystery’s puzzles will keep you guessing while the oddball Twin Peaks flavored tone will keep you intrigued. It’s all so bizarre that it kept me thinking about it all day.
Considering it’s so quaint by today’s bloated and complex RPG standards, I’m not exactly sure what did it for me with Grimstone but it clicked. And it clicked hard.
While I’ve played a handful of the big ticket JRPGs over the years, there are plenty of blind spots – old and new – that I wish I had more time to explore. One such blindspot being the sprawling fantasy JRPGs that came out during the late 80’s. I’ve tried but I typically fall off soon after they begin for no real reason other than a billion other games pulling my attention away from it.
Knowing that Grimstone was a throwback to those games – at roughly the same length – I knew that I had to temper my expectations going in. I was expecting the burnout would find me sooner than later and I would dip out before even finding my footing. Thankfully, Grimstone’s intro immediately grabbed me and I was ready to sink my teeth in. The setting, set-up, and the characters all just worked for me and I had a hard time putting it down.
Grimstone is a roughly 20ish hour game but I’m still looking forward to restarting with a different party as each character has their own quirks and your party can change your whole experience dramatically. Further future-proofing the game.
Most importantly, Grimstone reinvigorated my often disappointing love for the genre and it might be a good gateway for those to try or get back into the genre. It kicked off a desire to finally dive back into some games that I’ve let pass me by for far too long. I can’t wait to clear some blind spots.
The daunting task of setting up an automated factory seems like an immediate headache; especially at this scale. But… seeing all that… junk… on the conveyor belts… it… does something… to your brain… I must… make… more… junk.
Satisfactory hit 1.0 this year after a five year Early Access period and the work certainly shows. After first playing for quite a bit during Update 7 back in 2022, I decided to wait for the full release and I’m glad I did. With various new additions and quality of life changes, the game is in a near-perfect state.
With Satisfactory, it’s so easy to slip into a grove and lose a handful of hours but every moment spent with it – no matter how mundane – is time well spent. Discovering a new resource or unlocking a new recipe to craft ad infinitum is just as important as de-spaghettifying a powerline or tidying up storage.
On its surface the game might come off as needlessly grindy and, well, it kinda is. It can often be a massive undertaking to reach the goals that the game sets for you, but…there’s no rush to get any of it done. I’ve taken my time with my factory and I love the slow, meditative pace that I’ve set for myself. It’s all factory, no anxiety.
You can mainline the progression and beat it as quickly as possible, sure, but it’s just as rewarding to stare at a large, blank surface contemplating the best and most efficient layout for your conveyor belt. Alternatively, when something you just built isn’t up to snuff, it’s just as fun to tear it all down and rebuild it. All for that extra 2% efficiency, baby!
I will be first to admit that I am severely under qualified to be designing a factory. But that won’t stop me from having fun trying.
When you first boot up UFO 50, it can seem overwhelming. Just the main menu’s grid showcasing all 50 games can induce dizziness.
Should you start at the beginning? Maybe pick one at random?
Luckily, there is no right answer. UFO 50 is a collection of fictional games from a fictional console and, with there being a broad range of titles and genres to find in this treasure trove, you’re bound to find something interesting, unique and inspired. Don’t like it? Move on to the next one.
It’s possible that Grimstone made my list because it was the first in UFO 50 that I spent the most amount of time in. After spending time with each of the 50 games, I can already tell that some of them are bound to become favorites once I spend a little more time with them. A thankful reminder that I will be playing this game for a very long time.
Other Standout Titles
- Pilot Quest – An incremental game but also kind of an extraction Zelda-like??
- Rail Heist – A train robbery game in the Grimstone world that’s basically a stealth turn-based Lode Runner-like??
- Rock On! Island – A tough tower defense game with a neat food-based economy.
- Party House – A Balatrolike; A deck-builder but instead of cards, it’s party guests.
- Camouflage – A chameleon puzzle game.
On the other hand, there are a few games that I already dread revisiting and likely never will. Some of which are a little too complex for what I like, but that’s okay, those aren’t for me. With 50 games, it’s easy to push the bad apples aside in order to get to the games that you really enjoy.
To create a whole new competition to that era of gaming in 2024 is a feat in its own right, but doing so with so many clever design choices across the board is something worthy of celebration. They’re not trying to replace the memories we had of the games of yore, they’re trying to be contemporaries and they pull it off.
Not only is it one of the most impressive games this year, it’s also one of the best video game collections ever put together. It also happens to be one of the best console libraries, which is wild to say. On top of that, it’s also my game of 2024.
(Also, remember: The Virtual Boy only had 22 games. So, like, by default, UFO 50 is at least two times better than that…right?)
Welp, that’s it for my list!
There’s a handful of games from 2024 that I’m still eagerly waiting to play but I am content with the ones I played. Even if some fell flat, I’m happy to call others my favorite of the year.
Thanks again for reading – or just skimming through – and thanks again to Giant Bomb for doing all their Game of the Year stuff. Thanks to @marino for reaching out and for giving me the opportunity to talk (a lot, sorry) about the games that meant the most to me this year.
Looking forward to 2025. I think…?
– Pickle Giraffe