Game Of The Year Editor’s Pick, 2024

Despite 2023 being the big year for games, with the critically acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3 and the critically critiqued Starfield, I actually played a lot more games this year than I did last. Including some of my backlog, so if I could put Alan Wake 2 here I would, but I was late to the party, so… DLC was pretty good, though.

There are still games I haven’t played yet as well that you might notice are missing, like Metaphor: ReFantazio and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, but I’m just a man and there are only seven days in a week, 24 hours in a day, so I doubt anyone has even played those yet tbh.

Honorable Mentions

10

Thank Goodness You’re Here

If you’re looking for the most accurate depiction of the UK in any form of media, then look no further. Right down to council tax pestering, wheelie bin bouts, and morning pub-goers, Thank Goodness You’re Here represents everything I’m not that proud to be. But damn, this is entertaining.

Despite only being a couple of hours of my whole year, it was a couple of hours I remember, thanks to the dry humour, long-running jokes, and continuous detail as you potter about this small countryside town. Thank goodness you’re here, Thank Goodness You’re Here.

9

Bloomtown: A Different Story

I know it can be lazy to describe a game by listing off similar games, but 1. I am lazy, and 2. Hear me out.

What if Persona, but Stranger Things, but Disco Elysium, but Earthbound? Yeah, that’s Bloomtown. Play it.

8

Pacific Drive

In this game, you drive. And you survive. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

Patch up and upgrade your strange, supernatural station wagon, and go out into the strange, supernatural exclusion zone to find a way out. It’s relatively simple in premise, but with plenty of mystery, satisfying car tinkering mechanics, and some truly creepy otherworldly events, it’s one that stuck with me since the early months of the year.

7

Star Trucker

Oh, look, another game about driving and surviving. Only this time the survival is more about capitalism, the economy, and… the vacuum of space, I suppose.

What if Truck Simulator, but space? Yeah, I’m still lazy, but that’s exactly what this game is. Manage your truck in every tedious, meticulous way, set out on long-hauling inter-planetary jobs, and then realise there’s a problem with your grav drive when the cargo floats into the back of your head.

6

Tiny Glade

This is the most relaxed I’ve felt all year.

5

Helldivers 2

This is the most unrelaxed I’ve felt all year. For Democracy!

4

Balatro

Okay, so I hadn’t actually played Balatro until last week when I was in a hotel in Paris with my Steam Deck. “I’ll finally take a look then,” I thought. Cut to me sitting in the airport spending a good 15 minutes with a calculator open trying to find the one hand that could keep my hours-long Ante 7 run going.

And I did. And then I lost the next round. Good game.

3

Astro Bot

“Back in my day, video games were-” forget your day, Astro Bot is here. This video game sure is a video game, in all the best ways.

Just good levels, things to collect, enemies to punch and jump on, and a beautiful homage to PlayStation’s history. The only bad thing about Astro Bot is that it reminds me of all the dead PlayStation series that will never see the light of day again.

2

Indiana Jones And The Great Circle

Recency bias? No. Maybe. Shut up.

But turns out, this is actually one of the best games I’ve played this year. It masterfully does justice in honouring the adventure and charm of Indiana Jones, and creates an intricate, detailed experience on both the grand scale, but also the smaller moments.

Every time I stop playing this game, I can’t help but find myself thinking about it, excited to get back into the action. And I mean, the amount of things you can pick up and smack Nazis with? That alone is worthy of this position. MachineGames really has a niche, huh?

1

Dragon’s Dogma 2

Tada, the game with barely any story!

The sense of adventure I got from Dragon’s Dogma 2 was undeniably unparalleled, with only Indiana Jones coming close. From the misty marshes, to the forests of the elves, to the hidden mountaintop riddles of the Sphinx, Dragon’s Dogma 2 was an adventure I will remember, standing tall above my love for the original game, and playing off those classic fantasy feelings of Tolkien and ancient mythology.

The amount of moments I can recall fondly, the creative workarounds it let me do, the pure scale of a world truly fit for getting lost in, my love for this game has not dulled all these months later, and to me, it’s a standout of 2024 that deserves praise.