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Odds are, you know the big games in a given year. If you regularly play games, it’s hard not to at least hear the names of the latest releases from big publishers, which spend huge sums of money to spread awareness of these releases. But it’s often in the smaller, less widely known games that you see the most creativity, innovation, and originality. These are often games that are not seeking to appeal to as many people as possible and are instead the vision of a smaller number of people. That can mean that, when you find the right one, it feels like it’s meant for you, because it’s so acutely designed to appeal to your particular tastes and sensibilities.
As such, identifying hidden gems can be a real treat, because it’s an opportunity for us to help spread the word on games we love that might have flown under the radar for you. Just look at Steam or any other digital games storefront and it’s hard not to be struck by the staggering number of games that release each week, let alone each year. It’s no surprise that there are so many great games that any given person has never heard of.
In compiling the list below, we tried to accomplish one thing: Highlight lesser-known games that were released in 2024. Some games that fit that description can also be found in our personal favorites list, where we compiled our individual top choices that didn’t make the site’s overall top 10. But we couldn’t limit ourselves to just those–not when there are so many great games. There’s almost certainly a game out there you’ve never heard of and that will delight you in a very personal way, and hopefully we can help you find one.