We’re back at it. The moment you’ve been waiting for. The last twelve months were absolutely plastered with bangers, from all sizes, markets, development budgets, and genres. We’ve played VR games, Switch games, PC games, retro games, and so on. Every single niche had, at the very least, a title which managed to stand out. If our list featuring the worst games of 2024 was hard to create because there were barely any bad games to come out this year, this list was different. It was heartbreaking to see so many outstanding titles fail to make our final cut, just to show how many great games came out in 2024.
In no particular order, let’s give a final round of applause to these honorable mentions:
Pepper Grinder | Dragon’s Dogma 2 | Neva |
Helldivers II | Ufouria: The Saga 2 | Metaphor: ReFantazio |
Princess Peach: Showtime! | Turnip Boy Robs A Bank | Mullet MadJack |
Dicefolk | Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid | Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes |
We’re not even counting excellent ports and remastered editions of previously released games, with Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut being the highlight in this particular format.
With those bangers out of the way, let’s take a look at the best games 2024 was kind enough to offer us, in our humble opinion.
20 – Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Dawning the iconic fedora and whip has never been this immersive and true to the character. It certainly put The Great Circle as not only one of the best Indiana Jones games, but one of the best Indiana Jones adventures in general, movies included. – Jordan Hawes
19 – Balatro
I have clocked over 220 hours playing Balatro in 2024. I am legit scared of buying this game on my phone, as I know I will be completely unable to do anything else but play this virtual version of cocaine all day long. Possibly the single most addictive roguelike I’ve ever played, and one of the most incredible indies ever made, Balatro was worth every single second spent with it. – Leo Faria
18 – Dragon Age: The Veilguard
After some stumbles with some of the middle entries in the franchise, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a return to form for this beloved Bioware fantasy RPG. From its well-crafted story, to its dynamic combat, and memorable companions, The Veilguard recaptures the magic that made the series so compelling at its beginning. – Heidi Hawes
17 – WWE 2K24
WWE 2K24continues the revival of pro-wrestling games, building on the success of its predecessor. Every feature of2K23 has been enhanced tenfold, and as a result, it’s a goddamn joy to mess around in the various modes. – Fernando da Costa
16 – Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
This is proof that Ubisoft is still 100% able to craft amazing experiences. All they need to do is stop trying to dupe us with blockchain-based wastes of time or “AAAA games”, and just focus on works of art like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. What a phenomenal metroidvania, with amazing visuals, music, and controls. Possibly my favorite Prince of Perisa game ever made, and I can’t think of a bigger praise than that. – Leo Faria.
15 – Silent Hill 2
Never, in my restless dreams, would I imagine that Bloober Team and Konami would manage to do a faithful remake of Silent Hill 2. Yet they were able to deliver a compelling recreation of the horror classic, whilst also expanding and improving on the gameplay to make for a more satisfying experience as a whole. It’s a bold project and it paid off wonderfully, becoming one of my favourite horror games in the past few years. Silent Hill is finally back. – Kyle Nicol
14 – Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus
Everyone else can keep pining for their long lost bug hero, I’ve got a new, adorable mascot in the metrovania sphere. Rich storytelling, dynamic skills, tough boss fights, incredibly detailed maps and, my personal favorite, tons of yokai made Bo my summer specialty. – Oliver Shellding
13 – Granblue Fantasy Relink
Granblue Fantasy Relink was not only well worth the wait, but it blew my expectations clear out of the water. If I’m honest, I anticipated a JRPG that was a bit above average but wouldn’t really be a blip in a Game of the Year discussion. Well, shut my damn mouth because, while it does tell the traditional tale of preventing the apocalypse, it handles it exceptionally. – Fernando da Costa
12 – Mario vs. Donkey Kong
The return of Mario vs. Donkey Kong could have gone either way. Luckily, this faithful remake hits all the right notes of nostalgia, but brings enough new to the table that justifies a revisit for any fans of the original GBA game, hopefully marking a fresh return in the future for one of Nintendo’s most intriguing spin-offs. – Aaron Price
11 – Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
Arguably one of the most impressive hidden gems to come out in 2024, Kunitsu-Gami is a work of art. A successful combination of tower defence strategy and Devil May Cry-style action gameplay that gets surprisingly deep the more you play it. It’s unique and absolutely gorgeous art style will only ever be matched by the upcoming Okami sequel. – Kyle Nicol
10 – Like a Dragon: Ininite Wealth
I feared that my expectations towardsLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth were going to balloon to a point it would be impossible for Sega and RGG Studio to not disappoint me. They did the impossible by offering closure and hope for the franchise’s future in one fell swoop. It entertains, it makes you laugh, it makes you feel emotional, it just makes you love this damn franchise even more. – Leo Faria
9 – Batman: Arkham Shadow
Somehow the virtual reality wizards over at Camouflaj not only crafted a great plot that fit in perfectly with the still-current Arkham storyline, without ruining anything released beforehands, but they also adapted the franchise’s iconic combat and gameplay for VR perfectly. It’s one of the best VR games I’ve ever played. – Jordan Hawes
8 – V Rising
V Rising takes what is otherwise a stale genre in the open-world survival crafting, making it it interesting again. It features incredibly strong ARPG gameplay, complete with exciting boss fights, a large yet varied open world, phenomenal build crafting, and one of the most interesting day/night cycles that makes full use of the vampiric setting. It then wraps it up with some of the best base building, survival and QoL features that I’ve seen in the genre. Even if you’re not a fan of survival games, I can highly recommend this one. – Kyle Nicol
7 – Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Space Marine 2 is everything gaming should strive to be: i removes all the BS that we’ve come to expect, and focuses on delivering a gameplay loop that rivals Doom Eternal‘s. It’s just you and two squadmates demolishing hordes of Tyranid and Chaos Marine forces. The expertly crafted campaign may be short, but is one of 2024’s best experiences, and that’s not even going into the phenomenal cooperative missions and extensive customisation options on display. Not only that, but there have been a wealth of content updates and improvements since my review that have only made the game even better. – Kyle Nicol
6 – Until Then
Until Thencame out of nowhere and reinvented my family’s interest in narrative gaming. The characters are so likable and the plot so very enthrallingm this replaced watching anything else until we had some answers for what exactly The Ruling was. Full of humor, heartbreak and incredible art direction, I’m giving this non-visual novel my top VN spot of the year. – Oliver Shellding
5 – Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore
If you’re going to do a parody, you got to go ALL the way.Arzettedid humor the same wayAirplane!approachedthe subject: with absolute seriousness that made it so much better. An enjoyable platformer done to the absolute 9s, with pitch perfect voice acting and a very specific art styling, this love letter to the CD-i Zelda games is a joy to behold for anyone who’s ever been on the Internet. – Oliver Shellding
4 – Bakeru
Bakeruhas the kind of manic energy that kept me coming back again and again to try and find more, accomplish more, 100% level after level. The usage of classic Japanese folklore as a backdrop in a modern adventure game was magnificent, and its stellar performance on the Switch sealed the deal. It’s got heart, it’s got style, and it’s got tons of useless trivia to learn. What’s not to love? – Oliver Shellding
3 – Tekken 8
Every half a decade or so, Bandai Namco waits for Capcom, SNK and Netherrealm to release their brand new fighting game iterations, only to then demolish their hopes and dreams with a brand new Tekken, showcasing the kiddos how to REALLY make a fighting game. It was like that with Tekken 7, and they’ve done it again with Tekken 8. Over-the-top, incredibly well-made, with a nonsensical amount of modes to select… Tekken 8 is the real deal. – Leo Faria
2 – Minishoot’ Adventures
Had Minishoot’ had a few more pixels, it would be my first perfect 10/10. An unparalleled feat of capturing the NES feel without relying on 8-bit graphics, I got sucked into this twin-stick adventure title and didn’t surface until the end. Full of secrets, crazy difficult bosses and a shockingly engrossing storyline, I still think more people need to play this. It’s just that damn good. – Oliver Shellding
1 – Astro Bot
A predictable GOTY winner? Man, I don’t even care. There was nothing that made me smile and want to cherish gaming as much as Astro Bot did this year. A damn near perfect 3D platformer that made me feel nostalgic for a specific era of gaming I didn’t even grow up with. But it’s more than just pure fanservice for Playstation fans. It’s a masterpiece like very few out there, with damn near perfect level design, controls, visuals, music, replayability. Take notes, game developers. THIS is what fun really feels like. – Leo Faria