Over the last year, I have played a total of 27 games, of which I completed 24. Most of these games represent older titles that I've been meaning to play for quite some time, with only two having been released in 2024.
I purposely explored a wide variety of game genres, including action, narrative adventure, puzzle, point-and-click, and visual novel games. As a result, I'm finding myself particularly drawn to action-focused games with compelling storylines that tend to falling into fantastical or horrifying territory (which should be no surprise to anyone who reads this blog).
For purpose of putting this list together, I didn't include games that I started toward the end of the year but have not yet completed yet (i.e., Alan Wake II, Cyberpunk 2077, and Spiritfarer) or past favorites that I replayed (i.e., Inside and Norco). With that out of the way, here are the games I loved playing this year.
Game of the Year: Control
Remedy Entertainment is officially one of my favorite game developers. After loving Alan Wake when I played it in 2023, I decided to jump into Control, which is set in the same connected universe.
When Jesse Faden enters the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) searching for her long-lost brother, who was taken by the FBC following a devastating Altered World Event (AWE) when they were children, she learns that the building — called the Oldest House — is under lockdown due to an incursion from an unforeseen threat. Upon discovering the Director dead in his office, Jesse picks up his service weapon and unintentionally becomes the new Bureau Director.
As Jesse explores the house, she learns more about its strange secrets and begins to gather supernatural powers that help her battle the Hiss incursion. It's important to note that the gunplay combined with these powers means that the combat is infinitely improved from Alan Wake, and the progression of Jesse's capabilities is wonderfully satisfying.
What I love about this game and its two DLC is the way it blends storytelling styles into something that feels unique. The house is at once evocative of a boring office building, while also being a shifting, unsettling, and surreal place touching upon strange realities. Posters on the walls, documentation (case files, research documents, and letters), media presentations (audio recordings, video presentations, and Threshold Kids episodes), and telepathic messages reveal the depths of this world and its characters, as well as planting easter eggs for Alan Wake fans. The levels of weirdness in the FBC comes in many forms and is endlessly fascinating, horrifying, and delightful. Oh, how I love this eerie and bizarre world.
Slay the Princess
In Slay the Princess (Black Tabby Games), the narrator tasks the hero with slaying a princess locked in a basement in order to prevent the end of the world. The player can choose to either go along with the narrator's goals or fight against them and this conflict leads the story down strange roads, branching into wildly different directions, twisting back on itself in fascinating ways, and expanding into a stunning cosmic horror story about love and free will. The game features beautiful black and white artwork and phenomenal voice acting from Jonathan Sims and Nichole Goodnight.
Although I have completed one play through, I fully intend to jump back in and explore more of the story branches — especially following the recent release of the “Pristine Cut,” a free update that dramatically expands the pathways.
Balatro
LocalThunk’s Balatro is a rogue-lite, poker-based game that completely gobbled up my life and then spit it out. Each round (called a "blind"), the player attempts to create poker hands to gather together enough chips to beat the blind. At the end of each round, the player is rewarded with cash that can be used in the shop to purchase various cards — including Joker, Tarot, Planet, and Spectral cards — that provide bluffs, easing progression through the increasingly difficult blinds.
It's not a surprise to me that Balatro was nominated for Game of the Year and won in the Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Mobile Game at the Game Awards. The gameplay is so well balanced, being both challenging and satisfying at the same time. Although I've mellowed and am not being quite as obsessive as when I first downloaded, this game is still the first one I turn to when I want to lose 20 minute or an hour or few.
Horizon: Burning Shores
Burning Shores is the DLC for Horizon: Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games), expanding the world and characters and providing a satisfying denouement to the main game. When it's discovered that one of the members of Far Zenith (the primary villains) has managed to escape, Aloy travels south to an area known as the Burning Shores, essentially a post-apocalyptic LA beset by volcanic activity. There she befriends a group of Quen and seeks out her enemy by delving into the ruins of LA.
The DLC presents new human and machine enemies and introduces some fascinating side quests and historical data about the world. As with the main game, the combat is sharp and exciting and the storyline is incredibly well written. But what makes this DLC so wonderful is Aloy's relationship with Seyka, a Quen who is willing to break the rules to do what's right and protect those she loves — much like Aloy herself.
In fact, I loved Burning Shores so much that, after completing it, I jumped in and replayed Forbidden West in new game plus. My only disappointment at this point is that I’ll probably have to wait several years for the next game to come out.
Chants of Sennaar
Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc) is a puzzle adventure game inspired by the Tower of Babel story, in which mankind attempted to build a tower to reach god and was punished by having the language divided, separating the people into different tribes in conflict. The player wakes in a tomb and begins a journey through a sparse, yet vibrant world. As they move upwards through the tower, they encounter various tribe members along with murals and writing in unknown languages and have to translate these languages in order to solve the puzzles and progress through the tower.
The art style is gorgeous, the translation puzzles are fascinating, and the story is compelling. With the exception of a glitch that hindered my progress at one point, I love this game, and I'm interested to see more from Rundisc as a developer.
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals
In Oxenfree II: Lost Signals (Night School Studio), Riley, a 32-year old woman, returns to her home town to work on a local project to monitor radio anomalies in the area. Partnered with another local, Jacob Summers, she is tasked with placing transmitters at strategic points in the remote hillsides. The process triggers a series of strange occurrences, including ghosts, a local cult, and inter-dimensional time travel.
Lost Signals expands on the mechanics from the first game. In addition to using the radio to tune into strange frequencies and interact with supernatural elements, the player can also listen to local radio stations for more information and make connections with various people via walkie talkie to learn about them, as well as to give and receive aide.
Lost Signals is an excellent sequel, and I might even love it more than the first game. In particular, I enjoy love Riley as the lead. She's a mature adult, who is imperfect but doing the best she can in the face of the difficult challenges of everyday life and the supernatural.
Red Dead Redemption
Released in 2010, Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games) was the oldest game I played this year. John Marston, a former outlaw and gunslinger, is tasked with finding his former colleagues and bringing them to justice. He hopes that by completing this objective, he will be able to close the door on his violent past and return to his farm to live out a quiet life with his wife and kid.
Red Dead Redemption leans into Western movie tropes through both its narrative and gameplay. The player can ride horses, shoot a variety of guns, drive wagons, have a quick-draw showdown at high noon, gamble at the poker tables, and more. Most importantly, the game has an morality system and even drawing your gun on someone in the middle of town can send the sheriff's posse after you for threatening someone.
Since this is an older game, the combat controls were a bit less smooth than I was used to and I struggled at the start of the game. However, the story, characters, and dialog were so fantastic that I was willing to work through those struggles and get into the rhythm of the gameplay. It was such a good time that I'm looking forward to jumping into Red Dead Redemption 2.
The Past Within
The Past Within (Rusty Lake) is a cooperative puzzle adventure game in which two players attempt to solve puzzles by communicating what they see on their screen with the other person. Set across two timelines (with one player in the past and one in the future), they must examine either a box or clues or several rooms of objects to unravel the game's mysterious events.
What made this game so wonderful for me was the experience of playing it with my twelve-year-old niece. We sat on the floor with each other and only loosely followed the rules. We worked together and freely cheated whenever we felt like it by looking at each other's screens if we were stuck. It was a delightful few hours of completing puzzles, while giggling and teasing each other along the way.
Life is Strange 2
Life is Strange 2 (Dontnod Entertainment) is a narrative adventure game about two Mexican-American brothers — Sean Diaz (in his teens) and Daniel (9 years old) — running from the police after the death of their father reveals Daniel's telekinetic powers. Unable to rely on anyone else, Sean has to protect and guide his younger brother as they flee south towards Mexico.
As Sean, the player does not have direct access to the use of Daniel's powers. Instead, the progression of the gameplay focused on parenting (or the best a big brother can do in woefully difficult circumstances). A morality system is built into the choices that are made, so that options to steal, beg for food, or allow Daniel to curse have an impact on how Daniel's views on the world, the people around him, and his powers. Ultimately, the game is beautifully tragic, with multiple endings that represent the complexity of trying to make the right choice in an unfair world.
Grindstone
Sometimes I just want to sit down with a straightforward puzzle game on my phone that I can play idly for a few minutes or several hours — and Grindstone (Capybara Games) fulfilled that roll perfectly. Grindstone is a color-matching game with bright vibrant art style and inherent humor. The player strings through creeps of the same color to build up a chain. The player collects grindstones, which allow them to purchase different weapons or armors, supporting the player's progress through more difficult enemies and bosses. The best part is that, since I got the game through Apple Arcade, there are no ads or in-game purchases. So, it's just a genuinely fun experience, and I enjoyed it enough to max out all the levels.
And a few tiny games, too...
Every year, I play half a dozen or so tiny games created by solo devs or small teams (usually playable in browser). I'm always impressed by the powerful game experiences that can be created in such a small space. So, I'd like to highlight a few of my favorites.
“Burnt Matches” is a text-based game developed by Pippin Barr. The game feels like playing an interactive poem, inviting the player into a feeling instead of telling a straightforward linear story. Barr plays with lyrical, repetitive language, pages of incomprehensible symbols, and explores the space of text on the screen, with text scrolling on and on to the right. At times, the experience shifts between feelings of horror and a sense of quietude.
"House of Poems" is a text-based game by Kyra Jaeger that unfolds like an initiation. Written in lines of poetry, the game explores courage and honesty, resulting in a fictional journey into witchyness and personal power.
“A Toy Story” is a charming little visual novel created by Michelle Kwan. Presented from the POV of a puppy, who is gifted his favorite toy at one years old, the player gets to experience the life of the puppy, growing alongside his owner. It’s a genuinely sweet tale, and it’s impressive how much it moved me for such a short game.
Games I'm Excited to Play in 2025
Although I would normally just end it there, I figure what the hell. Here are some of the games I'm looking forward to playing in the new year. This is in addition to the three games I've already started and need to finish: Alan Wake II, Cyberpunk 2077, and Spiritfarer. (Note that this doesn't even begin to touch upon my backlog.)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (MachineGames) – Everything I've seen and heard about this recently released game evokes the feel of the original films perfectly, and it has me so excited.
- South of Midnight (Compulsion Games) – With its stop motion art style and Southern Gothic narrative, this action-adventure game looks like just my cup of tea.
- Hades 2 (Supergiant Games) – Although I never got around to finishing the first Hades, I loved every second of its smooth combat systems and rich Greek mythology. So, I can't help but be excited about the sequel.
- Psychotic Bathtub (Natasha Sebben) – In this narrative adventure game, the player is able to converse with their rubber ducky and interact with objects in the bathroom to explore the mental health of the character.
- Stika (the Stika Team) – A survival horror game based on Ukrainian folklore? Sign me up. No release date is set yet for this game, so I may have to wait longer than just this next year, but that doesn't stop me from being eager to play it.
What games did you love playing in 2024 and/or are you excited to play in the new year?
