It's that time of year for reflection, to sit down and take stock of all the wonderful games that released in 2024. A time to stare into the middle distance with a despairing expression wondering how you managed to not play so many great new games this year because the Vampire Survivors DLC continued to suck your free time up like..., well, like a vampire. Yes, it's GOTY time.
As the industry continues to navigate tumultuous waters, with layoffs continuing across the board in game development, publishing, and media, players themselves have once again had an excellent year in terms of great new games to play. Whether large or small, there have been more fantastic things to play than hours in the day for all but the most myopic of gamers.
Switch's eighth year has been packed with greatness, with long-delayed games finally seeing the light of day, and indies stepping up to the plate as they have done throughout the console's life. As in past years, we're assembling our own staff GOTY list here at Nintendo Life, but today we're asking you to rate your favourites for the big one - our dynamic, community-ranked Top 50 Switch games of the year.
Yep, we've got one for every year since 2017, each presenting a sparkling ranked list of Switch games according to their User Ratings in our database. Here's the rundown of past years' winners (click the year to be taken to the corresponding Top 50 list):
- 2017: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- 2018: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- 2019: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition
- 2020: Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
- 2021: Metroid Dread
- 2022: Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- 2023: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Not bad, huh? But what's deserving of the top spot this year? That one's entirely down to you lovely people.
How to rate your Games of the Year 2024
Below you'll find every Switch game we've reviewed this year awarded a 6/10 or higher. To rate any games you've played, registered users can click on the star beside the corresponding title and score it out of 10.
IMPORTANT NOTE: All Switch games released in 2024 are eligible and available to rate via our database.
We've limited the number of games shown below to save you from prodigious amounts of shovelware that's clogged up the eShop this year. However, any game released on Switch is eligible for ratings, so if there's something we didn't review (or just didn't enjoy as much as you did), head to the search bar at the very top of the page and rate it directly on that game's page.
Later in the month, all your ratings will be sorted into the Top 50 Switch games of 2024, one that will still be influenced by User Ratings even once it's live. This means that if a great game launches between now and New Year (hey, they're still coming thick and fast!), it still has every opportunity to make the list should it get sufficient love from NL readers.
As a great man once said, that's more than enough waffle - let's dive right into things...
Thanks for rating the games you've played! We'll be revealing the results soon. Our database should contain every game released in 2024, but please let us know below if anything is missing.