The 50 best video games of 2024

Where to play: Nintendo Switch

Paper Mario is the weird alternative version of Mario that gets to do anything. Paper Mario solves a train mystery and becomes a professional wrestler. He gets the fun theater of combat; the complicated, satisfying timing-based attacks; and to be an object of affection for a mouse, a ghost, a goomba. All of these weird quicks already made Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door joyful. Many of the original GameCube release’s rough edges have been smoothed over, and some of its jokes are even tighter than before. But its Switch remaster reminds me all how truly special — and even risky — this game is, and also how we haven’t seen another Mario title like it since. —Chelsea Stark

Where to play: Game Pass, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

In one single month, Palworld became a viral hit, selling over 8 million copies in six days and becoming the subject of mass criticism online. Still, behind the negativity and the hype is the actual game.

Players will likely recognize the influence of several games, like Fortnite or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Despite all the different genres it pulls from, Palworld is a survival game at heart. You’ll build sprawling camps, explore a wide world, and do it alongside Pokémon-like creatures you catch called Pals. It’s still in early access and it’s not the most polished game in the world, but its rough edges make for funny moments with friends. —Ana Diaz

Where to play: Nintendo Switch

Super Mario Party Jamboree is yet another entry in a series that has spanned nearly three decades. And yes, it is absolutely more Mario Party. But it takes a similar approach to the other Switch-based Mario Party games: taking the series back to its roots, adding in massive quality-of-life features, and trying new stuff. The boards are all clever — especially the Mario Kart-themed one — the minigames are a delight, and the buddy system keeps players on their toes. All that would make for a great time, but Nintendo’s insistence on adding weird stuff, like the mode that’s just a cooking minigame set to music or a battle royale, is a reminder of why this series has seen so many entries. —Ryan Gilliam

Where to play: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

The debut game from Surgent Studios is, in a word, punishing. It’s a meditation on grief in Metroidvania form, inspired by Bantu legends, directed by House of the Dragon and Assassin’s Creed Origins actor Abubakar Salim (yes, he pivoted from acting to game studio direction) in the wake of his own father’s death. The game’s protagonist, a shaman named Zau, bargains with the God of Death to bring his father back from the dead; this results in a classic hero’s journey that takes an equally classic toll on said hero — and will take a toll on you, the player, in a series of extraordinarily difficult platforming challenges. The experience is clearly as hard for Zau as it is for you; as in grief, you will return again and again to the same places, only hoping to move past them and beyond them through the tools you’re forced to pick up along the way. —Maddy Myers

Where to play: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC

The point-and-click genre gives way to dialectical jokes, slapstick humor, and downright absurdity in this love letter to northern England. The plot and gameplay — where you, a traveling salesperson, run around a nonsensical town helping the town’s residents do various tasks — don’t matter much next to the thick-accented voice acting and incessant and delightful wordplay that fill every inch of the game. It’s dirty and wholly inappropriate, and nonetheless smart in many ways — some plots, for instance, are revealed when you do certain actions in a certain order, so you have every reason to replay once you’ve finished a runthrough. —Zoë Hannah

Where to play: Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

Unlike Stray, the other cat-on-a-mission simulator, Little Kitty, Big City is lightheartedness embodied. As a curious and silky black feline, you’ll run, hop, and swipe your paws to interact with the city and its inhabitants. In search of your home, you’ll find sun spots to bask in, hundreds of satisfying items to push off the shelves, and humans you can manipulate, trip, and demand pets from. —Zoë Hannah

Where to play: Android, iOS, PlayStation 5, Windows PC

The character design in Zenless Zone Zero is very horny, but Hoyoverse’s latest foray into creating a 3D action game impressed me. Gameplay where you can chain together different kinds of attacks, and the ability to tag in other characters to max out power, contributed to fluid, enjoyable combat. —Ana Diaz

Where to play: Mac, Windows PC

Who doesn’t love an immersive post-apocalyptic storyline? Frostpunk 2 is set, as the name suggests, in the frozen wastelands of Earth. As the Steward of New London, it’s your job to guide the city and its citizens. But residents are no longer living day to day, like in Frostpunk. Now, they are grappling with the broader questions of what it means to be human and the kind of society they want to live in. Every decision you make shapes the future — or could cost you everything. —Saira Mueller

Where to play: Windows PC

One of our favorite games of 2023, Against the Storm, was graced with an unexpected DLC in the form of Keepers of the Stone. The addition to the roguelike fantasy city builder introduces new music, a new biome to explore, new perks to unlock, and, most importantly, jacked frogs. While the new expansion doesn’t change the fundamental experience of Against the Storm, it didn’t have to. Instead, Keepers of the Stone injects some much-needed variety into the existing gameplay loop, enriching an already substantial experience. —Alice Jovanée

Where to play: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X

Unicorn Overlord is a vibrantly animated strategy game where preparation shapes each battle. Players program if-then actions for their units, unleashing automated combat that rewards tactical planning. A wholesome hero leads missions with Saturday morning cartoon charm, where larger-than-life villains of the week find redemption and a place in the Liberation Army. —Chelsea Stark

Where to play: Mac, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is an absolute delight. It’s got it all: cute characters and art, a totally goofy story, surprisingly complex mysteries to uncover, and a dedicated button to make the Duck Detective quack. Duck Detective plays out like a detective movie, when the down-on-his-luck Duck Detective wakes up from a rough night. He’s got no money and can’t pay rent, so he’s got to take on some jobs. And the first up is a lunchroom, workplace mystery: Who stole the salami? In your investigation, you’ll unlock words that can be used to fill in the blanks of said mystery, which gets more and more complicated as time goes on. Duck Detective is a charming, silly little game — it runs about three hours — that’s perfect for a cozy afternoon. —Nicole Carpenter

Where to play: Windows PC

I Am Your Beast pits a retired agent, Alphonse Harding, against the entirety of a government agency out to murder him. Unfortunately for them, they have chosen to fight on Harding’s home turf: a forest filled with hatches to a tunnel network. I Am Your Beast’s core loop is fast and brutal and rewards creative use of explosions and throwing knives. —Cass Marshall

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Star Wars Outlaws is great as a game, but even better as a Star Wars theme park. Setting aside the solid if controversial stealth-RPG gameplay, Outlaws absolutely nails the Star Wars vibe, with a tactility on display that goes beyond mere Lucasfilm set design and sound effects. Sketto chugga (Tatooine local cuisine) sizzles with tantalizing heat. Neon signs direct you to underground gambling dens, where you can play Space Hold ’em, while even backwater space stations hum with energy. The level of detail in every frame compels you to get lost (in a good way), and is further proof of a key lesson from the past decade: These days, Star Wars really is at its most interesting when there isn’t a lightsaber in sight. —Ari Notis

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

If you’re like me, then you’ve been waiting your entire life for an alternate-history Russian road trip dramedy about a nun who may or may not have the devil living inside her head and a prisoner who may or may not have direct communication with God. If, somehow, you aren’t like me, I suppose you should still play this cinematic adventure that draws connections equally funny and uncomfortable between faith and the Classic Gamer Urge™ to check boxes and accrue points. —Chris Plante

Where to play: Android, iOS, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One

Stardew Valley was already the best modern farming simulator out there when 2024 began, but developer ConcernedApe wasn’t done iterating on his masterpiece. With this year’s 1.6 update, he revived passion for Stardew with a litany of new events, items, and quality-of-life features, including the excellent three-day Desert Festival, a new and mysterious weather event, and the long-awaited Big Chest (hoarders rise up!!). It gave die-hard players new and interesting things to discover in a game already filled with discovery, and one whose ins and outs many had previously mastered.

On top of that, 1.6 overhauled Stardew from the ground up for modders. ConcernedApe has a strong track record of valuing the Stardew modding community, and with 1.6, he and his team made it easier than ever for that community to create mods for the game. Because of that, any number of people can continue iterating on ConcernedApe’s masterpiece, even when he decides he’s finally done. —Kallie Plagge

Where to play: Windows PC

I never would’ve believed that in the year of our lord 2024, I’d be playing a game made on the bones of the Build engine, but the early access version of boomer shooter Selaco shows that the aged engine still has teeth. While the usual trappings of the genre are all present, with plenty of chunky pixels and wanton destruction, Selaco stretches the Build engine to its limits with weather effects, dynamic traversal, and impressive environmental puzzles. Even in its somewhat unfinished state, Selaco does a better job of delivering a fully realized shooter than many of the AAA titles I played this year. —Alice Jovanée

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Warhammer 40,000 is a setting where untold billions toil under the cruelest regime imaginable, and it’d be a terrible place to live — but it’s much more palatable when presented from the point of view of a Space Marine. The first Space Marine was a cult classic, and the sequel builds on that skeleton to great effect. Space Marine 2 is a game full of simple pleasures: the roar of a bolter, the joy of lighting a wave of screaming Tyranids on fire, and the shock of running into a normal human cultist and seeing them instantly explode. Space Marine 2 is a campaign punctuated with delightful execution animations, fun boss fights, and banter with your battle brothers. The follow-up operations, as well as the multiplayer, are the cherry on top. —Cass Marshall

Where to play: Nintendo Switch, Mac, Windows PC

A Mesoamerican revenge Western rendered in some of the most stunning pixel art in forever, Arco follows four Indigenous heroes in a crusade against the colonizers exploiting their land. While not as sweeping as a AAA RPG, every choice matters, from how you help fellow locals in peril to the in-the-moment decisions made in battle, which blends turn-based and real-time combat. Each fight is a visceral puzzle of survival, a combination of attacks, dashing, countering, and resource management. Many have complained that Arco’s trailers didn’t properly sell the game’s ingenious blend of genres and play and, yeah, it’s tough; peppered with dark humor and backed by a rip-roaring soundtrack, its inversion of Western tropes all feels one of a kind. But in the end, Arco delivers on a very clear promise: to tell a bloody tale of resistance and resilience in the face of greed. —Matt Patches

Where to play: Mac, Windows PC

There’s a honeymoon period for every WoW expansion, followed by approximately 20 months of player griping — but this time, the honeymoon felt that bit more special, and the gripes seem a little more hollow. The War Within is a classic expansion, the best since Legion. It has strong and very Warcraft-y storytelling (orchestrated by returning dungeon master Chris Metzen) and stunning environment art with a Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth vibe. It also has some genuinely exciting new features, including the fantastic, soloable Delve dungeons. WoW is in its best health in a long time. —Oli Welsh

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Tekken 8 is a smorgasbord of acquired tastes crammed into a blender and set to overdrive, with a clown car roster packed with edgelord OCs, babes, and bears. There’s a limb-based button layout and move lists that seem to scroll forever, with an entrancing backing track of pulsing, aggressive rave beats. And bears! Did I mention the bears? There are two of them.

While the recent Street Fighter 6 seems to have been thoughtfully designed to be the most broadly appealing fighting game ever, Tekken 8 has set its sights on being the most Tekken fighting game ever. And boy, did it succeed! —Patrick Gill

Where to play: Windows PC

Deadlock isn’t the first game to try and blend MOBA-level mechanics with a third-person shooter, but it is the best. Even in its early-access state, Deadlock is the kind of game that immediately feels special, like you know you’re jumping in early on the next big thing. It’s a game that I suspect will only rise on this list in the coming years, because it has that “it” factor that leaves you feeling overjoyed with each win, devastated by each loss, and ready to convince yourself “just one more” is a good idea no matter your previous result. —Ryan Gilliam

Where to play: Mac, Windows PC

Minishoot’ Adventures marries the Metroidvania genre with a bullet hell game. You play as a Galaga-esque spaceship and adventure through the land, shooting enemies down and collecting other ships to help you. You also collect upgrades to your blaster and new traversal powers, which you’ll need to best the game’s fabulous dungeons.

It’s an odd matchup on its face that instantly makes sense the moment you put your hands on it, and you’ll walk away wondering how it took so long for someone to come up with such a great idea. —Ryan Gilliam

Where to play: Windows PC

Satisfactory takes the satisfaction of the survival genre and blows it out into a fully fledged factory simulator in first person. It’s a game about math, and logistics, and pleasing your corporate overlords.

But in spite of all of that normally yucky stuff, it lives up to its name by allowing you to build something that’s functionally perfect — and how often can you do that in life? You haven’t lived until you’ve spun up a factory that’s perfectly balanced, where you’ve created a loop from resource to product to byproduct of your product that is running at 100% efficiency. —Ryan Gilliam

Where to play: Nintendo Switch

At long last, Nintendo fans got a new mainline Zelda game where they could play as Princess Zelda herself with The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

Like Tears of the Kingdom, Echoes of Wisdom continues the new tradition of bringing creative sandbox solutions to Zelda games. Instead of wielding the Master Sword, Princess Zelda uses a magical tool called the Tri Rod, which allows her to copy and paste objects in her environment to solve puzzles and explore.

At certain points, I wished this game encouraged more creativity, but Echoes of Wisdom still endeared me. Its bright, toylike world gave me ample opportunities to unearth its many secrets, and I appreciated the game’s revival of classic Zelda dungeon design. —Ana Diaz

Where to play: Nintendo Switch, Windows PC

Imagine a deadly pandemic, but this time, the secret to survival is locked in the DNA of a single teenage girl. 1000xResist’s creators begin with that premise, then zoom forward days, months, years, maybe even millennia. The result is a thrilling sci-fi mystery that sits comfortably alongside the best of post-COVID fiction. What distinguishes the story, what elevates it above its contemporaries, is an equally curious look backward. How had the central family’s experience — shaped by the recent Hong Kong protests and a move to Canada — already restructured their world long before the wider world faced a cataclysmic threat? And how might one teen’s experience of the present (in all its messiness) have global ramifications in the future? —Chris Plante

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC

Developer Bloober Team erased any doubt that it was up to the task of modernizing sacred psychological horror game Silent Hill 2 with this year’s remake. More than just a retelling of the events of Silent Hill 2, it’s a study of the game’s strengths and faults. The remake doesn’t replace or supersede its inspiration, but serves as a smartly reimagined complement to the beloved original.

Silent Hill 2 sends widower James Sunderland to the titular town on a journey of self-discovery where — in lieu of confronting his own trauma — he faces horrifying monsters. There, he meets similarly tortured characters, all of whom have been masterfully revitalized with expert performance capture and a fresh script. It’s the people of Silent Hill 2 that pulled me in, particularly James’ award-nominated performance alongside the dreary, depressed Angela. Beyond the gorgeously detailed new graphics, in-depth puzzles, and expanded narrative, it’s the still-relevant story of Silent Hill 2 that’s given the chance to shine through, easily the best revelation of Bloober’s remake. —Michael McWhertor

Where to play: Android (via Netflix), iOS (via Netflix), Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure’s whole world is one big shuffle puzzle that moves when the hero, Jemma, moves. It’s a power that’s set her apart from her fellow townsfolk — and part of the reason she leaves home to find herself. With its heartfelt, sincere story, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is an unforgettable game that keeps iterating on its core mechanic as Jemma evolves in her personal journey, too. —Nicole Carpenter

Where to play: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

Destiny has always been a series about potential. Potential that Bungie couldn’t quite reach, but players always saw as possible.

The Final Shape was the true realization of the latent potential fans have waited nearly a decade for: an exceptional story that ended a 10-year saga, best-in-class Exotic missions, a destination built entirely off nostalgia, the first new enemy faction in years, and a raid that gave players the challenge they deserved.

Destiny 2 is far from finished, but it’s hard to imagine anything ever supplanting The Final Shape in the minds of Destiny fans. —Ryan Gilliam

Where to play: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Neva, like Gris before it, is a quietly beautiful game that’s damn well guaranteed to make you cry. The heaviness of Neva’s story is made all the more prominent due to its simple, meditative mechanics; through long stretches of time, there’s nothing to do but move forward and reflect on life, death, and companionship. And it works. —Nicole Carpenter

Where to play: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

A sprawling RPG with a heart of gold, Infinite Wealth continues the Like a Dragon (née Yakuza) franchise’s commitment to earnest narratives about the power of friendship, variety in play, and ridiculously silly fun.

Infinite Wealth’s story stretches across Hawaii and multiple cities in Japan, with a seemingly endless array of activities. There’s the usual buffet of bite-sized minigames: sports games, card games, dating games, collectible games, and so on. But the trio of the Animal Crossing-inspired Dondoko Island, the Crazy Taxi-inspired Crazy Eats, and the hilarious returning Pokémon parody Sujimon are fun, engaging, and deep enough to justify their own spots on this list. And they’re all just a part of the Infinite Wealth experience.

At the heart of it all is sweet Ichiban Kasuga, always relentlessly optimistic and supportive of just about everyone, to the point that he’s repeatedly making his enemies into life-long friends. And while Infinite Wealth isn’t technically an anthology story, it has something in common with them: If you don’t like what you’re currently doing, just wait a bit. You’ll be doing something completely different soon. —Pete Volk

Where to play: Game Pass, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

It seems Capcom has had such a run of success with Resident Evil and Monster Hunter lately that it feels able to let its freak flag fly again, just as it did in the mid-2000s. Kunitsu-Gami recalls Clover Studio classics like God Hand and Okami, while being every bit as individual as they were. It’s a unique action-strategy hybrid located in an ornately illustrated, haunting zone of Japanese folklore. You play as a swordsman protecting a priestess as she dances through mountainside villages defiled by demons, performing a ritual to cleanse them; you also rescue and command villagers to help you tackle the oncoming horde of gloriously weird, shambling monsters. Kunitsu-Gami is mobile tower defense meets hack-and-slash, sort of, with a deeply satisfying gameplay loop, and it’s elegantly at peace with its own smallness and simplicity. Like a lost classic of the PS2 era, in the best way. —Oli Welsh

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a wonderful new BioWare RPG that’s in friction with the company’s own legacy. It’s a great game — with surprisingly meaty combat that’s a blast to play, beautiful environments and animations, a riveting story, and a suite of compelling companion characters — and one that’s set a new standard for trans representation in the AAA CRPG.

It’s also unevenly paced, and when compared to its predecessors, it’s unavoidably clear that the themes of its story are less challenging, and its character dynamics shallower and lacking in the chewy conflict so singular to the franchise. And yet! Veilguard has a stunning final act that plays on those very characters and themes to blistering results.

It’s a game that has my Dragon Age fan friends deep in discussion about its flaws, and also eagerly buckling up for our second playthroughs within a day or two of finishing it for the first time. What is that, if not the quintessential BioWare game experience? This is Veilguard’s true success: that against all odds, there is a new, good BioWare RPG on the market, and we get to play it. —Susana Polo

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC

The most beautifully maddening game of 2024 might be this striking combination of roguelike, survival game, and station wagon driving simulator. Pacific Drive is all about making repeated, randomized forays into the irradiated, glitching reality of the Olympic Exclusion Zone in the Pacific Northwest, where some kind of massive science experiment went wrong decades before. You do so behind the wheel of an old car, and the core gameplay loop is all about scavenging the resources you need to fortify this old heap against the unpredictable hazards of the Zone.

It’s a tough game, and runs can go very wrong, seemingly costing you hours of progress. But throughout it all, the deepening bond you have with the heap of junk that becomes your mobile base and extension of yourself is what keeps you going. This is one of the best games around about the love affair between man and machine. —Oli Welsh

Where to play: Windows PC

Fields of Mistria is NPC Studios’ first game, and it sets a high bar for future titles — and for the full release of the farming life sim, which is currently in early access. The game is as cozy and comfortable as its probable inspirations (Stardew Valley, Story of Seasons, etc.), but its dragon-centric lore and magical understory make it a great daily game. It also accounts for a lot of the more annoying parts of the genre — it’s easy to amass hearts with the other villagers, you can cook from your full inventory rather than just from your backpack, and you don’t lose your stuff if you fall asleep in the mines. The most recent update added romance and mounts, so the 1.0 release is on track to be an absolute success. —Zoë Hannah

Where to play: Nintendo Switch, Windows PC

I’ve played well over 30 hours of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes on Steam Deck, and even more time in my notebook. The puzzle sickos at Simogo created a real masterpiece of secrets that pulls together logic puzzles, alternative realities, and math into an iconic black-and-white mansion. It’s a puzzle box with puzzle boxes of its own tucked inside. And then there are puzzle boxes inside those puzzle boxes. It’s a game that feels like it’d be very easy to get frustrated by, but Simogo makes it clear that all of the answers exist inside the game, be it in books, scripts, or posters on the walls. If something is totally baffling, you probably just don’t have the right answer.

Like I alluded to earlier, so much of the game is played outside of the game screen. You need a notebook — that’s a directive even Simogo gives you early on. I said this in my review, but I’ve got pages of scribbles that look like nonsense to anyone else. Honestly, they’re likely nonsense to me now, too. I’ve never played anything like it, and I’m not sure I will again. —Nicole Carpenter

Where to play: Windows PC

Hades 2 has the impossible task of following up a universally beloved video game. A game that was our Game of the Year in 2020, and that won countless awards. It’s also Supergiant’s first sequel, meaning it not only has to live up to the original Hades, it also has to justify to players why it’s stopping the indie-darling studio from making something completely new. But in its short early access window, without being feature complete, Hades 2 already manages to do both.

With Hades 2, Supergiant is fleshing out its delightful world with new characters, while also being careful not to oversaturate us with ones we already know too much about. And the new witchy vibe means Melinoë is a completely different flavor of hero from her brother.

Being the sequel to Hades meant Hades 2 was already one to watch as it travels through early access. But if it keeps moving on this trajectory, it could surpass its predecessor entirely, and that makes it a must-play even for those who usually stay away from early access titles. —Ryan Gilliam

Where to play: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

The best 2D platformer of the year comes with a side dish of heartbreak, given that its development team got broken up and will never make a sequel to this masterpiece. Ubisoft higher-ups’ mistake should not prevent you from circling back to play this so that you can be equally haunted by its impeccable design. Slick combat, surprising story choices, gorgeous music, difficult platforming mitigated by a slew of accessibility options that let you skip anything you don’t care for — this is what I wish the rest of 2024’s Metroidvanias had done, but there’s only one that has all of the above. —Maddy Myers

Where to play: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

Harder, better, faster, stronger: That seems to be the design ethos behind Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, an expansion for Polygon’s Game of the Year from 2022, at least when it comes to challenging, memorable boss fights. FromSoftware doubled down on difficulty for its Elden Ring DLC, to be sure, but lessons learned from the base game are also evident in Shadow of the Erdtree. There’s even more player freedom, thanks to the Land of Shadow’s expertly designed new landmass, and more flexibility in builds, with a flood of new weapons, spells, and armor sets to experiment with. Elden Ring’s story and lore now feel complete, thanks to Shadow of the Erdtree.

Yes, Shadow of the Erdtree’s extreme difficulty may ultimately limit players to a smaller set of builds they can find success with. But in the months after the expansion’s release, FromSoftware has updated and softened the expansion somewhat, ensuring that players aren’t locked in to one build and one build only. The developer shows that it learns and (apparently) listens, and Shadow of the Erdtree is even better than it was at launch.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is an excellent expansion of the dark action role-playing game, one that’s big enough and inventive enough to feel more like a sequel than what we’ve come to expect from video game DLC. It may even challenge players, rightly, to consider whether an add-on like this can qualify as a game of the year on its own. —Michael McWhertor

Where to play: Android (via Netflix), iOS (via Netflix), Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

Everything you need to solve The Rise of the Golden Idol’s puzzles is right there in its grotesque, complex illustrations. First, you’ll want to identify all the characters, be it a scientist who’s dead in the snow or an activist protesting outside of a laboratory. Then, you can start piecing together the mystery of the scene, pulling words into a fill-in-the-blanks notebook page. It’s a simple premise that masterfully pulls together a mystery — what does this dang thing do? — that spanned several in-game centuries, making the Case of the Golden Idol follow-up a point-and-click puzzle game that’s not to be missed. —Nicole Carpenter

Where to play: PlayStation 5

Square Enix attempted to make the shiniest, most cinematic version of a JRPG adventure in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and it ended in mixed results. On one hand, this game showed me that more isn’t always better. I detested the minigame extravaganza and the chatter of overly familiar NPCs in this game. On the other hand, this game reached for the heavens, and at points, it managed to hit some impressive highs.

I think that’s because the development team understands how to bring its cast of characters to life. Yuffie Kisaragi stole scenes with her furrowed brows and flailing limbs; Cloud Strife’s suppressed desire was palpable as he stole a fleeting glance at Tifa Lockheart’s lips. Pair all these character moments with an improved combat system from Final Fantasy 7, and Rebirth delivered an enjoyable and moving adventure — even if some disliked how it ended. —Ana Diaz

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a sequel released a full 12 years after its predecessor. It builds on and expands the original’s world and concepts, and offers a fascinating combination of action-RPG and party-based MMO without the rigidity that usually comes with those games. As a player, you can swap your vocation (class) as often as you like, and then you can fill out your party with pawns — NPCs to fight by your side that you can change out on a whim. Together, you and your pawns go explore the vast world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 — a world made even bigger by the lack of readily available fast travel. A quick trip to the next town over becomes a journey. You learn the roads between the big cities as you traverse them over and over. It makes the world familiar.

It’s a world populated by a mix of low-level enemies, like wolves, goblins, and lizardfolk, but also peppered with towering cyclopes, minotaurs, and griffins. This creates a really satisfying mix of hack-and-slash combat that you flavor with whatever class and tactics you want and large-scale, Shadow of the Colossus- or Monster Hunter-style not-quite boss fights. And through it all, you’re tackling quests for the characters that populate the cities, with a grand conspiracy in the main story supported by smaller, more human conflicts. It’s intricate without being complicated, and one of the most genuinely engaging games of the year. —Jeffrey Parkin

Where to play: Windows PC

UFO 50 might just be the most ambitious game of 2024. While it lacks the giant open-world aspirations or high-end graphical fidelity of some of the other Game of the Year contenders, it’s a unique project that involved six different developers collaborating together over years. On its surface a collection of 50 games, UFO 50 distinguishes itself from other game compilations through its fealty to period design and the clever meta-narrative that runs throughout the collection.

Within the narrative of UFO 50, the games were all developed by UFO Soft for a series of consoles between 1982 to 1989. Not all of them are winners (although a shockingly high percentage are), but that’s not the point. Instead, UFO 50 is best seen as a trip through gaming history through the lens of fiction, showing the development of the medium (and one fictional developer) at the dawn of the home gaming console era. The collection’s clinical attention to detail helps elevate it to an instant classic — the sound design in particular is pitch-perfect, and each game really does feel like it was made in the ’80s, as UFO Soft continued to iterate on its various formulas.

Quite a few of the games in here would have ranked highly on this list if they were released as solo titles (I’m particularly partial to Party House). But put together, it’s both an ambitious meta-narrative achievement and one of the best game variety packs out there. —Pete Volk

Where to play: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC

Animal Well is a difficult game to pin down. At first, it’s a straightforward Metroidvania, complete with a sprawling map and items to help explore new areas. You soon meet a menagerie of strange, enchanting creatures — from belugas to bunnies — with seemingly no role. It’s then also a thrilling, tight precision platformer that has you race through twisting passages to overcome bosses with moments to spare.

But eventually — and most prominently — it’s a vast, interconnected puzzle, one that relies on deep knowledge of its lo-fi world to decipher, something earned only through experimentation and patience.

Occasionally arduous, and almost mocking in how it hides its (brilliant) eureka moments in plain sight, Animal Well is not only a hard game to pin down, but a challenging one to unpick, and an even easier one to spoil. Best played alone — even if, conversely, some of its final mysteries require community collaboration — those willing to give Animal Well the dedication it deserves will be well rewarded. Few other games have more satisfying mysteries to solve, in this year or any other — nor bunnies to find. —Matthew Reynolds

Where to play: Windows PC

Tactical Breach Wizards is what happens when you tell J.R.R. Tolkien to write Rainbow Six. An engrossing level of strategic possibilities, along with a frankly unexpected amount of wit and charm, quickly made Tactical Breach Wizards one of the smartest games of the year. While the squad-based tactics might give the appearance of XCOM, the moment-to-moment gameplay more closely resembles the excellent turn-based roguelike Into the Breach, with most missions lasting just a few turns.

Each engagement gives you a clear view of what your enemies will do and the order in which events will occur. By eliminating randomness, the gameplay becomes a tactical puzzle with knots that you untangle through smart placement and execution rather than luck. These encounters can be tough, but there’s no substitute for the dopamine hit you’ll get when you figure out a way to send a trio of bad guys flying out of a window.

The single-player campaign is lengthy and engaging, but a healthy collection of challenge maps and unlockable cosmetics will keep you coming back long after the credits roll. —Alice Jovanée

Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC

Helldivers 2 had a few stumbles throughout its first year, but it largely succeeded at two goals: providing thrilling moment-to-moment gameplay on the battlefield against both Automatons and Terminids, and showing off a larger narrative about Super Earth’s second war in the stars.

Helldivers carry out their missions with a few stratagems from an orbital barge, a few guns, and a whole lot of patriotism. It’s a blast playing with friends and clearing out nests together, and we’ve enjoyed pushing ourselves to higher difficulties in pursuit of more samples for research. The overacting story told by developer Arrowhead also worked out well. Every victory by Super Earth is met with an unexpected escalation.

We wiped out the Automatons, only for them to suddenly return and begin producing factory striders. Helldivers managed to stop the Terminids from another deadly wave of evolution by turning a planet into a black hole, but part of their territory is now permanently cloaked in an impenetrable fog of spores. Every revelation comes at the cost of thousands and thousands of Helldiver lives, and a hilarious amount of the casualties come from running into a mine, friendly fire from a turret, or being crushed by reinforcement pods.

Helldivers 2 still has a ways to go — there’s a suspiciously empty half of the map, and the third faction from the first game has yet to show up — but Arrowhead’s recent rounds of buffs have kept me engaged and diving. —Cass Marshall

Where to play: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Does democracy work, or is a popularity vote impractical in an age of disinformation? Can art change people’s beliefs, or does it simply calcify our assumptions? And just how far would you go to protect the gargantuan, mutant fetus living in your dungeon?

Those three questions capture the spirit of Metaphor: ReFantazio, a video game that interrogates the biggest questions at the heart of global political discourse in 2024, as authoritarian populism spreads. It also features a talking bat that can wield a Gatling gun one moment and reflect on the unbearable grief of outliving one’s child the next.

Metaphor is the latest game from the folks behind the Persona series, trading the Japanese high school setting for a fictional fantasy nation. Even though the game’s world is grander and its themes more complex, its creators have refined the game itself — the combat, the exploration, the moment-to-moment decision-making — to be intuitive and playful. If you’re a fan, then who am I kidding: You’ve already started this adventure. But if you’re considering a new life as an RPG sicko, consider this your initiation. —Chris Plante

Where to play: PlayStation 5

The most joyful event in video gaming in 2024 was surely the emergence of Astro Bot: a mildly underhyped PlayStation 5 platformer that turned out to be dazzlingly, almost unbelievably good. If nothing else, Astro Bot is hands-down the best platform game Sony has released in 30 years of trying to beat Nintendo at its own game. They finally did it.

Where did it come from? That’s a story with its own bittersweet complications. Developer Team Asobi refined its adorable robot mascot and technically polished, intensely tactile gameplay across a series of free demo games and showpieces for various PlayStation gadgets. It’s a delight to see this team catapulted to the very top rank of game studios with its first major release — but that delight is tinged with sadness at the closure of Japan Studio, the legendary in-house PlayStation developer that Team Asobi is now the sole surviving remnant of.

Japan Studio’s rich creative legacy, from Ape Escape through Shadow of the Colossus to LocoRoco, is extensively celebrated in Astro Bot’s collectable interactive museum of PlayStation nostalgia. Astro Bot definitely belongs in that lineage. But as specific and nerdy as its callbacks are, and as challenging as its later stages can be, it’s the game’s universal appeal and irresistible positivity that really stand out. It’s a pure, uncomplicated, happy thing — which is the rarest kind of treasure. —Oli Welsh

Where to play: Android, iOS, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

The year had a lot of excellent games we loved in a variety of genres. But nothing quite scratched the itch for us like just one more run of Balatro, the poker roguelike deck builder from solo developer LocalThunk. An absolute sensation on computers, consoles, and phones (not to mention within other games), Balatro garnered major award nominations (which LocalThunk called “completely surreal”) and a lot of sales for the first-time developer.

Balatro brilliantly combines the bones of its roguelike deck-builder ancestors with the rules and mechanics of poker, creating an endlessly entertaining experience that has managed to stay fresh dozens and dozens of hours later. It’s a master class in the “number go up” genre of games, but perhaps its most impressive stroke of genius is that it makes math’s order of operations fun, especially as you unlock more mechanics that encourage you to break poker’s core rules.

Other games have made me feel more accomplished as a gamer this year — beating Astro Bot’s Great Master Challenge, or getting gold in a UFO 50 game, or winning a game of League of Legends after a teammate quit. But nothing feels quite as good as a run of Balatro where everything lines up — getting an early scaling Joker to point you in a direction, the right Tarot and Planet cards that help it, and then the killer multiplier Joker you need to fully cement your play style for that run and pull it off. While I might be partial to flush decks, when you can pull off a high-card-centric run (or a run using the Fibonacci Joker!), it feels like magic. But that’s the thing about Balatro, and other roguelike deck builders like it — every run feels uniquely challenging and rewarding.

You don’t need top-of-the-line graphics, expansive world-building, or cutting dialogue to create the best game of the year. Those things don’t hurt, but as Balatro proves, sometimes all you need is an endlessly replayable concept and a healthy heaping of rewarding math. —Pete Volk