What a season, what a season. 2024 may not have had a tonne of AAA blockbusters, but it definitely had a few surprises and a lot of great indies (and, spoilers, a great Indy).

As always, I’ll mention what system I played on in the heading. Now without further ado, on with the list!

#10 – Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PS5)

I bought Veilguard after letting my PS5 gather dust for most of the last couple of years. I was hesitant to pull the trigger – I loved the original Dragon Age: Origins, and then went through a long, slow process of disappointment with the series as it strayed further and further away from what had made the original (and, indeed, BioWare) a quality experience.  I ultimately bought it because I had a new puppy and needed something I could easily (and mindlessly) play at 5am when she woke up and needed attention.

I’m not going to pretend Veilguard is a return to form for the troubled BioWare, because it really isn’t. The hardest part of playing it was the reminder of what used to be.  But as safe and unassuming as the game plays it, there is still a lot to like about Veilguard as a fluffy action RPG with a decent story and cast of characters, some great visuals, and a mildly interesting plot with some fun set-pieces along the way.  It’s not a game that will stick with me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

#9 – Animal Well (Steam Deck)

Animal Well is a clever, gorgeous, melancholy metroidvania that I really enjoyed cracking into. Approachable enough whilst also intriguingly inscrutable, the only reason it didn’t score higher for me is that I found it quite short, occasionally irritating to actually play due to not controlling amazingly and janky checkpointing, and I also wasn’t engaged by a lot of the additional content designed to be played post-credits. Even so, Animal Well was a great time and kept me thoroughly entertained for all the hours I spent with it. I especially enjoyed frantically messaging Shay about where we were both up to in the game and trying to give each other clues without spoiling the experience.

#8 – Nova Drift (Steam Deck / PC)

A rogue-lite, Asteroids-esque shmup was not something I would have expected to exist, never mind make it onto my Game of the Year list, but that is exactly what Nova Drift is. The game feels great to play, looks very pretty in a minimalistic kind of way, and has so many weird and wonderful upgrades that interlink in interesting ways that it feels very replayable. A perfect game to dip into in quick bursts.

#7 – Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (PC)

I wish I had liked Space Marine 2 more, but I still liked it a whole bunch.  The unexpected and long-awaited sequel to Space Marine, this game goes far beyond its predecessor. Stunning graphics, excellent combat, well executed co-op (annoyingly limited to three players), and lots of extra modes, Space Marine 2 was a blast from beginning to end as a story-based campaign.  Unfortunately, the repetitive nature of the combat made me bounce off the co-op pretty early, and the pvp didn’t overly interest me, but I was still completely satisfied with the experience I had.

#6 – Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Steam Deck)

TGYH is a delightful little comedy game where the fun is less in solving the easy puzzles it presents, and more in simply poking and prodding at it to see what happens.  The writing, animation, and voice acting is spectacular, all adding up to feel like you’re inhabiting a strange world that is half satire of northern England, half Monty Python interstitial. Short and sweet and wonderful from beginning to end.

#5 –Mullet Madjack (PC / Steam Deck)

Mullet Madjack is something that needs to be experienced – words don’t really do it justice, but I’ll do my best.  Imagine an early 90s, R-rated cyberpunk anime as an FPS gameshow where you die within seconds unless you keep killing in exciting ways, and also it’s a rogue-lite where you are earning constant upgrades to allow you to keep steamrolling through floors, fighting a weird boss every once in a while.  This is one of those games that just feels good when you play it, and just like Nova Drift it kept me coming back over and over again for one more blood-soaked run.

#4 – Mouthwashing (PC)

Oh god it hurts. Every step in Mouthwashing is wonderfully excruciating, utilising its non-linear narrative style to tell a psychological sci-fi/horror story that carries plenty of surprises, but still leaves you with that feel of seeing an impending car crash with zero ability to prevent it.  I hesitate to say too much more about it lest I spoil anything. Play Mouthwashing.

#3 – The Thaumaturge (PC / Steam Deck)

The Thaumaturge feels like a game that was created in a lab for my specific tastes: Alt-history eastern European setting? Check. Persona-style combat, complete with strange monsters but also just straight up shooting fools? Check. Interesting storyline with some meaningful choices to be made? Check. Weirdly translated dialogue and wildly inconsistent voice-acting? Oh you better believe that’s a check!

Despite being a bit rough around the edges, The Thaumaturge is a truly wonderful and unique RPG. I’ve never played anything that feels quite like it, and it manages to capture a point in time (Tsarist Russian influence on Poland) effectively whilst also being a fully realised, interesting urban fantasy RPG.

#2 – Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (PC)

A very late entry in the year, it’s a testament to how damn good Great Circle is that I managed to play a huge chunk of it in 2024.  MachineGames have utilised all their experience on the excellent Wolfenstein games to create an immersive experience that feels a lot more like proper Indiana Jones than anything that came out at the movies in the last few decades.  I have had an incredible time globetrotting as Dr Jones, solving cryptic puzzles, punching out fascists, and swinging over chasms with my trusty whip. The story, writing, and acting are all top-notch as well, including a villain that is easily the best seen in the entire series, bar none.

#1 – Tactical Breach Wizards (PC / Steam Deck)

I have loved pretty much everything Tom Francis has ever been involved in, going back to his days writing for Rock Paper Shotgun. I had hotly anticipated Tactical Breach Wizards from the moment it was announced, and every new thing I heard about it had me only more excited to get my hands on the game.  Thankfully, the full release didn’t disappoint.  As a turn-based tactics tragic, TBW ticked all the boxes for me while also innovating in ways that I loved.  Add in a great little story, interesting world, good characters, and extremely funny writing, and TBW is everything I wanted and more, and continues to see a lot of play thanks to the level editor and Steam Workshop support.

Oh, did you think I was done? Well guess what, I’m not!

B-b-b-bonus lists!

Old games I played too much of in 2024:

#3 – Battletech (PC)

I spent a few months playing a heavily modded Battletech after not touching it in years.  Still a great game. Wish they’d made a sequel.

#2 – PUBG: Battlegrounds (PC)

Most people who know me know that I am a PUBG tragic, with over 5000 hours in the game.  Despite this, I kind of hate the game, which has gradually been made almost unrecognisable by a truly awful developer more interested in gouging every last dollar out of their players than they are in making a good, functional, fair game.

Also unfortunately, there’s nothing else out there that is quite like it. Every other Battle Royale game has gone the Fortnite route of having weaponry that is easy to use and is less dangerous overall, removing a lot of the specific style of challenge I am looking for in the genre. Until someone else makes a more “realistic” BR game, my friends and I are stuck with this garbage fire, I guess.

#1 – XCOM2: War of the Chosen – Long War of the Chosen Mod (PC)

I finally installed the Long War of the Chosen mod for XCOM2 and completed a campaign of it.  It took me a very long time, it was hard as hell, and it was honestly probably the best gaming experience I have had in years.  If you liked XCOM2 but wished it actually felt like you’re running a resistance movement against overwhelmingly superior alien invaders, play LWOTC.

Games I wish I had played in 2024 but didn’t so maybe they’ll make it onto the Old Games list next year:

All of these are games I’m pretty certain I would have enjoyed, but just didn’t find the time to get to in 2024.

• Rise of the Golden Idol

• Astro Bot

• Metaphor: ReFantazio

• Persona 3 Reload

• Balatro

• Cryptmaster

• Castlevania Dominus Collection

• 1000 X Resist

• SKALD: Against the Black Priory Felvidek

Games I played that were kind of meh and made me wish I’d played the games above instead:

Prince of Persia (Steam Deck)

I played a chunk of this one after seeing it get so much praise (including Giant Bomb’s GOTY) and I just didn’t really enjoy it very much. As a fan of metroidvanias, it left me cold.

Mechwarrior 5: Clans (PC)

I sank a huge number of hours into Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries and was greatly looking forward to the story-based spin-off.  As a fan of Battletech, the idea of playing through the beginning of the Clan Invasion of the Inner Sphere was very cool.

Unfortunately, the game brought in a lot of the issues of its predecessor, with crappy AI and boring mission design. Combined with an obtuse strategy layer and truly awful cutscenes that felt like watching scenes from a bad teenage soap, and I bounced off this hard. 

Probably should have been DLC for Mercenaries.

Songs of Conquest (PC / Steam Deck)

I loved Songs of Conquest for the first few levels. Then I realised that there was only one really successful strategy to be able to win missions against the AI. Then I played the second campaign as a completely different race and discovered the same thing.  My interest quickly waned after that.

Delta Force (PC)

I’m always on the look out for something to replace PUBG as my multiplayer/socialisation game of choice, even if it isn’t the exact same genre.  Delta Force is not that game; instead, it’s a pretty looking mix of COD and Battlefield that feels truly awful to play.

Honourable Mentions:

Selaco (PC)

Selaco is great and I played a good chunk of it; however, I eventually made the decision to hold off and wait for it to come out of Early Access.  I would encourage everyone to check it out, as even in EA it’s a phenomenal game.

Arranger (Steam Deck)

Arranger is a cute puzzle game with a fun little story. I enjoyed playing through it, but it didn’t quite make enough if an impression to make my top 10 list.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (PS5)

I love Like a Dragon/Yakuza, but as time goes on I am finding myself needing bigger and bigger breaks between the games.  The reuse of areas and assets (even though Infinite Wealth has a massive new area), combined with the very similar storytelling and game structures tends to burn me out.

This is exactly what happened when I started playing Infinite Wealth. I made it about ten hours in and had to call a timeout because I just wasn’t enjoying myself that much.  I’ll no doubt go back to it at some point soon, and at that time I’m sure I’ll marathon it and finish it and probably love it.

Vampire the Masquerade Reckoning of New York (PC)

I’ve enjoyed the story in the limited amount of Reckoning that I’ve played so far.  This one has simply been a casualty of not enough free time for gaming, combined with a vague feeling of guilt that I should be investing Vampire the Masquerade time into getting back to running my own tabletop game.

That’s it for my 2024 list! Stay tuned for our first ever collective Deadpan Cooperative Game of the Year!