Game of the Year Editor's Tip, 2024

From a gaming perspective, 2024 was a year of sequels, surprises and celebrations for me. This year saw the realization of many long-term projects from incredibly talented developers that either emerged from early access or were released to the world at large for players to enjoy.

Every developer who worked on each of these games should be proud, whether they were created out of personal love or under the supervision of a monolithic publisher. I would play any of them without a second thought.

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10

Realm of the Undergrowth

I love ants, as long as I don't share an apartment with them. Ever since I was a child, I've been fascinated by the world's hardest workers, and Empires Of The Undergrowth is a wonderful tribute to the teeming billions.

Presented as a nature documentary, the survival-RTS game offers plenty of challenge to keep me coming back, and there's the grim satisfaction of overwhelming a predator with sheer numbers and then bringing it back to its nest to be used as food.

9

Guardian of the core

I've never been the biggest fan of games like Minecraft or Terraria, so it shocked me how much Core Keeper made me burn the midnight oil. Its underground world full of secrets is a joy to explore and the boss fights require enough planning and strategy to keep me going.

8

TerraScape

TerraScape is the game I've wanted Dorfromantik to be since launch. It allows you to build a kingdom, tile by tile, card by card, create combos and synergies to maximize your score, or just build for fun.

Best of all, TerraScape is still actively supported, with new puzzle maps and features being added all the time. Which reminds me to complete the latest set and get the All Achievements ribbon back.

7

Romance Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven

I never played the original version of Romancing SaGa 2, so experiencing the remake fresh was a treat. Its sequence mechanics and complex, free progression system make the most boring part of most JRPGs fun and engaging, while there's a whole semi-open world to explore.

Frankly, I wanted to do even more empire management; once it was time to go into the final battle, I was disappointed that there were no more worlds left to conquer. I guess I can always start a new campaign.

6

Helldivers 2

The first month of Helldivers 2 was a magical time. The entire internet was ignited with patriotic fervor and recruits lined up to fight the Terminids and Automatons. However, as the galactic war raged, enthusiasm faded.

Then, just a few days ago, a new threat emerged. The return of Illuminate, the third enemy faction, has revived interest in this stellar multiplayer shooter. Don't get me wrong, the game ruled even when we were just fighting bugs and robots, but Omens of Tyranny proves that Helldivers 2 is here to stay.

Honorable mentions: Songs Of Conquest, Steamworld Heist 2, Millennia

I couldn't bear to leave these three off the list – they may not have made the top ten, but I thoroughly enjoyed them.

Songs Of Conquest is doing great things with the old Heroes Of Might And Magic formula and with a fifth faction on the way to watch in 2025.

Steamworld Heist 2 keeps the series' record of precision-crafted games in a robot world alive and unblemished with fun and challenging tactical battles.

Millennia adds flavor to the classic Civ formula with a dynamic Ages system, and even has a secret meta-story that you can uncover if you're diligent enough.

5

Star Wars Outlaws

I'm usually very critical of Star Wars as a franchise. I think his narrative went off the rails the moment The Empire Strikes Back went into production, and it's a case study of all the bad things that happen when art and money collide. Despite all that, Star Wars Outlaws has me giddy invested in a galaxy far, far away like I haven't been since I was twelve.

If you passed on this, you missed out. It's the most fun I've had in an open world game in a long time.

4

Songs Of Silence

Songs Of Silence is a very nice game with notes of Heroes Of Might And Magic and a fun card system of autobattlers. The whole thing is extremely well presented, both in the story campaign and in the one-off firefights. If you're looking for a rock-solid strategy title for 2024, this is it.

Not only is Songs Of Silence fun and fast-paced compared to other 4X games, it also has a wonderful soundtrack composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto of Final Fantasy Tactics fame.

3

Flintlock: The Siege Of Dawn

Soulslikes and I don't generally get along, so Flintlock really did the impossible here. Its world building, characters, and story kept me engaged, even when I had to restart the boss fights multiple times.

While I think Flintlock was perfectly paced throughout its ten hour story, I would have liked it to have gotten a DLC with one more area to explore, if for no other reason than to see what other trouble Nor and Enki could get into climb. on.

2

Frostpunk 2

Frostpunk 2 is everything I want in a sequel; it expands on the world introduced in the first game, but creates its own brand rather than just more of the same. It's fascinating to watch the city grow and expand beyond the mere survival that the first game focused on, and face the new and unexpected challenges of adapting to a frozen world three decades later.

In fact, I was ready to call Frostpunk 2 my game of the year for most of the summer and fall, unless there was a last-minute launch that completely blew me away…

1

Cave of Qud

Goatfolk near the dromedary caravan in the key art for Caves Of Qud.

After a development period to rival Dwarf Fortress – one of the few games I could properly compare it to – Caves Of Qud finally launched in version 1.0 earlier this month. I didn't touch the early access version at all, but once I started after launch, I was in love.

The incredible depth and immersive sci-fi environment of Qud, which evokes a mixture of Dune and Numenera, means that you really never know what will happen next, even on the tenth, twentieth or hundredth playthrough. There have been some standout games in 2024, but Caves Of Qud is charming, surprising, and beautifully odd in a way that sets it apart. It's not for everyone, but it has the potential to become a world champion for players who get into it.

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