Game of the Year 2024
2024 was a rough year in many ways for the video game industry. Over 14,000 people were laid off, a trend from 2023 that accelerated this year. Some of the biggest budget industry bets, like Concord, flopped and were shut down. Simpsons Tapped Out - the only modern Simpsons game released in the past 17 years - announced it will be unplayable in January. And Nintendo sat back and coasted in 2024, presumably to set up 2025 as the year of the Switch sequel.
2024 also followed up a blockbuster 2023. As I wrote last year:
“In 2023, we saw a massive Harry Potter game, a massive Star Wars game, new entries from both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, Bethesda’s big release of Starfield, a new Diablo, a new Baldur’s Gate, a new Zelda, a new 2D Mario, and a new Spiderman. We even saw remakes & remasters of classics like Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, and Super Mario RPG.”
So we were set for a letdown year. A gap year. A hold the line year. Right?
Two of my all time favorite games released this year - one that may end up being my most played game of all time, and one that may end up being my all time favorite gaming experience with my son.
Before I count down my top five games of the year, as I usually do (2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023), I have a couple of honorable mentions.
First off, LinkedIn launched a handful of new “puzzle games” this year. I quickly dropped off of Pinpoint, but I have played both Queens and Crossclimb every day since their release. I’ve also enjoyed the newer release, Tango.
The beauty of these games is their once-a-day nature and the fact that you can typically complete each one within a minute or two. There’s a power curve each week that starts easy on Monday and ramps up to trickier puzzles on Sunday. I’ve found the loop engaging enough that playing these three bite-sized games every day is usually the first thing I do when I wake up.
All that said, I’m considering breaking my streak once 2024 is over. I am aware that these games are designed entirely to direct me to spend more time on LinkedIn, and they’ve been successful in that, countering a years-long goal to spend less time on social media. So we’ll see if these games have long term staying power with me, or if I drop them, like I dropped Quordle after it was my 2022 #2 game of the year.
My second honorable mention goes to Life is Strange: Double Exposure. I love the Life is Strange series: the original title finished as my 2015 #2 game of the year, and True Colors finished as my 2021 #2 game of the year.
With Max Caulfield returning in Double Exposure, I thought maybe we had another top-two title on our hands. Sadly, the story fizzled out badly towards the end of the game, and it left me with a sour, unfulfilled taste in my mouth. When a game is based on dialogue and choice-based systems, the story has to stick the landing, and this game didn’t.
It’s unfortunate, but I still love the series and games like it. I’ll be back, if Max Caulfield does indeed return.
Okay, now on to the top five!
5. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Just last year, I ranked my top 10 Mario games, placing the GameCube release of this title at #9. I speculated that Nintendo hated the game and would never properly re-release it because it was so “not Mario”.
“This may be the most off-brand game on the list, and while I love it for it, I suspect that’s why this title will never see the light of day again.”
Then Nintendo revealed the game, and we were all the YouTuber Arlo for a brief few minutes there:
The game came out, I played it, and I loved it. Again. I’m not sure that it’s moved up my Mario ranking list or not, but it’s solidified that it belongs in the place it earned there 20 years ago. I’m so glad that Nintendo green-lit this re-release. It was wonderful to engage with Rogueport again.
My 10-year-old son’s take: “I thought it was a very good story and the characters were amusing.”
4. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
I’d never played a single game in the Yakuza franchise before, yet somehow this game ended up my most-played single platform game of the year. (Very important pedantic distinction.)
Not only that, but the soundtrack ended up providing my top two songs in my Spotify Wrapped!
I’m not sure exactly what grabbed me about this game. Perhaps it was the authentic Hawaii and Japan settings? The engaging turn-based combat and job mechanics? The wacky cast of characters? The twists and turns? The fact that it has embedded clones of Crazy Taxi, Pokemon, and Animal Crossing? The fact that you fight the coolest character in the game, Yutaka Yamai, five times?
Who knows. All I can say is that I played the game through with my son by my side. Then, he started a new game+ playthrough and beat it himself. And then he did it again.
This game dominated our winter and spring in 2024, and it easily earns this place on this list. We’re also now Like a Dragon series fan who’ll be playing future releases in the franchise.
My 10-year-old son’s take: “It has the best story, and the characters have great arcs. It is cool that you switch back and forth between Japan and Hawaii.”
3. EA Sports College Football 25
11 years.
That’s how long we waited for a college football game after legal rulings made it impossible for video game companies to profit off of player likenesses without compensation.
I’d long wanted college players to get paid for playing football, as it’s a multi-billion-dollar sport, and they’re giving up their time and physical health at a value not commensurate to the free education that was long seen as fair compensation. So while I wasn’t happy that we were losing out on an annual college football video game, I was happy about the Name, Image, Likeness rules that the NCAA implemented in order to begin rectifying this injustice.
Well, it turns out that all EA needed to know was what the rules of the road were, and they quickly settled on paying players at least $600 plus a copy of the game in order to include their name, image, and likeness. Not as much as I’d like, but whatever, it’s not my fight. I’m glad the players are getting something - it’s a good start.
So we got our first college football game in 11 years, and wow, was it nice to have it back.
The NCAA Football series was easily my most played video game franchise when I was in college. I’d play years and years of the Dynasty mode on PS2, taking the Colorado Buffaloes that I’ve rooted for since the 1980s to new heights and multiple championships. Then I’d buy the next version of the game and do it all over again.
I fell off of the franchise a bit after graduating and moving to the northeast, where college football passion just isn’t the same, so I was curious how College Football 25 would hit me.
Well, it turns out that 11 years of pent-up demand adds up, and I fell into this game hard upon its release in the summer. So what did I do? I took the Colorado Buffaloes - that I’ve still rooted for since the 1980s - to new heights and multiple championships.
I may have turned the difficulty down compared to what I played against in my younger days, but other than that it was the same experience. I’m having fun. Even if I got the wrong Colorado player the Heisman Trophy this year.
This game isn’t perfect, and there’s a lot to refine in the coming years, but it’s nice to have this franchise back. And while it’s a direct competitor to the video game franchise that I work on every day (NBA 2K), big congrats to College Football 25 for becoming the best selling sports game of all time in the US.
My 10-year-old son’s take: “I don’t like it, it’s boring.”
2. Balatro
Oh no.
I don’t really know what else to say about this game other than that.
I’ve bought it four times (PlayStation, Switch, iOS, and Steam). Actually, I bought it a fifth time, a physical release, so I could get physical cards that appear in the game.
While I don’t have a clean hour count, I’d estimate my total time played across all devices to be close to 200 hours. I’ve probably watched another 200 hours of YouTube streams, most notably Roffle (to learn how to play) and Dan Gheesling (who made me laugh).
Despite there being only one music track in the game - that changes its instrumentation based on what you’re doing - I listened to it for hours on YouTube, both in original and remix form.
I played the game so much that I deliberately deleted it from my phone and iPad to make it harder to play in advance of a holiday Disney Cruise. I then proceeded to play it on my laptop pretty much anytime we were in the room.
Why did this game grab me so aggressively when no other rogue-like game has? I think it’s because at the end of the day it’s math, quite overtly.
The whole game is figuring out how to increase your score based on different variables at your fingertips. You can discard and draw to play more valuable poker hands. You can get jokers that make certain cards do special things to increase that score. You can get planet cards that change the value of poker hands. You can get tarot cards that change the makeup of your deck, making certain hands easier to achieve. Every decision is inter-related, every decision has a consequence, and every decision ultimately changes the score you can achieve.
So it has the “every run is different” nature of rogue-likes, but it very specifically tickles my brain because every decision is math.
For that reason, this is the one game on this list that I am absolutely certain I will be playing for years to come. Especially with a big update coming next year.
And that’s a big “oh no”! That’s a lot of hours that future Ronjan could spend doing something else. Oh well. It’s worth it.
For posterity, here’s the best score I’ve achieved so far in a single hand. I can’t wait to beat it. With math.
My 10-year-old son’s take: “That is the horrible-est game ever!”
1. Astro Bot
So what could possibly top my most-played game of the year, and one that I’m certain I’ll be playing for years to come?
The game that brought me and my son together like no other.
We enjoyed Astro’s Playroom when we got a PS5 a couple of years ago, and we were excited for a full-blown sequel. But we had no idea just how much joy, how much fun, and how much laughter this game would provide for us as 2024 drew to a close.
The levels and transformations wowed us with their cuteness and creativity, the VIP bots that we rescued made us smile as we thought about 30 years of PlayStation history, and the music had us vibing and singing about being a “Papa Tree”. This is the most joyful gaming experience seen in years, from the first moments on Sky Garden to multiple epic boss battles to riveting challenge levels and finally through to the best playable credits in gaming history.
My epic gamer moment of the year was beating the final challenge level:
Only to be surpassed by an even more epic gamer moment of the year, earning the Platinum trophy for the game by 100%ing it:
Last year, Octopath Traveler II was my favorite game because it bonded me with my son. Well, Astro Bot took it to a new level this year.
For every moment, my son was either by my side or in some cases playing the game himself. This was our experience. This was our accomplishment. And this is our game of the year.
My 10-year-old son’s take: “It’s a great game that has a lot of costumes and characters!”