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The best games of 2024
The turbulent gaming year has brought massive hits, a few duds and plenty of surprises.
Huge mergers and post-pandemic economic trends have led to thousands of industry layoffs. Big players like Nintendo and Microsoft have scored only scattered successes, and often in unexpected places. For example, the celebrated reboot “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth” didn’t quite meet Sony’s sales expectations, while the publisher’s upstart “Helldivers 2” attracted a player count so high that it crashed the game’s servers for days after launch.
Games further outside the corporate orbit also struck gold. “Pokémon”-like “Palworld” became the year’s first breakout indie game, followed by poker roguelike “Balatro” and the solo-developed mystery platformer “Animal Well.”
A few highlights
I edited NPR’s list of staff favorites from the year so far. In addition to the usual heavy hitters — like “Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree” — the list dives deep into the cozy, the epic, and the odd.
Here are a few recommendations to get you started:
- “Cryptmaster” is a black-and-white RPG “that lands somewhere between ‘Wordle’ and ‘Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing.’ Your party of hapless undead will identify objects, solve riddles and fight improbably named monsters — all by deducing and typing the right word for the occasion. Ghoulishly narrated by the titular Cryptmaster himself, the game is perfect for anyone who delights in a fiendish word puzzle.”
- Staying on the monochromatic theme, “Lorelei and the Laser Eyes” proffers “cryptic puzzles and chilling black-and-white graphics, the game begins with very little context — just a variety of codecs and rooms to explore. Though its mind-bending challenges are not for casual puzzle players, it will have you feeling like a real detective stumbling on the supernatural.”
- The beaver-based city builder “Timberborn” will flummox and delight strategy aficionados and newcomers alike: “The hours floated by like logs down a river during my first playthrough as I crafted my utopic beaver society. Natural disasters — gradually increasing in intensity — would often ruin my perfectly rationed crops and resources, but that’s OK. We rebuilt. Such is the way of the beaver.”
- Finally, “Home Safety Hotline” spins a compelling horror jaunt out of 1990s call center software: “[A]fter my first day [on the job], my electronic database starts to gain uncanny entries. Callers report strange phenomena, and my supervisor goes from friendly to cryptic to cultish. ‘Home Safety Hotline’ is easily one of the most imaginative and unsettling indie games I’ve encountered — and best of all, it’s short enough to play over a weekend!”
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The full NPR list boasts 54 titles, sortable by genre and platform. But it’s not all console and PC games — it’s also got board games to explore.
The tabletop scene has enjoyed something of a recent renaissance. In months past, we’ve profiled games that have had players tackle climate change, campaign for (or against) women’s suffrage, or simply balance pachyderm pirates on cardboard. This week’s list puts the spotlight on “Arcs,” a snappy space wargame, “Picky Eaters,” a party game about accommodating difficult dinner guests, and “The Plum Island Horror,” a cooperative zombie-bashing survival game, among others.
So whether your tastes tend toward the physical or the digital, 2024 has brought a high tide of games that will only grow as the year progresses. Early fall looks particularly busy, with a gigantic “Star Wars” game set for Aug. 30 and the first “Legend of Zelda” game to star the titular princess slated for Sept. 26. In the meantime, there are numerous recommendations to enjoy from your friends at NPR.
James Perkins Mastromarino produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Ahmad Damen. Perkins Mastromarino also adapted it for the web.
This segment aired on July 16, 2024.
