Welcome to the second edition of the Finally Got Around To newsletter. If you want this sent directly to your inbox you can subscribe right here:
This week, I’m finally getting around to part one of my favorite games of 2024. This list is entirely personal, meaning it’s what I enjoyed, not what I thought was the best. This list only includes games released during the calendar year. I tried including the full list but it ended up being too long to include in a single email, so make sure to subscribe so you get the rest of the list next week!
I’ve managed to narrow the number down to 18 games. It wasn’t easy, and many games have shifted positions over the last month. Here are numbers 18 through 10:
18. Sons of the Forest - Endnight Games
The sequel to Endnight Games breakout hit, The Forest, Sons of the Forest was my primary multiplayer game of 2024. I usually avoid survival crafting as a genre, but despite that, Sons of the Forest was something I kept coming back for. Overall the story did not grab me, otherwise, I might have put it higher on the list. But the exploration, creativity, and challenge earned it a spot. One of my favorite stories from 2024 was finding a golf cart with some friends and seeing how far up the mountain it would take us. It handled near 90-degree slopes like a dream, resulting in my favorite screenshot of the year:
17. Pacific Drive - Ironwood Studios
Combining rogue-lite elements with an effective car mechanic simulator, Ironwood Studio’s debut game Pacific Drive took me by surprise. As someone who has very minimal interest in cars or learning about them, I was surprised at how enjoyable it was to spend time in the garage working on the car. Pacific Drive found the perfect roller-coaster rhythm of patiently fixing up the car, cautiously exploring a dangerous wasteland, and driving for your life because all hell has broken loose, only to skid to a stop back in the garage again. The way Pacific Drive made me care about an old-beat station wagon like it was the family dog is worth recognizing.
Read my full review of Pacific Drive.
16. Hauntii - Moonloop Games
One of the year’s most visually charming games is Moonloop’s debut, Hauntii. The highly stylized visuals are complemented by a superb soundtrack and a world worth exploring full of ghosts I genuinely enjoy talking to. The tree stump village in the screenshot above felt like a home away from home. While the twin-stick shooting combat wasn’t my favorite thing, I enjoyed the ability to haunt various creatures and objects. This is also one of the best games of the year for a handheld device like the Switch, or I assume the Steam Deck (I don’t have one yet).
15. Duck Detective: The Secret Salami - Happy Broccoli Games
Happy Broccoli Games created one of the most enjoyable two-to-three hours of comedic mystery in Duck Detective: The Secret Salami. On the surface, it feels very cartoonish and silly, but the characters and dialogue are well-written and excellently voiced to the point that anyone can get a laugh out of this game. If you’re looking for something short, sweet, and fun, look no further.
14. I Am Your Beast - Strange Scaffold
While I am not the “first-person shooter” guy, or even someone who enjoys particularly violent games, there is something truly special about I Am Your Beast. The action at the heart of it all is fast-paced, brutal, challenging, and oh-so-satisfying. Even scoring a C on the game’s S-through-C ranking system still makes you feel like John Wick. Then there are the audio files between each mission which are cleverly written, tremendously voice-acted, and never overstay their welcome. For how much replayability there is in this compact package, and as the most fun I’ve had with a first-person shooter in a long time, I Am Your Beast earns its keep on my list. Strange Scaffold, the developer of this game, is an indie dev to seriously keep your eye on. They cannot stop delivering quality.
13. Tactical Breach Wizards - Suspicious Developments
It’s amazing when such a ridiculous concept comes together so well. Tactical Breach Wizards from developer Suspicious Developments is exactly what it sounds like. This is a world where wizards are members of the police force, the army, and even traffic cops/warlocks. The tactical encounters are perfectly balanced as a puzzle that can have an optimal solution but also leave room for creativity. Tactical Breach Wizards manages to be complex enough to provide a challenge, but not so difficult as to be inaccessible. I don’t see myself as a tactical genius, and I certainly restarted my fair share of levels, but I never felt like I didn’t know what to try next.
12. Crypt Custodian - Kyle Thompson
Crypt Custodian is a top-down metroidvania where you play as a cat doomed to clean the underworld for eternity. Use your broom to fight a wide array of monsters, vanquish a dozen challenging bosses, and actually do some cleaning too. It’s not just a plot device. Mix and match abilities and power-ups to give yourself your preferred loadout and take on (seriously) challenging bosses. But aside from the combat, Crypt Custodian has a vast world to explore, a memorable soundtrack, and some of my favorite dialogue of the year. It’s funny that between this and Hauntii, some of my favorite video game conversations of 2024 were with ghosts.
11. Shogun Showdown
One of two rogue-lites on my list this year, Shogun Showdown from developer Roboatino, is an excellently crafted experience that all too often has me saying; “One more run.” Not as punishing or difficult as some rogue-like contemporaries (looking at you Spelunky), I found it easy to enter a flow state with Shogun Showdown. Getting into a rhythm with a character’s abilities and weapons seems so natural, and the various upgrades and additional weaponry only add to the feeling. It’s so much fun to explore the various strengths of each character, but personally, my favorite ability is to use the smoke bomb to swap places with an enemy. If you can play this game on a handheld device, I highly recommend it.
10. Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure - Furniture & Mattress
The debut game from uniquely named developer, Furniture & Mattress, is absolute harmony. Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure combines its primary puzzle mechanic with an overarching narrative adventure, quirky characters, and a truly inspired fantasy world. A game like Arranger could be a story about a normal person who has to solve some puzzles on their journey. Instead, the unique motion mechanic is a formative part of the main character and the primary reason they become the hero of this story.
Arranger’s world is one I was so excited to explore further, taking nearly every optional side quest to experience more characters and discoveries. This is a weird game, and that is shown in the art style, but it also is full of heart. Arranger pushes the limit of what a puzzle game can be.
Read my full review of Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure.
Catching Up on the News
Here’s a quick list of the news stories I’ve posted to my day job at Gamepressure this week:
Celeste developer’s cancellation of Earthblade hints at the dark side of breakout success, and how the pressure can smother the next game.
The reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2 may have had an impact on Steam Deck sales.
Nintendo Switch 2 preview event emails have started arriving.
Turns out those promotional McDonalds Pokemon cards are not worth much.
Helldivers 2 CEO announces he will take a sabbatical after 11 years working on the same IP.
What’s Next
I wanted to include more in this week’s newsletter, but this is quite literally all that would fit in this email!
Look forward to next week’s email which will count down the final nine games on my list!
What do you think of the list so far? What are your favorite games of 2024?