There were a ton of great games have been released this year. I’ve also gone back to play some wonderful retro games. This is a list of the 15 Best games I played in 2024.
I know that I missed a bunch of games. Like every year, I couldn’t play everything I wanted to play, and I probably missed some amazing games. This is part of the problem with me not paying as much attention to gaming news as I probably should.
I went through all the games I played this year (January 2024-December 2024) and put together the games I enjoyed the most.
Selection criteria
Let’s talk about what qualifies for this list. I’m not just going to be putting any random game on this list. Here are the criteria I used to compile this list:
- Must have been played in 2024
- Must have liked the game (Duh)
- Must have a review on my Blog or YouTube Channel
Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen
Developer: Quest Corporation
Genre: Strategy RPG
Review Score: 84/100 (GameRankings)
This is my favorite SNES game. Ogre Battle is a Strategy RPG where you create and move units around a map to capture towns and defeat the local boss. The battles are automatic, but you can set the tactics and formation for your units. The graphics are spectacular, and I love the gameplay.
Like many SNES games, the game’s story is given to you before the start of the game, and you don’t get much more while playing. If you explore the game and visit every town, you’ll learn about the history of the game’s world. For the most part, you need to defeat the Evil Empress, an Evil Wizard, and eventually, you have to beat this game’s version of the devil.
You’ll get a different ending depending on your actions, the characters you’ve kept alive, and who you’ve recruited. There are so many endings in this game and minor differences between them. I do not know how you were supposed to figure it out back in the mid-1990s. Thankfully, you can use the internet to tell you how to do everything.
Grizzly Man
Developer: LCB
Genre: Visual Novel
Review Score: 9/10 (My Score)
This is a wonderful game! I love LCB Studios’ visual novels, and this one did not disappoint. I like this game a little bit more than Varney Lake.
Grizzly Man is a horror game set in Alaska. Someone called the Grizzly Man is prowling the wilderness and killing people. Most of the game is about Robert, who is dealing with the death of his adopted father and his mysterious past as one of the Men in Black. There is a lot of government conspiracy stuff in this fairly short game, and it makes things feel bigger than the small story we’re following.
The graphics and story are awesome! The puzzles are a little rough in this game, but you can try them as many times as you want. It is also cool that you don’t have to save everyone, as it gives you a reason to play this game a few times.
Firewatch
Developer: Camp Santo
Genre: Walking Simulator
Review Score: 9/10 (Steam)
Firewatch has one of the best stories of all the video games I’ve played this year. It made me think of my own life a bit, which probably sounds strange to some people. Each of the main characters is dealing with their problems in similar ways.
This game takes place in a national park. After a brief introduction where you learn why your character is volunteering to be a park ranger, you hike to the watchtower in your section of the forest. During the course of the game, you can talk over the radio with one of the characters, and you learn more about each other. You also have the option to ignore all of that.
You don’t interact with the other main characters unless it is over a radio or finding things in the woods. It is an interesting way of doing things. The growing threat of a forest fire throughout the game eventually causes you to flee the park. It is a spectacular game.
Varney Lake
Developer: LCB Studios
Genre: Visual Novel
Review Score: 8/10 (Steam)
I loved the setting of this game. It is told in two parts, one taking place in the 1950s and the other in the 1980s. It is a story about three kids meeting a vampire while on summer vacation at Varney Lake. I didn’t put this together at the time, but the name of the lake is a reference to vampires. I probably should’ve picked up on that right away.
Our story is about three kids enjoying a summer vacation in the 1950s. This reminded me of my own childhood, except for the vampire, of course. The kids play games and spend time together. When it flashes forward to the 1980s, we learn that one of the kids died that summer. You learn what happened to him, which ties into the ending.
Playing this game sent me down a rabbit hole that led to the developers’ other games. I liked Varney Lake so much that I decided to try out the other games. This was a wonderful game, and I enjoyed it a lot.
Dungeon Inn
Developer: Cat Society
Genre: Tycoon
Review Score: N/A (Still in Early-Access. Here is my post on the game)
This game is so much fun! It has a charming art style, wonderful gameplay, and a great story. I kept smiling while playing Dungeon Inn because of how much fun it is and how charming I found the game to be.
In this game, you run an inn that caters to rival guilds. You have to make money to pay a dragon who acts as your landlord/business partner. There are challenges and goals you have to meet each week, and occasionally, an important guest will visit the inn.
Dungeon Inn is an early-access game. The story ends on a cliffhanger, which gives me more reason to return to the game. I want to see where the story will go. I had so much fun playing this game and can’t wait to finish it.
Dynamite Cop
Developer: Sega
Genre: Beat’em up
Review Score: 58/100 (MetaCritic)
I think this is the first time I’ve put a Dreamcast game to appear on a list like this. Dynamite Cop is a spectacular game, even if it is a bit short for a beat’em up. It is a sequel to Die Hard: The Arcade and the second game in a series of games.
In Dynamite Cop, you have to rescue the president’s daughter from over-the-top pirates. This is a cinematic beat’em up with quick-time events as transitions between locations. Like other games in the genre, you have to defeat all enemies to advance to the next screen.
You can beat the game in less than an hour. It is one of the best 3D beat’em ups and one of the better games on the Dreamcast. I wish Sega would release a compilation of the three games in this series, which might be tricky because one has the Die Hard movie license attached to it.
A Night on the Farm
Developer: Frozen Flame Interactive
Genre: Adventure Horror
Review Score: 8/10 (Steam)
A Night on the Farm was a very cool adventure horror game. It got a little trippy sometimes, and it felt like I was playing a lost PS1 game. Like it had been planned for release in 1999 and was only finished in the 2020s.
You don’t have to worry about fighting in this game. All you’re doing is wandering around this farm and trying to solve a mystery. It is funny that your character randomly decides to solve this mystery, as your original goal was to find help after you crashed your car.
I love the atmosphere in this game. A Night on the Farm is creepy, has a great story, and controls well. If you’re a fan of PS1 games, then you might like this game.
Cosmic Star Heroine
Developer: Zeboyd Games
Genre: RPG
Review Score: 77/100 (MetaCritic)
Cosmic Star Heroine reminded me of Phantasy Star. The game’s setting and story would fit right into that series. I only had a minor complaint about the combat system, which is unique but not something I enjoyed. Everything else about the game is fantastic!
The game takes place in a dystopian society. Its mix of magic and technology reminds me of the Phantasy Star series. Even the ending is similar to those games, as you end up fighting an immortal enemy who will return. You get the sense that your victory is temporary, and this will all happen again at some point in the far future.
When I was done with this game, I didn’t want it to end. Cosmic Star Heroine is a short game with an open ending. The graphics and story are awesome, but I wanted it to keep going.
Open Roads
Developer: Open Roads Team
Genre: Walking Simulator
Review Score: 78/100 (MetaCritic)
Open Roads tells a wholesome story about a family learning about a mystery about their mother and father. Well, in the case of one of our main characters, their grandmother and grandfather. This game is like a road trip in the late 1990s or early 2000s.
We follow a mother and daughter packing up their house because they have to move. They don’t know where they will live, and there is some tension in the family. While looking through the rest of the house, they find evidence of an affair that their grandmother/mother had.
This takes them on a road trip to a houseboat in Canada. As they unravel the mystery, the player learns about some of the family’s secrets. These aren’t shocking, but they are interesting. This is a very wholesome story where the stakes are extremely low. This could be a story about anyone’s family.
I got a kick out of this game because the developers mentioned some small towns in Michigan. It won’t make much sense if you try to follow the game’s geography. It takes you all over the place. I like the story a lot, and it feels very wholesome, as all of their problems are seemingly solved by the end of the game.
Mothmen 1966
Developer: LCB Studios
Genre: Visual Novel
Review Score: 9/10 Steam
This is a prequel to Varney Lake, or at least it has some of the same characters. Aside from two characters, these are stand-alone games. It tells a wonderful story that quickly goes off the rails as you have to defeat a bunch of anthropomorphic creatures.
We follow a group of people trying to watch a comet, which happens to cause mutations in the animals for some reason. It is a little weird, but I like the story because it is a fresh take on the old Mothman stories. The game has a bunch of puzzles, which make things a little more fun.
I had a few issues with this game. Mostly, I didn’t like the characters in it because of their actions. I didn’t have anyone to connect with, even though I liked them from time to time. The story was very good, and I like how they tied it into historical events and mythology.
Arcadian Atlas
Developer: Twin Otter Studios
Genre: Tactical RPG
Review Score: 63/100 (MetaCritic)
Once I got into this game, I really enjoyed it! The story is all over the place, but it is very good. The game follows two characters who find themselves on opposite sides of a civil war. The king dies, and the Queen and the Princess start a war.
Early on, we learn that magic is outlawed in the game’s world, even though both armies use mages in battle. During the war, the younger of the two princesses is exiled to an island and becomes involved with a magical device called The Atlas. She uses this to gain power and bring an end to the war.
Character motivations change on a dime in this game. Aside from our two main characters, everyone else was a terrible person. The ending of the game was a bit of a gut punch, but if you wait for the end credit scene, it ends on a happy note for most of the characters.
The more I thought about this game, the more I liked it. This is an indie game that I would love to see a sequel to. I’m not sure what the story would be, but I loved the gameplay and the graphics to the point that I would love to see more games like Arcadian Atlas.
King of Dragons
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Beat’em up
Review Score: 9/10 (My Score)
This is one of my favorite beat’em ups in the SNES. I had heard about it from the Capcom Beat’em Up Bundle released a few years ago, but I hadn’t played it on the SNES. King of Dragons is a great game and a unique beat’em up.
The story isn’t anything special, but it doesn’t have to be in a game like this. An evil dragon is trying to take over the world. You play as one of a few different characters who level up throughout the game. It feels like Gauntlet and Dungeons & Dragons inspired it.
The controls, graphics, and story are all pretty good. The game has many great things that remind me of classic beat’em ups from the late 1980s. This is a wonderful game. If you want to play it, I would get the Capcom Beat’em Up Bundle, which has online play.
Dream Warrior
Developer: High Tower Games
Genre: RPG Roguelike
Review Score: 8/10 (My Score)
Dream Warrior is such a fun and unique game. It combines FTL with the NES Dragon Quest games. It is a simple game that offers a lot of challenge and replayability.
The gameplay is similar to FTL, where you choose nodes to move to on a map. These can be monster battles, shops, inns, or can advance the plot. You have several classes to choose from, which can alter how you fight in battle.
This is a short game, but it is a lot of fun. The developer is also adding content to it, which is excellent. I loved the story as well. It made me feel like I was playing a prequel to one of the Dragon Quest games, and the ending I got reflected that. There is a second ending to the game, which I haven’t gotten yet.
Scarlet Hollow
Developer: Black Tabby Games
Genre: Visual Novel
Review Score: Overwhelmingly Positive (Steam)
Scarlet Hollow is an episodic visual novel set in a small coal mining town. It isn’t finished yet, but the four episodes available are spectacular. I’m looking forward to seeing where the other episodes will take this story.
You play as an outsider who happens to be a family member that owns the mine. This is a company town where the Scarlet family owns everything, and they have a terrible reputation with the miners because of their anti-union stance. The player learns about the town and their family while battling ghosts and cryptids.
The story is going to end with a funeral for your aunt. Several times during the game, I thought the main character should get out of town. The story can change depending on your dialogue choices during the game. I’m looking forward to seeing where this game is going to go.
Unicorn Overlord
Developer: Vanillaware
Genre: Strategy RPG
Review Score: 86/100 (MetaCritic)
I loved this game! Unicorn Overlord is my favorite game of 2024, and if I were to name a game of the year, this would be it. It is as much fun as Ogre Battle.
The game plays exactly like Ogre Battle but adds a few things to improve the gameplay. You get more of an explanation of how things work, there are sections where you can grind for levels, and the story is much better. I loved everything about this game.
The story is relatively standard for a game like this. Evil guy overthrows the kingdom, you have to defeat him and unite the empire, and then you have to fight the Big Evil guy behind everything. There are a lot of side stories in the game and some options to improve the relationship between your characters. It is great!
I hope there is a sequel to this game. It isn’t clear where the story would go from here, but I would love for this to become a series or at least spawn more games like it. Unicorn Overlord is the best game I played this year.
Best of the Rest
I had to cut the list off at some point. I played a bunch of great indie and retro games this year. Here are some of the games that didn’t make the list:
- Terminus: Zombie Survivors
- Paladin’s Quest
- TMNT IV: Turtles In Time
- Knights of the Round
- The Bouncer
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert
- Warcraft
- The Letter
- Smackdown! 2
- WCW vs The World
- The 7th Saga
- TMNT The Hyperstone Heist
- FTL
- Dear Esther
- Saturday Night Slam Masters
- Songs of Silence
- Fields of Mysteria
- Secret of the Stars
Conclusion
I played so many great games this year that narrowing down this list was pretty difficult. I kept thinking I was missing something or should’ve expanded it to 20 or more. In the end, I stuck with 15.
I didn’t get to play all of the games that I wanted to play. A few will be moved to next year. My backlog keeps growing as more games I want to play get released.
Next year should be another great year for video games. I’m going to try and keep up with all the releases of indie games and work through the retro games I want to play. There are a few RPGs I want to get to as well. Here is a list of what I would like to do next year:
- An RPG every month
- Dreamcast Wrestling Games
- GameCube Wrestling Games
- My Favorite Wrestling Games so far
- My Favorite Retro RPGs so far
- My Favorite Indie Games so Far
- And the usual stuff for Halloween
Thank you for following me on this little journey. I hope I’ve entertained you and maybe introduced you to a few new games. See you in 2025!
If you liked this post, please check out my list from 2023.