Best of 2024: Videogames

As with my other end-of-year lists, I am counting all the games I have played this year. They don’t have to have been released this year. In this case, though most of the games are from 2024.

5. Another Crab’s Treasure

It is a good time for Soulslike gamers as we are getting more and more remarkable entries from companies that are not FromSoftware. But still, most of these games use a dark, medieval setting. »Another Crab’s Treasure« offers a welcome deviation from these same old tropes: a Soulslike under the sea, in rather vibrant colors, and featuring some silly jokes.

The game brings its own variations from established mechanisms: just one weapon (which can be upgraded), different kinds of shells as armor (with abilities), and a grappling hook. While also featuring (more or less) difficult bosses and annoying passages. Like small platformer sequences where enemies might shoot you midair, causing you to fall into the abyss. But those are quite manageable compared to other games. Definitely the easiest Soulslike I ever played. For some, this might be a good entry into the genre.

I would like to see a DLC or Another Crab's Treasure 2. [Edit, 07.01.24: They just announced a free content update with New Game + and Boss Rushes.]

Status: 38 hours played, finished, 96% unlocked. I still don’t understand how I only found 63 out of 69 shells.

This is also one of the rare occasions where I stopped playing to search for the soundtrack. All because of the boss fight music against Nephro, Captain of the Guard.

4. The Bazaar

After years of waiting, The Bazaar – a brand new hero/item/deck building auto battler – finally opened up this year. Well, it’s not open for everybody, you have to buy your way into the Closed Beta. And because it is a Closed Beta you have to expect a few bugs. The most annoying were constant server problems in the first weeks. So it’s best to keep an eye on the Discord channel to be aware of server downtime.

But other than that the game is extremely polished. Much better graphics and animations than I expected. Lots of items and upgrades. Lots of fun if your build comes together. And lots of times when your reasonable build gets crushed by a what-the-hell-was-that build.

Of course there are issues with balance, in these kind of games there always are. But items and mechanics are constantly tweaked. New heroes will enter the fray next year. And I expect this to be a really good game to come back to every now and then.

Status: Lots of hours played (they have their own launcher, where you can’t see your playtime), ongoing

3. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

You are cordially invited to an old hotel, somewhere in central europe. Either to marvel at a surreal art project – or become a part of it. Or maybe you are there to solve a murder. Who knows? This could just be one big illusion.

So you work your way through a creepy setting, solve puzzle after puzzle, just to get into other parts of the house, while piecing together an entertaining, very surreal mystery. This game gave me some serious »The 7th Guest « flashbacks. But Lorelei is a lot easier to solve.

I feel this game did not get as much attention as it deserves. It is one of the most engaging puzzle games I have ever played. A must buy for any puzzle fan. Bonus points for the whacky title.

Status: 18 hours played, not quite finished, Achievements: 15%

This reminds me to get back to The 7th Guest. Cause I didn’t finish that game 20 years ago.

2. Animal Well

On the surface this is just another puzzle metroidvania. Explore an underground world. Find items. Meet other animals. Evade enemies. And backtrack a lot as you try this and that to enter new areas.

Under the hood, this is easily one of the best puzzle platformers ever. Developed by just one person, Billy Basso, who built a game engine from scratch in C++. The items you get are not your typical Metroidvania items. The puzzles feel fresh. The atmosphere is quite eerie. Everything fits nicely together. And after you beat the game, there is another (optional) layer, and after that another (optional) layer.

What. An. Incredible. Achievement.

Status: 33 hours played, finished with layer 2, Achievements: 90%

Honorable Mention: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Last year I played »Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time« again. Because I didn’t want to wait any longer for a remake that might never come. The old PC version feels very clunky and dated. So I was quite happy that they had developed another Prince of Persia game. And that the game got a lot of really good reviews.

There are basically two things you can complain about: a) The hero of the game is not a prince. It’s a dude called Sargon, a young member of The Immortals. Personally, I don’t care who the hero is. And b) the gameplay reveal trailer featured a hip-hop beat, which doesn’t fit the setting. So, yes, not the best choice, but also not a huge deal.

Other than that the game is absolutely fantastic. Boss Battles: Epic. Plattforming: Engaging. There are lots of optional items you can get if you master a difficult platform sequence and maybe solve a puzzle along the way. These tricky parts are really well-designed.

The Lost Crown also offers the best new feature in platformers in a long time: Instead of putting markers on the map you can save actual screenshots, in game. No more head-scratching what a generic icon on the map was supposed to mark. Just look at the screenshot. I hope other games will incorporate this feature in the future as well.

Status: 12+ hours played, stopped playing for the moment.

Over the course of 2024, the game got a boss revenge mode, a boss rush mode, divine trials, new puzzles and platform challenges, and a DLC. They put so much effort into this game, that I don’t understand how they decided to scrap the sequel?! Maybe I just have to wait till Ubisoft is shutting down completely, sells the rights, and someone else puts the sequel back on the table.

1. Balatro

On paper, it is a ridiculous idea to evolve a simple game of poker into a roguelike. Who would want to play that? But with an army of Jokers, Tarot cards, Planet Cards, Spectral  Cards, Modifiers, and Boss Battles, you suddenly have an addictive game. And as with any true roguelike, you just wanna do one more run. This one you probably have to play yourself to understand the appeal.

I am not surprised that anybody who likes card games picked this one up. But I was surprised that Balatro also attracted gamers who usually don’t like deck-building games (or math). Still can’t believe Balatro was in the run for The Game Award for Game of the Year, together with games like Black Myth: Wukong and Metaphor: ReFantazio. What an incredible achievement for an indie game developed by just one person.

My Game Of The Year.

Status: 65 hours played, ongoing, Achievements: 54%