Its December, its annual YOUR Game of the Year time !

[Tombstone]

We move into the final month of 2024 and another year draws to a close, so its time to roll out my annual Game of the Year thread. Remember, this isnt what you think GOTY will be, its what YOUR GOTY is. As usual, I hope that the list here ends up giving some people a few titles to try out over the Christmas period that they might have overlooked in the year. Once again there's been a hefty amount of bigger name titles this year, Helldivers 2, Last Epoch, Dragons Dogma 2, Horizon Forbidden West, V Rising, Black Myth Wukong, Space Marine 2, God of War Ragnarok and Stalker 2 and theres also been some out of nowhere popular games like Balatro and Pacific Drive...but what will be taking home YOUR coveted GOTY award.

The rules are the same as every previous year and the same "Note" applies. For those who havent seen the previous yearly threads, here's the info again :

Please Note : These are the rules that I use myself when I am weighing up the years games to pick which game was my game of the year. Theres nothing to stop someone doing an alternative poll which doesnt use these rules, these are simply the rules that I use. As with previous years, if you feel that no PC game that you played this year is worthy of being your game of the year, it is allowed to say No Game/Nothing

Here are the rules :

#1 - Absolutely NO multiple game choices, ONE game, ONE game only...NO top 3's , no joint GOTY, no "honourable mentions" - ONE SINGLE GAME.

#2 - Must have been FULL released in the calendar year of 2024 (which means that yes, a game which was in Early Access pre-2024 but got its FULL release this year, IS allowed)

#3 - No titles still in Early Access

#4 - No DLCs - must be a main game release

#5 - Must be a PC game

#6 - If you somehow felt that you went 12 months without playing anything decent, it is allowed to say that no game at all was your best game of the year. (though maybe make a New Year Resolution to find a more rewarding hobby )


GO !

And to get everyone started off, my GOTY is Satisfactory


2024 Running Tally -

12 - Stalker 2
12 - No Game/Nothing
11 - Satisfactory
7 - Helldivers 2
6 - Black Myth Wukong
3 - Space Marine 2
2 - Metaphor
2 - Silent Hill 2
2 - Tomb Raider Remastered
2 - Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
2 - Ghost of Tsushima
1 - Another Crabs Treasure
1 - Pacific Drive
1 - 7 Days to Die
1 - Flight Simulator 2024
1 - Balatro
1 - Dragon Age Veilguard
1 - CoD Black Ops 6
1 - Rise of the Golden Idol
1 - Still Wakes The Deep
1 - Fallout London
1 - Horizon Dawn Remastered

 

[Tombstone]

Yay, it's officially the start of Christmas again!

My vote this year is for Another Crab's Treasure

I may have to check that out, you arent the first recently to tell me its a really good game

 

[Tombstone]

Yes, loved it. Really made with a lot of heart. Still included with GP, by the way.

Oh ! Its on GP? Will definitely check it out then

 

[Tombstone]

I spent most of the year playing an early access game: Breachway

No full release game caught my attention this year.

I'll stick you down for No Game/Nothing...again, thats 3 years in the last 4 years that you've picked No Game/Nothing, hopefully next year there will be a full release that clicks for you

 

[Tombstone]

For me:

Selaco

I've not been impressed with anything else tbh

Certainly seems to be getting good feedback on Steam, cant add it to the list though as its in early access

 

[Tombstone]

New releases this year?

I honestly don't think I played anything that would class even as enjoyable, mostly just try dislike, uninstall.

So No game\Nothing

Fingers crossed for next year for you !

 

[Tombstone]

Are we allowed to include DLC? Very few games have taken my interest this year, but two that stand out is the DLC for Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree and Phantom Liberty for CP2077. Both are the only times I have really sat down and had a lengthy gaming session and been wanting to come back and play some more. Otherwise, my other choice would be Space Marines 2 I had a lot of fun playing through SM2 but it's also not a game where I'm already thinking about my next playthrough which I am with ER and CP2077.

Nope, rule no. 4

Shadow of the Erdtree was absolutely excellent though, even its high price (for a DLC) was worth every penny in the end

 

[Tombstone]

Rogue trader was superb (not a surprise considering their other titles ), excellent DLC for it as well

 

[Tombstone]

Played lots of great games this year, but none of them meet the rules

However, there's no rule which says you have to have actually played it this year, so out of the 3 games I've actually played which do meet all of the rules, I'm going to go with:

7 Days to Die

Had great fun playing on a private server with a few mates several years ago - should probably fire up a new one and see what's changed

Funnily enough I've actually played 7D2D quite a bit this year too, few hundred hours, still a very fun game, especially on co-op on a dedicated private server

 

[Tombstone]

3 Nothings in a row ! Like buses

 

[Tombstone]

Astrobot

Saw quite a few streamers playing that this year and saying it was really good, cant add it to the list though as its not on PC

 

[Tombstone]

For me its been a poor year for PC games, but I'm happy plugging away at classics inbetween. Recently replayed Half Life 2, pure awesomeness!

If you like the classics and Half Life, I highly recommend Abiotic Factor, its got a really strong retro Half Life 1 feel about it and is pretty fun in co-op too

 

[Tombstone]

Struggling because most of the good ones are early access releases.

Maybe the thread should be amended to
1) GOTY (as per the original rules)
2) EA of the year
3) DLC/Expansion of the year

Someone else is more than welcome to create threads of 2) and 3). This thread though has always been 1) via the rules that I have always used personally when deciding my own GOTY and its the only one I, myself, wish to oversee

The reason why I've limited myself over the last 20 years to picking a GOTY following these rules and only a GOTY is because I've always wanted to make myself pick just 1 single title which has been the best I've played that year. Over the years I've played loads of top EAs and DLCs of course but I've never wanted to muddy the waters come the year end, with multiple "bests" , always wanted to ask myself what if I could pick only 1.

 

[Tombstone]

For me it has to be Balatro. Simple, addictive, stealing more hours than I realised.

I havent given this one a go , not even sure really why...fear of addiction maybe lol, but I have seen time and time again this year, it earning really high praise.

 

[Tombstone]

Would have been my choice if console games were allowed, fantastic game!

You'd need someone to create a similar thread in the consoles forum for that, this is the superior PC gaming forum baby !!

 

[Tombstone]

Wouldn't surprise me if they bring that game to PC like they have most of their other exclusives.

Hopefully so as I've heard nothing but good things about it

 

[Tombstone]

The Rise Of the Golden Idol

Absolutely brilliant, if you like deductive and out of the box thinking - play this.

Hmm, hadnt heard of that, not sure its my sort of game but its certainly got good reviews on Steam and theres a demo by the look of it, so will give it a try

 

[Tombstone]

Surprised there's no votes for Dragon's Dogma given thhe hype at the start of the year (Personally only played the first 2 hours of it). Stalker winning so far might be subject to some recency bias

I enjoyed Dragons Dogma initially but it was one of those games where the more I played it the less I enjoyed it

 

[Tombstone]

I think it's pretty indicative of what kind of year it's been that a game that only came out two weeks ago with a lot of known issues is at the top of the list/joint top of the list so far. I'd be interested to see where it would be if it wasn't so fresh in people's minds.

Its not been as great a year for games as I thought it might be, part of that is that a lot of the games I was looking forward to got pushed into 2025.

Incidently, 2025 has the potential to be a right blinder of a year :

GTA6
Civ 7
Monster Hunter Wilds
Heroes Olden Era
Death Stranding 2
Doom the Dark Ages
Avowed
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
Slay the Spire 2
Subnautica 2
Cuffbust
Broken Arrow
The Alters
Titan Quest 2
Roadcraft
Anno 117
Borderlands 4

If even half of those turn out good, its going to be a fun year

 

[Tombstone]

Surprised not to see God of War Ragnarok on the list from anyone.

That was actually my 2nd place game after Satisfactory. I feel for God of War, in 2022, God of War lost out on my GOTY because of Elden Ring and this year Ragnarok has lost out on my GOTY because of Satisfactory, maybe the next God of War will get a clearer run at it when it comes