CraigPlaysGames’ 2024 Game of the Year Rankings

We’ve reached the end of 2024 and naturally it’s time for the Game of the Year rankings. All in all, a decent ear I’d say. It had it’s big releases but also feels a little bit like the calm before the 2025 storm. For those that don’t know, I try to do a top 21 games rather than a top 10. That isn’t the case this year but there is the Top 10 and the Runner’s Up that just missed out .

As always, there’s games that I would have liked to have played but for one reason or another I didn’t get around to them. Here are the ones that got away: Stellar Blade, Black Myth: Wukong, System Shock Remake, Batman: Arkham Shadow, Slitterhead, The Thaumaturge, Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, 10 Dead Doves, Rise of the Golden Idol, Animal Well, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank, Hollowbody, Mouthwashing, Nightmare Kart, Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip, Sorry We’re Closed, Threshold, Great God Grove, Snow Scout VR, Metro: Awakening, Slay the Princess, Clock Tower Rewind, Harold Halibut, Celeste 64, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, Loretta, Indika, While We Wait Here and probably more

Wow, that’s a lot of games isn’t it? Which is why I’m revisiting the list at the end of March when I’ve hopefully covered most of the games listed. Games that were also in the running: Home Safety Hotline, Open Roads, Alan Wake 2: Night Springs and Lake House DLC, Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, Apartment Story and El Paso, Elsewhere.

Without further ado, the Game of the Year ranking for 2024:

Runners Up (#15 - #11)

15) Star Wars: Outlaws (Massive Entertainment)

Despite all the signs being there, I held out hope that Outlaws would beat it’s cookie cutter creators and be something unique. In some regards, it does manage to stand out a little bit with some of it’s ideas. The issues are in the presentation of the story and some of the beats. Alas, it’s Star Wars which picks up a lot of slack that a new IP probably wouldn’t.

14) Fear the Spotlight (Cozy Game Pals)

The first game out of the Blumhouse Games publishing arm has set a high bar for the rest. Cosy, heartfelt but ultimately not that scary in the grand scheme. That didn’t bother me too much as the interesting story carried me through it’s relatively short run time, even with two campaigns.

13) Toy Trains VR (Something Random)

Despite best laid plans, this was the only VR title I played this year. No complaints though, as I had a really good time with it. It does what it sets out to do, which is provide the feeling of having your own train set - something I’d wager is a touch more expensive than the cost of entry to VR.

12) Akimbot (Evil Raptor)

A little rough around the edges and perhaps a wee bit close to it's inspiration material, Akimbot is an excellent foundation for a series if the people at Evil Raptor want to continue to refine their efforts. On its own, it's still a fun 3D platformer adventure.

11) Beyond Good and Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition (Ubisoft)

There's something about the game that elicits such a strong feeling of nostalgia despite the fact I've never played it. Hillys is a wonderful world I would have adored as a kid. However without the rose tinted glasses, I noticed that not all gameplay has stood the test of time. Little matter when the game itself is so charming.

The Top 10

10) Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper)

Delightfully bizarre and more British than anyone should be safe consuming, it may not be up to much a standard game experience but it's comedic value and theming as an experience is something to behold.

9) Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake

While I played and thoroughly enjoyed A Way Out and It Takes Two, it wasn't until this remake that I had the chance to play the first title from Josef Fares. Man. It’s a different kind of experience than the games he would go on to make but it's a beautiful one.

Controlling both brothers at the same time adds a level of gravity to the narrative you may not anticipate going into it but knowing you control the fates of these brothers leaves a lasting impression, long after the game is done.

8) Crow Country (SFB Games)

In lieu of a Resident Evil title, Crow Country will most certainly do. A bit bigger than bitesize, Crow Country offers a healthy dose of survival horror goodness in a small but mighty package.

Flesh creatures in a theme park is unique enough to get the game going but while the story is a wee bit predictable, it's told in such a way to keep you engaged until credits roll. S Rank will see you through to the second credit roll. It's just got that good game feel.

7) Dead Rising: Deluxe Remaster (Capcom)

While it may seem a fair bit basic compared to more modern titles, Dead Rising’s niche of time based missions help keep it exciting as a new experience. Couple that with the fact it's just an all around good game and you've got a game that more people should be giving a try. Dead Rising 2 is a day 1.

6) The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Grezzo)

It's no secret I didn't like Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom that much but loved Links Awakening so to see Echoes of Wisdom take the art style from the latter and the good bits from the former, I was well on board.

Definitely on the easier side of things but that doesn't matter when the residents of Hyrule are all here and all the puzzles are fun. If this Zelda based game led to a smaller sub series, that'd be fine by me.

5) I Am Your Beast (Strange Scaffold)

If bloody violence is what they want, it's what they're going to get. In bitesize, heart pumping, satisfying levels that has the tantalising feeling of “Oh I could definitely do that better”

Mix the amazing feeling arcade gameplay with a unsurprisingly (if you've played other Strange Scaffold games) great voice acting and you've got a sleeper hit that I'd rank up there with the likes of Neon White.

4) Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Square Enix)

Narrowly missing out on the top 3 is the second part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, Rebirth. The gang have left Midgar to venture into the wilder world and with that have left the linear levels with open zones in favour of more of an open world affair. For the most part, the landing is stuck here and the game continues to develop it’s very good characters and admittedly convoluted story. The stage is set for Part 3 which has a very good chance of being the best in the entire trilogy.

I do need to go back for the Platinum here, I’ve got the entire hard mode and challenges to go yet. If only there was more Queen’s Blood to play. Bloody loved Queen’s blood.

3) Silent Hill 2 Remake (Bloober Team/Team Silent)

I can’t say I was on the Bloober hate train as I hadn’t played any of their previous games but there was an overwhelming opinion that this wasn’t the team for the job. Egg on their face, Silent Hill 2 is a psychological horror masterclass. Sure there was the classic game to take from and thus make comparisons too. I’ve not played the original so Remake is my first exposure and I can say I’m happy about that.

Every aspect of the game is tense, from the tight gameplay to the slowly unravelling story. Bloober team not only beat expectations, they blew them out of the water. Trust this team to remake the other titles 1, 3, 4 and hell – let them make a new one.

2) Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC (FromSoftware)

You don’t have to believe it should be valid for the Game of the Year award at The Game Awards, but it very nearly hit my top spot for personal Game of the Year. Take Elden Ring and simply make more of it – brilliant.

While the Scadutree Fragments mechanic doesn’t lend itself super well to replayability, the incredible new bosses, variety of returning and new weapon types to enjoy in the DLC and base game as well as sheer amount of new content means that Shadow of the Erdtree could have easily been a standalone game if they wanted. It’s just that good.

1) Astro Bot (Team Asobi)

Sure you could boil Astro Bot down to being an advert for playstation titles, and I suppose it is. However you would be ignoring the fact that this is one of the most charming, great feeling, smile inducing fun to play 3D Platformer outside of Nintendo’s vaults. Rivalling some of Nintendo’s greats, there I said it.

There’s an addicting quality to the game in the way that enough is never enough and “Oh go on then, what’s one more level?” until you’ve been sat there for several extra hours. The game was made for me, as a major fan of 3D platformer collectathons. Even if I hated them, I still think Astro Bot would have won me over. This should be a wakeup call to Sony and the wider industry – Astro Bot is testament to Good games sell. Make it fun, and it’ll win Game of the Year.

As I say, I will be returning to this list roughly the start of April for a more updated version of this list. With any luck, the Game of the Year 2025 will be more complete from the get go. This is also the first article of 2025, so if you’re reading this… Welcome! or Welcome Back! I hope you enjoy your time here.