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2024 Wrap-up

This time last year I was playing Factorio again (again), now I'm playing it again (again again) as the new expansion Space Age came out in October, and the accompanying 2.0 patch. Both of them are phenomenal.

This year I reviewed 33 games. 14 of them came out in 2024, and 17 of them got the full 5 stars. That's a significant upgrade from 2023, so objectively this year has been pretty good for gaming (at least, for people with a similar taste to me). I don't think I've touched a single AAA release this year.

This year's top 5 games, in order, are:

Factorio: Space Age

Normally I wouldn't actually review an expansion on it's own, but Factorio: Space Age (and the accompanying 2.0 patch) is so good, it wins my game of the year 2024 and therefore needs its own page. I played Factorio to death and really wanted an excuse to play more (after finishing a couple of overhaul mods) and this is it. It's the perfect extension to Factorio in every way.

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Satisfactory

Satisfactory is a game about automating production chains; basically 3D Factorio. It's beautiful, well optimised and totally absorbing for people who like to automate things. There's tons of content, and everything from the UI to the machines is made in loving detail. There's also a beautiful world to explore and exploit. That being said, the progression is extremely slow and I think Factorio is the better factory game.

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Minishoot Adventures

Probably the best game I've played so far this year. Minishoot Adventures is basically Zelda: A Link to the Past, except you and all the enemies are spaceships, and the game is a bullet hell. It's incredibly well polished, well designed, a good length, and great fun throughout. There's an overworld map where you unlock new areas and find map parts, there are dungeons with combat rooms, keys and bosses, new powers, lots of upgrades, lots of special skills to find, races and lots of secrets. Highly recommended - especially on the Steam Deck.

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SteamWorld Heist II

Absolutely loved this. Apart from the original game, I don't think I've ever played anything quite like it. It revolves around turn-based combat missions, but the missions happen on a 2D plane and are very much about cover, firing angles and ricochets. You collect a team of steam bots over the course of the story, with 6 classes. Each class has 5 levels with unlocked abilities, personal upgrades and tiered weapons. It adds variety by allowing each hero to take perks from other classes - you can make each character any class by just changing their weapon. There's also overworld combat in your submarine. It's a very lighthearted game like all their others, and is very well polished.

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Core Keeper

I knew from the first time I saw the trailer for this years ago that I was going to love it. You start in an underground chamber next to an ominous glowing statue with nothing. You start mining your way into the darkness heading towards some sparkles and discover copper. A few hours later you're armed to the teeth, hauling your latest loot back to base where you'll refine metal, cook some more food and attend to the farm. This is taking the best vibes from Stardew & Terraria and putting them in a really well polished game with building, crafting and boss battling. It's very addictive and progression is great. My only real gripe is inventory management.

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Honourable mentions

Unlike last year, there were more than 5 games that I gave full marks to. Released in 2024:

As for games that didn't come out this year but I reviewed anyway:

  • I really got back into Slay the Spire on the Steam Deck. I enjoyed it when it came out, but I got totally absorbed by it again. I also bought the board game, which is an excellent, high quality (and multiplayer) physical representation of the video game.
  • Escape from Mystwood Mansion is a very high quality (if short) escape room game that I really enjoyed, and picked up after playing the demo
  • Cobalt Core is a really high quality deck builder that works well on the Deck. It's similar to Slay the Spire, but with less content (but nice writing). It's what made me go back to Slay the Spire.
  • Loddlenaut is another one I picked up after playing the demo. It's a very cute game about cleaning the ocean and collecting small pets called Loddles
  • Terra Nil is an innovative puzzle game about terraforming the planet and cleaning up after yourself

Early Access

Following the format of previous articles, here's a few notes on EA games.

Released

  • As you can see, Core Keeper made it out of Early Access this year - and made it into my top 5 games of this year
  • Fabledom also released into 1.0 as a cute, well rounded (but compact) city builder which I haven't played a lot yet
  • I Am Future snuck out halfway through November. I haven't had a chance to play the full release yet, but enjoyed playing it during EA
  • Techtonica was abandoned and shoved out the door as a "1.0" after removing features and cutting the map into small pieces
  • Satisfactory finally came out and is amazing

New & Unreleased

  • 2 years ago I said Dyson Sphere Program was "nearly out". Well, it's not. It'll be amazing when it's finished, but I'm not holding my breath. There were a ton of updates when it first released into EA, but it's slowed down a lot since then
  • Abiotic Factor had an excellent demo, and has been making a splash with it's regular and huge EA patches. I'm really looking forward to this. It's a sort of multiplayer survival-craft Half-Life game.
  • Brighter Shores is a game by the original developer of Runescape. It's got some weird design decisions and has had some mixed reception, but I'm hopeful that if they listen and make some UI and design changes it could be great
  • Foundry is a voxel factory game that feels pretty good, but needs to be excellent to compete with the existing automation games
  • Len's Island should be out next year and is a really nice isometric single player open world survival crafting (phew) game.
  • Timberborn has been in EA for 3 years and isn't showing any signs of coming out soon, but it is still having large content patches added, so it's pretty fleshed out now.

Oh and Valheim still isn't out... again.

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