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Everybody's Top 10 Games Of 2024 (And Your Turn To Vote For GOTY!)
🕑 Added 2024-12-20 22:12:04 +0000 UTC
Hey everybody! As we're rolling out MinnMax's collective Game of the Year debates in the main podcast feed (reminder that you can unlock all of them now at the $10 tier), we wanted to share everybody's Top 10 games of 2024. The nine of us try our best to represent the year, but we can barely scratch the surface for games released. So to help paint a more accurate picture of this year in gaming, we reached out to friends of the show who appeared on MinnMax content in 2024 to get their lists as well. Unlike The Two Tens (MinnMax's collective ranking, coming up over the next two weeks in the main podcast feed), these lists from friends don't have rules. They can list whatever they want and as many things as they want.
But before we get to all of the lists, here's an opportunity to create the ULTIMATE ranking of the best games of 2024. Thanks to the mods in the Discord, you can fill out this Google Form and add your ranking to the collective community hive-mind. We'll be reading the community's "objective" list on The MinnMax Show on January 9th, 2025.
For the purpose of this poll: Early access titles, expansion passes, new DLC, remasters and remakes, etc are all eligible.
You don't have to enter 10 games, just fill out as many as you can with your own current ranking.
Edit your response as many times as you like. As long as the submission window is open you can use the same link to edit your response. Reorder, add, or remove as much as you like.
The poll closes on Monday, January 6, 2025 at 9pm.
Submit your personal picks right here - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScVHWMMMyDqy6qnV_H5rCtYwMogqPDbP9bxWPjwQkB4GWp_aQ/viewform
Okay, now here are all of our personal lists. Enjoy!
Jeff Marchiafava - Cohort
- Follow on Twitter here
1. UFO 50
2. Balatro
3. Diceomancer
4. Shogun Showdown
5. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
6. Dragons Dogma 2
7. The Rise of the Golden Idol
8. Ballionaire
9. Metal Slug Tactics
10. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Haley MacLean - Cohort/Community Manager
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. Metaphor Re:Fantanzio
2. Astrobot
3. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
4. 1000X Resist
5. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
6. Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth
7. Dragon's Dogma 2
8. Indika
9. Minishoot' Adventures
10. Thank Goodness You're Here
Kyle Hilliard - Cohort
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. Astro Bot
2. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
3. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
4. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
5. Metaphor ReFantazio
6. Minishoot’ Adventures
7. Stellar Blade
8. Batman: Arkham Shadow
9. Silent Hill 2
10. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Leo Vader - Cohort
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. The Finals
2. Indika
3. Wild Bastards
4. UFO 50
5. Thank Goodness You’re Here
6. Pacific Drive
7. Shogun Showdown
8. Echo Point Nova
9. Dungeons of Hinterberg
10. 1000x Resist
Jacob Geller - Cohort
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. Astro Bot
2. 1000xResist
3. Balatro
4. Nine Sols
5. Metaphor: ReFantazio
6. Mouthwashing
7. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
8. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
9. Slitterhead
10. Helldivers 2
Sarah Podzorski - Cohort
- Follow on Bluesky here
0. Fields of Mistria
1. Infinity Nikki
2. Mouthwashing
3. Manor Lords
4. The Rise of the Golden Idol
5. 1000xResist
6. Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
7. Crow Country
8. Arctic Eggs
9. Metaphor Refantazio
10. Dragons Dogma 2
Ben Hanson - Cohort
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
2. Astro Bot
3. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
4. Astro Duel 2
5. Minishoot' Adventures
6. Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth
7. Tetris Forever
8. UFO 50
9. Mouthwashing
10. World of Goo 2
Janet Garcia - Cohort
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. Astro Bot
2. Metaphor: ReFantazio
3. Balatro
4. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
5. 1000xResist
6. Animal Well
7. Cryptmaster
8. Grunn
9. Arco
10. Helldivers 2
Kelsey Lewin - Cohort
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. 1000x Resist
2. Helldivers 2
3. Balatro
4. Astrobot
5. Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth
6. Metaphor: Refantazio
7. UFO 50
8. Starstruck: Hands of Time
9. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
10. Infinity Nikki
Charles Harte
- MinnMax Video Editor
- Created Flight Simulator and Monster Hunter travelogues, starred in the Summer Game Fest travelogue, DMd our Dungeons and Dragons game, The Deepest Dive for Mirror's Edge, edited the MinnMax Best Ofs all year, Max Settings, hosted Death Row Snacks for New Show Plus, appeared on The MinnMax Show
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. Astro Bot
2. Balatro
3. Metaphor: ReFantazio
4. Arco
5. 1000xResist
6. Dragon’s Dogma 2
7. Hades 2 (Early Access)
8. Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit
9. Beastieball (Early Access)
10. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Ana Diaz
- Culture Writer at Polygon, Former MinnMax Cohort
- Follow on Bluesky here
(I don’t put betas/alpha on my list so no Fields of Mistria or Hades 2)
1. Metaphor: ReFantazio
2. Astro Bot
3. Infinity Nikki
4. Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth
5. 1000 x Resist
6. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
7. Balatro
8. Webfishing
9. Dress to Impress
10.Flock
Suriel Vazquez
- Narrative Lead at Big Blue Sky Games working on Merchants of Rosewall , Former MinnMax Cohort
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
2. 1000xRESIST
3. Balatro
4. Arco
5. Dota 2: Crownfall
6. Helldivers 2
7. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
8. Dragon's Dogma 2
9. Penny's Big Breakaway
10. I didn't play the other ones. Merchants of Rosewall available March 2025 wishlist on Steam today!
Michael Huber
- Easy Allies cohost
- Hosted Trivia Tower, appeared on New Show Plus and The MinnMax Show, and filled in for Jeff Marchiafava during his paternity leave.
- Follow on Bluesky here
These are in no particular order, follow Easy Allies for his final list.
Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Dragons Dogma 2
Balatro
Stellar Blade
Silent Hill 2
Prince of Persia:The Lost Crown
Astro Bot
Black Myth Wukong
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle
Kyle Bosman - Top 5 Dumb Games
- Delayed Input creator, Twitch Streamer
- Appeared on Trivia Tower with Michael Huber
- Follow on Bluesky here
There are games we play that are hard to recommend to friends but we enjoy in our own private stupid time. These dumb games aren’t as well-designed or artful as our front-facing favorites, but they’re still appreciated.
5. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Sometimes it’s funny to watch a comedian bomb uncontrollably; playing this game is kind of like that. I know it doesn’t make sense but I really did love doing triple jumps and air dashes as a gun-loving King Shark.
4. Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble
A brand-new Monkey Ball game came out this year, a true-blue sequel with thoughtful new mechanics, and I think a lot of us just forgot about it. Maybe it just hits that particular balance between Must-See Good and Must-See Bad where it goes unnoticed. But an unremarkable Monkey Ball game is still a really good time comparatively.
3. Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO
There’s just something nice about how nuts this game is. The roster is irresponsibly large. It’s competitively broken but I think we’d all prefer it that way. You get to play out alternate storylines to see what would happen if Vegeta won all his fights. (Mostly nothing changes) All this game ever promised is dumb Dragon Ball fun, and that’s kind of all you could ask for.
2. Metaphor: ReFantazio
If you can overlook all its faults this game is actually pretty fun.
1. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game
A true embodiment of the joyful spirit of dumb games. Since Patrick would be the kind of guy to wander around and perform all these wonky/flimsy physics-based tasks in whatever order he chooses, it’s almost a perfect alignment of cartoon character and game design. Brilliantly dumb.
Grant
- Ben's old friend
- Appeared on The Deepest Dive for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
1. UFO 50
2. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
3. Astrobot
4. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
5. Balatro
6. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
7. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
8. Silent Hill 2 Remake
9. Animal Well
10. Nine Sols
Ronnie
- Ben's old friend
- Appeared on The Deepest Dive for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and failing to play Crow Country
1. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
2. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Nerdtree
3. Age of Mythology Retold
4. Silent Hill 2
5. Animal Well
6. DOOM Eternal
7. Tiny Glade
8. Against the Storm
9. Intelligent Qube
10. Star Ocean 2: Second Story R (Demo)
Haley De Boom
- Generous community member
- Appeared on The MinnMax Show and Bonus Pod
1. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
2. Dragon Age: The Veilguard
3. 1000xRESIST
4. Metaphor: ReFantazio
5. Control
6. Hades II
7. Astro Bot
8. Dragon’s Dogma 2
9. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak
10. Rocksmith 2014
Ross "The Star Wars Guy" Pfund
- Appeared on The Deepest Dive for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Max Spoilers
- Follow on Twitter here
1. Animal Well
2. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
3. Minishoot’ Adventures
4. Balatro
5. Nine Sols
6. Astro Bot
7. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
8. Rise of the Golden Idol
9. Star Wars Outlaws
10. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition
Matt Helgeson
- Host of CrossFade, MinnMax's dormant music podcast
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. The Reds, Pinks, and Purples – This is Adult Art School
2. Roc Marciano – Marciology
3. La Luz – News of the Universe
4. Neil Young – Archives Vol. III
5. Kendrick Lamar – GNX
6. Sharp Pins – Radio DDR
7. Yuasa-Exide – Information and Culture
8. LL Cool J – The FORCE
9. Dallas Orbiter – Spaceman Things
10. FAXED – Grotesque Rescue
Jason Dafnis
- Cohost of of CrossFade, MinnMax's dormant music podcast
"Jason's Favorite Medias Things He Consumed in 2024"
- Game: "Boku no Natsuyasumi 2" by Millennium Kitchen (2002)
- Book: "The Memory Police" by Yōko Ogawa (1994)
- Album: "Rong Weicknes" by Fievel Is Glauque (2024)
- Game: "Felvidek" by Jozef Pavelka and Vlado Ganaj (2024)
- Album: "The Gloss" by Cola (2024)
- Movie: "Exhuma" by Jang Jae-Hyun (2024)
- Album: "Champion" by Pom Poko (2024)
- Movie: "Conclave" by Edward Berger (2024)
- Album: "No Name" by Jack White (2024)
- Game: "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" by MachineGames (2024)
Jeff Cork
- Publicist at Tara Bruno PR and FIFTYcc
- Appeared on the Thanksgiving joke-a-thon
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. The Binding of Isaac
2. Astro Bot
3. Balatro
4. Dragon's Dogma II
5. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
6. Thank Goodness You're Here
7. Stellar Blade
8. Star Wars Outlaws
9. No Man's Sky
10. EDF 6
Jill Grodt
- Founder of The Indie Informer
- Appeared on our GDC and Summer Game Fest travelogues
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. Neva
2. Nine Sols
3. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
4. Balatro
5. Magical Delicacy
6. Grunn
7. The Rise of the Golden Idol
8. Animal Well
9. UFO 50
10. Mouthwashing
Alex Van Aken
- Founder of Viewport: Inside Look At Video Games
- Hosted The Deepest Dive for Mirror's Edge and the Game Informer office goodbye
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. Balatro
2. Animal Well
3. Astro Bot
4. Thank Goodness You’re Here
5. The Finals
Marcus Stewart
- Video game writer/critic, Twitch streamer
- Appeared on The MinnMax Show
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. Balatro
2. Astro Bot
3. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
4. 1000xResist
5. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
6. Animal Well
7. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
8. Stellar Blade
9. Indika
10. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Charles McGregor
- Game developer currently working at Strange Scaffold on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. UFO 50
2. Fortnite Festival
3. Marvel Rivals
4. Baldur's Gate 3
5. Deadlock
6. Star Wars Outlaws
7. Foamstars
8. Black Myth: Wukong
9. Frogun Encore
10. Indiana Jones: The Great Circle
EllieJoyPanic
- Twitch streamer
- Appeared on The MinnMax Show
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
2. Ghost of Tsushima
3. Return of the Obra Dinn
4. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
5. Laysara: Summit Kingdom
6. Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
7. Stardew Valley (1.6)
Honourable mention as always to my beloved Bloodborne and Dorfromantik, which probably have more play hours than anything else this year!
Kate Sánchez
- Editor-In-Chief of But Why Tho
- Appeared on The MinnMax Show, Disney Land travelogue
- Follow on Bluesky here
1. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (since it was Dec last year and got looked over)
2. Path of Exile 2
4. Tales of Kenzera: ZAU
5. Mouthwashing
6. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
7. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
8. Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero
9. Tekken 8
10. Arco
Mike Minotti
- Managing editor at GamesBeat, weird guy at Giant Bomb
- Appeared on Disney Land travelogue
- Follow on Bluesky here
I love old games! And while I’m more than happy to use emulators or original hardware to check out the classics, I’m glad when new compilations, remasters, remakes, and ports give me an excuse to play oldies on modern hardware.
Below are my 10 favorite such games this year. Note that I’m not including remakes that are so extensive that feel like new games, so no Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Persona 3 Reload, or Silent HIll 2 here (although those are all super good times).
10. Epic Mickey Rebrushed
I’m one of those dreaded Disney Adults that they talk about in the news. Still, the original Epic Mickey didn’t hit as much as I wanted. This remaster is much better. It turns out that the game is more fun without all of those Wii gimmicks.
9. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Castlevania Dominus Collection finally saved three excellent games from DS purgatory, and I had a blast playing through all of them this year. Order of Ecclesia is the most challenging of the lot, and it has a more unique structure than the typical Metroidvania formula that the others more closely follow.
8. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Portrait of Ruin’s main gimmick has you swapping between two characters, one that focuses on weapons and another who specializes in magic. It also features some of my favorite boss fights in the series.
7. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Dawn of Sorrow is the one that most closely resembles Symphony of the Night and, unsurprisingly, is my favorite of the bunch. But all three really are fantastic. I’m glad that Dominus Collection makes these gems so accessible now.
6. Beyond Good & Evil
Ubisoft is in something of a downward spiral at the moment, but I do have to give credit to the team behind this year’s remaster of Beyond Good & Evil. It’s partly a testament to the original that it still holds up so well, but the game definitely looks and feels better than ever now.
5. Rocket Knight Adventures
Speaking of compilations of old Konami games, Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked is a retro collection that I’m guessing fewer of you have played this year. But you should! These are some of the finest 16-bit action-platformers that you’ll find. The original Rocket Knight Adventures is easily my favorite, it’s such a fast-paced and exciting ride.
4. Braid
Braid also got a great remaster this year. Honestly, the original already looked and played so well that I didn’t think it needed much updating, but this new release adds some thoughtful changes to the audio and visuals.
3. Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Man, I love the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection that came out this year. It has a bunch of great games, but Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is easily my favorite. I played so much of it on the Dreamcast back in the day, and it’s a dream to have access to the game on modern machines with smooth online matchmaking.
2. Dragon Quest III HD-2D
I’ve been a fan of the HD-2D trend, and none of them have looked better than this. Even without the visual upgrades, Dragon Quest III is just such a pure JRPG experience. If you haven’t checked the series out before, this is a great place to start.
1. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Mario has been in a bunch of great RPGs, but this faithful remake of the GameCube classic now has me convinced that The Thousand-Year Door is the best of the bunch. It’s witty, charming, has an amazing cast of memorable characters, and an incredibly satisfying combat system. In a year full of great RPGs, this stands among any of the new releases from 2024.
MinnMax's Discord Mods - Help thank them in the comments!
Ian T Clark
1. Final Fantasy 7 Remake
2. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
3. Stellar Blade
4. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered
5. Helldivers 2
6. Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered
7. The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom
8. Astro Bot
9. Persona 3 Reload
10. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Neill Smith
1. ELDEN RING: Shadow of the Erdtree
2. Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania
3. Valheim – Ashlands
4. Balatro
5. Horizon Forbidden West (PC)
6. Enshrouded
7.. Thank Goodness You're Here!
8. Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred
9. Age of Mythology: Retold
10. Helldivers 2
Interrota
1. Silent Hill 2
2. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
3. Xenogears (holy crap what a game)
4. Persona 4 Golden
5. In Sound Mind
6. Far Cry 5
7. Bloodstained Ritual of the Night
8. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
9. Spyro 2 Ripto’s Rage
SgtGrumbles
1. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
2. Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
3. 1000xResist
4. Unicorn Overlord
5. Still Wakes The Deep
6. Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth
7. Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom
8. Mouthwashing
9. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
10. Helldivers 2
Honorable 2019 mention: Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order
As always, thanks for supporting MinnMax on Patreon at any tier. This is all possible because of your direct support and help spreading the word about what we're doing.
Comments
Kurono
You're great and your show brings me joy. Thanks for your generosity that helped me be a part of this community.
Mark M
Sarah and Ben's bluesky link to a Czech version of the site. Charles links to a specific comment. Just a heads up. Thanks for the lists!!!
PixelPunchTV
Was happy to see Fields of Mistria in here! It was some of the most fun I had this year, Crow Country was I think a total package for me. And 1000xResist was hands down a game I thought about every waking moment I wasn't playing it and have been desperately seeking out any media similar to it.
skatestreets.game
Awesome , how extensive! Need a long pod of Ana detailing her list PLEASE! Also some Grant, Ronnie & Ross chat -- Animal Well & Indiana Jones, baby woo!
Voivod McGarnagle
So many lists! Thanks y’all
ennui_enthusiast
Im glad Ronnie was the only one brave enough to put shadow of the nerdtree on his list.
Leafeonn (Josh K)
Thank you mods!!
Thom Blackburn
I played baldurs Gate 3 this year so nothing actually released this year had a chance!
Rich Lynch
Thanks for a great year MinnMax it’s so nice seeing so many familiar names on this list!
RynaGoGo
Great Lists! What a great year for games. Nine Sols, Animal Well and BALATROOOO!!! Thank you mods! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas Movie House!!
jacob cummings
Did nobody play another crab's treasure????????? Or am i just a freak for loving it as much as i do???
Alex Swaim
Janet! Represent Animal Well and Cryptmaster! Love it! Also I knew nobody was as hot on FF7 as Ben, but I'm surprised it didn't make a single other cohort's list. Curious where it ends up on the 2 tens.
Stevo
Loving the list of lists! Seeing Rocksmith 2014 on Haley De Boom's list also made my heart happy. Happy holidays everyone!
Alex Hanavan
Now this is the list of lists that I wanted!
Brainfreeze
Thank you Mods!
IanTClark
Awesome lists! Here’s to a new year of great gaming!
