Anton's Top 5 Games of 2024
Is it redundant to say they're my top 5 if I'm the only one who posts?
06 Jan 2025It’s time for the thirteenth most prestigious Game of the Year to be announced! We’re doing a format change this year: instead of me talking about all the games I played that released in 2024, we’re doing a Top 5 with some honourable mentions. This is absolutely not because I was too lazy to write 16 separate reviews.
It’s been a weird year for games for me. I feel like I spent a lot of this year playing the same games a bunch which I’m not generally one to do. I sunk a lot hours into Hitman’s Freelancer mode, relapsed into playing Slay The Spire a bunch, dropped and then got back into Balatro. I think with the wedding planning and everything I just didn’t want to get into too many new games, instead opting for stuff that I knew and was easy to pick up and put down.
Still, I was able to play a lot of cool new games and I would love to tell you about them!
Honourable Mentions
Here’s three games that didn’t quite make my Top 5 but I still wanted to give them a shout out.
Mars After Midnight
Lucas Pope’s (Papers Please, Return of the Obra Dinn) latest game, exclusive to the PlayDate handheld console. It feels like Papers Please but for kids? Not a lot of challenge or complexity, but it was a lot of fun to see all the alien designs and little gimmicks. Plus, I enjoy any excuse to play my PlayDate! 8/10
Helldivers 2
Fantastic co-op multiplayer game. It had a pretty rocky launch and I think some of the post game support was a bit shaky too, but the core gameplay experience is so good that I’m willing to ignore all of that. 8.5/10
The Rise of the Golden Idol
The Rise of the Golden Idol learned all the right lessons from the first game in the series. Discovering words is a lot more streamlined, every level is nice and compact so you don’t lose what’s going on, and there’s also a recap for each big story moment you have to fill in so you can just reference that when you need a refresher! More than the quality of life improvements, there’s a lot of great new puzzle types that get introduced and it’s fun to see what each new level introduces. The story’s final act feels a bit anti-climactic and rushed which is a shame because it leaves a bad taste as the last thing you do. 8.5/10
Now time for the main event! We’re going in least best to most best order here. The most important thing to remember is that I think all of these games are great, and while I do have a winner, I think you should play all of the top 5 games. And if you have, I’d love to talk to you about it, even if it’s just to talk about how cool they are and that’s it!
5. Mullet MadJack
Platform: PC | Developer: Hammer95 Studios | Publisher: Epopeia Games
Sometimes all I want is a real video gamey ass video game, you know? Basic plot, great gameplay and a bangin’ soundtrack. Mullet MadJack delivers exactly just that. It’s a high energy FPS with an 80s anime aesthetic. The central gimmick is that you only have 10 seconds to live but each kill gets you more time on the clock, especially if you do it in a cool way. It creates a really great arcade feel where every level is a frantic rush to score time while you make it to the exit. I think the retro anime aesthetic does feel a bit worn out at this point but also who cares, I’ve got a shotgun that shoots rebounding bullets and a double jump. That’s video games baby! 9/10
4. Crow Country
Platform: PS5 | Developer: SFB Games | Publisher: Self Published
I thought for sure that I was tired of the PS1 inspired graphics trend in indie games, but then I played Crow Country and immediately loved the look of it, so I guess I’m a huge hypocrite. It’s more than just the looks though, Crow Country’s gameplay is clearly inspired by the fifth generation survival horror classics - it’s got Resident Evil’s exploration, backtracking and combat mixed with Silent Hill’s atmosphere and overall darker vibe. Sometimes it’s a little too throwback, like the combat was a tiny bit too clunky for me, but it’s nothing that ruins the experience. I honestly can’t believe that l hadn’t played something with an abandoned theme park setting before, and it fits so well for the genre. I had a great time blasting through the game, exploring the map and trying to figure out the mystery of what happened in the titular Crow Country while trying to dodge spooky monsters because I refuse to use a single bullet more than I have to. It’s a must play for any survival horror fans for sure. 9/10
3. Tactical Breach Wizards
Platform: PC | Developer: Suspicious Developments | Publisher: Self Published
I’m going to be so real with you, I already wrote about Tactical Breach Wizards during my Indie Game Book Club wrap up, and I feel like I hit every point I wanted to hit there so I don’t have a lot to say here. Go read my review., then play the game, you’ll enjoy it. 9/10
2. Mouthwashing
Platform: PC | Developer: Wrong Organ | Publisher: Critical Reflex
Last year we played How Fish Is Made for IGBC, and while I did enjoy it for what it was, I had no idea that the devs would go onto making one of the best games of 2024. Mouthwashing is a 2-3 hour spiralling nightmare, taking place on a ship stuck floating in space with little chance of survival. There’s a palpable sense of dread with everything that happens, only getting worse as the game progresses, which is an impressive feat considering the non linear presentation. There does feel like there’s an occasional halt with these puzzle “mini game” sort of things which I feel like could have been avoided but also they’re all very thematically appropriate and impactful so maybe I’m just talking shit here. Despite the minor speed bumps, Mouthwashing remains an incredible experience that I feel like will only get better each time I play through it. 9.5/10
1. Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
Platform: Switch | Developer: Nintendo EPD, MAGES | Publisher: Nintendo
Emio - The Smiling Man is a tour de force of the ADV (Japanese adventure game) genre. It feels like a game that can only be made by a veteran team who deeply understand the medium and how the mechanics can tell the story as much as the text does. It manifests in the little things, such as how clicking all the options while waiting for the bus to come is something the game expects you to do, or how characters can comment on you smelling like food if you chose to eat while investigating. It’s also there in the bigger moments, like how you have to repeat certain actions/prompts to get information out of people, and how that builds tension in scenes where you don’t want to push too much. It does so much with such a limited approach that it’s astounding there are games with 10x the scope that can’t achieve even half the impact.
Of course, Emio is more than just the mechanical implementation of the game. The story itself is an engaging murder mystery that has you trying to figure out the truth of not just a murder of a young teen, but also the urban legend of the Smiling Man. As with all plot heavy games, I’m going to try and be intentionally vague about the finer details so you can enjoy it as fresh as possible.
It’s filled with all the twists and turns you’d expect from a mystery story, but what I think the game does best writing wise is how it shows the impact of loss, both immediate and lasting. There’s a melancholy in most of your discussions with people attached to the case - confusion of how such a thing could happen, the regrets of the things that were said, the lack of closure if it’s someone who went missing. It all feels so grounded and human, and it’s probably the thing that’s stuck with me the most. Paired with the absolutely fantastic epilogue, it creates one of the most memorable narrative experiences in any video game I’ve played.
Emio - The Smiling Man is just such a special game. Feels like a once in a lifetime experience where everything aligned and we got to see a legendary designer like Yoshio Sakamoto make something truly special. If we ever get another entry in the series, I’ll be ecstatic, but if not, at least we got to have something as good as Emio to end it. 10/10