Game of the Year 2024 – The Winner

The deliberations are over, and we’ve wrangled with the question of the 2024 Game of the Year over the past few weeks.

After previously announcing the contenders and even getting a guest Game of the Year published we’ve had to make some decisions. Factoring in total amount of playtime, sure. But it’s always more than that. What game had us gripped? What did we return to tirelessly for dailies, weeklies, season passes?

There have been a few games that became a sole-focus for certain periods of time. But also some that were just there for a quick pick-up and play. Both when we didn’t have time to dig into some grand exploration or levelling, or just on the Steam Deck taking some time away from the desk.

As a reminder here were the contenders:

• Sea of Thieves
• Balatro
• Elden Ring – Shadow of the Erdtree
• Dead Cells
• Marvel’s Midnight Suns

Game of the Year 2024

All things above considered, 2024 has been a decent year! And we’ve had plenty to play and dig-into all year round.

The game that really captured us in 2024 though, was……Sea of Thieves.

Sea of Thieves is in such a good spot now, and we even finally made it to Pirate Legend after being day one players on the Xbox One. The grind has softened, the fun has increased, and setting sail has never been so much fun.

Constant improvements, fair and rewarding battle passes and most importantly, most of the clan were on to play together over periods of time which is no mean feat.

We’ve already written about it enough this year, but I can’t quite find the words to capture how much of an impact it’s had here.

There’s the calming solo sloop sailing that just helps you hit a zen-like place. Followed by storms, other pirates and a whole host of potential trauma that helps you flip back to fight or flight mode.

With so much to do, so many ways to be rewarded for your time (one of my original complaints of Sea of Thieves). There’s never been a better time to become a pirate!

There’s nothing really like Sea of Thieves, even now in 2024 and the work Rare put into it still is nothing short of impressive.

We love Sea of Thieves, we’ll continue to set sail, and bring the gang together into 2025, for sure.

Game of the Year 2024, hands-down.

But what about….?

All of the top 5 contenders were legitimate contenders. I’ve wrestled with what’s been the best game, game experience and everything else, all year round.

Midnight Suns was incredible. Likely an annual re-play from here on out. Balatro a massive surprise and addictive joy. Shadow of the Erdtree seemed like a shoe-in with our Elden Ring obsession.

Everything that was considered was loved, is fantastic and will likely to be continued, as well. There are no losers here. But there is a winner and it’s Sea of Thieves.