2024 was an unusually varied year for PC games. Some of the biggest hits came from small teams or unexpected places, while long-awaited releases and a huge expansion kept bigger studios in the conversation. Looking back, these are the games that defined the year on PC, and nearly all of them are still worth playing today.
The surprise hits
Helldivers 2 (February) turned a satirical premise into one of the best cooperative shooters in years. Four players drop onto alien planets for chaotic missions where friendly fire and airstrikes go wrong in memorable ways, while a community-wide war unfolds across the galaxy.
Balatro (February) took poker hands and turned them into a deck-building roguelike that is very hard to put down. Made by a single developer, it became one of the year’s most celebrated games.
Palworld (January, early access) sold millions of copies in days with its mix of creature collecting, survival and base building, and its share of controversy.
Big action and adventure
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (June) was technically an expansion, but its size and quality put it alongside the year’s best full games. Black Myth: Wukong (August), a Chinese action game based on Journey to the West, impressed with its bosses and visuals and was one of the best-selling games of the year. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (September) delivered huge, satisfying battles against swarms of enemies.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (December) closed the year as a surprisingly strong adventure from the makers of the modern Wolfenstein games.
Role-playing games
Metaphor: ReFantazio (October), from the team behind the Persona series, combined a fantasy political story with turn-based combat and was widely praised. Dragon’s Dogma 2 (March) offered an open world with memorable emergent moments, though its PC performance at launch was criticised. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (January) continued the series’ mix of drama and comedy in Hawaii.
Indie and smaller games worth catching up on
- Animal Well: a mysterious exploration game with secrets that took the community months to uncover.
- UFO 50: fifty original games presented as a lost 1980s console library.
- Hades II (early access): the sequel to one of the best roguelikes.
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown: an excellent 2D action-exploration game.
- Satisfactory: its full 1.0 release made this factory builder easier to recommend than ever.
Strategy and simulation
Manor Lords (early access, April) drew a huge audience for its medieval city building with tactical battles. Frostpunk 2 (September) moved its survival city builder toward politics and factions.
Playing them today
Many of these games have received significant updates since launch, which fixed performance problems and added content, so reviews written at release are not always the best guide. Checking recent Steam user reviews gives a better picture of their current state. Most have also been discounted in seasonal sales, which makes 2024 a good year to catch up on.
