Hidden Gems of 2024: Unforgettable Video Games You Might Overlooked

Nine Sols

PS4/5, Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch
Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games made its mark in 2019 with the first-person horror title, Devotion. Its successor, Nine Sols, while less gritty, is equally unique — a solid 2D action-platformer adorned with a stunning “taopunk” visual style. This vibrant sci-fi environment appears to be constructed as much from bamboo and jade as it is from steel and microchips. Lewis Gordon

PS4/5, PC
Amidst a year filled with exceptional Metroidvanias, the psychedelic sci-fi platformer Ultros ventured down a notably verdant and distinctive route. Alongside captivating exploration and rapid-fire combat, you cultivate and study various types of alien plants discovered on a convoluted spaceship. The primary objective is escape, yet you may find yourself reluctant to leave the curious, bioluminescent garden you nurture. LG

PC
An unforeseen surprise hit, despite being still in development, this strategy title weaves economic management and urban survival together, highlighting historical realism. Although updates have not been as swift as some may desire, the tranquil allure of guiding a medieval village through hardship and prosperity is undeniable. Callum Bains

SteamWorld Heist II

PS4/5, Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch
Featuring delightful hats and strategically diverse turn-based shootouts, this maritime sequel reaffirms that two-dimensional games needn’t feel flat. You can navigate the world in your submarine this time, yet nothing surpasses the sheer delight of aligning a shot to send laser beams bouncing around the room. Exuberantly absurd steambot battles. CB

PC, XBOX
A survival shooter that beautifully captures the struggle to survive against unyielding radiation and mutants in one of the most merciless landscapes imaginable. This follow-up is a gratifying blend of horror and shooting, featuring a vast open world, branching storylines, and multiple conclusions. The game represents 15 years of development since the last entry, made even more remarkable by the fact that its creators at the Ukrainian studio GSC Game World are currently entangled in a real-world conflict. Bex April May

PC
Dubbed a “thirst person shooter,” The Crush House immerses you in a 1999 Big Brother-esque production where the audience always holds sway. You play as the producer, and your dream job takes a dark twist. The outcome is a parody of MTV reality shows and Love Island as well as society’s insatiable modern hunger for content. What better setting for all things slightly sinister and exploitable? BAM

Frostpunk 2

PC (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S planned for 2025)
Few titles have succeeded in merging survival and city-building genres as well as the original Frostpunk. While the far more expansive scope of this long-awaited sequel doesn’t resonate quite as chillingly and thrillingly as its forerunner, it remains an incredibly addictive progression that has consumed many of my hours. Elliot Gardner

Peglin

PC, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch
While one might encapsulate Peglin as “Peggle … if it were a roguelike,” that would not do justice to its distinctive allure. You control a tiny goblin who inexplicably battles beasts using enchanted orbs released into a pachinko machine. There’s nothing quite like the thrill of annihilating a colossal ooze after hitting hundreds of pegs with a lightning orb. EG

Braid, Anniversary Edition

PC, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox
Braid revolutionized gaming in 2008, demonstrating unequivocally that shorter indie titles could be just as impactful as those produced by multimillion-dollar companies. The anniversary release, featuring enhanced visuals, remixed audio, new levels, and a unique developer “commentary world,” solidifies this intelligent, puzzle-solving, time-manipulating platformer as one of the greatest ever created. EG

Kill Knight

PS4/5, Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch
Twin-stick shooters, where players aim with one thumbstick and navigate with the other, usually maintain core mechanics simply. However, Kill Knight elevates the complexity with ranged and close combat, unique abilities, and a clever reload system. It’s a dense yet surprisingly accessible segment of chaos, and the death metal aesthetic is stunning. Christian Donlan

Caravan SandWitch

PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch
This compact open-world exploration delves into the joys of van life on an alien world deeply influenced by Provence. The visuals are breathtaking, featuring gentle puzzles and complete absence of combat. The most captivating aspect is the terrain, with warm rocky formations peeking through the sweet earth and hidden caverns filled with luminescent fungi. CD

PC, Mac
Here’s something novel: a puzzle game in which you actually assemble puzzles. Each morning, you await the postal delivery of a new jigsaw, and you then spend your day sorting through the pieces, connecting promising sections, and eventually framing your masterpiece and hanging it on the wall. After a stressful year, Wilmot Works It Out is an ideal remedy. CD

LinkedIn games

Browser-based
This year, LinkedIn introduced a series of daily puzzles, similar to a newspaper layout. The four logic games are reasonably entertaining, albeit briefly distracting. What sets them apart from traditional newspapers is the statistical feedback. According to my results, LinkedIn claims that I am more intelligent than 75% of CEOs, a metric that Wordle has never commented on. Duncan Fyfe

Pepper Grinder

PS4/5, Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch
An inventive and quick romp through 2D platforming stages, Pepper Grinder allows you to use a drill to navigate through snow, boulders, and foes to achieve your objective. While it may be a brief experience, maneuvering through the ground and surfacing on unsuspecting creatures like a buttered worm is perpetually amusing. Daniella Lucas

PS5, Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch
A storybook brought to life, The Plucky Squire honors the craft of storytelling as you traverse between pages with playful text directing your journey. At times you will slash through adversaries with your fountain pen nib sword, while at other moments, you’ll toss words around to rewrite the narrative and resolve puzzles. DL

Phoenix Springs

PC
Iris Dormer, a journalist, seeks her brother in this neo-noir detective adventure, with clues leading her to the peculiar, secluded community of Phoenix Springs. However, it’s up to you to connect the dots: much like David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, everything is left ambiguous here, and the intrigue lies in contemplating its significance. Lewis Packwood

Death of the Reprobate

PC
This marks the conclusion of Joe Richardson’s trilogy of point-and-click adventure games crafted from fragments of Renaissance artwork, and it’s undoubtedly the most humorous installment. Richardson’s Reeves and Mortimer-style humor spans a range from clever to absurd to outright crude, culminating in an uproarious, gleefully sacrilegious conclusion. LP

The Crimson Diamond

PC
In addition to recalling the 16-colour palette of 1980s PCs, The Crimson Diamond revives a nearly forgotten genre: text adventures. Typing every action initially feels cumbersome, but you quickly come to appreciate the variety of options it allows, and this Canadian detective mystery can conclude in multiple ways based on the paths you choose. LP

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster

PS4/5, Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch
Star Wars: Dark Forces, the 1995 cult classic FPS from the pre-prequels era of LucasArts, receives a heartfelt homage in this immaculate 4K remaster from Nightdive Studios. You assume the role of the dashing mercenary Kyle Katarn in a labyrinthine, key-and-puzzle-focused shooter that adds an enticing Star Wars twist to Doom and Wolfenstein. Calum Marsh

Duck Detective

PC
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is an exhilarating whodunnit that tasks you with unraveling a criminal conspiracy within a sea of adorable, overwhelmed critters. Through a combination of point-and-click investigation and mad libs – termed Deducktions here – you’ll delve into a noir-infused world of office politics and put your detective instincts to the test. And before you inquire, yes, there is indeed a button to quack. Sarah Thwaites

Arctic Eggs

PC
Can you fry eggs at the summit of Mount Everest? This query is perennially pondered by the satirical dystopian cooking simulator Arctic Eggs as you prepare odd, yolky dishes for the melodious citizens of a frozen metropolis. Ingredients like cigarettes, beer bottles, and whole pizzas add complexity to the gyroscopic wrist maneuvers as you sauté and flip your way to a gathering with The Saint of Six Stomachs. ST

PC, PC VR, Quest
A refreshing remake of Cyan Worlds’ ambitious 1997 sequel to Myst, Riven invites players to point-and-click their way through a beautifully crafted universe on the verge of calamity. To dethrone a despot and resolve some prickly family drama, you’ll learn the Rivenese language and numerical systems while tinkering with mesmerizing, intricately designed mechanisms. A cerebral enigma filled with stunning scenes, working through Riven is an exceptionally thought-provoking experience for avid puzzle enthusiasts. ST

PS5, Xbox, PC
Caz, an electrician who has escaped to an oil rig to avoid issues with the police, soon finds himself one of the few survivors as his team drills into something deeply unsettling at the depths of the North Sea. A compact and gripping horror-thriller with remarkable 1970s period authenticity and a fantastic cast featuring Scottish accents. Keza MacDonald

PS4/5, Xbox, PC
This series consistently delights when it comes to drama and absurdity, and despite a slow commencement, once our beloved former convict protagonist Ichiban arrives in Hawaii, Infinite Wealth has him unveiling its criminal underbelly while juggling the roles of delivery driver and renovating his own island. KM

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess

PS4/5,Xbox, PC
One of the more captivating genre blends of recent times, Kunitsu-Gami has you defending a dancing priestess as she gyrates through villages ravaged by demons: during the day, you strategize your defenses, rescue villagers, and position fighters; at night, you cleave through the demons that emerge from cursed portals. KM

Wild Bastards

PS5, Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch
After your band of robotic cowboys is nearly obliterated by the nefarious Jebediah Chaste, you must battle throughout the solar system to revive your squad and seek refuge. A roguelike shooter from one of the creators of Bioshock, Wild Bastards is packed with rapid-fire skirmishes, strategic dilemmas, and delightfully cheesy wild west quips. Julian Benson

PS4/5, Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch
In this tranquil puzzle experience set within a vast countryside estate, its spaces and gardens adorned with plants, you cultivate the ideal environment for each seedling to flourish. Clues about the care of each plant await discovery in the scientific charts, photographs, and antique nursery rhyme books scattered throughout the manor. JB

Homeworld 3

PC
After a two-decade hiatus, Homeworld 3 invites you back to the commander’s chair, assigning you to oversee fleets of spaceships numbering in the hundreds in magnificent confrontations. With visuals often reminiscent of a golden age pulp sci-fi book cover, few real-time strategy titles appear so sleek or function so smoothly. JB

Bore Blasters

PC
It’s best not to ponder Bore Blasters’ narrative too deeply. You play as a dwarf in a helicopter firing through the planet’s crust to gather precious stones; just embrace it. What truly counts is the profound satisfaction derived from drilling through rock with a machine gun in a frantic race to the escape pod before your fuel runs out. JB

Nobody Wants to Die

​​PS5, Xbox, PC
With its grim dystopian portrayal of New York City in 2329, a realm where a substance known as ichorite enables the wealthy to have their consciousness transferred into new, healthier bodies (a process which often involves the impoverished serving as expendable resources), this sci-fi noir appears to be the offspring of Philip K Dick and Mass Effect. Developer Critical Hit Games infuses depth into every element and, even with all the flying vehicles and cyberpunk aesthetics, you feel more like a figure in a classic Hollywood murder mystery. A potential future cult classic, no doubt. Thomas Hobbs

PC, PS5
What Half-Life 2 could have benefitted from more of, asserts survival-exploration simulator Pacific Drive, was car. A whole lot more car. Salvaging components from the surroundings and converting them into a vehicle. Repairing various parts. Navigating through a mysterious wasteland that even the Combine would think twice about entering, all while feeling smugly self-sufficient. Who needs headcrabs when you’ve got head gaskets? Phil Iwaniuk

PC
A racing game that boldly extends its chin and disregards the principles of automotive engineering. Nowhere else will you guide a car on long legs as it dashes among woodland creatures in the forest, or use your vehicle as an oversized football to score a point. With each new level, the definition of “car” is stretched beyond its limits, along with your level of enjoyment. PI