The PC is certainly the final word gaming platform, deeper and wider than any customized field you stick below your TV. It is change into a staple for multi-platform gaming, an inevitable second dwelling for first-party console exclusives, and a bastion for smaller video games that may not be capable of develop ports. It is also a vacation spot in its personal proper for distinctive, mouse-and-keyboard-driven genres that simply aren’t comfy sufficient to play sitting on a sofa, whereas additionally being the place for portable-friendly gaming due to video games like Decks with steam. Unsurprisingly, that meant we had loads of video games to select from when it got here to crowning our PC favorites for 2024.
Whereas many unbelievable video games arrived on each PC and different platforms this yr, our picks for the very best PC video games of 2024 stand as a mixture of spectacular experiences throughout a number of genres – a few of which simply cannot be beat. You play them with a controller in your hand. There are the convoluted, automated empires of Passable; beautiful animal properly puzzle design; forcing just one spherical of Balatro; the thrilling detective work of The Rise of the Golden Idol, and extra in addition to.
However just one will be topped the very best PC recreation of 2024. What did the IGN workforce price as essentially the most worthy? Let’s check out the outcomes…
Honorable mentions
With so many nice video games to select from this yr, the unfold of votes for greatest PC recreation was understandably huge. The varied style of the IGN workforce meant that some video games acquired numerous votes, however sadly not sufficient to safe a podium end. Of these video games, the 2 that simply missed out have been 1000xResist and The Rise of the Golden Idol.
Many video games inform a compelling story, but it surely’s the best way 1000xResist tells its story that stands out. It is a assured and poignant story that is not afraid to dig deep, mixing surreal ideas with emotionally charged deconstructions of the human situation in a approach harking back to video games like Nier: Automata. Because of its narrative-first design that could be a first cousin of visible novels, 1000xResist’s story is ready to double-down on the supply of concepts and plot in modern ways in which elevate the bar for its style.
A sequel to the 2022 detective recreation, The Rise of the Golden Idol continues to impress by empowering you to resolve its crimes with hands-on detective work. Set within the Seventies, it options a number of diorama-like crime scenes in every chapter, asking you to assemble clues via shut commentary after which piece collectively precisely what occurred. Present occasions are hardly ever so simple as they appear, and the reality will be gleaned simply by taking a look at small issues, reminiscent of an empty room with weapons or the hidden subtext in an indignant word. It is a puzzle recreation that is not nearly discovering the best button to press, with a uniquely creative presentation.
Second Place: Animal Effectively
2D pixel artwork platformers can really feel like they seem to be a dime a dozen as of late, however Animal Effectively is totally different. This may sound like a cliche setup, one thing you have heard earlier than about many different video games, but it surely actually is true right here. Animal Effectively dons the pores and skin of a puzzle-driven metroidvanie whereas additionally bucking all the standard traits that come together with that setup.
You are not preventing your approach via waves of enemies or growing your missile capability right here, thanks partly to Animal Effectively’s virtually full rejection of violence. As a substitute you may discover bubble-blowing wands that may produce floating platforms, Frisbees that may tame wild canines, and firecrackers that illuminate the darkness to disclose hidden platform challenges forward.
Nevertheless, the actual pleasure of Animal Effectively is realizing that there’s a lot, far more to every merchandise than their apparent use. And you then start to comprehend that there’s a lot, far more to every nation than the plain targets. And as you start to peel again the layers, you quickly uncover that what initially gave the impression to be a five-hour metroidvania is as a substitute a big puzzle with sufficient secrets and techniques to disclose that they may fill an precise properly. It is an modern and endlessly engaging tackle in any other case well-worn territory.
Runner-up: Passable
After almost 5 years in Early Entry, Passable’s 1.0 replace arrived this yr to cement it as among the best automation video games round. It is a recreation all about constructing meeting strains and laying down infinite miles of conveyor belts, which is much more sheer pleasure than it would first seem. The following ascension of know-how that sees your factories change into sooner, extra environment friendly and inevitably extra sophisticated all the time retains you wanting ahead to that subsequent breakthrough.
The sight of spaghetti-like factories spanning a thousand acres could seem intimidating at first, however do not let that put you off: Safactory’s well-constructed community of aims helps you construct confidence in your engineering abilities. In a matter of hours you may have graduated from novice conveyor belt fanatic to automation veteran able to fixing catastrophic defects as in the event that they have been minor annoyances.
However whereas the factories are your essential concern, there may be far more to satisfying the tip outcome. It is also a Minecraft-style open world wherein you will need to dig via caves, survive lethal gasoline clouds, and strip rock formations to be able to collect the supplies wanted to fund and gasoline your colossal creations. . Throw in some associates working collectively cooperatively to pave over each inch of inexperienced on this detailed alien world, and you have got a recipe for “ignore you and an hour’s passed by” allure that hardly ever pulls off.
Second place: UFO 50
UFO 50 is an virtually incomprehensible achievement. The idea of an old-school gaming system being splendidly found and made out there immediately is already cool, and I would not blame you when you assumed that the catalog of fifty video games that got here with it have been largely simply numerous mini-games {that a} enjoyable however fleeting distraction. However that is simply not the case.
Every entry on this library is principally the dimensions of a whole retro recreation of its personal, lots of which might certainly have been blockbuster hits of their period had they really existed on the time. However this is not a set of video games made within the Nineteen Eighties, and the deeper you go down the rabbit gap the clearer it turns into. UFO 50 video games are intelligent. like, darling fashionable indie intelligent. Every of them weaves sensible new concepts into the canvas of a retro traditional, leading to video games that really feel like toys of yesteryear however play like a prime Steam vendor in 2024. Echoes of No Man’s Sky, Hotline Miami, Into The Breach and extra will be discovered between the scan strains, however every recreation is greater than only a mannequin of its inspiration. UFO 50 is actually a playable examination of video video games previous and current.
There’s a lot to dig into right here, with an virtually alarmingly constant stage of high quality. The UFO 50 may have been half as huge as it’s and it could nonetheless be spectacular – as a substitute, it is borderline beautiful.
Winner: Balatro
If you happen to’ve already performed Balatro, you in all probability perceive why it is right here. Actually, chances are high good you may nonetheless be enjoying proper now. And if you have not, I would suggest you do, however the very best factor is likely to be to inform you to run. As a result of when you get into its intelligent mixture of deck-building and digital poker, you may discover your free time slipping away and the solar creeping via what was presupposed to nonetheless be night time. However once more, it is positively price it.
There’s one thing about Balatro that hooks you effortlessly, the “only one extra flip” syndrome distilled to its purest type. Every part about its pretty easy structure has been completely tuned to be endlessly satisfying, bringing delight or destruction with each card you play. Whereas on the floor it is a poker recreation that is accessible to anybody who can inform their flushes from their full homes, do not be fooled into considering it’s essential to know the foundations of the traditional on line casino recreation to play. Actually, it isn’t in reality poker.
Balatro is a very unique concept, and whereas the poker arms could also be on the middle of the display screen, the actual middle of the expertise is deck constructing wilds that may ship your rating multiplier sky excessive. Every spherical permits you to change and enhance your assortment of playing cards, switching fits to extra simply obtain higher arms or utilizing celestial powers to gather straight letters. The choices are extraordinarily deep for many who then wish to break intuitive tropes with sensible modifiers – you’ll have put collectively a 4 of a form in your day, however play a 5 of a form for the primary time and you will not wish to by no means come again
That is Balatro’s actually spectacular trick, making you suppose you understand what you are doing each step of the best way, then teasing you deeper as extra game-changing Jokers are revealed, extra decks open up and the outcomes you think about spectacular start to scale from hundreds to exponents so giant that you simply want a scale to decipher them. Prime it off with a lo-fi presentation as deceptively designed as the cardboard recreation in it, and you have got a recreation we’ll positively be enjoying for years to come back.
