After 2023, a year widely regarded as one of the all-time great years for video games, even the best games of 2024's first half was probably destined to be a bit of a comedown. Though AAA releases have been fewer and farther between, the indie gaming scene has been overloaded with gems, and old favorites have been reborn in the form of sequels, remakes, or downloadable expansions. (For now, at least, we’re not counting the latter as standalone games, which means 2024’s new downloadable content for Elden Ring and Alan Wake II — two of GQ’s previous Game of the Year winners — isn’t eligible for this list.)
So: What are the best games of 2024 so far? Read on:
(Nintendo Switch)
If Princess Peach: Showtime! isn’t quite the full platforming feast presented by last year’s stellar Super Mario Bros. Wonder, it’s a tasty dessert. The second video game featuring the Mushroom Kingdom’s most frequent damsel-in-distress shakes things up by dressing her up in costumes like ninja, mermaid, baker, or detective, each of which comes with its own style of gameplay. Simple enough for younger gamers, Showtime! at times feels too shallow, but its varied, bite-sized levels might be the ideal way to pass the time on a dull flight.
(Xbox Series X/S, Windows)
At the risk of damning with faint praise. Hellblade II delivers what it promises: a second round of Hellblade. Like the 2017 original, Hellblade II follows 9th-century warrior Senua as she stumbles and slices her way across a bloody battlefield while battling her inner demons (literally). As before, the game’s strengths include best-in-class sound design — seriously, you’ll want to use a good headset for this one — and graphics close enough to photorealism to inspire double-takes.
(PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Windows)
A 2D action/exploration game heavily influenced by Africa’s Bantu cultures, Tales of Kenzera doesn’t reinvent the eternally popular Metroidvania formula. But in the hands of creative lead Abubakar Salim, this passion project about a shaman completing trials he hopes will lead to the resurrection of his father is charged with sincerity and personality in a genre that can sometimes feel far too schematic.
(PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows)
The latest reboot of this classic survival-horror franchise deserved better than it got. Set in a sweaty approximation of 1930s New Orleans, Alone in the Dark casts Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer and Stranger Things’ David Harbour as a pair of heroes shooting monsters and solving puzzles in an eerie gothic mansion converted into a home for the mentally ill. It’s a sometimes campy, sometime creepy throwback to a bygone era of horror gaming, and it deserves an appreciative audience even if it’s officially too late to save the team that crafted it.
(PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Windows)
One of several standouts from this year’s bumper crop of indies, this Metroidvania’s defining feature is its sense of mystery. Controlling a blob exploring a labyrinth full of strange creatures, you’ll do more puzzle-solving than platforming — but no matter how deep you get, you’ll likely walk away with more questions than answers.
(PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows)
A confession: Until this year, I was never really a Tekken guy. But with the apparent collapses of the rival Soulcalibur and Dead or Alive franchises, the wildly entertaining Tekken 8 is clearly the modern 3D fighter to beat, and a great starting point for players who don’t know Jin Kazama from Kazuya Mishima. Bonus points for a story mode that begins by turning it up to eleven and somehow finds room to crank it up a few more notches before the credits roll.
(PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows)
Do you have room in your heart for another sprawling open-world fantasy RPG? The scope of Dragon’s Dogma 2 may seem daunting, but the game’s excellent, variable combat makes it easy to pick up and play, and fascinating gameplay oddities such as Dragonsplague — a strange mechanic that, left unchecked, can turn an ally into an enemy so powerful it can utterly upend the game world — make every move feel consequential.
(PlayStation 5, Windows)
Helldivers 2 was the hit no one saw coming. A sequel to a 2015 game that (with apologies to developer Arrowhead) no one really remembered, this sci-fi shooter exploded out of the gate by blending Starship Troopers-style satire with crunchy, rewarding run-and-gun gameplay — and all at a price point attractive enough that it was easy to talk three friends into joining you. With the player count dwindling, the Helldivers 2 craze may already have peaked, but I’m glad I was there for the top.
(Nintendo Switch, Windows)
At one point or another, you’re going to throw up your hands at Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. Hailing from Swedish developer Simogo — the duo behind the mind-bending smartphone classics Year Walk and Device 6 — this strange, prickly game drops the player into an old mansion full of cryptic puzzles and asks you to solve them in whatever order you can. Wherever you start, it won’t be easy. (Pro tip: You’ll want a pen and paper at the ready.) Lorelei might be too frustrating for some, but diehard puzzle fans know there are few things more satisfying than suddenly cracking a puzzle that’s been nagging at you for hours.
(Nintendo Switch)
Is it fair to put a 20-year-old game on this list? When that game has aged as well as Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, I’d say it belongs. This loving remake of the Nintendo GameCube classic, which is widely (and correctly) regarded as the standout game in the Paper Mario franchise, adds a fresh coat of paint but not much else, trusting that the addictive, timing-based RPG battles and joke-heavy script will be just as appealing an offering in 2024. They’re right.
(PlayStation 5)
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth contains multitudes. The second installment in a planned trilogy of Final Fantasy VII remakes is an absolute behemoth, boasting a massive open world, a terrific action-based battle system, and a list of minigames and side quests that feels endless because it nearly is. Clearly, the strategy here was “more is more,” and there’s no question that ultimately tips into “too much of a good thing.” But it’s also a credit to this grand Final Fantasy VII remake project that even after playing dozens of hours only to reach an ending so hopelessly muddled that I’m not even entirely sure what it means, I still can’t wait for part three.
(PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows, MacOS)
Arriving in an age of ballooning video-game budgets, Balatro is the anti-AAA title. It was developed by a single person. It boasts minimalist pixel graphics and no story at all. Its gameplay is just poker with a roguelike twist: a series of modifiers, chosen by the player, that turn each playthrough into a race for a high score by transforming cards and their values into whatever suits your playstyle best. It could not be simpler, and it could not be more addictive. This is the kind of game I recommend with a warning: Be careful, or Balatro could completely take over your life.
This list will be updated as new games are released.