2024 has incredible games — you just need to know where to look
Two things can be true at the same time.
One: We’re halfway through 2024 and the AAA video game industry hasn’t had a single new, mainstream breakout hit. More damning: If we look at the months ahead, the biggest-budget release of this year may be an expansion to the biggest game of 2022. For folks who’ve spent decades filling their weekends with blockbuster games from name-brand publishers like EA and Activision, 2024 may feel like a wash.
I suppose I could spend the next thousand words explaining the shortsighted failings of video game executives who steered well-intentioned productions into fickle trends that would fade long before a game’s release. But today, I want to do something a bit different. Rather than bemoan poor business decisions, I’d like to celebrate the abundance of creative decisions outside AAA. Which brings us to…
Two: We’re living in an unprecedented moment of video game abundance. You just need to know where to look. (And you should probably consider a desktop PC or a Steam Deck.)
In May alone, we saw the release of 12 games that were at minimum good, mostly great, and in a couple of cases, earned spots on Polygon team members’ unwritten greatest-games-of-all-time lists. This weekend, as you take in the AAA pageantry of Summer Game Fest, watching countless trailers for games that won’t be available for months or even years, I urge you to try one of these delights. All of which, I remind you, are available right now!
To help you select the right fit, I’ve written a little elevator pitch for each option.
Selaco: A micro-indie studio built a new, narrative-rich sci-fi universe that blends Half-Life and System Shock without skimping on tight, brutal gunplay. And they constructed this magnificent Frankenstein’s monster on the ultra-upgraded skeleton of the tools that powered Doom.
Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip: What if Double Fine (the creators of the Psychonauts and Monkey Island series) made a spiritual sequel to the PS2-era cult classic The
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