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Ars' favorite games of 2024 that weren't released in 2024

    So here's to you, Stardew Valley. You were one of the brightest parts of my 2024, and a game I already know I'll be returning to for years to come.

    — Lee Hutchinson

    Grounded

    First-person perspective of a suburban house in the background, falling leaves on a nearby tree, and a relatively gigantic spider approaching the player, holding a makeshift bow and arrow, ready to fire.

    Credit: Xbox Game Studios

    Obsidian; Windows, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation

    My favorite discovery this year has probably been… Groundeda Microsoft-published, Obsidian Entertainment-developed survival crafting game that was initially released in 2022 (2020 if you count early access), but received its last scheduled content update in April.

    You play as one of four plucky teenagers, zapped to within an inch of their height as part of a nefarious science experiment. The game is heavily inspired by the 1989 classic Honey, I shrunk the kidsboth in terms of 80s setting and graphic design. Explore the backyard, fight bugs, find new crafting materials, build a base of operations, and empower yourself with special items and ever-better equipment so you can find out what happened to you and return to your normal size.

    Grounded was because I was looking for another game for the four-player group I also played Deep Galactic Rock And Rapid of. Like Rapid, Grounded has a main story with achievable objectives and an end point, plus a varied enough mix of activities that everyone can find something they enjoy doing. Despite some netcode issues, if you like survival craft style games, but not Minecraft-like, aimless gameplay that you can create yourself, Grounded it may itch for you.

    — Andrew Cunningham

    Fighting in tight spaces

    A black-skinned figure back-kicks a red guy holding a gun, while three other red and maroon goons point guns at him from a perpendicular angle, in a grayscale room.

    Crushing ground; Windows, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation

    I spent a lot of time in 2024 browsing, playing, and thinking about roguelike deckbuilders. Steam's recommendation algorithm noticed and threw out the 2021s Fighting in tight spaces with me. I was on a lazy week's vacation, with a Steam Deck full, and by then I had just enough distance from the genre to perhaps dip a toe in again. More than 15 hours later, Steam's “Is This Relevant to You?” question is easy to answer.

    When I was in college, I spent many weekends completing my knowledge of Asian action films, covering every example of John Woo, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Flying guillotine, drunk master, and whatever I could find from friends and rental shops. I was excited by frantic battles that took place in tight, cluttered or quirky spaces. When the hero ducks so one bad guy punches the other, then somersaults over a railing to double-kick the guy coming up from below? That's the stuff.