Team Sandbox

Sandbox Games of the Year 2024

December 17, 2024

With 2024 nearing the end, we asked Team Sandbox for their personal games of the year!

Sandbox Games of the Year Picks

Tyler – I played a good amount this year – especially in the indie space. It was very hard for this to have been anything other than an RPG year for me though. Rebirth, Reload, Veilguard were a real trifecta of dozens of hours experiences that ate up my single player time. I really enjoyed all three of them – but Final Fantasy VII Rebirth really is a magical game. No other game has ever felt so big, so varied, and so beautiful to me. Every silly mini-game and side quest made me smile. I cannot wait for part 3.

I mean – how many games are so good they make you play Dirge of Cerberus in excitement after?!

Val – Thank goodness I’m allowed to share more than one game! I don’t know how I would choose a single game of the year. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth was one of my absolute favorites. Getting to explore more of that world was such a joy. I didn’t expect Astro Bot to come in so strongly for me – I don’t want to spoil any of its many surprises, but this game was such a delight from start to finish. Nor did I expect to spend hours (and hours…and hours…) on the mobile version of Balatro. I blame that game for my hand pain, but damn if I won’t be playing it again tonight.

Rob – Balatro. This game has taken over Skyrim as the game I’ve logged the most hours on. It’s so great to see an indie title like this come out and find such amazing success. I love everything about this game – the session time, the strategy, the progression, the challenge, etc.

Elena – For games that came out this year – I loved Diplomacy is Not an Option. It brought the Age of Empires vibes that I needed, but with enough twists and tweaks to keep things fresh, and the challenges are delightfully tricky. And for my not-new-but-new-to me recommendation of the year: Spiritfarer. I have not stopped thinking about that game, listening to the soundtrack, and considering playing it again since I finished it.

Dan – Am I really going to nominate another sports game for my GOTY? Yes. One of my favorite sports gaming experiences has always been taking control of a college sports program – recruiting new players, building them up, and having to replace those who graduate every year. I was naturally intrigued by EA Sports College Football 25, the first licensed college sports title since NCAA Football 14. But I was also skeptical – sports games have changed a lot in the past 11 years. Single-player game modes have taken a backseat to modes where microtransactions can be pushed.

To my delight, what we got was a game with a deep Dynasty mode, tons of realistic touches to make each school and stadium unique, and gameplay that is more exciting and fun than recent Madden releases. The game met every fan expectation. I was baffled to see it wasn’t even a nominee for Sports Game of the Year at The Game Awards.

Tim – It’s hard for me to settle on a single favorite this year, perhaps because I never found time for many titles on my wishlist I think I’ll enjoy, but also because many of the games I did play, fun as they were, didn’t stick in my mind after rolling credits. But one title that keeps rising to the top for me is Thank Goodness You’re Here, a grotesque yet also somehow lovely “slap-former” that reminds me of watching old BBC sitcoms as a teen. There’s something almost dangerous in the feeling of playing TGYH – I still kind of can’t believe a game like this, this funny, this well drawn, this confidently stupid, exists. It feels like it slipped through the cracks of the industry, like someone Very Serious meant to delete it but accidentally hit publish instead. It’s well worth your tuppence.

Javier – As of right now Marvel Rivals has to be one of the most fun hero shooter’s in a long time. Though it’s not perfect, with pretty bad balancing issues it has still, somehow, pulled me back into the world of hero shooters, something I thought would never happen!

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That concludes the 2024 Sandboxer personal picks for games of the year. And congratulations to all the Sandbox titles nominated at The Game Awards from Larian Studios, Skybound Games and Focus Entertainment!