Game of the Year according to the VGTimes Editor-in-Chief. Rodion Ilin shared his own list of the best games of 2024

It can be assumed that the editor-in-chief of a gaming media plays games day and night, goes through all the new releases from cover to cover, and juggles gamepads like a magician. But the reality is more prosaic. The head of any major media is, first and foremost, sorry for the repetition, a leader: an editor, team lead, process organizer, a public and responsible figure. Therefore, the selection of games must be approached with special care to invest time only in truly worthy—or significant in terms of gaming history and industry (!) — projects. In this article, I will share my list of the best games of 2024.

To provide some context: I consider the best games of all time to be Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, GTA Vice City, Silent Hill 2 (the original), Rig'n'Roll, and the great creation of Alexey Pajitnov — "Tetris". I emphasize that these games are the best specifically for me. Moreover, they were the most impressive for my younger self many years ago and defined my destiny. They led me into game journalism. High-flown? Let it be.

Now to the point. I thought for a long time about what truly touched my heart, putting aside the dry and pragmatic-professional "yes, this game is quality because...". The top list below is not rational, but purely emotional. And this is an important caveat.

5th place. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

The creation of the resurrected GSC Game World has a lot of problems, and no one in our editorial team denies this. But I cannot deny this project certain honors: the atmosphere of abandoned places and the post-Soviet vibe is conveyed like in no other game.

4th place. Silent Hill 2 Remake

Silent Hill 2 is a very important and personal experience for me, as you might have gathered from the text above. In the early 2000s, computers were a novelty, and we had to gather in one apartment and take turns playing. It was scary! Scarily interesting. And also tense—not because of the nurses and Pyramid Head, but because of the strict timing. Each person played for 30 minutes, then gave up the keyboard, becoming just a viewer and assistant for the next half-hour. That's how the summer holidays flew by.

Naturally, I couldn't miss the re-released Silent Hill 2 in 2024. And the remake, fortunately, held up! Therefore, it earns a well-deserved fourth place. Youthful memories and emotions still live somewhere in the subconscious to this day.

3rd place — bronze. MiSide

A unique cocktail of various genres within one game that seems deliberately simple at first glance. A hybrid of horror and dating simulator, enriched with classic puzzles, shooter elements, and frightening segments in the style of Hideo Kojima's cult P.T.

For someone who has been in the profession for over 18 years, standard franchises rarely manage to surprise or give fundamentally new emotions. Why, for heaven's sake, play the thirty-ninth iteration of Call of Duty, where only the scenery changes from year to year (I'm exaggerating, but still)? MiSide is a truly new and bright gaming experience that a Russian team of creators managed to invent and present to us.

In the context of these reflections, I want to ask another question — why do we even spend our precious and non-returnable time on animated pixels on a screen? Personally, it's for unique emotions and experiences. And the game about the girl Mita provides them in abundance.

2nd place — silver. NAMCO Crane Machines

I award the silver to the crane machines (also known as prize/arcade machines — they can be called differently) in the huge official NAMCO game hall. This children's paradise is located in one of Tokyo's shopping centers, where I had the chance to visit last fall during a trip to TGS 2024. I had never seen such a bright, colorful, blinking, and bubbling variety before. Nor had I seen so many gamers focused on victory, determined to use the huge mechanized claw to pull that funny googly-eyed plush toy out of the aquarium at any cost!

The main highlight of this dazzling chaos was the machine with giant cans of chips. It seemed obvious that grabbing a smooth container and pulling it out with a slippery and hard-to-control claw was hardly possible. Almost certainly impossible. But did that stop anyone? No! The excitement and precision of the gameplay leave no room for rational thinking in the moment. Just insert another coin — and step aside!

Not smiling was impossible. I understand that it is extremely difficult to recreate my "second place," but it is one of the most vivid personal gaming experiences of the past 2024. I wanted to share it.

1st place — gold. "Tetris"

Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet computer scientist, created a great game for all time in 1984. "Tetris" simply cannot become outdated; it will always be relevant — the concept is so brilliant and at the same time simple. You could say it's the Rubik's Cube of the electronic entertainment world. By the way, the latter isn't much older than "Tetris" — just about 10 years. In terms of eternity — a trifle.

Pajitnov's creation is reissued and rereleased annually in various forms and designs on millions of devices. You could say that "Tetris" is also a game of 2024. At the very least, its millionth remaster is where you might have stumbled upon it. And therefore, the game deservedly takes the first place in this top. An ideal time killer and a must-have app on a smartphone, helping to pass the time in a queue at the clinic or on public transport. Played in 2024, will play in 2025.

By the way, a decent biographical thriller from Apple TV+ about how foreigners chased the license for a Soviet citizen's game was released the year before last. If you missed it, be sure to watch it. The main role was played by Russian actor Nikita Efremov.

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And what do you think about this spontaneous top list? Share your opinion in the comments.