Ars’ favorite games of 2024 that were not released in 2024

By / / Tech / 2 minutes of reading


So here’s to you, Stardew Valley. You were one of the brightest parts of my 2024, and a game that I already know I’ll return to for years.

— Lee Hutchinson

Grounded

First-person perspective of a suburban house in the background, fall leaves on a tree nearby, and a relatively giant spider approaching the player, who is 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 Grounded, a Microsoft-published, Obsidian Entertainment-developed survival crafting game that was initially released back in 2022 (2020 if you count early access) but received its final planned content update back in April.

You play as one of four plucky tweens, zapped down to a fraction-of-an-inch high as part of a nefarious science experiment. The game is heavily inspired by 1989’s classic Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, both in its ’80s setting and its graphical design. Explore the backyard, fight bugs, find new crafting materials, build out a base of operations, and power yourself up with special items and steadily better equipment so you can figure out what happened to you and get back to your regular size.

Grounded came up because I was looking for another game for the four-player group I’ve also played Deep Rock Galactic and Raft with. Like Raft, Grounded has a main story with achievable objectives and an endpoint, plus a varied enough mix of activities that everyone will be able to find something they like doing. Some netcode hiccups notwithstanding, if you like survival crafting-style games but don’t like Minecraft-esque, objective-less, make-your-own-fun gameplay, Grounded might scratch an itch for you.

— Andrew Cunningham

Fights in Tight Spaces

A black-colored figure does a backwards flip kick on a red goon holding a gun, while three other red and maroon goons point guns at him from a perpendicular angle, inside a grayscale room.

Ground Shatter; Windows, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation

I spent a whole lot of time browsing, playing, and thinking about roguelike deckbuilders in 2024. Steam’s recommendation algorithm noticed, and tossed 2021’s Fights in Tight Spaces at me. I was on a languid week’s vacation, with a Steam Deck packed, with just enough distance from the genre by then to maybe dip a toe back in. More than 15 hours later, Steam’s “Is this relevant to you?” question is easy to answer.

Back in college, I spent many weekends rounding out my Asian action film knowledge, absorbing every instance of John Woo, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Flying Guillotine, Drunken Master, and whatever I could scavenge from friends and rental stores. I thrilled to frenetic fights staged in cramped, cluttered, or quirky spaces. When the hero ducks so that one baddie punches the other one, then backflips over a banister to two-leg kick the guy coming up from beneath? That’s the stuff.



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About The Author

Avatar of Patricia Allen
Patricia Allen is a writer who loves to travel and explore new places. She's also passionate about fashion and style, so she often writes about cars and fashion on her blog. She earned her degree in English Literature from Stanford University, where she studied under some of the most renowned writers of our time. After graduating, she moved to New York City to pursue her career as a writer. She has since written for several publications on topics ranging from arts to automotive news.

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