IGPlus’ Must Plays of 2024 – Jupiter’s Picks
There are so many games that I played and I am really not sure which I would put on the top. But I do have a top Indie experience of 2024.
I really hate the idea of “top games of 2024”. In a year when only 15 percent of Steam games played were from 2024, it just feels kind of silly to have top games for the year.
Also, the end of 2023 was hard for the games industry, diving right into an extremely difficult 2024. It was a year of layoffs, funding decreases, and the end of a lot of companies. AI started quickly replacing things and suddenly the end of lockdown seemed to not be the start of hope. 2024 was difficult for everyone.
That said, I found lots of spaces where indies were full of hope and adapting to the changing climate. I spent the year attending events – something I haven’t done previously. I went on a series of talks in Scotland where I saw lots of students and young developers soaking up information and feeling good about their futures. There was so much hope!
I then found myself at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki where I saw a handful of indies showcasing, excited to show off their projects. I was running the Big Indie Pitch where I got to hear about indies talking about IPs and building up their brand in a new way, clearly adapting to the changing climate of the games industry. Though there are tons of people who could really use funding and are seeking it, there are a lot of people still focused on creating games.
Indie Dev Day really opened my eyes to how fantastic an indie gaming event could be. You see, where I live in England, there haven’t been many games showcases. 2024 saw the end of Insomnia, AdventureX moved to digital, WASD had its last showing and EGX combined with MCMComiccon (and turned out to be quite disappointing). There just weren’t very many places left for games to showcase, and the reason seemed to be because of high venue costs and lack of interest.
However, Indie Dev Day showed a massive, indie-only showcase – no big AAA games prompting the entire event up – which was full of games, industry members, and the general public. They even had two annuals where you could collect mystery sticker packets and then fill out the books. I’ve actually never seen an indie-focused event so well accepted by the public. I got the chance to meet so many fantastic indie developers and cover their games.
This was such a huge turning point for me and my look on the indie games space. Of course, GDC and Gamescom were a consistant way to meet indie developers and see their games, but seeing an event that was just indie focused was fantastic. Dann, Quang and I ran Brilliant Indie Treasures in the middle of the year. It was a free-to-showcase-at, free-to-attend event during Develop: Brighton. It was fantastic to give back to the indie community and help provide a place to showcase for them.
In 2025, I do feel we are over the worst of the worst and are heading towards a better year for indies. I am excited to host another free-to-showcase, free-to-attend event and create more opportunities for indie developers in 2025. I also cannot wait to see what new games come out of 2025 and what events show up out of the ashes of 2024. I do not have a best games of 2024 list, but with these experiences, I do have a lot of hope for the games of 2025.
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