I know most people probably don’t follow me for my opinions on videogames, but hey, I like them! 2024 was a pretty great year for games (though the same infuriatingly can’t be said for the developers behind them), so I’m going to give you my top 5 games of 2024 below in case you’re curious. I put them in reverse order so you can be IN SUSPENSE about what my top game is. Don’t scroll prematurely! Or do! I dunno! Who cares!
Small caveat right off the bat here. I haven’t actually finished Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. I’m probably about 3/4 of the way through it. Despite all that, I’m very confident it belongs on this list. Hopefully that’s not recency bias talking? It probably isn’t. Maybe it is? Whatever.
Machine Games was responsible for the outstanding Wolfenstein reboot from a few years back (I need that 3rd installment, dudes), so I was surprised and, admittedly, disappointed to find out that they were making an Indiana Jones game next. While both franchises are about absolutely sticking it to nazis, Indiana Jones isn’t as chaotic as Wolfenstein. I’m also not huge into the Indiana Jones movies. I think I’ve seen two of them.
Turns out, being a sizable departure from Wolfenstein is a good thing. While you start the game with a gun, I never used it a single time in the first open world area, and then only rarely after that. This isn’t a game about gunning down nazis so much as it is about outsmarting them and beating them senseless with various objects while they fumble to do anything right. In a way that’s even more satisfying. Most of what you’re doing besides knocking out nazi teeth is exploring and solving ancient puzzles. You know, stuff Indiana Jones does. This game really feels like the definition of an adventure and I love it for that.
UPDATE: I have since finished this game and yeah, it belongs in this spot.
I guess I just need to accept the fact that I now like games where you clean up messes. I was hypnotized by Power Wash Simulator last year (and this year thanks to its expansions), so Crime Scene Cleaner was right up my alley. Unlike Power Wash, Crime Scene actually has a story to it about a down-on-his-luck janitor having to accept increasingly complex (and gruesome) jobs from a local unhinged criminal. It’s not particularly riveting stuff narratively speaking, but it’s a nice addition that ferries you from cleaning challenge to cleaning challenge.
You’re not just disposing of bodies and wiping blood off the walls, that’s the easy stuff. You also have to reset the scene back to the way it was before murdering happened. This is where the game can get downright diabolical. Where does this small lamp you found go? On that table that you haven’t moved back yet either? Or in a completely different room? It’s a lot, and one stage in particular has you rebuilding an entire MUSEUM piece by piece. This stage will be in my nightmares, but somehow I mean that in an endearing way. It’s perfect for the cleanup enthusiast that I apparently am. If you are too, and aren’t particularly squeamish, definitely give this one a shot.
Hoo boy, where to even begin. Mouthwashing is one of those games that you hear a lot of people talking about but you have no idea what it is. There’s fanart EVERYwhere for this one, so I had to find out what the draw of this was.
I was not ready for what it ended up throwing at me. I went in expecting a slightly-unnerving but overall quirky experience. It is not that. This game starts dark and ends darker, with precious few moments of levity sprinkled in. It naturally switches between time lines to tell a story of how one person can absolutely ruin everything if they’re horrible enough. But like the next game on this list, I don’t want to say too much about it at risk of spoiling anything for you. It’s short and very un-sweet. Enjoy!