Another year is coming to an end and the time has come to take stock. The editorial team, meeting in a plenary session, decreed the winners of the 2024 edition of the TGM Awards, including the coveted GOTY.
There’s no point in making the usual premise, as I know you’ve already glanced at the end to see the winner of the game of the year. Well yes: it may seem strange, but a mainly “piccìista” editorial team that has been waiting for years for the release of the GSC Game World video game has crowned STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl as GOTY 2024. I could say that the choice was difficult, but the the reality is that the work of the Ukrainian studio was liked by virtually all the editors, winning the coveted prize for detachment from the other competitors.
Virtually all the editors liked the work of the Ukrainian studio
We liked STALKER 2 so much that in addition to the game of the year it obtained two other awards: the one dedicated to the best PC video game – our “TGM DOC” – and the award for the best graphic style, thanks to the painstaking way in which it was The virtual zone in which the events of the game take place has been built. The “master race” soul of TGM is also reflected in what for many could be an important lack: no award for Astro Bot, despite being nominated in several categories and fresh from the triumph at The Game Awards, decidedly less prestigious than our traditional report of the end of the year. Even in its chosen category, the one dedicated to platformers, the editorial team preferred a video game that was infinitely smaller in budget and scope, but endowed with a significant innovative and stylistic charge. Animal Well managed to bewitch most of the editors, even if in this case the fight was predictably closer.
Yet, for a Japanese video game that remains empty-handed, there is another that manages to take home two awards. I’m talking about Methaphor: ReFantazio, which not content with triumphing in an RPG category full of Japanese productions like never before this year, also obtains the “Music to play” recognition attributed to the title with the best soundtrack.
Two awards also for one of the last “big” names of the year, Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle which turned out to be one of the best adventures of the famous archaeologist, capable of competing not only with that Fate of Atlantis born in 1992, but also with the first three chapters of the film saga. It is no coincidence that the editorial staff wanted to reward the MachineGames video game for the best narrative section, but also virtually handed over the statuette for the studio of the year to the developers.
The editorial staff wanted to reward the MachineGames video game for the best narrative section
Before I leave you with the full list of winners, however, let me talk about another winner who if nothing else showed that the editorial team really likes cards and roguelites. In the “Tactics and Strategy” category we witnessed a real plebiscite for Balatro, which prevailed over real biggies such as Frostpunk 2, Unicorn Overlord and Mechabellum. Evidently the game formula created by LocalThunk is so addictive that it managed to enchant the entire TGM.
Now forgive me for cutting this short, but I have a big blind to beat! Here are the winners (in bold).
TGM AWARDS PER GENERE
Action
Action games in the broadest possible sense, as long as the player’s nerves are at least as crucial as the brain.
Helldivers II
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Indiana Jones e l’Antico Cerchio
V Rising
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Role Playing Game
The role-playing (and action) games that we like, dense, deep and adhering to the genre in terms of stats, attributes but also in terms of simulation.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Dragon’s Dogma 2
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Beyond Galaxyland
Tactics and Strategy
The reborn genre of turn-based tactics or even the best examples of real-time strategy: dominance of the brain, in short.
Balatro
Frostpunk 2
Unicorn Overlord
Mechabellum
Songs Of Conquest
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
Platform e Action Plaftorm
Here are the titles that still put a tradition ahead of everything – that of platforms – among the oldest in video games. Together with the puzzles, but also without.
Animal Well
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Astro Bot
Ultros
Berserk Boy
Turbo Kid
Horror
Action, narrative or horror survival games are more alive than ever, and indeed include many different meanings of anxiety and fear.
Silent Hill 2
Crow Country
Still Wakes The Deep
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead
The Outlast Trials
CONSCRIPT
Dynamic Adventures
Between respect for the more “enigmatic” past and the desire to tell stories of the present, the best dynamic adventures on the market.
Sports, simulations and fighting games
Engines, hitting balls, without prejudice to the arcade or simulation essence: the important thing is to follow your vocation well.
Tekken 8
Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero
Top Spin 2K25
EA Sports FC 25
WWE 2K24
MotoGP 24
Virtual Reality
Quality and experimentation in a sector that is growing slowly but constantly, both on a recreational and stylistic level.
Metro Awakening
Batman: Arkham Shadow
Assassin’s Creed: Nexus
Alien Rogue Incursion
Arizona Sunshine 2
Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice
SPECIAL TGM AWARDS 2024
The Games Machine D.O.C., best of PC Games
The best game for TGM’s platform of choice, not necessarily exclusive but which honors the Master Race for various reasons, including technical or stylistic ones.
RetroTGM Champion
The new prize linked to the magazine’s special insert on the “present of retrogaming” could not be missed: new games and crazy conversions for ancient platforms!
Roguecraft (Amiga)
Spelunky (c64)
Dataman (NES)
Tony (c64, Amiga)
The Lost Pixel (Amiga)
Black & White (ZX Next)
Tell me a story
The value of narration ahead of – or on par with – any other characteristic, despite passing through different systems of rules and visual presentation.
Music to Play
Games that excel at soundtracks, or soundtracks that excel more than the games themselves.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Indiana Jones e l’Antico Cerchio
Frostpunk 2
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Stendhal syndrome
The games in front of which you are dazzled by the crazy artistic or technical level, for large or small productions.
We love these guys
The best studio of the year according to the editorial staff of The Games Machine. We had to make several sacrifices, given that basically we were spoiled for choice.
MachineGames
GSC Game World
Atlus Studio Zero
11 bit studios
Team Asobi
Simogo
Best of the Future
The game not yet released from which we expect the most impressive performance in the not too distant future, presumably by 2025.
DOOM: The Dark Ages
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Monster Hunter Wilds
Ghost of Yotei
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII
Avowed
The Games Machine GOTY
The prestigious jury award for The Games Machine which crowns the video game of the past year.
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