2024 was truly the year of Balatro. The indie poker roguelike took the world by storm, both from a fan and critical perspective, but also in a sales sense, shipping tons of copies on pretty much every platform imaginable. While Balatro has already taken home several awards in the ongoing awards season, the developer of the game has now taken to X to dish out what they believe to be the 2024 Game of the Year.
Developer LocalThunk has shared its thoughts on the matter, focussing on indies and giving these smaller scale projects the attention they deserve. With this in mind, the Game of the Year award has been given to Balatro’s closest indie competitor in most award ceremonies this year, with Animal Well taking home the title.
As for why Animal Well was selected as LocalThunk’s GOTY, the explanation is as follows: “Animal Well was an engrossing experience. Dripping with style, secrets, and making me feel like an imposter in this industry as a dev, Billy Basso created a true masterpiece”.
As per the other games that made LocalThunk’s runners-up list, Dungeons and Degenerate Gamblers, Arco, Nova Drift, Ballionaire, and Mouthwashing were all highlighted for one reason or another. To see what those reasons are, check out the X thread below.