Checkpoint Gaming’s Hidden Gems of 2024

Once again, 2024 was a year that was full of amazing video games. However, some would say that there were too many video games this year. From epic indies like Balatro, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and Animal Well, to big-budget AAA’s that took the world by storm like Metaphor ReFantazio, Astro Bot and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, we certainly weren’t lacking in awesome stuff to play.

With so many huge titles once again taking up space in our library, it’s shocking how many truly hidden gems you might have missed out on. We want to spend some time highlighting those epic small-yet-mighty titles, following on from our official Top 10 Game of the Year countdown.

With that in mind, here are Checkpoint Gaming’s hidden gems of 2024.

Tactical Breach Wizards

In the running for “game that does what it says on the tin”, Tactical Breach Wizards is a turn-based tactics game, where you’re breaching rooms… as wizards. But simplifying it in that way takes away from the deep, satisfying, and incredibly well-written experience that should place it firmly on the radar of any tactics lover. In fact, I’d argue that it’s a tactics game for people who don’t like tactics games as well, as it strips out a lot of the frustrating elements of the genre, making for a streamlined adventure that is focused on fun first.

Surveying the room ahead, picking your spot and then blasting open the doors so that you can run in and take over by relentlessly kicking foes out of windows makes for a delightfully wicked premise, backed up by some of the wittiest dialogue written this year. The characters in your crew are all wonderfully realised, taking playful jabs at each other and at the over-the-top situation they find themselves in. Combine that with some truly spell-binding abilities and the fact that you can rewind turns where you make mistakes, and Tactical Breach Wizards stands out, full of thrilling tactical possibilities and memorable banter.

– Luke

Bloomtown: A Different Story

Bloomtown: A Different Story was definitely one of 2024’s pleasant surprises. Developed by Lazy Bear Games and Different Sense Games, the game was a pleasant 2D evocation of Atlus’ Persona series, without ever feeling like a shallow knock-off. With charmingly fluid animation and demon designs, as well as a jazzy soundtrack with battle themes that are still stuck in my memory months after finishing the game, I found it to be one of the year’s bright spots.

While it obviously cannot reach the level of polish as its bigger-budgeted peers, Bloomtown: A Different Story makes an impact on its own. I loved its decently complex monster collection-based combat system, engaging cast and vibrant world to explore. If you are looking for a Persona-esque experience that won’t take many dozens of hours to complete, Bloomtown: A Different Story may be what you were looking for, and was definitely a highlight of the year for me.

– Tom

Gourdlets

Out of all the games that were introduced to me thanks to TikTok, Gourdlets is an indie cozy game that caught my attention. The backstory of this title is that its developer AuntyGames, left their job to work on this game full-time. After a year of development, it was officially released in August 2024, and as of writing, it has an overwhelmingly positive score on Steam.

This game ticks every single box in the “cozy game” checklist. It’s an island builder with no currency system, nor does it have any goals. All you have to do is build a cute and cozy island for the Gourdlets, Pikmin-like creatures that will move into this place via train once you invite them in. This game gives you so much creativity on what you want to build and create. Want to create a town hall? Do it. Want to make a large maze that leads to different areas like forests and ruins? Do it. Want to turn the sewers into some underground gym so these creatures could become the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? You got it! What makes this island-building sandbox game great is that it’s not meant to stress you out. You can come back whenever you like, and these creatures will be happy to see you. And if you have work to do but don’t want to shut down your game, just set it to “idle window mode” and let the cozy music and cute Gourdlets help you get focused.

– Erielle

Crime Scene Cleaner

Bodies, blood and bleach. It seems like there’s a simulation game for just about everything, so why not for destroying evidence? Crime Scene Cleaner is a methodically twisted glimpse at the criminal world. Being called in by the mafia to wipe away the blood and dispose of the bodies is grim work but someone’s got to do it. I was very excited by this one after playing the demo during Steam Next Fest earlier this year. It definitely scratches that satisfying itch that many simulation games miss.

So many simulation games typically become pedantic, not to mention clunky but Crime Scene Cleaner rides that same Powerwash Simulator wave. The controls feel engaged, allowing you to see your progress as you clean while not getting bogged down in the motions. Walking into a crime scene drenched in blood with bodies everywhere not only fuels the satisfaction of clearing up the evidence but also calls to the player’s curiosity. Each level even had me investigating what had happened as I cleaned up some truly grisly scenes. From a Pizzeria to an Art Gallery or even a Day Spa, these are just a few of the locations players will be tasked with cleaning. It’s hard to describe just how much fun this game is, but as someone obsessed with horror it feels like Crime Scene Cleaner is a brilliant take on the simulator genre.

– Alex

Dread Delusion

Despite its gruesome visuals and terrifying hellscapes, Dread Delusion is not a horror game – it’s a lo-fi open-world RPG that takes its cues from the eldritch, builds an absolutely fascinating universe to immerse yourself in, and tells a number of beautiful and tragic stories that hit hard. Bringing to mind the alien environments of Morrowind, the strange and wonderful Oneiric Isles are a total treat to explore and filled with genuinely compelling micro-narratives that flesh out the history and philosophies of their inhabitants.

Aside from its stunning and horrifying world, Dread Delusion contains some surprisingly touching and personal moments. The Endless Realm is filled with sentient zombies, despairing in their immortality and wallowing in the grief of loved ones long gone. Hallowshire is caught in a religious schism, held to ransom by ancient pagan gods and atheist armies both. The Clockwork Kingdom is ruled by a decaying artificial intelligence, its citizens trusting blindly in its wisdom and succumbing steadily to its failures. I could feel the developers’ anguish at the current state of the real world pouring out of Dread Delusion’s characters – and it’s telling that the choices your character makes determine whether this is a game about despair or hope. This was by far my personal game of the year, and I’ll be paying close attention to everything Lovely Hellscape releases in future.

– David

1000xResist

You are Watcher, a clone of a young woman named Iris, in a future where seemingly all of society consists of Iris and her clones in a rigid, nigh-oppressive hierarchy. Through exploring Iris’ memories (though why you’re being made to explore them, you don’t know), you find out that she was seemingly a normal teenage girl attending high school in the 2040s. She had a contentious relationship with her parents, who left Hong Kong in 2019. She was mean to her friend, a first-generation Chinese immigrant. A mysterious sadness pandemic plagues the world. Otherworldly beings descend from the sky.

The story is largely told in a non-linear fashion, so it’s very difficult to talk about the central thrust without spoiling the heck out of it, but 1000xResist is a narrative adventure (with a hint of platforming) that doesn’t hold back from exploring what various kinds of violence does to us, how it changes us, and how it makes us treat others. The game is harrowing, as what Iris and her clones went through – go through – leads them to make painful decisions of their own, a lot of which you have to decide as the player. 1000xResist is a captivating thriller, but also a remarkable achievement in worldbuilding. You want to get through this 16-hour game to find out what happens next, but also to find out what happened to this world and how it works now.

– Pedro

HITM3

Let me tell you the good word about HITM3. Serving as the third entry in a queer narrative series about found family, it’s an incredible first foray for newbies. I should know, it was mine, but what HITM3 does with such a limited runtime is showstopping. HITM3 follows a group of queer friends that are just trying to live their day to day: sharing their love of film and the arts while making, eating and even selling empanadas. That passion and found family strength only grow tenfold when they decide to make their own film.

Living in a town where it isn’t all that safe to be out, the crew weaponise this in making their film. They aggravate their oppressors and use this in their filmmaking. Their art. They hold on to each other and stay headstrong. The oppression that’s usually used against them becomes their weapon. Raw, palpable and electric, HITM3 is the quintessential queer storytelling that you’ve always been looking for in games. Make it your mission to check it out.

– Charlie

Supermarket Simulator

I’ve always liked management simulators, but have always found some of them a bit too difficult for my tastes, to be honest. That’s why I really enjoy Supermarket Simulator’s simplicity. There’s not much to it really; stock shelves, set prices, take payments, hire staff, expand your store so you can order more products. It’s so simple, that it can get stressful when you run out of potatoes or toilet paper, and you have to quickly restock it before 9 pm when the market closes.

There’s so much strategy to the game; how much you should mark up your prices by, or if you should buy 5 boxes of yoghurt in case a lot of people buy it. How many self-check-outs or regular check-outs should you have? Should you be a cashier, or hire people to do that? While there isn’t a deep and meaningful story, it’s just something that’s such mindless fun. I can chuck on a podcast (like Checkpoint Gaming) and just play to my heart’s content. Supermarket Simulator is currently in Early Access but has a pretty good modding scene and the dev team behind it brings a tonne of quality-of-life updates to it.

– Missy

Mouthwashing

This sci-fi horror plunges you into a tangled narrative of time jumps, trauma, and constant “what just happened?” moments. Switching between Captain Curly and his not-so-noble co-pilot Jimmy creates a gripping, glitchy storytelling style that keeps you on edge. Visually, Mouthwashing is a masterpiece of unsettling nostalgia. The old-school, low-poly, grainy PlayStation 1 aesthetic isn’t just for show—it nails the oppressive vibe of being trapped in space.

Things unravel quickly: dwindling rations, sealed-off rooms, and a cargo hold filled with nothing but mouthwash. Yep, mouthwash. Forget saving lives—they’re barely keeping their sanity. The descent into chaos is grim and gripping. One crew member relapses, spiralling into a mouthwash-fuelled rage; another locks themselves away under the crushing weight of despair; and insanity starts spreading like a virus. It’s a bleak, cabin-fever nightmare told in a tight, impactful way that never overstays its welcome.

It’s raw, emotional, and utterly wild—an experience that will stick with you long after the credits roll.

– Omi

No Case Should Remain Unsolved

There’s a lot of work that goes into solving a cold case and it only gets harder with the passage of time. When one of the only surviving witnesses of the case has memory issues and can barely remember who said what and when… well, then it’s more like a web that needs to be untangled and that is exactly how No Case Should Remain Unsolved plays. It’s a collection of quotes, times, names and locations that all need to be arranged in the correct order and under the correct suspect. Keywords link with other keywords to help you find some commonality in amongst the confusion.

It’s almost entirely text-based with only the occasional image, but the gorgeous and subtle backing track lends such a melancholy air that is difficult not to be swept up emotionally in the game. It only took me a few hours to beat, but I was glued to my screen the entire time and figuring out the solution to this case was the only thing on my mind. Give it a shot if you have the chance, it’s an incredibly interesting and emotional experience.

– Bree

So, there you have it! Our list of Hidden Gems for 2024.

We hope you find some awesome titles that you missed this year to add to your pile of gaming goodness. Do you have any hidden gems from the year that deserve a shoutout?