update + Cat's GOTY list (2024 edition)

I haven’t used my newsletter in a while, but I'm hoping this can be a more resilient, less platform-dependent way for people who are interested in my thoughts and my work to keep up with me. I hope to occasionally showcase games (or interactive media writ large) which I'm interested in, and also to promote my own work when relevant (though I expect that to be less frequent). I'll start with a short update about what I've been up to over the past couple of years, and then move onto my game of the year list for 2024.

I joined Firaxis back in 2022, and now we're launching Civilization VII in less than a month. I'm the Narrative Director on the game, and built an emergent narrative system for Paradox-style events. (I want to point out that Paradox is not the first studio to do these, and their events are not my only or even first inspiration! But they are a very effective comparison to point to.) People already seem interested in what our system can do, and this is just scratching the surface.

I'm very proud of what it looks like under the hood and where we might go with it post-launch, and I'm excited to see it in the wild. That's understandably taken up most of my time, but I do still have some other irons in the fire. Watch this space!

Now, onto my 2024 Top 10 Games list. First, a quick disclaimer: I was on the 2025 narrative jury for IGF which many of these games were nominated for, and have coauthored two papers with Jason Grinblat, a developer on Caves of Qud. Also, there are a ton of other games I didn't have time to play this year, because of the aforementioned "narrative directing PC Gamer's most anticipated game of 2025" thing. So this list might look very different in a different world. But even if there are other games I probably would have loved if I'd played them, all 10 of these games are works I'm glad that I spent my time with.

1000xResist

I played this last year for IGF, and it was one of my top 10 games for last year. But it’s actually out this year, so it’s on the list again. 1000xresist (which is pronounced “one thousand times resist”, which I wish I had known 11 months ago) is a completely unique game, one of those games that speak so strongly to the developer’s specific perspective. But the story it tells touching on loss, pandemic, diaspora, and memory (among other things) is haunting and resonant among a wider audience. There are parts that could have been shorter, and I had some minor friction in the midgame that feels like was probably just me, but overall it’s an incredibly cohesive gut punch of a narrative game.

Balatro

What is there to say about Balatro that hasn’t already been said? A slick addictive game loop from a solo dev that is, politely, a time sink. For me, Balatro on mobile helped break the “I have a few minutes and not much intellectual focus” -> “I go on social media” loop that I don’t really enjoy or find useful. It also has an echo of blaseball in its cheerful broken chaos (among other things, which I genuinely can’t remember if we ever teased and so I don’t know if I am allowed allude to. But IYKYK). For that plus sheer game hours spent chasing gold stake (which I have on multiple decks now!) Balatro easily earns its spot on my list.

Caves of Qud

Technically, Qud has been in early access for longer than I’ve been working in games, and I did play it before this year. But I do think it’s enough of an accomplishment that it makes the list. (Incidentally, this is why I’m including 1000xResist again; the same rules apply to both projects in terms of “I played it previously but it’s out for real in 2024” and I want to be fair across the board.)

Qud has a difficult learning curve and is pretty punishing, which makes sense given its roguelike heritage. The addition of (wanderer) mode opens up the game to players who want a more chill experience, which is good because I think the combination of hand-authored and procedural* writing fills in the story of an individual run in really compelling ways, and more people interested in responsive narrative should be paying attention to this game even if they’re bad at the combat. It’s a creative work that could not exist in any other medium, and a 17 year long labor.

*no LLMs, as I feel I ought to mention in 2025, as the state of “procedural / AI / genAI / LLMs” discourse has become horribly muddied.

Closer the Distance

Closer the Distance is an experimental narrative game with point and click elements. The premise involves a young woman who died in an accident communicating with her teenage sister, and finding ways to influence the actions and moods of those in her tiny rural town. I’m not the biggest fan of the closeup art style in the preview images, and that might have turned me off if I’d just been looking at new games on Steam — but in-game the art direction works for me.

To some degree it’s a “god game”; and the player can direct inhabitants who have had supernatural experiences with the deceased to take care of certain tasks. But what I find so interesting is the social modeling of characters. Each character has several self-fulfillment needs that differ from other townsfolk, and trying to fulfill these needs often creates friction among the characters, alienating the very people you might want to tap in to help with a character’s psychological needs. I haven’t finished the game, but it already has me thinking about paths I’d like to explore in my own indie work.

Consume Me

This is a remarkably well-designed game that fires on all cylinders: art, design, narrative. It’s a deeply personal game; one that communicates difficult feeling states around disordered eating in a way that is both empathetic and — dare I say — fun. (It’s worth noting that the game engages pretty significantly with dieting and calorie counting. That said, it makes some smart moves in its design mechanics to decouple player actions from real-world metrics, especially around its Tetris-style plate management.) Consume Me is, and I know this sounds insane, a princess maker style management game with QWOP-style physics and a deep well of mature compassion for its characters. Apparently it’s this designer’s first game, and it’s not even out yet, but it deserves your eyes when it is.

Indika

Look. I worked on Pathologic 2. I was absolutely going to be susceptible to Reluctant Nun Crisis 2024 which has multiple designers invoking Doestoevsky. It’s an Eastern European game; it’s going to be pretty dark. Stick through the first 20 minutes of walking simulator; the gameplay feels quite rote (for a reason!) and then it opens up wildly. It’s rare for a game to tackle faith and free will with maturity and I’m really glad this exists. I do not think it is the Most Game on this list (that would be Balatro; or maybe Metaphor ReFantazio if I’d had the time to get to it) but if you are looking for a compelling experience it is worth your three hours.

Mouthwashing

I waffled on this one because the last quarter (or so) doesn’t stick the landing of what I found myself wanting it to be, but it’s ultimately here. I’m only conversant enough with horror games to see what some parts of the game are drawing on with respect to genre conventions, even if some of their implementation annoys me. But the jank here is deliberate, and overall works in favor of the surreal fever dream Mouthwashing is telling. I wish ultimately it had leaned into some of that surrealism even more. But Mouthwashing will I think open up creative vistas for indie developers to think about what’s possible in the medium, and that’s why I ended up including it. Also the fandom is wild.

Rise of the Golden Idol

I am a huge fan of what the Golden Idol devs have done with their second outing in the point and click universe of their games (Idolverse)? With an art style update, they’ve also made their puzzles more complex. Complexity doesn’t mean confusion, though: I’m really impressed with the way each part of the game offers a contained mystery that feeds back into a larger narrative. This larger chapter narrative only opens up after you’ve solved enough of the small puzzles, stopping me from trying to brute force something I shouldn’t be able to solve at this point and ruining the slow build of discovery. I had a good time with the first game, but a better time with the second. Please go buy Rise of the Golden Idol so there can be a third. (If the devs want to, I guess, but I hope they do — I really enjoy this kind of mystery puzzle game).

Tactical Breach Wizards

Tactical Breach Wizards is a fairly meta game in that it knocks on the door, bursts in, does its very specific thing, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Its breach-based combat sequences centered around ability activations bear a resemblance to XCOM’s Chimera Squad, but the map layer is a light Charlie Kelly style deduction board, piecing together the motivations of the antagonists as a little bit of a test. The writing is a touch arch and veers a touch Whedonesque in a few places, but the snappy ripostes between emotionally constipated battle mages only rarely stretch on longer than I wish, and their world — and relationship to it — makes me want to spend more time there. But that feeling happens because the game gives me just enough and doesn’t linger. It is a game that costs $20, and knows that it is a game that costs $20, and I respect its ambitions and understanding of the implied constraints.

The Thaumaturge

11 Bit, The Thaumaturge’s publisher, is batting incredible this year. The Thaumaturge is an isometric RPG about, essentially, a medium in 1905 Warsaw who can detect the traces of people and their emotions from the objects they’ve handled. The setting is something I haven’t seen before in video games, and the stories that the game offers windows into feel very much grounded in that historical place. The UI makes this an elegant experience, albeit with a couple hiccups, and I can’t really speak to how well balanced the combat is since I played on story mode. But The Thaumaturge has a je nais se quoi that has a grip on me.

That's all from me for now! I hope you check out at least one of these games that piques your interest, if you're able. Maybe more importantly, I'd ask you to go leave a review for the last piece of media you loved. This is a perpetual refrain from creators, and one I'm not always good at heeding myself – the modern internet feels overwhelmed with exhortations for Feedback, and it can be easy to let the ask skim over you like one of the countless surveys from an automated chatbot we are constantly bombarded with. But it does genuinely make a difference to artists, and supporting artists you love matters and will always matter. It's not my turn to need this, but someday it will be.

Until next time,

Cat