Game of the Year 2024 - Guilty Pleasure

Sometimes games surprise us while other games become titles that we just can't put down. One day we'll get Nick to play other games besides sports games, but today is not that day. Anyways, we had our interesting and cool picks for guilty pleasures. Perhaps some of these titles are on your list too! So read on to find out if anything rings true. 

Nick:

NBA 2K25

This feels redundant. Too many years, the NBA 2K series winds up being my most-played game, but after the letdown that was last year's release, I'm back to form with 2K25. I have spent far too many hours playing this iteration.

Valerie:

Satisfactory 1.0

Satisfactory is my guilty pleasure. I will fire it up even in the middle of the night with very low sound as I can’t stand having a headset on my head nor my ears covered. With the 1.0 release this year, we are finally able to listen to the story as we pass through the research or discover things out in the wild! I am thoroughly enjoying the fact that I can put the hostile animals on passive so I can get things done and stay on the ground instead of going up and over like I did previously. There are some new hostiles out there as well as added irradiated areas to make it difficult for one to get to a wreck.

Susan:

Cat Quest III: Pirates of the Purribean

In a move that should surprise no one, Cat Quest III: Pirates of the Purribean by The Gentlebros is definitely my guilty pleasure game. My SO and I had a blast sailing the high seas in search of letters and keys and all sorts of booty. As per usual, the purry puns are top notch. What makes this game awesome is that you don't just upgrade your gear which will grant you set bonuses depending on the types of spells and weapons you want to use. Another thing to upgrade in the Purribean is your ship! Yes, that's right! You get to shoot cannonballs at your enemies while sailing the high seas in search of your targets. Although, be careful about where you sail off to because you can end up in front of the giant duck or Cathulhu! One other enemy that makes me cackle wildly everytime is see the name is Captain Meowtallika for, you know, reasons... Another questline that cracks me up is one where you pass messages back and forth between two people who love each other. It's quite hilarious and one of my favorites. Honestly, all of the Cat Quest games are guilty pleasures and I have absolutely no issues talking about them either!

Richard:

Astrune Academy

What is essentially a phone style game with none of the annoyances of daily login bonuses (for the most part), Astrune Academy is, well, really good. Like, I genuinely enjoyed it well more than I probably had any right to. Cute anime girls fighting monsters in a turn-based combat system with actually good story writing? Well, I got hooked.

 

P.Y.:

Overthrown

Like, I can do what? You're telling me I can throw my kingdom's peoples at buildings to give them jobs? Or I can throw the building at enemies? Or lumber mills at trees instead of trees at the lumber mills!? Wild. Having only taken part in a Steam Next demo, this was definitely a guilty pleasure for the length of time that it was available for. Izzy and I played as much as possible, whenever possible, even if it meant having to restart every hour to hour and a half. It was worth it and we can't wait for the Early Access to start.