no g*me has caught my interest the whole year so far

Balatro
chill, fun, numbers go up type of game
you get to build completely normal decks of cards like in the above picture, that has nothing out of the ordinary about it
purchase a pair of pants that get stronger the more you wear them
- I second balatro
- You forgot the best part: the game is $15, with no DLC, no live service, and no micro-transactions. It's just a game. Like, literally just a video game. You pay money to the creator (one guy) and in return you get a game you can play that is fun to play. And it does not strain your graphics card. The only downside is how addictive it is.
- That sounds really cool, I gotta try it.

It's only march

Stardew Valley just got a big update

Honestly the older I get, the less I buy new games. It gets easier to just say "oh yeah that game was fun, let's play it again." I think I've played two new games so far this year and neither of them actually came out in 2024.

implying cool games were released in the previous decade
implying games can be good
- Haha, thing you like bad.
  
  I also like games

This year has had an amazing start with indie titles so far imo. All cheaper than full blown triple A games.
Palworld : genuinely fresh take on Pokémon
Enshrouded: well built survival game. Still in early access though, might be much better in a year or so.
Last Epoch: best arpg in years?
Helldivers: deserves all the hype and then some.
And then rimworld is getting a new expansion, what more can you wish for?

Pacific Drive was pretty cool.

Depends on what you like to play but yeah I haven't bothered playing any games that came out this year except Balatro.

Have you ever played Tropico?
- Topico 6...It's 5 years old

Play Hades
- Always an objectively correct recommendation.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is cool, though there some things I wish were ironed out. Performance and such. Unicorn Overlord is cool, though their choice of releasing anywhere but PC is odd.

Aba got released for season 3 of Guilty Gear Strive. It does seem like a lot of cool games and DLC are a little further out.

El Paso, Elsewhere
max payne shooter with vampires and werewolves, and the noirest, coolest, minimalist story i've seen in years where you're trying to kill your ex girlfriend, Dracula, before she ends the world.

There's the Elden Ring DLC, Stalker 2 and Avowed coming out this year and I'm really not sure whether I should get too hyped about the latter two.

i pretty much exclusively play minecraft, factorio has racked up numerous hours as of late, GTA V i played through quite a bit, it's a pretty good open world sandbox, and unturned, again another open world sandbox.
Give me a true open world sandbox and i will be content for the rest of my life.
- If you don't mind games that release with half their features that get patched in later because their spokesman is a habitual liar, check out Light No Fire. With the current condition of No Man's Sky I have to say I'm actually looking forward to this.
  
  i see why you described it like that, it doesn't exist yet, lol.
  I dont mind games that don't have a ton of features, especially if they build a really good open world environment, where you just don't need very many. You can often build your own game on your own time.

I finally played Dwarf Fortress Steam edition after buying it at launch and never touching it. It's just as good as Dwarf Fortress has always been, but a little more visual and coherent.

I recently finished Pacific Drive, it was pretty fun, but I feel like it could've probably been a bit shorter and the grind a bit less overall to make the mid game transition to the end game more.
I picked up Sifu and that's been fun. Kinda hits that Sekiro itch.
I know Rimworld is getting another expansion pack though I usually have to play on a few month delay if I want my 300+ mod list to remain current. Though I will say it just sorta feels like they're just doing an official version of the rather popular Lovecraftian mods that are out there already.
Then I've been playing minecraft here and there after watching 15+ hours of a dude build amazing things with Create and almost makes me feel like I could do that until I remember dude spends hundreds of hours on it and I don't have that kind of time anymore.

Last epoch is pretty cool. Palworld is fun with friends too.

Slice & Dice just had a big update.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 has been a blast.

What kind of games are you in to? Like Timemelters is a ridiculously fresh third person shooter/tower defense/puzzle game hybrid with absolutely mind numbing time travel mechanics. There's some neat stuff happening. As always, a lot of it is in the indy space.

Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door remake in late May if you like story-heavy turn-based rpgs!

Pacific Drive slaps.

Fallout: London is coming out, soon. Should be good to kill time!
Last release I truly loved was In Stars and Time, but that released at the end of last year.

Mtg released a couple new sets this year that were cool

If you have a PC good enough for it, I'd say try Tekken 8, it's been very fun.
- Motherfuckin' Harada is pissing me off lately. Season Pass, in-game store, and now a Battle Pass. What a bastard

I'm waiting for the release of FrostPunk 2.

i'm too poor/busy buying mecha models to get them but i'm still hyped to eventually play dragon's dogma 2, final fantasy 7 rebirth, and Expeditions: a Mudrunner game once prices drop/sales hit. plus theres probably smaller games on steam i'm not even thinking of. Sand Land and Space Marine 2 might be ok but nothing upcoming this year really has me super excited. as far as games with no release date yet for this year, earth defense force 6, star wars outlaws, and vampire: the masquerade: bloodlines 2 might be ok. nothing i'm as excited for as death stranding 2 or GTA 6 which are probably a ways off. this is all based off of the 2024 in video gaming wiki article so indie stuff probably doesnt get mentioned as much
- Pretty sure I saw Expeditions get repacked on Fitgirl the other day if I remember right, unless there's future DLC you plan on getting and you need a legal copy

Figured out how to pirate the full online version of Hitman (Demo + crack + GSE + cracked Peacock), and that’ll probably keep my partner and I occupied for the next 12 months at least. Absolutely incredible, would not pay 100 dollars for it

Ive been playing suicide squad after work every day, im at level 30. Its been fun, best 100$ I ever spent!

This year so far Helldivers and Dragons Dogma 2 have been good, though the latter is expensive for what it is.
Palworld is the other big one but it isn't my thing.

Path of Exile: The best hack & slash game out there. Wide as an ocean and just as deep.
Conquerors Blade: What if Mount & Blade was multiplayer and made by the chinese? You have several weapon classes with their own skillsets aswell as units to command at the same time. Kept me for years.
Battle Brothers: Build a gang of murder hobos, lead them to glory or ruin. Many may die, but the company will live on. Legs not included. Mods are tho.
Star Sector: Exist in a ruined sector cut off from the rest of human civilization. There's lots to explore, lots of money to me made, lots of warcrimes to be commited. You build a fleet and do what you want. Colonizing? Smuggling? mercenray work? pirating? Warlording? Exploring? Go wild. Lots of mods to add to further expand on the experience.
Mount& Blade Warband /Bannerlord: Start with nothing, become a warlord, or bandit lord, or trader. Maybe become a noble of some realm? Why not take over? Why not create your own? Has mods for almost anything.

Rimworld has a new expansion coming out that oozes SCP vibes that I'm excited for. I want to hold off on getting into a new game until the expansion drops, but I've got a real itch to play.
Great excuse for me to prune my mod list though.

Cool is subjective. I'm enjoying Horizon Forbidden West which just came out on PC last week.

I've been pretty enraptured by Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth over the past couple weeks, very well done so far. Probably will play Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth and Persona 3 Reload later this year.

Palia just hit Steam this week. Super chill MMO with a focus on crafting. I have 8 hours in so far and loving it.