In the lead - up to last year ’s Game Awards , we note that the ceremonycould use some Modern categories . We palpate that the current inclination was start up to feel lacking , especially as a shifting plot manufacture has make a motion more toward remake , early admittance launches , and more . We on the QT hope that someone running the show would take those suggestion to heart and espouse them . That did n’t happen withthis year ’s nominations , leading to all kind of treatment about whether a DLC should be considered for Game of the Year and when is the right metre to admit it .

So we ’ve pick out matter into our own hands : welcome to Digital Trends ’ 2024 Game Awards Expansion Pack !

In the spirit of a good DLC ( or maybe an unofficial mod , more accurately ) , we ’ve created five extra class that you wo n’t see at this yr ’s Game Awards in December . Our bearing is to wrap up a few hole that the real show has forgotten , include honors for leave genres and early access game . This twelvemonth ’s superfluous campaigner crop from small - plate indie to some heavy hitters competing at the material Game Awards . Though this is n’t an official part of the show , we plan to make it a new tradition here — at least until the tangible ceremony steals our thunder .

Best Puzzle Game

The campaigner

While many genre are covered by The Game Awards ’ categories , there is n’t a good burst for puzzle games . The ceremony ’s restrictive Action Adventure family block off out games likeIslands of Insightthat feature no combat . So this year , we ’re write that wrong and honoring some of the year ’s skilful . From theLink ’s Awakening - instigate box pushing ofIsles of Sea & Skyto the restrained joy ofWilmot work it Out , these five games take a authoritative genre in all different direction .

And the succeeder is : Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

While it was a private-enterprise playing field this year , Simogo ’s ambitiousLorelei and the Laser Eyesstands out among its peers thanks to its intricate puzzles , obsess way , and incredible sense of style . It ’s a Hellenic teaser box setup that hark back to the other days of Resident Evil , complete with fixed camera angle , but replace its zombies with complex puzzles that require players to twist their mind inside and out to deduce the escapade ’s out of sight linguistic communication . It ’s an astonishing skill — one that deserve its Best Indie Game nomination at the real Game Awards .

Best Horror Game

picture game are currently in the midsection of a horror Renascence , and it ’s not slowing down any time before long . After a monumental year for the genre in 2023 , game developers stick creative this year . Oddball games likeIndikaandClickoldingtowed genre lines to deliver unsettling narrative escapade that have sting with us since . It was a private-enterprise list to pick out from , but we constringe it down to these five games that crop from small - scale retro celebrations to full-grown - budget thrills .

And the winner is : Silent Hill 2

perchance it feels like cheat to give this award to a faithful remaking of arguably the good revulsion biz of all time , but developer Bloober Team earned this award with its paying attention reimagining ofSilent Hill 2 . The move to traditional third - someone shot permit Bloober to toy with players in new ways as its shambling foeman duck’s egg in and out of James Sunderland ’s flashlight beam . undecomposed of all , though , is the way it institute young depth to characters like Angela , explore their trauma in horrifying new way without losing sight of the off - kelter mystery that shrouds their story .

Best DLC

DLC is a tricky matter to turn over when it number to awards . Is something likeResident Evil 4 : Separate Waysgood on its own merits , or does it just benefit from being more of a majuscule biz ? That confusion has bleed into The Game Awards this year , as player ca n’t quite agree on whetherElden hoop : Shadow of the Erdtreedeserves a place that could have go to a wholly original title likeHelldivers 2 . Well , we ’ve lick that trouble by give way these five campaigner their own category .

And the winner is : Elden Ring : Shadow of the Erdtree

It ’s credibly no surprisal to seeShadow of the Erdtreehere considering that it ’s the well - survey video recording plot DLC of all prison term . Its strengths are obvious , yield fans of the base secret plan a monumental expansion that at times feel like its own sequel . Rather than heap more deserved kudos onto it , I ’ll give a shout out to the other nominees here , as they all bring more profoundness to the root games they ’re confiscate to . My personal favorite ? Do n’t sleep onSplatoon 3‘s astonishingly fun roguelite mode !

Best Remake/Remaster

While gaming award show lean to be about honour the nowadays and looking to the time to come , the actual manufacture is currently calculate to the past . remaking and remasters have become dominant in recent yr , almost to the point of mockery . For every revitalization of a long - lost game , we had something altogether unnecessary , likeThe Last of Us Part 2 Remastered . As hollow as the trend can be , there are deal of remakes that go the extra mil to intensify our understanding of an previous secret plan rather than bring the hits . These five nominees represent that , bringing classic games into the modernistic era in very unlike ways .

And the success is : Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Final Fantasy VII Rebirthhas been a been polarize since its release because of its stuffed open - world structure andcontroversial ending , but there ’s no doubt that it ’s a fondly crafted chapter in Square Enix ’s surprising remaking trilogy . The 2nd installment institute an eccentric chunk of the PS1 classic to living , accommodate everything from the jungles of Gongaga to the gilded Gold Saucer . What stands out even more is the way thatRebirthcontinues to deduct new meaning from its root material , provide up a complicated meditation on grief and how we can learn to live with it and fight on .

Best Early Access Game

If we see nothing else from 2024 ’s secret plan lineup , let it be that early access games ca n’t be ignored . What once was a niche praxis is bringing in more mainstream audiences thanks to hits likePalworldandManor Lords . Even Ubisoft jump into the vogue this twelvemonth withThe Rogue Prince of Persia . Should early access games vie like any other claim , or should elector wait until their 1.0 launches to count them ? The answer is muddle considering that Manor Lords is up for prize at this year ’s Game Awards , butHades 2isn’t . So we ’ve fixed that by giving these games their own category .

And the winner is : Hades 2

While its story is n’t quite complete yet , Hades 2is already a fantastic subsequence in its unfinished state . It takes the first biz ’s deliver the goods roguelite formula and gives it a witchy twist as players hunt down Chronos using a variety of new weapons and casting spells . What ’s most telling is that it does n’t just have one roguelite trial ; it has two altogether disjoined unity . That already has generate the sequel much more longevity and provide developer Supergiant to create even more originative biomes and marvellous songs to soundtrack them . Do n’t be surprised if you see this competing for Game of the Year in 2025 .

The actual2024 Game Awardsairs on December 12 .