Balatro+, Thank Goodness You’re Here!, AFK Journey Honored In Apple's 2024 App Store Awards

As the end of the year is coming to a close in a few short weeks, publications have begun to name their best and top gaming releases for 2024 across all platforms. American tech company Apple has officially announced its 2024 App Store Award-winning developers after the official nominees list was announced in November 2024, recognizing the top apps and games across multiple categories, including the Apple Arcade subscription.

This prestigious award celebrates the best App Store apps and games for the year, "recognizing 17 talented developers for exceptional experiences on the App Store." On the gaming front, one of the year's best indie releases, which has secured multiple Game of the Year accolades, was recognized by Apple's Global App Store Editors as its developer secured top honors for its "revamped graphics and imaginative levels."

Apple unveiled the 17 apps and games "that helped users ignite their creativity, achieve new milestones, and cherish everyday moments with family and friends" in their annual App Store Awards. This year, the tech company debuted the Apple Vision Pro category, which honors an app and game for pushing "the boundaries of spatial computing with immersive experiences and intuitive controls.

Within the main gaming categories, Farlight Games' AFK Journey was recognized for its excellence for the iPhone in delivering "action-packed, tactical adventures and rich storylines" to its players. Supercell's Squad Busters was acknowledged for its fun and engaging multiplayer experiences for the iPad, and Coal Supper's indie comedic adventure Thank Goodness You’re Here! brought ample laughter and slapstick joy for hours on the Macbook.

Praised for its "visceral audiovisual experience" as players will dash, dodge, and thrash enemies in this "mind-melting arcade action" game, THRASHER: Arcade Odyssey received the inaugural Apple Vision Pro Game of the Year award. The final main gaming award was honored for reinventing the gameplay rules for the card game genre, a sentiment shared by most video game editors as LocalThunk's critically acclaimed release Balatro+ takes the top prize for being the Apple Arcade Game of the Year.

Apple recognized a few other games for their cultural impact and significance on its users' daily lives and their dedicated communities. The New York Times Company's NYT Games, The Pixel Hunt's The Wreck, and Gamtropy's Do You Really Want to Know 2 were honored as Cultural Impact Winners. The complete winners featuring all the developers, their apps, and their games have been revealed in the official 2024 App Store Awards, available via the Apple Newsroom, or for Apple owners, it's available via the App Store.