Google Trends is a handy tool for checking popular search terms around the world, and Google has just revealed the most searched games of 2024 in its Year in Search—a summary following the trend of Spotify Wrapped and Xbox Year in Review. The list features some predictable entries and a few surprises. My biggest shock? Palworld landing at number two. And as if that wasn't enough to irk Nintendo, we also have another contender, PokéRogue, sneaking into the end of the chart. But which game claimed the top spot? Here's a rundown of the games the world was 'Googling' in 2024, and to not keep you in suspense, I'm starting from number one.
1. Connections
Following the viral sensation that was Wordle in 2021 (which is still going strong with daily Wordle solutions over at our friends at Tom's Guide), the New York Times' Connections takes the top spot on the list. While it’s not a video game, it’s still a game—one where you group items that share a common theme. And of course, everyone is searching for the answers instead of solving it themselves. Google has officially exposed all of you cheaters!
2. Palworld
Globally, Palworld is the second most searched game and the top video game on the list (it hit No. 4 on the U.S.-specific list). The game took the gaming community by storm in January this year when it launched in Early Access, becoming the biggest third-party Xbox Game Pass launch ever. I'm sure its Google ranking is purely due to people searching for guides like "Palworld how to get Pal fluids" or "best locations for a base in Palworld", and absolutely not for anything like "Palworld Lovander lewds".
In all seriousness, the popularity of the game is well-deserved. Pocketpair has continued updating it, with a Terraria collaboration on the horizon and a new island set to debut—six times the size of the earlier Sakurajima update.
Many were likely also searching for news on Nintendo’s lawsuit against Pocketpair, the creators of Palworld, for patent infringement. As the world puzzled over what the patents in question Palworld is supposedly infringing upon, this likely contributed significantly to its search traffic.
3. Infinite Craft
Infinite Craft sounds like a Minecraft Marketplace mod, but it’s a game in its own right. You combine words, and it uses AI to create a new word from those words… which you can then use to combine with other words to make even more words, and so on. Okay, you get the point.
You start with four elemental words—Water, Fire, Earth, and Wind—which you combine to create new items. It’s a surprisingly addictive loop of endless entertainment and has become a surprisingly watchable streamer game.
4. Sprunki
Sprunki is described as a "unique and interactive music creation game," which… doesn’t really tell me much. Naturally, I had to check it out for myself—or, more accurately, watch Markiplier play it—and I can confirm that if I show this game to my kid, my life is over.
The gameplay involves dragging and dropping items onto the "Sprunki" characters to create sounds and compile your own music track. But weirdly there's actual lore and even a horror mode. Yep, I can see why this game went viral.
5. Helldivers 2
Phew! Back to some video games. Helldivers 2 was the first PlayStation game to launch day and date on PC back in February, a gamble that worked well for Sony, breaking concurrent player records and hitting to over 12 million copies sold in 3 months. We'd like to think an Xbox release of Helldivers 2 is possible in the future, but developers Arrowhead have publically placed the ball in Sony's court on that one.
6. Wuthering Waves
Snagging a nomination for Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards, Wuthering Waves is a story-driven, gacha RPG live-service game. It ticks all the right boxes for success and bears a striking resemblance to the hack-and-slash combat of Genshin Impact—but with some key differences. These include a unique parry-and-dodge system, added mobility with wall-running and grappling hooks, and a smaller, more compact world.
The game also gained significant attention thanks to streamer coverage from the likes of Asmongold.
7. Black Myth: Wukong
Winner of the Golden Joystick 2024 Ultimate Game of the Year and a nominee for Game of the Year at The Game Awards, Black Myth: Wukong was a massively popular title this year—but not without controversy. Its Xbox launch was delayed, and while it has sold over 10 million copies on PC and PlayStation, alleged Xbox optimization issues—or what some speculate is a PlayStation exclusivity deal—have left Xbox players waiting.
The game's stunning visuals, set against a backdrop of Chinese mythology, have captivated gamers worldwide, sparking countless Google searches for guides like how to beat the Black Wind King.
8. Strands
Strands actually took 2nd place on the list if we narrow it down to US only, and is another entry of online games from the New York Times. Your shown a word search grid, given a category and asked to find words in that category on the grid. Simple enough, but not so simple that the world wasn't just going to Google for the answers!
9. Brawl Stars
Brawl Stars is another mobile game on the list from the same creators of Clash of Clans and Clash Royale, which you will have seen in a multitude of YouTube sponsorship segments even if you've never played. The game has fast-paced 3v3 and 5v5 battle modes and a Battle Royale for players to burn their mobile batteries on, and while it's not a new game (it launched in 2018), it's still incredibly popular with mobile gamers.
10.PokéRogue
I promised you another game that would make the Nintendo lawyers seethe, and following Palworld in popularity, PokéRogue closes out the list at No. 10. As you can probably guess by the name, PokéRogue is a roguelike adventure game that combines 'elements' of Pokémon with roguelike mechanics. And by combine, I mean it looks exactly like a Pokémon game.
Developed by Pokémon fans, the game allows you to build different teams of Pokémon depending on the challenges you face. It doesn’t require any fancy emulators and is browser-based, which contributed to its viral status and over 50,000 daily active players. As for why Nintendo has targeted Palworld and not PokéRogue specifically remains a mystery, but both games successfully take the 'pocket monster' genre to new heights in their own ways.
Honorable mentions
You can use the Google Trends tool to break down results by country, so while I've summarized the Global top 10 above, you can also see what the US top 10 was which has many similar titles but manages to see Dragon's Dogma 2 in at place 8 (no doubt due to it's ambiguous and cryptic quest chains requiring a lot of Google searching) and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at no.10.
Some common themes
What stood out to me in this top 10 is the sheer number of browser-based games that gained popularity in the search results this year. Many of them, especially puzzle-based ones, make sense given their accessibility. It’s a reminder that free browser games are still as popular as they were when I was a teenager, sitting in my bedroom playing Inklink on Shockwave (IYKYK). You don’t need to own a $300 console to be a gamer (in fact, as we know, everything is an Xbox). But perhaps the biggest takeaway is that some of the most popular games are also the simplest. I’m already addicted to Infinite Craft and about to dive into more of that myself!
