Video games are an easy getaway for when students have free time, or if they’re stressed from school, or if they just need something to do. The year 2024 was filled with different video games of different genres for students to enjoy, so here are the AHS students’ favorite video games of 2024.
Many students start playing their future favorite video game because of peer influence. Almost every student that was interviewed gave the same answer to how they found out about the game; “My friends told me to.” 8th graders, Jack Pethel and Paxton Smith-Hayes considered the best game of 2024 to be Brawl Stars. Brawl Stars is a multiplayer battle-arena style game where players try to defeat other players’ characters, called Brawlers in the game, while trying to keep their own Brawlers safe. Smith-Hayes, 8th grade, said, “I like Brawl Stars because of the skillful gameplay.” Jack Pethel says he found out about Brawl Stars through his friend Ryland Burk. Aubrey Edwards, 9th grade, says that Fortnite is the best game of 2024. Fortnite is a sniper-style game where the purpose is to defeat all the other players in the arena while players are trying not to die themselves, and players win by being the last one standing, winning them a Battle Royale. Players can steal cars, get guns and other weapons, and form alliances. She said, “I found out about Fortnite because of my friend, Peyton Self, when we used to play it at her house in the summer.” She also said that she only played Fortnite once a week, maybe once a month at most.
Video games take up a lot of students’ time, and Smith-Hayes is the perfect example of that. He said, “My screen time tells me I play it like 7 hours a day, so 49 hours a week.” Jack Pethel said, “I played it so much, so much bro. I played it for like 2 hours everyday.” Tanner Brown, 8th grade, said, “I used to play Fortnite like 6 times a week.” Austin Hibberts, 9th grade, said he played Rainbow Six Siege five times a week. Rainbow Six Siege is a combat-style game where the objective is to diffuse bombs, rescue hostages, and take control of areas around the map with the help of players’ teammates. Players can play as an attacker or defender in singleplayer or multiplayer modes. Some students, however, enjoy video games when they spend less time playing them. Mac Floyd’s favorite game of 2024 is Raft. The point of Raft is to keep players and their teammates safe on their self-built raft so they don’t get eaten by sharks. If they survive, players eventually reach Utopia in the game. He said, “I only played it about once a week.”
According to Google, 85% of teens played video games in 2024. Most students don’t have a lot of free time in between having homework, extracurricular activities, and other day-to-day activities. The fact that most teens spend their extra free time playing video games is an example of how important video games are to students. There are so many video games that can spark a high schooler’s interest, so there are definitely a lot of choices to choose from when deciding the best game of 2024.
