Each year, Apple and Google announce their top app and game picks from releases on the App Store and Google Play store.
We’re still waiting for Apple’s picks but Google has announced its best apps and games of 2024.
The full list of winners is below, but let’s first look at each of the overall app and game of the year winners.
AFK Journey is Google Play’s game of the year. At first glance, it’s a contradiction.
An AFK (away from keyboard) game typically requires only a handful of minutes of (barely active) participation each day, and you collect rewards while away. But AFK Journey is also a third-person isometric role-playing adventure.
It’s free to play and is the follow-up to AFK Arena, released in 2019.
Reflecting recent mobile game trends, Honkai: Star Rail, a comparable free-to-play game inspired by traditional title styles, also won in 2023.
On the app side, Google Play’s big winner of 2024 is Partiful.
It’s an event planning app that combines elements you might need to organise a party or gathering. They include polls to see when people are available, invites, an RSVP function, shared photo galleries and comments.
It is an alternative to Facebook’s events planning tools, for those who have long since left that platform.
Partiful is free but has no “premium” version with extra features.
Here’s the full list of winners from the Google Play 2024 apps and games of the year awards:
