Not sure how people see the 1.0-release of an Early Access game, but I'll include those in my list due to having no other choices.
Top-placed for me is Satisfactory. I bought it during Early Access, but didn't play it a lot. With slightly over 200 hours it's now one of my top games on Steam in terms of playing hours. And those are actual playing hours, because I don't just leave my games open when I'm doing something else or overnight like others seem to do who then have thousands of hours. It's just a fascinating little game, that runs well for me and has an active community.
In second place I would put Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut. The original was only on Playstation, but the Director's Cut was released on Steam this year and on PS. I really liked the fighting mechanics and it's a good little game.
Third is Dragon's Dogma 2. I played the first one, but never really got into it. The second one did a much better job even though I didn't finish it.
Fourth is Rail Route. Another Early Access game that went 1.0 this year. Addictive little nerdy game, if you like railroad planning.
Honourable mentions go to Farming Simulator 25 and Stalker 2. Haven't played the first one a lot since it was released, but I'll definitely play it more in the future once more mods are coming and I'm back in the mood for farming. Stalker 2 might still make my list, if they keep up fixing the bugs and AI. I have played it a bit and I could see it becoming one of my top games in 2024, but not there to make that call yet. It might change until the January deadline...
