The 2024 Google Games Search Rankings Contains 2 Titles That Are Sure to Trigger Nintendo

Google Trends displays the popularity of a search term over a period of time.
We can now see the most searched games of 2024.
The list includes Palworld, Helldivers 2, and Connections at the top.

Google Trends is a handy tool for checking popular search terms around the world, and Google just revealed the most searched games of 2024 in its Year in Search, a trend-following roundup from Spotify Wrapped and Xbox Year in Review. The list features some predictable entries and a few surprises. My biggest shock? Palworld lands at number two. And as if that wasn’t enough to upset Nintendo, we also have another competitor, PokéRogue, sneaking into the bottom of the leaderboard. But which game won first place? Here’s a look at the games the world has been searching for on Google in 2024, and to avoid keeping you in suspense, I’m starting from number one.

1. Connections

Connections asks you to group these images into 4 categories. (Image credit: New York Times)

Following the viral sensation that was Wordle in 2021 (which is still going strong with daily Wordle solutions from our friends at Tom’s Guide), Connections from the New York Times takes the top spot on the list. Although it’s not a video game, it’s still a game where you group together elements that share a common theme. And of course, everyone searches for the answers instead of solving them themselves. Google has officially denounced the cheaters!

2. Pal World

The Palworld guides were also great for search traffic on Windows Central! (Image credit: Pocketpair)

Globally, Palworld is the second most searched game and the top video game on the list (it reached number four on the US-specific list). The game took the gaming community by storm in January of 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 only due to people searching for guides like “Palworld how to get Pal fluids” or “best locations for a base in Palworld”, and absolutely not something like “Palworld Lovander lewds”.

Seriously, the game’s popularity is well deserved. Pocketpair has continued to update it, with a Terraria collaboration on the horizon and a new island set to debut, six times the size of Sakurajima’s previous update.

Many were probably also looking for news on Nintendo’s lawsuit against Pocketpair, the creators of Palworld, for patent infringement. While the world was wondering what Palworld is supposedly infringing on with the patents in question, this likely contributed significantly to its search traffic.

3. Infinite Crafts

The combination of “cyborg” and “vacuum cleaner” gave me the word “roomba” (Image credit: neal.fun)

Infinite Craft looks 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 create even more words, and so on. Okay, you understand.

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’s game.

4. Sprunki

Sprunki is an addictive point-and-click music creation game with different themed levels. (Image credit: Sprunki)

Sprunki is described as a “unique, interactive music creation game,” which doesn’t mean much to me. 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.

Gameplay involves dragging and dropping items onto “Sprunki” characters to create sounds and compile your own piece of music. But strangely, there is a real tradition and even a horror mode. Yes, I understand why this game went viral.

5. Helldiverse 2

Helldivers 2 had some big bugs at launch, for filming of course. (Image credit: PlayStation Studios)

Phew! Let’s go back to some video games. Helldivers 2 was the first PlayStation game to launch day and date on PC in February, a gamble that worked well for Sony, breaking concurrent player records and reaching more than 12 million copies sold in 3 months. We’d like to think an Xbox version of Helldivers 2 is possible in the future, but developers Arrowhead have publicly placed the ball in Sony’s court on the matter.

6. Howling Waves

Wutherings Waves is the game that melts cell phone batteries around the world (Image credit: Kuro Games)

Having earned a nomination for Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards, Wuthering Waves is a story-driven live-action gacha RPG. It checks all the right boxes for success and bears a striking resemblance to Genshin Impact’s hack-and-slash combat, but with a few key differences. These include a unique parrying and dodging system, increased mobility with wall running hooks and grappling hooks, and a smaller, more compact world.

The game has also gained considerable attention thanks to coverage by streamers like Asmongold.

7. Dark myth: Wukong

Black Myth: Wukong was a surprise hit but we’re still waiting for its release on Xbox (Image credit: Game Science)

Winner of the Golden Joystick 2024 Ultimate Game of the Year and nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards, Black Myth: Wukong has been an extremely popular title this year, but not without controversy. Its launch on Xbox was delayed and, although it sold over 10 million copies on PC and PlayStation, alleged Xbox optimization issues – or what some believe to be a PlayStation exclusivity deal – have left Xbox gamers waiting.

The game’s stunning visuals, set against a backdrop of Chinese mythology, have captivated gamers around the world, sparking countless Google searches for guides like how to defeat the Black Wind King.

8. Strands

Strands is another addictive word game from the New York Times (Image credit: New York Times)

Strands actually took 2nd place on the list if we limit it to the US only, and is another New York Times online gaming entry. You were 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 doesn’t just Google the answers!

9. Brawl Stars

Brawl Stars saw a surge in popularity in 2024 (Image credit: Muyo on Youtube)

Brawl Stars is another mobile game on the roster from the same creators of Clash of Clans and Clash Royale, which you’ll have seen in a multitude of YouTube sponsorship segments even if you’ve never played it. The game features fast-paced 3v3 and 5v5 combat modes and a Battle Royale on which players can burn through their mobile batteries, and while it’s not a new game (it launched in 2018), it is still incredibly popular with mobile gamers.

10.PokéRogue

Nintendo Lawyers Found Angry Over PokeRogue Screenshots (Image credit: Keegan J on Youtube (gameplay))

I promised you another game that would make Nintendo’s lawyers seethe, and after Palworld in popularity, PokéRogue closes the list at #10. As you can probably guess from 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 requires no fancy emulators and is browser-based, which has contributed to its viral status and over 50,000 daily active players. As to why Nintendo targeted Palworld and not PokéRogue in particular remains a mystery, but both games managed to take the “pocket monster” genre to new heights, in their own way.

Honorable mentions

You can use the Google Trends tool to break down the results by country. So while I’ve summarized the worldwide 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 at place 8 (probably due to its ambiguous and cryptic quest chains requiring a lot of Google searching) and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at #10.

Some common themes

I spent many afternoons after school in an Inklink hall (Image credit: DavetheUsher on Youtube)

What stood out to me about this top 10 was the sheer number of browser games that gained popularity in search results this year. Many of them, especially the puzzle-based ones, make sense given their accessibility. It reminds me that free browser games are still as popular as they were when I was a teenager, sitting in my room 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 most important thing to remember is that some of the most popular games are also the simplest. I’m already addicted to Infinite Craft and I’m about to dive into it more myself!