Think of some of the best mobile games this year. Horn. SQUIDS Wild West. Puzzlejuice. These are the kind of games that survive spring (or fall!) cleaning on your device; some of which stood out as our favorites of the summer. What would you pay for a chance to own their soundtracks? Twenty dollars a’ piece? Nine dollars on iTunes? How does one dollar sound, for all of them? And more. 

Within an extremely short timeframe, it seems like the next big thing in mobile gaming is all about getting bigger. We’re not talking popularity, either – it looks like the handheld titles we’ve grown to know and love are literally taking a large step onto the big screen. 

One thing that stood out about SQUIDS Wild West (and its predecessor SQUIDS) was its characters.  They felt like they were pulled straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon.  Not only did each character have a distinct look and personality, the game’s story was solid too -- humorous, well-paced and dramatic, without taking itself too seriously.

While there are plenty of great games that Gamezebo manages to review every month, picking the best of the best isn’t usually too difficult of a proposition.  No matter how good releases might be, there’s usually something every month that stands head and shoulders above the rest.  But in June 2012?  There were so many 5 star games that we honestly lost count.

SQUIDS Wild West is worth the money. I don't really like evaluating games from the cost/benefit perspective, but SQUIDS Wild West is undeniably worth the budget price it costs in the App Store. This game could sell for $35 on the 3DS and it wouldn’t be out of place next to the other pieces of software available for the system. Yet at launch, this game only costs 99 cents. Its artwork, its animations, its character -- almost everything about SQUIDS exudes warmth and attention to detail. It is a labor of love, not just a product. And, most importantly, it’s fun.

In the world of sequel tropes, the wild west is an oft-ignored setting. More often than not we see a leap to space, or a trip to Manhattan – neither of which possess the same level of romance as the gun-totin' west. Does this mean SQUIDS Wild West, the upcoming sequel to the highly popular SQUIDS, will be the most romantic squid-based game of all time? One can only hope.