Now that March has drawn to a close, it’s time to look back at the 31 days that were and see which games really managed to stand out as the best of the best. The first two months of 2014 saw some real game of the year contenders: The Banner Saga in January and Threes in February. Is March’s winner of that same caliber?
We consulted our Magic 8-Ball: All signs point to yes.
Now that March has drawn to a close, it’s time to look back at the 31 days that were and see which games really managed to stand out as the best of the best. The first two months of 2014 saw some real game of the year contenders: The Banner Saga in January and Threes in February. Is March’s winner of that same caliber?
We consulted our Magic 8-Ball: All signs point to yes.
But what’s listed below are just our picks for the best of March 2014. If you feel we missed a real gem, be sure to let us know in the comments below! What game was your favorite last month?
Winner:
Was there ever any doubt? A twitch-crazy shooter with plenty of gameplay variety (thanks to an ever changing arsenal of weapons, engines and body types), this sky-based shoot’em-up took two and a half years to create but only two days to turn profitable. Finances be damned, though. We don’t pick a game of the month because it’s making money; we pick it because it’s fantastic.
Available on Steam, PS3 and PlayStation Vita, players take to the sky in a customized jet fighter to eliminate as many enemy planes and ships as they can before the inevitable shootdown. There are no veterans of war here – every mission is a kamikaze mission, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have plenty of fun pushing off the inevitable.
Runners Up:
Sometimes a goat just can’t catch a break. The original Escape Goat offered up plenty of brain-tingling platform puzzles, and the sequel delivers more of the same – but this time it’s a whole lot prettier. Easy on the eyes but tough on your patience, this is the perfect pick to satisfy your inner gaming masochist this month.
Explore strange new worlds. Discover new life and new civilizations. Be brutally slaughtered by your discoveries and do it all over again. Shattered Planet is a simple sci-fi roguelike that’s turned into the perfect pocket game for many Gamezebo staffers this month. It’s the sort of thing you can play in five minute spurts at the Laundromat or in the grocery line, but feel like you’ve been lost in for ages.
Here’s a genre mash-up I bet you didn’t see coming: collectible card game and matching-blocks puzzler. It’s not exactly Magic-meets-match-3, but it’s not that it’s not, either. Steven Strom does a great job of explaining it in our review, but really, you should just go and figure this one out for yourself. Trust me – you’ll thank us.
Glorkian Warrior: Trials of Glork
CALLING ALL GALAGA FANS: This is the game for you. A Kickstarter-powered love letter to an arcade classic, Glorkian Warrior is a great blend of classic space shooting and modern indie quirkiness. The gameplay itself would be enough reason to get hooked, but developer Pixeljam managed to build the game around a series of unlockable weapons and game modes that can keep you glued to your little screen for hours.
