Our Favorite Games From April

We got some big games this past month, like Dark Souls III, the new Ratchet & Clank, and the Banner Saga sequel, to name just a few. But those three are just a small part of the two dozen games we’ve looked at, and loved, in April. Have a look:

1979 Revolution: Black Friday

On one hand, it’s a short and rough and sometimes clunky Telltale-esque adventure game. On the other, it’s a mature, powerful, and eye-opening tale about the history of a misunderstood country.

You can buy the game for PC.

Alienation

In this game, you kill aliens with your friends. That’s pretty much it. It’s a good time, and there’s plenty of explosions.

You can buy the game for PS4.

Aliens Vs. Pinball

This trio of downloadable pinball tables sets out to do one thing: put Alien in pinball form. It succeeds.

You can buy the game for Android, iOS, PC, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan

The individual gameplay elements of this action RPG may feel familiar, but its African culture-inspired, sci-fi setting and story turn it into a completely unique experience.

You can buy the game for PC.

Dark Souls 3

If you loved the first Dark Souls, you’ll love this. This also applies if you’ve only played Dark Souls 2, but especially so because 3 is a much better game than 2.

Make sure to check out our gameplay tips, and our extra tips in case you’ve only played Bloodborne, but want to jump into the Dark Souls series through this latest entry.

You can buy the game for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Dead Star

This space shooter has a unique game mode where you can invade other players’ multiplayer matches. It can produce some pretty epic moments.

You can buy the game for PC and PS4.

Enter the Gungeon

A ridiculously polished rogue-lite shooter that takes place in, you guessed it, a gun-themed dungeon. It might be a good fit if you’ve enjoyed Spelunky, to boot.

You can buy the game for PC and PS4.

Hitman Episode 2: Sapienza

Hitman’s second episode gives us a level that’s huge, fun, and can provide hours’ worth of that familiar Hitman-y experimentation.

You can buy the game for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Hyper Light Drifter

A very pretty and very difficult action RPG. Conquering its challenges can be quite rewarding, if you can stick with it.

You can buy the game for PC.

Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ

A surprisingly deep, free-to-play Kingdom Hearts game on mobile.

You can get the game for Android and iOS.

Leap Of Fate

An addictive cyberpunk Binding of Isaac-esque game.

You can buy the game for PC.

Offworld Trading Company

OTC is raw capitalism in game form, a fast strategy-ish management sim where trading and money are king. It’s worth a look for the unique premise alone.

You can buy the game for PC.

Powerpuff Girls Flipped Out

A really cool tie-in mobile game to the Powerpuff Girls reboot where you can switch between brawling and match-3 puzzling by rotating the screen.

You can buy the game for Android and iOS.

Quantum Break

On the surface, Quantum Break is merely a competent third-person shooter. However, it’s a shooter where your actions influence the plot of a live-action TV show, and experimenting with the various changes you can make to its timeline, and watching those changes unfold, is very addictive.

Note that there are problems with the game’s Windows 10 version, though it looks like Microsoft is working towards solving them.

You can buy the game for PC and Xbox One.

Ratchet & Clank

Far more than an HD re-release, the Ratchet & Clank reboot-slash-movie-tie-in is an excellent re-imagination of original PS2 game, with a perfect balance of old and new elements.

Which is fortunate, since the movie itself isn’t very good.

You can buy the game for PS4.

Severed

From the creators of Guacamelee comes a fast, frantic and difficult touchscreen dungeon crawler that feels tailor-made for the Vita.

You can buy the game for PS Vita.

Slither.io

In this agar.io-esque online game, you, a worm with googly eyes, compete against other worms with googly eyes for food, growth, points, and a spot on the ever-changing leaderboard. Addictive.

You can play the game here in a browser, and on Android and iOS.

Star Fox Guard

For something meant to be a mere accompaniment to the main course that is Star Fox Zero, Star Fox Guard is a surprisingly entertaining and unique little crowd co-op tower defense game.

It stands in stark contrast to its disappointing big brother.

You can buy the game for Wii U.

Star Wars: Armada

Star Wars’s capital ships duke it out in a strategic board game that’s all about planning, momentum, and stat-based combat.

You can buy the game here.

Stephen’s Sausage Roll

An extremely hard puzzler about cooking sausages. Yes, it really is extremely hard.

You can buy the game for PC.

Stories: The Path of Destinies

While it looks like a standard hack n’ slash RPG on the surface, Stories is more about making difficult choices and experiencing the effects these choices have on the game and its, well, story. Alternatively, it could be a game about hunting down endings—Stories does have a lot of them.

You can buy the game for PC and PS4.

The Banner Saga 2

The second Banner Saga improves upon the first in almost every area, whether that’s the storytelling, the presentation, or the turn-based combat. You kinda need to have played the first one to truly appreciate it, though.

You can buy the game for PC.

The Huntsman: Winter’s Curse Episode 1

Another tie-in game that’s surprisingly good, this is a turn-based RPG adaptation of the Huntsman movie, with good-looking art and a card-gamey twist to the combat.

You can buy the game for PC.

The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 3: What We Deserve

The traumatic conclusion to Telltale’s grim adventure mini-series.

You can buy the game for Android, iOS, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

If you buy any of these games through the retail links in this post, our parent company may get a small share of the sale through the retailers’ affiliates program.

Questions? Comments? Contact the author of this post at andras-AT-kotaku-DOT-com.