Shatter 1.0

Shatter is a 2.5D Breakout-like game with a paddle that can suck inward and blow outward. The game has a stage- and level-based story mode with a boss battle for the last level of each stage.

It also has an endless mode, a time attack mode, and a boss battle marathon mode. Two-player co-op is supported for the endless and time attack modes.

I'm not a huge fan of the Breakout-style game in general. The tedium of either bashing through a wall brick by brick or of bouncing the ball around the screen trying to hit the last one has not appealed to me in the past. But Shatter is different. By giving the player a high degree of control over the ball's movement with the paddle's dynamics, as well as incorporating the tried-and-true elements of other game genres, the experience becomes radically more entertaining. It certainly also helps that Shatter has such high production values in every way I can think of.

Sam's Protip: While it's possible to play without a physical mouse or controller, I found doing so much more difficult and somewhat less enjoyable.