Retro Handhelds is putting a little more thought into its GotX program, with Mind Over Matter March providing participants the chance to flex their gray matter more than usual. All the games that were nominated (including the three winners) must showcase more puzzling, tactical, or thought-provoking gameplay elements than outright action or quick-twitch gameplay elements.
GotX is the Retro Handheld Discord‘s version of a book club, and this month we’re dusting the cobwebs off the ‘ol noggin. So come on in, sit down, and let’s play some games!
What is GotX?
GotX is short for “Games of the X“, which can be split into three categories: Game of the Month (GotM), Game of the Quarter (GotQ), and Game of the Week (GotW). Games of the Month are chosen according to a theme selected by community users who have previously beaten a GotM game for the prior month, aka “GotM Champions”.
Three games in total are selected, each falling within a range of release dates, nominated and voted upon by the GotM Champions. Winners each receive their own thread in the GotM channels in the Retro Handhelds Discord, where discussions, arguments, and ultimately fun are had by all.
Game of the Quarter and Game of the Week are selected independently in styles that are slightly different from Game of the Month, and they also don’t follow the same theme as the Games of the Month. Games in these two categories have either a runtime of under two hours (GotW) or a minimum runtime of 25 hours (GotQ), according to HowLongToBeat.
Completing a game (by posting a screenshot with ending credits, a date, and your Discord username) gets you an imaginary internet point that can be redeemed towards very real merch on the RH Store.
Game of the Month (Pre-1996) – Donkey Kong
- Console: Game Boy, Nintendo 3DS
- Genre: Puzzle Platformer
- Time to Beat: 6 hours
Donkey Kong is a side-scrolling puzzle-platforming game for the original Game Boy, and is a sequel to the game Donkey Kong Jr., released in arcades. The game follows Mario as he traverses a multitude of stages, including several redesigns of the original Donkey Kong game, as he tries to rescue Pauline from the clutches of the titular Donkey Kong. Featuring 101 levels, this one is surprisingly meatier than it may look at first glance.
Mario finds himself climbing ladders, jumping to avoid obstacles and traverse platforms, and collecting hammer power-ups to destroy enemies. Mario can also pick up and throw some objects and enemies, using them as additional weapons or platforms. All of this leads Mario to a key in each level, which he must then carry to a locked door to reach the next level before time runs out. The game also features a scoring and life system.
Game of the Month (1996-2001) – Ico
- Console: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3
- Genre: Action-Adventure
- Time to Beat: 7 hours
Ico tells the story of the titular Ico, a young boy with horns protruding from his head due to a curse, and Yorda, a pale girl that Ico rescues and must cooperate with in order to escape an abandoned castle. Ico has the player controlling our young hero from a third-person perspective, as he works with Yorda to traverse obstacles and solve puzzles throughout the castle, all while protecting Yorda from enemies and perils.
Developed by Team Ico, who would also go on to develop Shadow of the Colossus, Ico is considered a “cult classic” that influenced many games that came after. I’ve never played any of Team Ico’s games, so I’m excited that I’ll be starting with the first one in their portfolio! Ico has a unique look and style, even by today’s standards, with a high-definition remaster available on the PlayStation 3.
Game of the Month (2002 and later) – Fire Emblem Awakening
- Console: Nintendo 3DS
- Genre: Tactical RPG
- Time to Beat: 27 hours
Developed by Intelligent Systems and released on the Nintendo 3DS, Fire Emblem Awakening follows the story of Prince Chrom of Ylisse and his companions, known as the “Shepherds”, as they travel across Ylisse fighting undead Risen and hostile Plegians. You play as Robin, a customizable avatar character who is rescued by Chrom at the beginning of the game and who is recognized as a skilled tactician and asked to join Chrom on his journey.
The game features a grid-based battle system, with players controlling multiple characters on a map on the top screen, while the bottom screen displays unit information. We’ve got class systems, weapon triangles, traversable maps, stat increases and skills, and a relationship system built through in-game conversations amongst characters.
Widely known as the game that saved the Fire Emblem series, Awakening is still referred to by many as one of the greatest Fire Emblem games to have ever been released. Seeing as Intelligent Systems thought this might be the last game in the franchise, they pulled nearly all designs and features from previous games and crammed as much as they could into Awakening. It paid off, with Awakening becoming a rousing success for the franchise.
Game of the Quarter – Breath of Fire III
If you’re looking for a meatier game to sink your teeth into, then the Game of the Quarter has you covered. GotQ consists of games that meet a minimum criterion of at least 25 hours to beat according to HLTB. Each quarter, four games are pulled at random from an extensive list of games that meet the minimum criteria, and then community users vote on which game they’d like to play for the next three months.
Completing a GotQ will still net you a single point, but there is also an opportunity to earn two additional points if you manage to 100% the game by completing all of the achievements through RetroAchievements and posting this as an additional screenshot.
- Console: PlayStation, PlayStation Portable
- Genre: JRPG
- Time to Beat: 42 Hours
For the third quarter of 2026, we’re wrapping up our playthrough of Breath of Fire III, a JRPG developed by Capcom. There are two prior entries in the series (both of which we’ve played in GotX previously), but this is the first game in the series to feature three-dimensional environments along with hand-drawn character sprites. You play as the recurring protagonist Ryu, the last of a legendary clan of dragons referred to as the Brood, on his journey to find out more about himself, his purpose, and what happened to the rest of his clan. The game starts with Ryu during his early childhood years, and then continues with a mid-game time skip into Ryu’s teenage years.
Breath of Fire III consists of pretty standard JRPG gameplay, in that you and two other party members will engage in turn-based battles that consist of using attacks, spells, items, and skills. Additionally, since Ryu is a member of the Brood race, he has the ability to periodically transform into various dragon forms to fight enemies, which is as kickass as it sounds. There is also a ton of side content, such as a great fishing minigame, a village-building mechanic in the Faerie Village, a master-disciple skill learning system, and more!
Game of the Week, aka RetroBits
If short games and easy points are more your speed, then each Saturday at 5 PM PST, a new GotW is announced. Each game comes with a completion time of 2 hours or less, according to HowLongToBeat, and must be completed before the new GotW is announced the following Saturday.
Completion of the GotM and GotQ will earn you one point (three if you 100% the latter), but GotW will only net you half a point. Unlike the aforementioned GotM and GotQ, the GotW is chosen entirely at random by the GotX overlord Rapid99, selected from a large database of sub-two-hour games.
Above is an example of the four most recent GotW games that we’ve played in the Retro Handhelds Discord. Go Go Ackman is the most recent, and we’re still playing it from February 28, 2026, to March 7, 2026.
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