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Now into its eighth year, Xbox Game Pass has come to define gaming today, despite Microsoft’s games consoles lagging behind the competition in terms of player count. The so-called “Netflix of games” isn’t just for Xbox or PC owners, either: with cloud gaming in more robust shape than ever, you can now stream the Game Pass library on your laptop, your phone, even straight from your smart TV.
You’ll need to be on the highest Ultimate tier to access new day-one releases (or have the option to stream them) and games can leave the service as quickly as they arrive, so your favourites aren’t guaranteed to stick around forever. But with the rising prices of consoles and games – Microsoft just hiked the Xbox Series X by a whopping 20% in the US – having a wealth of titles to play for a relatively low monthly subscription remains incredible value.
There have been some real bangers just this year alone, courtesy of the Xbox Game Studios family, as well as indie hits from renowned developers and surprise trailblazers. Here’s just ten of the best to come to Xbox Game Pass over the past twelve months.
Atomfall
Not just a British take on Fallout or S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Rebellion’s first-person survival adventure is an alt-history reimagining of the 1957 Windscale Fire in the northwest of England. Your one goal is to figure out how to escape a remote part of the Lake District that’s been quarantined years after a nuclear disaster. Will you work with the game’s various factions or resort to cold-blooded murder to get what you want? Scrappy, freeform, and exceptionally Northern.
Another Crab’s treasure
I get it, souls-likes (rock-hard action RPGs with mechanics ‘borrowed’ from the Dark Souls series) aren’t for everyone – but this far more cuddly take on the genre isn’t quite so punishing. Your hermit crab protagonist can wear almost anything you find, from shells to trash, to survive attacks from enemies that tower over you. And if you’re still struggling on a particularly tough boss? One of the options in the (extensive) gameplay assists menu gives your cutesy crustacean a 9mm pistol that one-shots any enemy in the game. Yes, really.
Avowed
Set in the same universe as Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity series, this RPG takes the more immersive first-person approach of Skyrim, then makes the action a little robust and arcadey, from meaty two-handed combat to breezy parkouring. But it does that without diluting the role-playing side of things, as you’re joined with a party of intriguing allies whose bonds you can develop while you’ll find yourself facing more than a few difficult choices…
South of Midnight
This may be a fairly old-school action-adventure, but you’re really in it for the sumptuous story set in the Deep South, blending the region’s folk tales with dark magical realism. Playing as teenager Hazel, you discover your powers as a weaver, able to recall memories from the past that can heal monsters created from trauma. With imaginative stop motion-inspired visuals and one of the best soundtracks of the year, this is a trip down the bayou worth taking.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Once Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard, it was inevitable Call of Duty would become one of Game Pass’s main draws. Black Ops 6 also happens to be the best entry in the long-running series for some time, thanks to a relentlessly entertaining and impressively varied single-player campaign inspired by everything from the tense stealth set pieces of Splinter Cell to Far Cry’s open-world maps; a back-to-form Zombies mode, and multiplayer that benefits from the new Omnimovement system. Black Ops 6 is CoD firing on all cylinders, and there’s enough in here for it to be the only game you play until the next entry. The fact that you get it all at no extra cost if you’re a Game Pass subscriber is nothing short of incredible.
Blue Prince
This surprise indie hit channels old-school point-and-click head-scratching mysteries like Myst but with a roguelike twist. The set-up of inheriting a mansion from your late uncle is simple enough, but in order to secure that inheritance, you must navigate the mansion’s ever-changing rooms in order to locate the hidden 46th room. Just try not to lose your mind from deciphering all the other rooms, keys, and other teasing clues that will have you scribbling all kinds of notes.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Could this be the best use of a movie license in years? Wolfenstein developer MachineGames makes use of its first-person expertise to really make you become Dr. Jones, with a smarter investigative approach in its sandbox environments than his previous, more trigger-happy gaming facsimiles. When the camera occasionally pulls back for its action and cinematics, Troy Baker does a fantastic job of channeling Harrison Ford in his prime.
Balatro
If you haven’t already experienced this deckbuilding indie hit from 2024, you’ve no excuse now that it’s on Game Pass. Using poker hands to get a high score to progress each level is simple enough, but it’s all about combining the game-changing joker cards to maximise your score as those numbers go up and up, which feels both obsessive and zen. Undoubtedly it feels more at home on a handheld, but then that’s what cloud gaming on phones is for.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
This RPG wears the classics like Final Fantasy on its sleeve but takes a refreshing approach by combining traditional turn-based battles with the electrifying and demanding action of Sekiro where it’s possible (but incredibly tough) to dodge or parry every enemy attack. There’s a moving story with tragic twists, a magnificent score and gorgeous visuals that give life to this broken yet arresting – and quintessentially French – world as your titular expedition sets out on a suicide mission to defy their fate.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Amidst the seemingly never-ending wait for a new Elder Scrolls and the running gag of how many times Skyrim can be repackaged, Bethesda has decided to give a new lease of life to an older predecessor. It remains a defining RPG for many from the Xbox 360 era, as you’re let loose in the province of Cyrodiil in a quest to thwart a fanatical cult from opening the gates of Oblivion.
Given how much care and attention has been paid to recreate every asset in Unreal Engine 5, surely this is a remake more than just a remaster. Of course, once you play it, those creaky foundations from 2006 are still there, as well as bugs that you just come to expect from a Bethesda RPG. Attempts to smoothen out some rough edges nonetheless makes this the best way to revisit a classic, even if other open world games have surpassed it since.
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