12 Xbox Game Pass Games That You Need To Play Right Now

A Plague Tale: Innocence

With its sequel, A Plague Tale: Requiem, looming and already confirmed to be joining this game on Xbox Game Pass, there’s no better time to go back and absorb the tale of sibling resolve in a time when mankind was truly on its knees due to famine, plague, and a whole lot of bloody rats.

It’s a brand on the rise, with a TV series in the works, and we celebrated the game quite a lot when it launched.

This harrowing adventure is so much about family it’d make Vin Diesel blush, and it’s hard not to adore the central relationship between Amicia and Hugo as they leverage a slingshot, their bond, and a few latent superpowers against the French Inquisition.

Death’s Door

One of my absolute favourite games from last year, Death’s Door is absolutely something to crow about. Leaving the safety of the Reaping Commission to pursue a getaway soul, this game feels like a marriage between Studio Ghibli’s strong tale-weaving and punishing, old-school Legend of Zelda.

On the surface, the game is extremely memorable, but it’s when you get even deeper and begin exploring the endgame that the picture completes itself and reveals just how special Death’s Door is.

Of all of the games to tackle upending the cycle of life and death, Death’s Door feels like the most wholesome of the lot, putting an endearing spin on mourning, loss, and letting go.

Dodgeball Academia

If you can dodge a wrench, you’re probably fit to enrol at Dodgeball Academia, one of the best—and perhaps the only—sports role-playing games since Golf Story.

It’s equal parts a buck wild, arcade dodgeball game, complete with super abilities and super spikes, a role-playing game, and a radical take on school life. It’s almost Persona but you toss balls about at fellow students.

It’s certainly one of the best indie games on the service and is sorely underrated in general.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

Earlier this month, Assassin’s Creed Origins received a next-gen upgrade to coincide with the game’s arrival on Game Pass for both Xbox and PC, so there’s literally never been a better time to get stuck into it.

The story of Bayek, coupled with the intoxicatingly vast Egyptian landscape, made Origins a real return to form for the franchise which had started to suffer from its prior releases. Origins opened the door for the game’s new tremendous Discovery Tour, which takes players on a guided, educational tour of the world. It’s like a virtual museum that takes you to historical landmarks and sites of interest.

I really did enjoy Origins at launch and it’s hard to argue against the fact that the game has only gotten better. Even with sequels under the franchise’s belt in Odyssey and Valhalla, Origins is still very much one people like to return to.

It Takes Two

Josef Fares might forever be the guy who had less than savoury things to say about the Oscars, but the guy definitely knows how to craft co-op experiences. It Takes Two isn’t the only co-op game on this list but it’s definitely the only co-op-only game. If that makes sense.

With no single-player mode to speak of, It Takes Two lives up to its title and has brought partners, friends, and lovers together since it launched. Unlike his previous efforts, It Takes Two has a light and airy tone, despite it still tackling some grounded subject matter. I particularly loved how the game continually mixed things up, leaping from one concept to the next. It’s one hundred games in one, and it’s astounding the amount of effort that went into this game’s variety alone.

It should come as no surprise that It Takes Two was a critical darling, taking home the highest honour at The Game Awards and featuring on our end-of-year countdown also.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

As a value proposition, The Master Chief Collection is definitely up there. It takes Halo’s Forerunner saga—the first three games, Reach and ODST—and throws it together with Halo 4, which serves as the beginning of 343 Industries’ Reclaimer saga, to create an essential Halo experience.

It suffered through a rough launch to become the rock-solid serving it currently is, with constant updates being delivered to keep content fresh. Recently, a version of Firefight was added starring the Flood, which is so very rad.

With an original trilogy as storied as Halo, being able to pop in and play any one of the classic levels, with any number of modifiers, is a treat. It’s especially true for Halo 2, which received the ‘Anniversary’ treatment for its release within the collection.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Not dissimilar to A Plague Tale, Hellblade’s sequel is one we’re eager to see arrive on Xbox’s subscription service and continue the story of one of the medium’s newest heroines.

Senua’s Sacrifice, now a first-party title following the acquisition of developer Ninja Theory, is a bleak and miserly journey through Helheim. There’s not a lot of light or hope, and I’d almost liken it to a trudge through knee-high mud but as an exploration of psychosis, Hellblade remains unmissable.

Despite reviewing it all of those years ago, it’s still astounding to me that Senua’s Sacrifice was developed by a team of only twenty people. Their use of cutting-edge animation helped elevate Hellblade to true triple-A quality within the independent space.

No Man’s Sky

It’s the greatest redemption tale in the history of video game development. With where No Man’s Sky currently sits, it’s easy to forget the promise, the failure, and the genuine heartbreak for Sean Murray as what looked to be one of the most ambitious titles ever made crashed and burned.

Many would have cut their losses there, but to the credit of Hello Games, the team went back in and tinkered with their technically amazing, procedurally-generated universe and reemerged with their Next update, which delivered something more in line with their 2016 vision.

Since then, the game has continued to repay the faith of both players long-term and new, thanks to several free updates which have included base-building, cross-play, and planet-surface vehicles.

Rare Replay

Since absorbing Rare into their roster of first-party studios, it could be argued that as a studio, the once elite developer has kind of floundered. Granted, Sea of Thieves has gone on to become a pretty beloved, community-driven high seas adventure, but Rare’s output isn’t what it once was.

Fortunately, Rare Replay exists. It catalogues and compiles thirty of the very best games from the developer best known for Donkey Kong Country and Goldeneye, although those games obviously don’t feature.

With a heap of Snapshot challenges to tackle, the collection definitely has enough bells and whistles to justify the trip back in time.

Ori & The Will of the Wisps

I’ve clearly opted for the second game in the Ori series here, but just know they’re both essential.

While Will of the Wisps is a very complete sequel that feels like a more polished version of The Blind Forest, both games serve as tremendous pillars within Microsoft’s first-party helpings. As nearly peerless Metroidvania games, they feel great in hand.

Both Ori titles are profoundly moving experiences thanks in large part to the gorgeous art direction and Gareth Coker’s absolutely stunning orchestral score. So, not only is it as pretty as a Pixar film, it’s as moving as one too.

Stardew Valley

It’s one thing for a game to be made “free” through the Xbox Game Pass service, but when it’s a game that offers literal hundreds of hours and enjoyment, it begins to feel like a steal. And that’s Stardew Valley summed up.

If you’re able to learn how to live off of the land and breathe new life into your grandfather’s plot, bequeathed to you in his will, your time in the valley will begin to feel like a second life.

There’s real peace and serenity to spending time in the garden. As someone who, in real life, likes nothing more than staying indoors, earning a couple of virtual green thumbs just feels right. It’s my favourite game about tending to a garden since Viva Pinata.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

With Bethesda’s back catalogue a part of the service, following the publisher’s recent blockbuster acquisition, it means there’s room for one of the most iconic and downright classic role-playing games to be ever made.

It’s been memed more times than almost any game and re-released even more times than that.

Being able to revisit what is arguably one of the greatest and most celebrated games of all time, and soak up the literal hundreds of hours to find within the world of Tamriel as the Dragonborn, is just an undeniable pleasure. Following the gameplay deep dive on Starfield yesterday, it might be even more tempting to revisit this classic to remind yourself of just what Bethesda Game Studios can do.