In the flood of titles available on Xbox Game Pass, it’s easy to miss out on some good games just because they don’t have the usual fancy name. The list in question has been drawn up to include different genres, experimental and traditional titles, variable durations, and replayability values.
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There are many famous indie titles in the catalog that you will not find in this article to give space to real hidden gems that you may not help but retrieve.
10SpiderHeck
A delightful and fluorescent local multiplayer in which spiders with great readiness for combat and incredible fighting skills are ready to battle to the death. Their agility shines in gameplay where mobility is the real core mechanic. Jumps and cobwebs, combined with maps as simple as functional, help to make the matches strategic and full of tension in which every wrong move can be lethal.
In SpiderHeck, laser swords, missile launchers, rifles, bombs and explosions of a thousand colors, and even mobile elements and improbable elevators, every element of the game can be a double-edged weapon ready to lead you to victory or an embarrassing but always fun defeat.
Road 96 is an experimental title that offers an immersive and partly procedural narrative experience. On an on-the-road journey to the frontier, several nameless and faceless characters, but with the common goal of changing air and their lives, intertwine their lives with 7 NPCs, whose fates and lives are, in turn, interconnected.
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A Tarantino-style narrative for a story that is a critical representation, set in the 90s, of a political situation with a contemporary American flavor. The budget is a bit limited, but it is an innovative experience to try. And you can also play “Bella Ciao” on a trumpet.
8Unpacking
Unpacking is a zen game that, despite its brevity, manages to give a satisfying, sweet, and carefree experience. The gameplay is immediate and consists in pulling objects out of boxes after a move and relocating them to the new home.
Unpacking, through its different scenarios made of preserved belongings and abandoned ones, tells a story through an implicit narrative that will lead you to get acquainted with the life of the protagonist, without ever really seeing him or hearing him talk about himself. Unpacking is a title that is a hymn to slow living and meditation without hp, scores, or competitions.
7Citizen Sleeper
Citizen Sleeper is a narrative role-playing game with an authorial imprint that boasts unique features and an essence that implicitly aims to be faithful to the TTRPGs. Choices really matter and help to create unique and diverse story paths.
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From a technical standpoint and considering the gameplay, Citizen Sleeper has an essential and minimalist soul, but the same cannot be said about the graphics that are embellished and enhanced by the artistic inspiration of Guillaume Singelin that manages to give a strong personality to the post-capitalist sci-fi setting of the game.
Lakeis a story-driven point-and-click adventure that is a sweet slice of life lasting two weeks and a celebration of normality and rural beauty of life as opposed to the stress of social climbing in the 80s. Providence Oaks, the quiet town that serves as the backdrop of the narration, will make you feel comfortable in a sweet working routine.
Wearing the shoes of Meredith and living her brief parenthesis of a postman, you will be able to take part in a deeply emotive story and shape it with your choices while interacting with the picturesque personalities that populate her hometown.
5As Dusk Falls
From veterans of the genre of narrative adventures and former Quantic Dream developers, comes a title essential in its gameplay but experimental in its graphics. On the one hand, there are bare bones and slightly repetitive Quick Time Events, on the other hand, Interior/Night’s game shines for the combination of digitized actors in the style of an animated graphic novel and beautifully crafted three-dimensional backgrounds.
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The narrative is particularly immersive and curated, boasting strongly branched choices and an enthralling story involving two families whose destinies are connected across a 30-years long drama.
Omori is apsychological horror with RPG elementsin pixel art that includes a combat system never seen before based on the influence of emotions such as anger, sadness, and happiness. Although presenting itself in a lively and colorful dress,Omorihas a tormented soul that includes disturbing elements ranging from the depressive spectrum to extreme acts such as suicide.
A stunning and functional soundtrack will accompany you on a journey that constantly alternates reality and dream, fun and drama, joy and pain, in a continuous and unique swing of emotions.
3Monster Sanctuary
A unique adventure, that optimally blends different genres and includes turn-based combat with great tactical depth and aMetroidvania-style map. Environmental puzzles and platforming sections together offer a delightful exploration experience. Tactical 3V3 battles in Monster Sanctuary require great sagacity, strategy, and careful planning.
Battles are intense and greatly emphasize combos and synergies between the various components of the team. The RPG mechanics are deep, and each monster boasts a unique skill tree.
Prodeus is a love letter to the times that were and at the origin and true founder of the genre FPS. The title of Bounding Box Software Inc. re-imagines video games likeDOOMand its most famous clones, modernizes their aesthetic, and offers a game that is enjoyable to see and plays incredibly smoothly.
The demons, historical enemies of the Slayer that populate Mars and Earth are replaced by the Prodeans and the truculent forces of Chaos. The game boasts a high pace as the recent iterations of the very same Doom and shred hordes of enemies are more fun than ever.
1Immortality
Sam Barlow was able to pack another of his pearls into the FMV landscape. After Her Story and Telling Lies, he returns with an intricate, fascinating, anddisturbing story. Through revisiting Ambrosio, Minsky and Two of Everything, three incomplete movies, you will have to discover the fate of the mysterious actress Marissa Marcel, the main character and leitmotiv of those productions.
InImmortalitythe narration constantly interacts with the player repeatedly breaking the fourth wall, and is assisted by a splendid performance of its cast. Both fictional movies and their behind-the-scenes are exquisitely believable, and the thin thread that unites everything is woven elegantly and functionally.
