What game would you have not tried otherwise that came up on XBox Game Pass and dragged you in?
Mine is, funny enough, Powerwash Simulator. For such a silly title and premise, it managed to “wash away” several hours of my life trying to clean all the things.
you’re totally right about powerwash simulator. holy crap is it cathartic.
Powerwash Sim is awesome but man do I wish they would make a VR port, it’s perfect for it
I think it was just announced that this is coming to Quest.
Oh damn, that’s cool. Cries in PS VR2. One of the devs did say it was just “coming to Quest for now”, hopefully I don’t have to wait forever
I’ve been enjoying Snowrunner a lot! But I like traversal games and slow paced driving games. Roboquest is a pretty fun little roguelite shooter. And if you like rpgs, there’s Solasta which is a D&D 5e based game that is pretty fun!
Snowrunner has no business being as fun as it is tbh. I ended up playing it “ironically” with a few friends (why does it have multiplayer? IDK but it’s a blast) and I was hopelessly addicted to it for days afterwards.
i haven’t had much of a chance to get to game pass titles yet, but i highly recommend the A Plague Tale duology (Requiem is still on game pass and is my favourite game in recent memories).
i would also recommend checking out Gamika.me, it makes filtering game pass (and ps plus) games much easier imo (although it can be a bit slow to load initially).
I haven’t played Requiem yet but the first game was shockingly great, especially for a game I’d never heard talked about anywhere. It’s a no-brainer especially if you like stealth games.
+1,000 for Requiem. I adored the first game, and Requiem instantly jumped into my top 5 favorite games of all time. Such a tense, beautiful, well-written experience.
Ravenlok is dope. It’s easy, and button-mashy, but my god the visuals and music make up for all of it. It swept me away. I think it would be especially fantastic for kids, but definitely enjoyable for adults to.
Valheim is great in single-player, to my surprise.
I like Redfall. ducks But seriously, I do. I like the big open world, the over-the-top vampire thing, the feeling of finding the best way to sneak up on the enemy and take them down. The guns feel satisfying to me. I get excited every time I find a better one. I’m curious where the story is going. Some of the set pieces and environmental storytelling moments are really cool.
I haven’t encountered many bugs at all. One time some enemies appeared out of nowhere, but honestly that just fit in with the vibe of the game anyway.
The AI is dumb, but… I’m finding I don’t care. They’re numerous and still manage to kill me sometimes. I’m ignoring it entirely the same way I ignore it in the original Deus Ex.
It’s not a Dishonored or a Prey, but it’s not trying to be, either. It’s great if you just want to explore an interesting map and do some sneaking and shooting and looting.
I’m obviously the minority in this opinion, but also, it’s on gamepass, so it doesn’t cost anything to try if you haven’t. I almost didn’t because of the reviews and I’m very glad I gave it a chance anyway.
If you like power wash simulator, you might also like Hard space: Shipbreaker. The gameplay is different, of course, but it’s a similar general play of having a task and working at it. Just this one is in zero-G.
ghostlore, a diablo-like where you fight monsters from Southeast Asian folklore!
this game was made by two (2) (!!!) people from Singapore and it is very neat. it just launched out of early access and I’ve been having a ball
I am not what you would call a diablo aficionado, so I can’t speak to build diversity and end-game and all that stuff, but I very much enjoy how this game feels. i also like that character development is done via a tetris board, and the fact that you can turn into a tiger
most importantly though, I’m happy to just play a game that isn’t based off the usual myth. I’ve been reading through every bestiary entry to learn about all the spooky monsters that I probably never would have known about if I didn’t play a game made by peeps from Singapore.
i didn’t get it on xbox game pass, but I do know it just got put up there. also, it runs perfectly out of the box on steam deck, no tweaking required
I’ve been working on that one. It’s pretty cool. I know nothing of the folklore, but I agree it’s neat to see something other than western fantasy in a game
I had a lot of fun playing the Ori and the Will of the Wisps and the sequel!
I don’t give the 2D platformer genre much attention, because I’m really picky with the kinds of games I play (to my own demise), but this game has me seeking out other fun platformers to play.
I have my eye on FEZ once I finish Breathedge (thanks Epic Games).
Don’t overlook Hollow Knight! Not on gamepass, but nonetheless.
My favs:
Banjo-kazooie, old school N64 3d platformer Slay the spire - rogue-like card/battle game Stardew Valley - relaxing farming and social sim - lots of heart Tinykin - pikmin / 3d platformer, really cute Vampire survivors - a 1992 style graphics roguelike survival/auto-shooting/auto-attack
fav stuff that left gamepass Spiritfarer, Hades, outer wilds (explore space!), wild at heart (pikmin-2D), myst
Outer Wilds has got to be one of my all time favourite games, it’s just so good! The echoes of the eye DLC is top notch too.
Obligatory reminder not to look up anything about this game ahead of time. It’s one of those where discovery is super important and joyful, and you can only play it for the first time once.
I’m embarrassed by the amount of hours I put into cluster truck lol.
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@m_talon I recently played Planet of Lana on there and it’s really great. My favorite game so far this year.
Perhaps not a sleeper, but signalis is outstanding if you’re into old school horror games
Oh man Prodeus! I feel like it got a burst of attention right at launch but I never hear anyone mention it anymore! It pulls so many good gameplay elements from classics like Quake and Doom, bringing together an engaging and action packed experience. That and I just wish there was any players online lol
Umurangi Generation! It’s a really cool game about punk photography in a near-future capitalist dystopia.
Was a sleeper - not sure it still counts, because it caught some good press, but Pentiment. Way more fun and engrossing than any short description makes it sound. And I feel like I even learned a bunch from it!
