I feel like I need to document what games I’ve tried so far on Game Pass, if only for my own ability to look back in a few months when I’m deciding if I want to renew it (right now, it let me roll my Xbox Gold membership over so it hasn’t cost my anything and won’t until May 2022).

Here is what I’ve played so far:

• Monster Train – fun deck builder rogue-like, first game I downloaded to my PC on Game Pass and I keep going back to it.
• Call of the Sea – walking simulator and puzzle game with shades of Lovecraftian mythos mixed in. I actually finished the story on this one. LOVED the art style.
• Gwent: Thronebreaker – I had wanted to play this since it came out because I really enjoyed the stand-alone Gwent game but I wasn’t good enough to play against real people LOL. I liked this but it had some loading issues on my Xbox. It just left Game Pass so I guess I won’t be finishing it.
• Hades – BEST GAME EVER. BELIEVE THE HYPE. I finally completed my first run…escaped…then was sad…then I got right back into it.
• Twelve Minutes – played this for a bit, chatted with some other gamers about my experience, heard some mild spoilers about how it was going to go and decided it wasn’t for me. The gimmick of the time loop got old and I didn’t like the main characters at all and there’s something upsetting about being horribly murdered over and over every 12 minutes.
• Psychonauts 2 – I barely cracked this one open, just played the tutorial/intro that I saw at PAX East so not many surprises there. Will go back to it eventually, maybe.
• The Wild at Heart – just finished this charming adventure puzzle game on Sunday. I loved it so much, great story and art style and the whole puzzle system was satisfying. I hope to see more from this studio.
• Signs of the Sojourner – this is a story deckbuilder game, very chill vibes. Trying to buy supplies for the village store while discovering my mother’s backstory, all the while playing cards and matching symbols to get through different conversations.

I see Subnautica: Below Zero is on the way! I actually never finished Subnautica…oops. I restarted it a couple months ago but got distracted by new games. It is a good game, just have to be in the right mood for the base building. I might try Below Zero because I think the story is a little more focused?

But my biggest hype is for Forza Horizon 5 in November. I love that game series!!! Don’t ask me why – I could care about car racing in real life, but I love playing the Forza Horizon series. I think because it is so ridiculous and has a sense of humor about itself. I thought Forza Horizon 4 was perfect, all the different challenges and the online play, I loved the chaos of the festival game with all the online players racing through the world. SO HYPED!!!!!

Do you have Xbox Game Pass? What games have you tried and been pleasantly surprised by? Any on your “Play Later” list that you can’t wait to get to? Share in the comments or link me to your posts!