Microsoft’s Game Pass service is easily worth the price of admission. Many might balk at the concept of having their video game library locked behind a subscription service, but the fact is subscribers get access to an incredible selection of titles spanning from indie darlings to triple-A blockbusters for a surprisingly affordable monthly fee.
With such a dizzying array of fantastic titles on display, it can be a daunting task deciding which ones are worth a player’s time. Given that the cost of entry is taken care of with the subscription fee, the most pressing matter is determining the best use of your hard drive space. Thankfully, the diamonds of this collection are readily apparent. Here’s a look at the greatest games that Xbox Game Pass has to offer.
Don't yet have Xbox Game Pass?
The selections listed here will include games available on EA Play, which is included with a subscription to Game Pass Ultimate.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
- Released
- November 11, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Violence, Blood and Gore, Language
The adventures of the Master Chief have never been as accessible as they are in the Master Chief Collection. This gathering of Halo games is the definitive collection of 343 Industries’ endeavors to immortalize the series. Not only is every mainline Halo game (not counting Halo 5: Guardians) included, but the fantastic Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach were added as well.
From beloved campaign co-op to thrilling Firefight matches to iconic multiplayer modes, the Master Chief Collection has it all. Anyone who thinks of themselves as a Halo fan should consider it a must-play from Xbox Game Pass. And for those who have never completed the Master Chief’s saga, there is no better way to finish the fight.
Heretic + Hexen
For the second year running, id Software and Nightdive have dropped a treasure trove of boomer shooter goodness directly onto Game Pass. This year, it’s two of the most well-known and loved Doom clones of all time — Heretic and Hexen.
If you’re familiar with their souped-up port of the classic Doom saga, Doom + Doom 2, then you’re going to be more than a little familiar with the offerings they’ve packed in here: brand new campaigns for both titles, modern online multiplayer, mod support, a toggleable remastered soundtrack from Andrew Hulshult, QOL bits and bobs like 4K resolution, freelook, and much more besides.
As for the games themselves, you’re getting two-thirds of a fairly unique, dark fantasy romp experienced through the medium of a good, old-fashioned first-person shooter. With Heretic, you’re taking on the role of an elf with a bad attitude embarking on a revenge quest to slay one of three Serpent Riders (think evil, powerful demi-god bent on world destruction). With Hexen, you’ll essentially do the same thing somewhere else — but the twist is that you’ll pick one of three heroes (a warrior, cleric, or mage) to do the deed.
Neither game’s going to plunge you into unfamiliar territory if you’re at all familiar with Doom, but they innovate and tweak the formula enough to keep it interesting. Heretic introduces an item inventory — you can pick up and carry little bits of kit like healing flasks and, you know, eggs that immediately transform your enemies into chickens — and each of Hexen’s hero classes has slightly different stats and an entirely unique arsenal of weapons. If you missed these two gems during their heyday, then here’s your ticket. If you’re an old fan, then it’s as fine a “welcome back” as any.
Grounded 2
The first Grounded game is amazing. It refreshes the rather worn genre of survival-crafting with a charming and unique take. Instead of surviving a zombie apocalypse or a remote deserted island, you’ve been shrunk down to the size of an ant and have to contend with backyard insects, obstacles, and hazards. Grounded 2, despite being a Game Preview and therefore not complete, is still a delight and, even in its unfinished state, an improvement upon its predecessor.
You can feel the expertise gained by Obsidian Entertainment from its first run around the block in every blade of grass you chop, spider you stumble across, and mutation you upgrade. As you can tell, I’m a huge fan of Grounded. I’ve sunk hours into the first game, and I look forward to sinking even more into the second. (Just never thought it would be the cockroaches that would scare me more than the spiders this time around.)
Little Nightmares II
The first Little Nightmares game was a stupendous iteration of the atmospheric horror formula originally pioneered by Limbo. You controlled a small, relatively helpless protagonist in an eerie world full of danger, working your way through platforming puzzles. What Little Nightmares in particular brought to the table was an iconic style, incorporating Tim Burton-esque monstrosities and terrifying fairy-tale inspirations.
Little Nightmares II ups the stakes with more dangers, more gut-churning “antagonists” with their unique and chilling gimmicks to inform level design, and more mystery surrounding the narrative. The story is absorbed through environmental details, which I know can turn some people away. But when the environment is this good and this frightening, you know you’re in for a wild ride consuming the narrative, bit by contextual bit.
High On Life
Made by some of the minds behind Rick and Morty, High on Life is the zany FPS experience you’ve been waiting for. You can’t go three minutes in the game without confronting the humor and crassness fans have come to know and love from the show. Hell, you can’t go one minute in the game.
But humor aside, High on Life is an entertaining shooter game that combines a solid foundation of FPS mechanics with the sort of platforming you’d expect to see in 3D platformers of old. If you’re looking for something hilarious and engaging (and you’re in the mood to play a video game instead of watching a show), we most heartily recommend playing some High on Life.
The Ascent
The Ascent mashes together several elements that get along swimmingly — the charm and action of a twin stick shooter meet the loot-heavy shenanigans and progression elements typical of isometric action-RPGs in a delightful cyberpunk setting. Players control “Indents,” so-called employees of a massive corporation as they work to pay off their contract’s debt. Up to four players can roam the gritty arcology of the planet Veles, engaging in shootouts with rival gangs or mechanized ferals.
Combat in The Ascent is intuitive and never feels like a grind. If anything, despite the raucous, neon nature of the world, lighting up the streets of the metropolis with a handful of friends is simultaneously relaxing and exciting. The Ascent keeps players riveted with the entertaining gunplay without bogging them down in hard-to-learn systems. It’s everything one could want in a cyberpunk-themed game.
Rise Of The Tomb Raider
The “Survivor” trilogy, as the newest Tomb Raider games are colloquially known as, is one of the best ways to experience Lara Croft’s story and character. And if we were to pick out the jewel of this trilogy, it would have to be Rise of the Tomb Raider.
This middle entry improves upon the foundation the original laid down and avoids the mistakes its eventual successor makes. Narrative-wise, it focuses on Lara’s drive to uncover the secrets her father first delved into and her need to overcome the guilt she feels at both disregarding her dad’s theories as well as dragging her friends into these dangerous endeavors. What follows is an awe-inspiring, and often harrowing, adventure into the secret of immortality.
You’ll solve puzzle rooms a la Indiana Jones-style treasure caves and shoot your way past Trinity goons who are trying to reach that eternal-life-giving secret before Lara. Rise of the Tomb Raider combines the adventure you’re used to seeing in this series with a more emotionally impactful story, and it succeeds in giving us the kind of journey you can only experience in a Tomb Raider game.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
- Released
- October 2, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
It’s about time that Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time made it to Xbox Game Pass. Several Crash games, including Team Racing and the N. Sane Trilogy, are on Game Pass already. Us Crash fans were basically twiddling our fingers until Crash Bandicoot 4 came along too. The most recent installment in this legendary game series marries the nostalgia of the past with the polish of the future.
Crash and Coco are back in 3D platforming goodness, jumping and running through various levels, all new, but all hearkening back to the style of platforming from Crash’s heyday. Expect to die a lot in some of the harder levels, especially if you’re looking to collect everything. But as with most Crash Bandicoot games, there is such a degree of replayability here, that it’s worth your while to take up install space for this instant favorite.
The Alters
Xbox Game Pass is on a winning streak, and they just keep on coming! The Alters is the latest in a series of great games to launch on Microsoft’s premier subscription service, and it is a phenomenal gem of a game, another notch in the belt alongside the likes of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Oblivion Remastered, and Doom: The Dark Ages. In The Alters, you play as Jan Dolski, the only survivor of a spaceship/station that’s been stranded on a dangerous planet. And with just one man around, the only way to get back-up is to use alternate copies of himself.
Using alien elements Jan is able to pull up versions of himself that possess the skillsets he requires. So if he needs a medical doctor around, he can “generate” the alternate-universe version of him that became a doctor. Sounds strange? IT IS. But its unique take on the base-building and management sim genre is unparalleled, especially in how it explores its narrative themes of what is and what could have been.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Master Crafted Edition
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Master Crafted Edition
- Released
- June 10, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
If you’ve stuck with us through the literal years of curating and adding to this list of the best games on Xbox Game Pass, you might have sussed out that we’re massive Warhammer 40k fans. Whether we’re talking Boltgun, Rogue Trader, or Darktide, we’ve played and loved them all. Same for Saber Interactive’s Space Marine 2.
So, of course, logically, we thoroughly love Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Master Crafted Edition. Bearing in mind this is a remaster of an aged game, this is such a fun glimpse into the series’ past. Don’t expect the polish of its sequel, but consider this an enjoyable hearkening to the days of the Xbox 360.
You step into the mighty Space Marine boots of Titus as he deals with an Ork invasion on an Imperial Forge World. He’s got his OG squad with him (ugh, freakin’ Leandros), and they’re on Graia to slaughter through the horde. The star of the gameplay is clearly the melee combat, with level design and gunplay both feeling fairly basic compared to what we see in the sequel. But it’s a blast from the past that we both enjoy to no end. The Codex Astartes DOES support this action.
