If you’re anything like me, the main reason you get an Xbox Game Pass subscription is because there are one or two specific games you want to play, but you don’t want to pay full price to buy them outright.
There’s nothing wrong with that; I’ve subbed and unsubbed from Game Pass multiple times over the years for that exact reason. Even if you’re only getting a month or two of Game Pass for one game, though, it would be a waste not to try anything else in the library.
8 Best Classic Xbox Games On Game Pass
From Gears of War to Ninja Gaiden, these are the best classic Xbox games available on Xbox Game Pass.
Game Pass’s library is full of games from across the size and quality spectrum, including beefy AAA stuff and compact indie offerings. If you have the opportunity to play more games before your sub runs out, what’s the harm in trying a few fodder titles?
To clarify, these games aren’t bad or anything, but rather, they’re short or simple enough that paying for them on their own might not feel like the best investment. They’re titles you might not have tried on their own, but if they’re free in the bargain anyway, you might just be pleasantly surprised.
The following games are available on Xbox Game Pass as of August 04, 2025. This list is subject to change with titles added to or removed from the library.
9Costume Quest
Short And Sweet Like Discount Candy
Costume Quest
When you’re presented with the notion of playing an RPG, especially a turn-based one, you’re probably going to settle in for a long, multi-sitting experience. But much like how Halloween only lasts one day,Costume Questis a bite-sized RPG that demands comparatively very little of you, making it a great way to sate that quick sugar craving.
As a young trick-or-treater, you travel through a handful of neighborhoods knocking on doors and claiming your spooky sweets. However, some doors have otherworldly monsters behind them, prompting you to transform into a gigantic, exaggerated version of your costume to fight them off.
It’s the kind of cartoon holiday episode premise every kid daydreams about at least once. In fact, this game had a cartoon adaptation, although I’m not sure if anyone besides me actually watched it.
I actually used to have an annual tradition of playing through Costume Quest in its entirety every Halloween. you’re able to beat the whole thing in a few hours, so if you have nothing better to do on Halloween night, and I usually didn’t, it’s a fun way to pass the time.
8Donut County
You’ll Never Look At Raccoons The Same
Donut County
Narrative puzzle games are typically well-suited for pleasantly quick play sessions. You sit down, rack your brain a smidge, andyou’re done in a couple of hours. That’s the kind of experience you get out ofDonut County, alongside a lot of amusing characters and delightfully obnoxious antics.
The central gimmick of this game is that you control a hole in the ground, which you can freely guide underneath furniture, buildings, and people. The more stuff you capture, the bigger the hole gets, and it keeps on growing until you’ve swiped everything in a level.
There are some puzzle bits, especially when the hole gets gimmicks like a catapult, but I never found any of them particularly difficult or stalling, so the pace of the game stays nice and brisk.
I think what I like about this game is that, tone-wise, it feels like a cross between Katamari and an old Flash cartoon. You’re swiping everyone’s stuff and homes, but unlike in Katamari, you get to see everyone in a hole at the center of the Earth afterward so they can yell at you. It’s a grounded take on a very silly concept.
7Lost In Random
An Imaginative Deckbuilding Adventure
Lost in Random
Certain deckbuilding games require a decent amount of personal investment. Even a roguelike deckbuilder may ask more of you than you’re comfortable with from a game you’re playing as a casual indulgence. That’s why I was happy to play Lost in Random the last time I had a Game Pass sub, becauseits deckbuilding system is very simple and straightforward.
Lost in Random is a mostly linear fantasy adventure, with exploration and dialogue puzzles broken up by brawler combat segments. It’s here that the deckbuilding stuff manifests; you roll your die after syphoning energy from enemies, and spend the resulting points to play cards. These give you weapons and beneficial effects, summon obstacles and emplacements, and throw your foes off-balance.
Unlike a competitive card game, you don’t need to put that much thought into how you configure your deck in Lost in Random. Just throw some weapons in there, some heals, maybe a few bombs and obstacles, and you’re golden. As long as you remember to dodge in combat, it’s a pretty easygoing experience.
6Neon Abyss
Like Gungeon, But Sideways
Neon Abyss
Game Pass is loaded with quality dungeon-crawler roguelikes to sink your teeth into, chief among them being one of my personal favorite roguelikes, Enter the Gungeon.
However, as with just about anyone who likes this genre, I’ve already played Enter the Gungeon to death on my own time, and don’t need Game Pass to boot it up again. If you’d like a roguelike you haven’t played yet with a similar vibe, try Neon Abyss.
Neon Abyss shares some DNA with Enter the Gungeon, placing a big emphasis on finding new and interesting guns and mixing them with ability-granting items. The main difference is that the game is on a horizontal plane rather than a top-down view, so there’s some platforming thrown into the mix. You can’t just dodge roll through every bullet; you need to be a little more mindful of gravity and spacing.
One thing I particularly like about Neon Abyss is its pet system, wherein you may find eggs that hatch into helpful little buddies. These buddies grow in strength and ability the longer your run goes, which gives you a nice incentive to stay alive beyond the obvious one.
5New Super Lucky’s Tale
A Nice, No-Frills Platformer
New Super Lucky’s Tale
As much as I like a platformer with a good hook or novel gimmick, sometimes it’s nice to go back to basics and play a game that reminds me of my childhood.
No grand story or wacky, abstract superpowers, just a little animal dude jumping around and picking up stuff. That’s the kind of gameNew Super Lucky’s Taleis, and it’s great for both the young and young-at-heart.
9 Best Platformers Inspired By The Classics
Multiple modern 2D and 3D platformers take cues from the greats of the past.
New Super Lucky’s Tale has all the ingredients of a pleasingly straightforward platformer experience with both classic and modern sensibilities. Sometimes you’re moving on a 2D plane, sometimes you get free rein in 3D.
Sometimes it’s just jumping on platforms, sometimes you have to solve a little puzzle with moving tiles or barrels or something. It’s not rocket science; just pick a level and do it.
As I mentioned, there’s something I find comforting about New Super Lucky’s Tale, as it reminds me of the level-based platformers I played on my N64 growing up. It’s the gaming equivalent of sitting in front of the window on a sunny day – not particularly packed with substance, but pleasant all the same.
4Superliminal
Get Existential Now, Ask Me How
Superliminal
As a former psychology student, I find explorations of the human psyche in fiction inherently interesting. Of course, not everyone has the interest or patience for an in-depth treatise on dreams and feelings; sometimes, all you need to get that little existential spark is a good hook, which is exactly whatSuperliminalis packing.
Superliminal takes place in a controlled dream state, where the motto is “perception is reality.” To solvea sequence of Portal-esque puzzles, you need to grab and move objects that seem like they should be immobile and impassable by simply readjusting your point of view. It’s a very simple puzzle-solving system on the surface, but the game is surprisingly good at psyching you out with just how simple it is.
Additionally, without giving anything away, I found Superliminal to be a very emotionally positive experience. If you’re having difficulty handling life’s troubles, playing this game might just give you a little smidgen of confidence by the time you’re done. If it doesn’t, hey, the whole thing is less than three hours, so no big loss.
Come For The Exploration, Stay For The Ukulele
As much as I like the idea of seeing other countries and civilizations, I hate traveling, so actually visiting places is off the table. That’s why I appreciate a game likeTchia, which is set on a tropical archipelago heavily inspired by the real-life islands of New Caledonia. Also, there’s magic and ancient gods, but I like mythology too, so that’s fine.
Tchia is a wide-open sandbox game where, following the introductory chapter, you have more or less carte blanche to explore the islands and uncover secrets. The game’s main gimmick, Soul Jumping, allows you to possess and control not only any wild animal, but also any inanimate object that isn’t nailed down. Climbing up to the top of a mountain, possessing a rock, and hurtling myself down at top speed never stops being entertaining.
Admittedly, the game’s main questline and story are little all over the place in tone and quality, but if you just want a fun sandbox to tool around in for a while, there areplenty of little secrets and minigamesto occupy yourself with.
2Turnip Boy Robs A Bank
Nothing Like An Old-Fashioned Shakedown
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
A friend of mine told me once that the main reason they don’t really like roguelike games is that they never feel like they’re making tangible progress, just spinning their wheels. I’d argue that it’s supposed to be very gradual, but if you really want a roguelike with a bit of a tighter sense of progression for it, then try out Turnip Boy Robs a Bank.
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank has a very tight progression curve that ramps up surprisingly quickly. At first, you’re only getting the bare minimum of cash from smashing displays and literally shaking down employees, but that money increases exponentially as you get upgrades and explore the bank.
If you stay focused exclusively on primary objectives, you could beat this whole game in as little as four hours, which is almost nothing compared to most roguelikes.
I also find that the game’s built-in timer mechanic helps to keep individual runs from dragging on too long. You can only hang around as long as the timer lets you, which might seem annoying at first, but it helps you to stay on task and keep your runs compartmentalized.
1Day Of The Tentacle Remastered
A Vintage Piece Of Gaming History
Day of the Tentacle Remastered
I still carry a torch for all the old LucasArts adventure games. Their puzzles may have been borderline incomprehensible, but the wacky character art and consistently funny writing keeps them from getting boring.
One of the most fondly remembered of those old games isDay of the Tentacle, the Remastered version of which is on Game Pass. It’s technically a sequel to Maniac Mansion, but you don’t need to have played that one to play this.
Following the game’s introductory section, its three protagonists are separated into three different time periods, occasionally requiring you to send items between time periods or futz with the past to affect the future. It’s surprisingly three-dimensional problem-solving for a point-and-click game that originally came out in 1993.
Unlike some other point-and-click games, especially those that also came out around that time, Day of the Tentacle is fairly low-pressure. There’s no dying or fail states, which I appreciate, because I don’t always remember to save as frequently as I should.
If you’re curious about older games or just want to see something silly, it’s a fun way to waste time between bigger Game Pass games.
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