A Bunch Of Great Indie Games Are Coming To Game Pass

Pour one out for my backlog and maybe yours, too. Arguably too many promising indie games are coming to Xbox Game Pass. Also, Microsoft Flight Sim will finally lift off on console, at least for those with next-gen Xboxes. Here’s everything coming to Game Pass over the next few weeks.

July 20

• Battlefield V (Cloud, via EA Play)
• Cris Tales (Cloud, Console, PC)

July 22

• Atomicrops (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Raji: An Ancient Epic (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Last Stop (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Blinx: The Time Sweeper (Cloud, Console)
• Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge (Cloud, Console)

July 27

• Microsoft Flight Simulator (Console, Xbox Series X/S-only)

July 29

• Lethal League Blaze (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Omno (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Project Wingman (PC)
• The Ascent (Cloud, Console, PC)

Today sees the launch of Cris Tales. Last year, the freakin’ gorgeous turn-based RPG popped up amid a crop of demos on Xbox. The ballyhooed time manipulation mechanics were no doubt neat, but the demo was a bit too brief to meaningfully flesh out how they worked, so I’m keen to hop into the full game to see if remains interesting over the course of the whole game.

On Thursday, Raji: An Ancient Epic, a terrific action-platformer steeped in Hindu mythology, launches as well. That’s joined by Last Stop, a sharply written adventure game from the makers of the mystery game Virginia. Earlier this year, I had a chance to play through — and was impressed by — Last Stop’s opening hours. (Full disclosure: I’m currently playing the full game right now but can’t tell you what it’s like just yet.)

This is all rounded out by The Ascent, an isometric cyberpunk shooter that was planned as an Xbox Series X/S launch title but was delayed just weeks before its release. The Ascent sports local co-op, apparently, so even if it blows, I’ll probably sink a gazillion hours into it.

As always, whenever Microsoft adds to the Game Pass library, it prunes the list, too. The following games will leave the Game Pass library on July 31:

• It Lurks Below (Console, PC)
• The Touryst (Cloud, Console, PC)
• UnderMine (Cloud, Console, PC)

RIP UnderMine, which we just added to our list of the best games on Xbox Game Pass.

Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s games-on-demand service. It’s $10.95 a month. The $15.95 a month “Ultimate” tier, meanwhile, grants you a number of perks, including an Xbox Live Gold subscription and bundled-in access to the EA Play library.