The Xbox Game Pass library is absolutely massive, and it’s nearly impossible to play every AAA and indie gem on the service. The nature of games coming and going every month also means there’s plenty of titles that just don’t get the love they deserve — and ones that get overlooked entirely.
If you’re currently on the lookout for your next big game, or you just want something new to love, there’s plenty of great games waiting for you on the service.
Here’s a few of our favourite hidden gems on Xbox Game Pass, and what you should consider playing next.
Drake Hollow
Drake Hollow is a gothic adventure-survival-simulator where you take the role of an explorer trapped in a mysterious realm called The Hollow. Like our world, it’s filled with life — but it’s also plagued by an oncoming darkness. To fend off the tides, you’ll need to team up with friends in co-op multiplayer or recruit plant-like beings known as Drakes to protect your new home.
With the Drakes and/or your friends at your side, you’ll be able to build new campsite structures, expand your safe haven, explore new lands and discover unique collectibles along the way. Basically, it’s a touch of Animal Crossing combined with some fantastic survival-style gameplay.
If you’ve yet to check it out, now’s the time.
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Blinx: The Time Sweeper is now most-known as a failed experiment to create gaming’s next big mascot. But beyond the internet jokes, The Time Sweeper is actually a solid early-2000s 3D platformer, and one that gives a great deal of insight into how the gaming landscape was changing at the time.
The time travel mechanic, which lets you reverse or stop time as you please, is genuinely fun — and it’s a real mystery why so few games have ever tried to replicate them on a grander stage. Each themed level is also a blast, and features a great amount of challenge for any player.
Sure, Blinx looks pretty naff and it hasn’t aged very well in its leap to the modern gen, but it’s still a great gem worth exploring.
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling
Bug Fables is a game with a singular purpose: to improve on the mechanics of the Paper Mario franchise and craft a beautiful, endearing tale to boot. And you know what? It succeeds.
The Everlasting Sapling is an adorable little game filled with sweet art, unique puzzles and a cast of characters that’s easy to love. If you grew up playing Bugdom, you’ll feel right at home in this adventure as you lead your buggy crew on a journey to uncover secrets in the land of Bugaria.
Like Paper Mario, it features simple, turn-based gameplay and an overworld positively brimming with wholesome stories and dialogue. It’s cute, charming, and deserves far more attention.
Curse of the Dead Gods
Curse of the Dead Gods had the unfortunate luck of being labelled a Hades clone on release because it shares a lot in common with its fellow rogue-like. Beyond the visual style, Curse of the Dead Gods is also filled with godly mythology, deadly weapons and powerful, ancient bosses — but to call it a clone is wildly unfair, and diminishes the fun of the game.
If you’re into Hades and you’re looking for more, Curse of the Dead Gods is a great next option.
The curse mechanics are a fun challenge, and each new room bears exciting and horrible surprises, meaning you’re constantly kept on your toes as you run through each dungeon. Sure, it does get incredibly difficult in its later stages, but persevering brings great, unholy rewards.
Carrion
Phobia Game Studio / Devolver Digital
Have you ever wanted to be a slimy, oozing flesh monster who consumes humans for fuel? Well, have I got the game for you. In Carrion, you play as a fleshy monster from the depths of hell charged with escaping a dense research lab filled with soldiers and scientists. Essentially, it’s like an adaptation of The Thing where you are the titular Thing.
It’s a relatively short game, and you can finish it over the course of a few days — but that’s what makes this experience so special. It’s short, sweet and very slimy.
Even if you don’t fall in love with the game’s beautifully fluid, pixel-heavy art style, you’ll certainly find some disgusting moments to cherish as you ooze your way to bloody glory.
Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life
Sea of Thieves on its own isn’t a particularly ‘hidden’ gem, but A Pirate’s Life still feels very, very underrated. If you’ve never popped into Sea of Thieves because you feel like it’s not your thing, or you don’t gel well with multiplayer titles, you should still absolutely check out the Pirates of the Caribbean-themed expansion.
In A Pirate’s Life, you can take on a range of puzzle-themed solo missions or team up with other newbie players to fight off Davy Jones, free Jack Sparrow and travel through the seas of the damned. There’s not a whole lot of pressure in these adventures, but they do give you a very good taste of what Sea of Thieves is about.
There’s no current timeline for when this content will leave Xbox Game Pass, but given these crossovers are usually created on timed, licensed deals, you should kick off your journey as soon as you’re able.
Pikuniku
Pikuniku looks like a cutesy game about flowers and magic in a woodland forest — but once you get past the game’s colourful aesthetic you’ll find it’s actually a dense 2D platformer all about the evils of capitalism. The narrative is extremely well-told, and it’s buoyed along by some great puzzle-platforming, intriguing exploration and a genuinely adorable cast of characters.
As you travel through Pikuniku’s idealistic, rainbow-filled world, you’ll quickly find yourself going on more complex quests, battling a host of villains and attempting to free the hearts of the game’s pacifist little creatures.
In a word, Pikuniku is surprising. It’s a game that’s so much deeper and more interesting than its cover art makes it seem, and it’s well worth checking out on Xbox Game Pass.
Costume Quest 2
In Costume Quest 2, you play as a young child whose main mission is to eat candy and defeat a dentist. Oh, but it’s not just any dentist — this dentist has unleashed a “dental dystopia” on a future world and banned Halloween for kids everywhere.
As the protagonist of Costume Quest 2, your job is to travel between dimensions, fight monsters in turn-based battles and save the future of Halloween in your town. The entire story is delightful, as is the game’s cast of characters, making Costume Quest 2 one of the most fun RPG experiences on Xbox Game Pass.
Like other titles on the list it’s relatively short, but it’s a great bit of entertainment, and perfect fodder for some afternoon fun.
Have you discovered any hidden gems on Xbox Game Pass? Have any to recommend to your fellow Kotaku Australia readers? Pop on down to the comments below and share your picks.
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