Signalis (Xbox Series X|S)

Rose-engine games served up one of the biggest surprises of 2022 with Signalis, a return to the classic survival horror style of old-school Resident Evil with a sci-fi twist.

We don't want to ruin a second of what this superb horror game has in store for you, but what we will say is that it absolutely nails the retro-Resi vibe its going for whilst bringing plenty of its own twists, a superb narrative and a truly haunting and super stylish setting for players to nervously inch their way through. If you have even the slightest interest in survival horror or sci-fi, this one's a total must-play.

  • Xbox Game Pass? Yes

Spelunky 2 (Xbox Series X|S)

Mossmouth's Spelunky, which released all the way back in 2008, is one of the truly great platform games released in the past few decades. A fiendishly difficult, but endlessly additive and inventive affair, it was hard to see how the developers could improve upon its wonderful gameplay loops, but improve upon them they have with this stunning sequel.

Spelunky 2 takes everything that was great about its 13 year old predecessor and refines it to perfection, resulting in a platformer that sucks you in and threatens to never let you go again. Yes it's tough, yes it gets repetitive, but this is a game we find it almost impossible to put down once we're in the zone. This one's another fantastic addition to Xbox's Game Pass service.

  • Xbox Game Pass? Yes

Spiritfarer (Xbox Series X|S)

Released back in August of 2020, Thunder Lotus Games, superb Spiritfarer is a feel good exploration of death and the effects it has on those left behind in its wake. It's also a fantastic base-management sim, a slick platformer, a clever metroidvania and a whole lot more besides.

Feel good? Death? Yep. With a wonderfully touching story that's jam-packed full of charming and memorable characters, Spiritfarer manages to explore depressing themes with a lightness of touch that makes the whole thing feel like a wonderfully uplifting experience.

With glorious visuals, a surprisingly lengthy and engaging campaign, and a shift away from the usual grind of Animal Crossing style town management, Stella's adventure to the Everdoor is a captivating and special one that you should absolutely dive into at the soonest possible opportunity.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

Stardew Valley (Xbox One)

With so many farming sims on the market right now, it can seem tough to decide which is the best one to go with. However, we're here to tell you the decision is actually easy, it's Stardew Valley.

One of the first titles in the genre to push farming sims properly into mainstream consciousness, Stardew Valley is just an incredibly addictive game that makes tending to crops and managing relationships some of the most fun its ever been. Since its initial release multiple updates have further expanded the game and turned it into the ultimate, refined version of itself. Even if this genre doesn't appeal to you, this is one experience you do not want to miss out on - and it's on Game Pass so you've really got no excuses!

  • Xbox Game Pass? Yes

Subnautica: Below Zero (Xbox Series X|S)

The 2021 follow-up to Unknown World's excellent 2018 original, Subnautica: Below Zero gives fans of the series more of the fiendishly addictive survival, crafting and base-building gameplay loops that made its predecessor such a joy to play.

Set once again on Planet 4546B, this new adventure sees you crash land in the frigid north of the island, where you set out to track down your lost sister before getting tangled up in a whole new set of unearthly problems. With a bigger focus on narrative — there's fully voiced cutscenes and everything here — and a more curated feel to the smaller section of world you explore, this is a more user-friendly experience for newcomers that gets you into its action in a less convoluted way than the first game.

It may lack a little bit of the horror, the feeling of desperate isolation and solitude that made Subnautica so utterly compelling, but this sequel absolutely delivers on plenty more deep sea survival action and is one of our gaming highlights of this year so far.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

SUPERHOT (Xbox One)

Superhot Team really delivered the goods when they dropped Superhot back in 2016. A super stylish, super slick and super clever FPS, this one sees you faced with an army of well-armed foes who only move when you do, time standing still until you decide to push it forward by making your play.

What this results in is one of the coolest time manipulation games out there, an awesome puzzle game/shooter that quickly gets under your skin and stays there. It's hugely addictive, hugely challenging stuff that revels in inventiveness and keeps you coming back for more in order to blast through its levels in increasingly cool ways. Dodging a bullet in this game is the closest you'll ever come to being Neo. Superhot is an absolute banger.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

Tails of Iron (Xbox Series X|S)

Odd Bug Studio served up a real treat earlier in 2021 when they delivered this beautiful 2D Soulslike RPG that's absolutely dripping in surprises, secrets and top notch combat action.

While it may look like Darkest Dungeons with rats, and there's certainly an element of that here, there's so much more going on in Tails of Iron. From its exquisite 2D world that's jam-packed with oddball characters, secrets, loot and more, to some thoroughly addictive and brutally satisfying combat, this is a unique RPG experience that really blew us away and kept us coming back for more until we'd seen its campaign through. With a running time of in and around eight hours, it also doesn't outstay its welcome, providing a wonderfully crafted little package that you should definitely make the time to check out.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Xbox Series X|S)

When we first heard that Streets of Rage 4 publisher Dotemu was set to release a similar Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, we were left with extremely high hopes. Fortunately, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge turned out to be a fantastic addition to the Xbox library of indie games, and one that you should absolutely check out if you enjoy classic side-scrolling brawlers.

In our review here at Pure Xbox, we called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge a "totally radical retro delight", giving it a 9/10 score in the process. Here's a bit more from the review:

"With a look and feel that painstakingly recreates classics such as Turtles in Time, whilst adding in a ton more detail, refining combat and giving you six player online/local co-op to boot, this is a fantastic slice of arcade beat 'em up nostalgia..."

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

Terraria (Xbox One)

Take Minecraft, batter it into a 2D, 16-bit form, add a lot more combat and you've pretty much got yourself 2011's excellent Terraria.

This one absolutely cribs wholesale from Mojang's masterpiece with a deep crafting system, fully destructible world from which to pilfer resources and a day/night cycle where more beasties beckon from the darkness than they do while the sun's out. However, it's fully its own thing too, with much more focus on combat and slick adventuring that keeps you hooked in due to that mega-deep crafting factor, Terraria is a delightful little game that'll suck hours of your life away if you let it.

  • Xbox Game Pass? Yes

The Artful Escape (Xbox Series X|S)

The delightfully named Beethoven & Dinosaur has delivered up a superb slice of platforming action in The Artful Escape, a musical romp through outer space that sees you playing protagonist Francis Vendetti, jump, kick, slide and thrash your guitar across some wonderfully colourful levels that factor light rhythm game mechanics into their fun.

With a stellar soundtrack, excellent writing and a voice cast that includes Jason Schwartzman and Lena Headey, this is a delightful romp with solid platforming action that's all wrapped up in one high-class package.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

The Ascent (Xbox Series X|S)

Neon Giant's slick cyberpunk shooter is a graphical tour-de-force, a proper next-gen indie effort that looks and sounds absolutely incredible.

Dropped into the futuristic dystopia of Veles, The Ascent charges its players with fighting back against various criminal factions who are vying for control as they investigate the mystery surrounding the collapse of The Ascent Group. The story might be complete bobbins but it's the action you'll stay for as it's non-stop, ultra-slick, ultra-violent mayhem with some completely OTT, screen-shattering weapons to devastate your futuristic foes with.

With support for up to four player co-op in both local and online flavours and tons of upgradeables, unlockables, powers and hacks to kit your team out with, this is one twin-stick, top-down shooter you should get stuck right into.

  • Xbox Game Pass? Yes

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (Xbox One)

Edmund McMillen's indie roguelike masterpiece may be full of disturbing themes and imagery — the game is based on his own traumatic childhood — but it is, nevertheless, an absolute joy to spend time with once you settle into its art style and core gameplay loops.

No two runs through this twin-stick mayhem are ever the same, with tons of unique items and enemies, hugely challenging levels and non-stop fun and surprises. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth serves as an enhanced remake of the 2014 original, featuring a more advanced engine that allows for substantial amounts of new content and gameplay features.

With three generous add-ons now available, this is one roguelike that will kill you over and over and over, but always give you plenty of delightful reasons to get back up and keep coming back for more. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a bloody delight.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

The Forgotten City (Xbox One)

The Forgotten City takes its inspiration from a mod released for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim back in 2015, although this is very much its own standalone adventure, and it proved one of the pleasant surprises of last year, with our 8/10 review here at Pure Xbox calling it "a delightful puzzle box of ideas".

The game is a narrative-driven time loop adventure in which you need to travel 2000 years into the past and discover what happened to a cursed Roman city, where if one person sins, everyone dies. It's fair to say we weren't expecting this one to be quite so fantastic, but it ended up being listed on a wide range of GOTY lists.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (Xbox Series X|S)

We waited such a long time for The Stanley Parable to finally arrive on Xbox, and it absolutely didn't disappoint when it finally dropped in 2022 in the form of The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, becoming one of the very best Xbox games of the entire year according to Metacritic. Seriously, this game is that good!

We reviewed The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe here at Pure Xbox as well, where we gave it an "Excellent" 9/10 score and praised it for providing an "excellent expansion of a bonafide classic interactive adventure".

"All of the new content here simply embellishes what came before, resulting in a wonderful piece of art that's now better, more ultra and, you might even say, deluxe than ever before."

  • Xbox Game Pass? No

The Witness (Xbox One)

Jonathan Blow's incredible The Witness is a towering achievement in game design. Initially, it appears to be constructed of relatively simple puzzles which require you to connect simple dot matrixes with lines and so on, but the reality is that The Witness is slowly teaching you a language that you'll eventually use to solve almost inconceivably clever problems with. It's a game that stretches its idea to unimaginable boundaries. In terms of immersive puzzle titles, we can't think of many that come close to the level of this bonafide masterpiece, and even if you feel like puzzles aren't really your bag, jumping in here and engaging with what's on offer may very well surprise you.

  • Xbox Game Pass? No