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.

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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

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.

Fallout 76

Fallout 76 is probably the single most divisive point of contention for a lot of dedicated fans of the franchise — and deservedly so. At launch, the game’s many shortcomings, bugs, and awkwardly executed design choices were derided pretty heavily. With that said, it did establish one significant pillar for Bethesda to build upon: it created what was, for most intents and purposes, a multiplayer Fallout experience.

In the years since its unceremonious 2018 launch, the developers have had a lot of time to reflect, adapt, and course-correct — and all that tinkering has manifested in one of those from-the-ashes stories so rarely witnessed in today’s terminally online gaming ecosystem. In its current state, Fallout 76 is a pretty decent game, and a perfectly reasonable answer to the question, “What if Fallout 4 were kind-of an MMO?”

Now that we’ve spent entirely too much time on the preamble, the premise of the game is essentially summarized in the preceding paragraph. If you’ve played Fallout 4, then a lot of Fallout 76’s bones will be familiar to you. Largely taking place in the Appalachian region of West Virginia, Fallout 76 sees your custom-made character emerge from the depths of Fallout 76 on “Reclamation Day” alongside your fellow Vault Dwellers and try to bring some semblance of civilization to the surface world while surviving its nuclear-ravaged wilderness.

It’s a solid translation of the Fallout formula into a multiplayer format, complete with quests, NPCs, a number of factions both familiar and foreign, and that signature wasteland weirdness that makes the setting so special to begin with.

Botany Manor

If you’re looking for a relaxed, contemplative experience with just a dash of puzzle-solving, then it’s definitely worth stopping in to Botany Manor for a visit. Taking the role of Arabella Greene, you’re tasked with carrying out a bit of botany research in and around — you guessed it — the eponymous Botany Manor.

Progressing through this surprisingly vibrant and colorful 19th-century estate is accomplished by way of researching and growing various fantastical flora. You’ll collect various clues for creating each flower’s ideal growing conditions, note them in a journal, and solve thoughtful, fun little puzzles to get them blooming. All the while, you can observe various bits and baubles fleshing out the life and times of Arabella.

Altogether, it’s a peaceful, walking-simulator-esque experience that’s perfect for a quiet and cozy evening at home.

Superhot: Mind Control Delete

The slogan of “Time only moves when you do” doesn’t quite convey the sheer awesomeness that is Superhot. The game’s simplistic geometric designs and sparsely colored environments belie its true nature. Superhot is a game that captures the complexity of a puzzle game with the straightforwardness of a first-person shooter. You are placed in various scenarios where armed opponents rush your position to attack you. Your objective? Eliminate your enemies. The catch? Well, you’ve read the slogan.

Though you might expect Superhot to just be a run-and-gun, point-and-shoot type of game, it’s actually fairly cerebral. When you are moving, things occur in real-time, and dodging a bullet in real time is difficult to say the least. It’s important to remain in position for a bit to take stock of your surroundings and figure out what your next move should be. People have called Superhot “innovative” more times than we can count, and though it has become a bit of a meme at this point, there is no denying this indie title’s creativity.

Diablo IV

Despite the grim and bloody atmosphere of Diablo IV, playing through the game is actually enjoyable and entertaining. With the trademark dungeon-crawling and ARPG looting that the Diablo series is known for, this fourth installment doubles down on the amount of activities that you can get up to and lose yourself in for hours. The grinding on offer in Diablo IV is astounding. You can spend your time exploring the entire map, diving into every dungeon, creating every class of character and experimenting with builds, or just beelining toward the main narrative.

In this title, your character has to contend with Lilith, the Daughter of Hatred, as she tries to “help” humanity against the forces of Hell. Unfortunately for humanity, her help consists of disturbing rituals, allying with some Lesser Evils, and ultimately a lot of death. So in addition to a lot of content to occupy yourself with, Diablo IV has a pretty gripping narrative too. And you can play the whole thing in both online and local co-op.

The Quarry

If you’re like us, you have a fondness for campy horror. If you’re like us, you also have a fondness for watching campy horror with your friends. The Quarry brings these two joys together in a way we haven’t really felt since Until Dawn (sorry Dark Pictures), and now you can experience it as part of the Xbox Game Pass library. You (and a group of buddies in both local and online co-op, how cool is that) take control of a collection of teen camp counselors. They get stuck in the titular Hackett’s Quarry during some sinister supernatural shenanigans, and it’s up to you to get them out of it.

Or not. Based on split-second, quick-time-event choices or certain dialogue paths you take, you can either save these summer camp counselors or doom them to a grisly fate. However, don’t let that stop you from having fun with these options. As you and your friends set these characters on their respective paths, even if it ends up costing them their lives, you’ll experience a campy horror story for the ages. The Quarry essentially puts you in charge of this tale, and no matter how it plays out, you’re bound for a great time.

Space Engineers

We almost just want to say, “Minecraft in space,” and then basically mic drop and leave it at that. But this would be doing Space Engineers a disservice. Yes, you can explore what feels like a limitless world, collecting resources, building bases and spacecraft, and fending off extraterrestrial threats. The creativity you can show off while playing Space Engineers is practically boundless. But another huge part of what makes the game so much fun is the physics of it all.

As you contend with gravity, escaping and using it for your own means, you can begin to appreciate the effort the developers put into making this aspect of space travel not just a side dressing, but a whole meal to be delved into. And to top it all off, you can play with up to three other friends. What’s not to love about space Minecraft?

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

A retro Doom-like sporting the Warhammer 40,000 banner feels so obvious in retrospect that it’s easy to get stuck wondering why this didn’t crop up among the initial legion of 90s Doom clones. But it’s better late than never. Heck, it’s probably better late than on-time in this instance.

Boltgun slaps you right into the power-armored boots of a Space Marine, hands you a chainsword and, you-guessed-it, boltgun, then lets you loose on the benighted Forge World of Graia to paste a colorful and extensive gaggle of heretics, demons, and Chaos Space Marines. It’s relentless, brutal, and everything a boomer shooter set in the 40k should be — plus a little more. Funnily enough, Boltgun’s core setting, Graia, is a playful nod to Relic’s former Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, as well as a nod to its upcoming sequel.

The selection of lore-appropriate weaponry is extensive, ranging from your humble bolter to wildly exotic weapons like the Grav-Cannon, so you’ll never run out of options for crushing heretics. But the cream of the gory crop is easily the chainsword — utilizing it results in dashing toward foes from absurd distances, and actually landing it entails button-mashing as your weaponized chainsaw rips through whatever’s unfortunate enough to get stuck. The game’s a remarkable blast for its simplicity, and an extremely gratifying experience for any fan of the genre.

Maneater

They say there’s always a bigger fish. Sometimes that fish is a shark! Maneater is the premier shark simulation game of the decade. That may not be a rabidly competitive niche to take on, but nonetheless, it’s a pretty gripping concept. The game puts you in the shoes (or fins, rather) of a shark that’s out for revenge after the producers of a shark-hunting television program injure her and kill her mother. But in order to get big enough to exact your razor-toothed vengeance, you’ll need to evolve and unlock new abilities by… well, eating fish (and the occasional person), of course.

However, you’ll encounter numerous obstacles in your violent aquatic endeavors — other predators and even shark-hunting bounty hunters will seek to obstruct your blood-soaked objective, but perseverance is key to a shark’s life in all things. Altogether, Maneater’s a rare simulation concept that’s absolutely worth checking into. If only to say you’ve been a shark.

Dead Island 2

2023 is a year that will go down in history as one of the greatest in terms of how many fantastic games launched. This was the year of Tears of the Kingdom, Starfield, Alan Wake 2, and, let’s not forget, the gargantuan Baldur’s Gate 3. With this rush of jaw-dropping, triple-A titles that came out, it’s understandably easy to have missed many of the other games that came out. Dead Island 2 is just such a game that was solidly superb, but, given what its yearly compatriots were, you’d be forgiven for forgetting it.

Luckily, Xbox Game Pass is here to remedy that by including it in its library. If you want an affable-good-time sort of game, Dead Island 2 was made for you. Like its predecessor, its zombie apocalypse-driven storyline is constructed all so you can have some ghoul-slaying fun. You’ll be skipping around the streets of Los Angeles bashing in the heads of errant zombos left and right, and it will feel oh so satisfying. Killing zombies in a video game is an activity that will never go out of style, and it takes a game like Dead Island 2 to show you why.

Resident Evil 3

Another Resident Evil remake has graced our Xbox Game Pass library, and though RE3 is not as lauded as the RE2 remake, it’s still a nicely polished affair for fans of the series to enjoy. This time around, we play as Jill Valentine right about when Raccoon City falls into a zombie-filled shambles.

And just like Mr. X hounded Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, Jill’s got her own T-Virus monstrosity following her every move. Nemesis is a gargantuan threat that dogs Jill’s footsteps, and whenever he’s on the screen, you have to give him every ounce of your attention or Jill’s demise is a foregone conclusion.

Resident Evil 3 is often criticized for being a very short experience, but that can work to its advantage. Sometimes we don’t need a game that lasts dozens of hours; sometimes, we just want a game that’s refined and intense but doesn’t overstay its welcome. That game is Resident Evil 3. And best of all, you don’t have to worry if the cost is worth the time investment as it's all part of the Game Pass package!

Wartales

Wartales quietly entered and exited early access between 2021 and 2023 respectively, but has steadily amassed acclaim since — and with good reason. The core gameplay is that of a tactical RPG with heavy survival emphasis, but where it shines is putting the “open” into open-world RPG. The essential abstract here is the player taking control of a small group of down-on-their-luck mercenaries trying to make their way in an extraordinarily gritty medieval world, with particular emphasis on trying and gritty.

Battle is a frequent, brutal, and deadly affair, but only as much as managing your party’s economy, happiness, and day-to-day health. Journeying out to complete a contract and score some loot for a life-giving pile of coins may net a loss in terms of managing injury and disease sustained along the way, but it’s the nature of these unpredictable, emergent sojourns that lends Wartales such an extraordinary capacity for truly unique experiences between players, individual runs, and the like.

The sheer amount of variety in encounters, obstacles, recruitable party members, and how you choose to advance, progress, or abandon them to their grisly fates makes Wartales a particularly worthwhile endeavor if you’re between RPGs and looking for a fantastically deep experience to fill the void.

Palworld

Palworld is still in early access on Xbox Game Pass, and it’s currently a tad mired in some controversy regarding instances of “plagiarism” and “copycat designs.” However, that aside, Palworld gives us a glimpse of what it would be like if the formula we’ve seen used in Pokémon games over and over and over again was turned on its head. It’s a survival game that lets you craft resources and build bases while also taming and using Pals. But the joy of Palworld goes deeper than that.

Palworld’s sense of humor and direct addressing of some of the oddest conventions of the Pokémon games makes it a hilarious title to dip your toes into. You’ll find yourself not only getting immersed in the game’s deep resource-gathering, Pal-collecting, and boss-fighting mechanics, you’ll also find yourself laughing at Pal descriptions, outrageous NPC encounters, and wonky but charming design choices. Palworld isn’t the most polished game in the Game Pass collection, but it’s currently one of the most delightful. In a very unhinged sort of way.

Remnant II

We’ve already included the original Remnant: From the Ashes on our now gigantic list of best games on Xbox Game Pass, but not including its sequel would be a grievous disservice to what Gunfire Games manages to accomplish in this second outing. Remnant II takes us even deeper into the lore presented in the first game, and if the mysteries of the Root weren’t enough for you, just wait until you deep-dive read up on the identity of the Keeper, what the Labyrinth really is, and why the ending is the way it is.

But even if you’re not really into the story, Remnant II gives you a reason to return thanks to the fantastic way it has set up its class system. Called Archetypes, you get to combine two to create your own playstyle as you tackle the challenging bosses the game throws at you this time around. And once again, you can play it with a friend. What’s not to love?

Resident Evil 2

While there are plenty of great game remakes in the world, none of them showcase the same degree of polish, innovation, and care that Resident Evil 2 did. This remake overhauled the original game from the ground up. Where the original was this fixed-camera-angle campy horror fest, RE2 remake is a behind-the-shoulder tense collect-a-thon that's equal parts nerve-wracking and equal parts satisfying.

You can play as either Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield, roaming the halls of the iconic Raccoon City police station in search of safety and answers. Shambling zombies patrol the hallways, so while it behooves you to be thorough in your exploration, so you can collect items to make you stronger and more capable, every new room could contain your next death screen. And that’s before Mr. X and his pounding footsteps from hell show up.

If you love Resident Evil as a franchise, RE2 remake is a must-play. If you love a tight zombie survival experience, RE2 remake is a must-play. If you love fantastic games in general, RE2 remake is a must-play.

Hell Let Loose

On the tin, Hell Let Loose is a World War 2-era FPS in the vein of Battlefield. Most of the core elements are familiar to fans of the aforementioned franchise and genre — big maps, high player counts, and a selection of different combat roles with varying loadouts and job descriptions vie over strategic objectives and locations until one side of conflict secures total map control. That’s all pretty standard stuff.

Where Hell Let Loose diverges from the pack is in layered communication and strategy facilitated by the “Commander” role. Each team has one available slot for this role, and having it filled is critical for team success. The Commander has a smorgasbord of abilities — ranging from calling in air support to spawning powerful tanks and vehicles for players to operate — that can turn the tide of a battle.

They can even flatly increase the rate at which an objective gets captured, but all of these abilities are dependent on the generation of resources, which is in turn impacted by players building and maintaining resource nodes in the field.

But in order to make the whole machine turn, organized communication is pivotal. To this end, Hell Let Loose has three layers of VOIP set up: the proximity channel allows communication between different squads that are near one another, the squad channel allows communication within six-man squads, and the leadership channel allows effective, interference-free communication between squad leaders and the commander. For a WW2 FPS, it’s a fascinatingly nuanced experience that’s well-worth checking out for both strategy and FPS fans.

Rollerdrome

If you’ve ever wanted a mix of Doom Eternal’s frenetic gunplay with the combo-stacking tricks of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Rollerdrome was made for you. It’s a concept only geniuses could come up with, and that’s exactly what Roll7 are. The developers behind Rollerdrome knew what alchemical awesomeness they were brewing when they elected to combine the smooth flow of pulling skate tricks in a wide arena with the cerebral ballet of fighting off enemies with specific guns and tactics.

The game isn’t that long, numbering only a few missions before you “complete” it. But taking the time to master the skills that Rollerdrome requires of you is where the whole experience shines. Sure, if you’re looking for a fun, quick arcade-y time, Rollerdrome can be that for you. But it’s an homage to replayability, encouraging and daring you to return to arenas for another go. It’s hard to describe how satisfyingly challenging Rollerdrome is. We just hope you trust us when we say it’s totally rad.

Goat Simulator 3

Like its predecessor before it (Goat Simulator; there is no Goat Simulator 2), Goat Simulator 3 is an unsung hero of the simulation genre. There are sims that let you farm, fish, hunt, mow the lawn, and pressure wash, but none of these titles let you goat. Many come to Goat Simulator 3 for the obvious hilarity of being a goat that wreaks havoc on an island’s populace. But you stay for the surprising breadth of gameplay opportunities it gives you.

Coffee Stain Studios spared no expense when it came to making Goat Simulator 3. They could have just dumped you on a sparsely filled map with a few citizens to baa at, but instead, they gave us one hell of a game.

You can collect goat statues from hidden areas, unlock events that pay homage to iconic games and memes, adorn your goat with a plethora of apparel, upgrade your secret goat palace with spacious rooms and glorious trophies, participate in cooperative minigames sprinkled throughout the island, complete the goatiest of goat challenges, and that is still just scratching the surface. Goat Simulator 3 could have just been a silly game that appeals to your love of chaos. Instead, it’s the greatest silly game that appeals to your love of chaos.

Dune: Spice Wars

At its core, Dune: Spice Wars brings a digestible, bite-sized 4X strategy experience to Xbox Game Pass in fine fashion. It packs enough depth to keep strategy fanatics’ gears turning, but doesn’t sacrifice accessibility and pacing — a perfect intersection for both veteran strategy fans and genre newcomers.

You choose to play as one of several factions vying for control of the famed desert planet — and perhaps more importantly, its vital, naturally occurring resource known as spice melange. The Harkonnen, noble Atreides, wily smugglers, native Fremen, and more are playable depending on the specific game mode one decides to pursue, with each offering their own lore-appropriate perks and drawbacks.

Speaking of which, Spice Wars is quite amenable to the desired time investment. From action-packed, one-on-one multiplayer duels to lengthy solo campaigns rife with devious politicking, the game offers rule sets and match settings that scale appropriately to your free time.

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.