Following the success of Game Pass, Game Pass for PC was announced in June 2019, two years after Xbox One fans were first able to access the console's video game subscription service. Now available in the Beta phase, the PC version includes games that have been adapted to be played with a mouse and keyboard style of gameplay rather than with a controller, and offers players access to over a hundred different titles.
There are many popular and classic games available, but it can be a pretty dense list to sort through. Fortunately, you'll be rewarded for digging into Game Pass for PC with a few diamonds in the rough, just like these titles.
Bleeding Edge
Ninja Theory, the studio behind DmC: Devil May Cry, released a brand new 4v4 team brawler game reminiscent of Overwatch. Players choose between twelve different characters, each with their own ranged or melee attacks, as well as three special abilities and one ultimate move. Each character is also grouped as one of three class types: damage, support, or tank.
There are currently only four different map options available in Bleeding Edge. However, each offers unique environmental hazards that characters may be able to take advantage of with their unique abilities. Players will choose between two different modes of gameplay, the first being a king-of-the-hill style where players will need to work together with their team to occupy and defend points on the map from the other team while they try to rack up 600 points needed to claim victory. In the second mode, players will find themselves searching the map to collect power cells, but players will have to wait for drop zones to become available to deliver the cells and earn their team points so it can become a free-for-all with both teams clashing to steal cells from their opponents to take the win.
The Surge 2
This third-person perspective action roleplaying game is set in a dystopian future where humanity stands on the brink of extinction, and the planet's resources have all but been exhausted. Players can customize their character at the start of the game, and the vast array of weapons and armor, as well as implants, will further individualize gameplay options. There is a level of strategy to The Surge 2, as both armor and implants will consume core power, one of the character's general stats, so players will need to pick and choose which armor to craft and which implants to use without fully draining power.
Battle mechanics in this game focus heavily on stamina, penalizing players both for button-mashing as well as relying too heavily on blocking attacks. Instead, players should focus on precisely timed strikes, targeting specific limbs for weaknesses and watching enemies' attack patterns to avoid unnecessary, stamina draining attacks.
Surviving Mars
If you are looking for something a little less action-packed, Surviving Mars may be a nice change of pace. From the developers of the Tropico series, this city-building simulation puts players on Mars to build and maintain a settlement. The developers used real data to model the game to give it more realism, and, unlike traditional city-building games, players will need to prioritize oxygen, shelter, food, and shelter if they hope to have any success. Other resources, such as metal and concrete, will also be required to build and maintain the biomes where inhabitants will live. The resources to maintain life on the red planet is finite, so players will need to plan ahead in order to keep disaster from striking.
There are also mysteries to be discovered that can either help or hinder settlements, from finding new scientific discoveries or unleashing a plague amongst your settlers. Players might even find that they are not the only ones living on the planet.
Astroneer
Another out of this world game for players to enjoy is the space-themed sandbox adventure game, Astroneer. At the start of their journey, players will be given a few tools and will find themselves on a home planet, mostly devoid of life, and the freedom to explore the solar system. Planets found here will have resources that players can harvest to craft items and build on their own home planet. There are no real objectives or narrative to follow. However, players will need to manage their oxygen on foreign planets as they search for resources. All operations, whether it is refining raw materials or crafting new tools, will consume power. Players will be able to control the speed that operations are completed by supplying each operation with power, allowing prioritization of tasks.
With no quests or other objectives to follow, Astroneer can be a very relaxing video game experience for players looking to unwind.
My Time At Portia
Farm-life simulator and roleplaying genres come together in My Time At Portia. The character finds themselves in the strange new town of Portia as the owner of their father's old building workshop. It is in terrible disrepair, and players will need to work to restore the workshop while also growing crops and raising animals. Valuable resources can be found around Portia, and if the character has enough funds, the player can send them into the mines. Monsters and fearsome bosses can be found in the depths of the mine, so players should keep a weapon on-hand if they plan to delve deep underground.
As characters perform actions, their stamina will deplete, and if it runs empty, they will be able to do little more than move around and will be unable to collect items or protect themselves. While stamina can be recovered by eating certain foods, the only surefire way to fully refill stamina is to sleep. Time will pass in Portia as players go about their day, but they will only have until 3 a.m. to complete tasks, or their character will fall asleep automatically, and they will wake up in their bed. Days and seasons will pass, and players will be able to participate in festivals with the townsfolk, and these festivals are a great way to build relationships with the people of Portia.