Xbox sales have once again been hitting the storefront this week to offer keen-eyed bargain hunters some great games for amazing prices, and the TA news team is on-hand to help you locate some fantastic finds.If colourful titles from some fantastic developers for a lucrative price in the Xbox sales are what you’re after then take a look below, because that’s what we’re offering up today. Quaint beginnings to horticultural empires, high-speed track racing to slow-paced escapades, and flailing fisticuffs to precise tactical teamwork… take a look below and you might find your next adventure.Xbox sale bargainsHeidi — Stardew ValleyWhen is Stardew Valley ever not a good bargain? It’s available with Xbox Game Pass, sure, but Stardew Valley is the kind of magnificent game you want to own anyway, just so you can look at it with pride as it sits in your library. If you’re lucky enough that you haven’t tried it yet and can play it for the first time, then all you need to know is that you inherit a rundown farm and a plot of land from your grandfather, and leave the city to start a new life in the rustic town of Stardew Valley. It’s got that irresistible hook of starting from scratch, and you’ll need to work hard to turn your land into a respectable farm. Stardew Valley pretty much has everything you might be looking for in a farming RPG sim: a wonderful town full of interesting characters, the chance to build your farm the way you see fit, plenty of activities to try out, and a spot of magic to boot. Whether you’re on your first playthrough or your 15th, Stardew Valley is full of charm — and at 30% off, I might have to get it again…Stardew ValleyYou’ve inherited your grandfather’s old farm plot in Stardew Valley. Armed with hand-me-down tools, you set out to begin your new life. Can you learn to live off the land and turn these overgrown fields into a thriving home? Ever since Joja Corporation came to town, the old ways of life have all but disappeared. The community center, once the town’s most vibrant hub of activity, now lies in shambles. With a little dedication, you might just be the one to restore Stardew Valley to greatness!Kes — Gang BeastsI adore beating up my mates. Taking on three of them in a violent battle just reaps rewards when you win. It’s about ego, glory, and skill — the chance to look down at their obliterated bodies and laugh in the knowledge that I, Kes, have shown my supremacy over these peaceful fools. It starts by throwing wild haymakers at the rotund head of whoever squares up to you. “Bro, you want some?” “Yes,” says their silly, stupid, slimy mouth. Now, we’re scrapping. You can’t just square up to a man wearing a pirate hat and not expect my cannon fists to open up a broadside barrage of pain. It’s a bit of a shame, then, when the one-versus-one contest is ended by the other two idiots coming flying in with headbutts that Vin Diesel’s endless forehead would quake at. You throw things at them, back them up against corners, keep reloading and firing your cannon-like fists, and screaming various impoliteness about the state of their predicament in facing off against me. So goes the merry-go-round until someone is knocked out just long enough that you can carry their limp body to a train track and wait for the nine-o‘-clock to London Paddington to obliterate them. Someone, in this instance, was the mighty Kes — Pirate of Pembrokeshire, first of his name, abysmal Gang Beasts player (it’s on sale, and it’s good). Gang BeastsGang Beasts is a silly multiplayer party game with surly gelatinous characters, brutal slapstick fight sequences, and absurd hazardous environments, set in the mean streets of Beef City.Luke — Operation: TangoI like weird games. One of my favourites is VR bomb defusal party game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, and I think my love for two-player heist-’em-up Operation: Tango stems from the DNA these two completely different games share. It’s all about the division of key information — in the case of Keep Talking, that’s the VR player being the only one who can see the bomb and the manual team being the only ones with the defusal know-how. Here, though, it comes via the fact that the spy and operator players both see the world very differently, but in both cases, clear and concise communication is the only way to win. Naturally, the agent is the more action-oriented of the pair, throwing themselves around a series of suitably elaborate locations while the handler hacks systems, disables cameras, and even has to be the agent’s eyes sometimes. Perhaps the agent stumbles across an invisible laser grid and needs to be guided through it by their tech-savvy buddy who can track the beams; maybe the operator cracks a system to find key data that will help the agent correctly identify a mark on a crowded train; the spy might find important documents that hold the keys to letting the hacker get deeper into a security system. It’s fast-moving, fresh, and incredibly entertaining, even when things go wrong… and oh, how things will go wrong. Anyone who has enjoyed the kitchen chaos of Overcooked! will know how amusing a good disaster can be, and Operation: Tango too provides plenty of opportunities for hilarious failure. Objectives change slightly each time you play a mission, and this combined with the two very different viewpoints — you’ll need to see everything through both sets of eyes to get all of the Operation: Tango achievements, too — gives the game some decent longevity and variety for what initially feels like it could be something of a novelty act. It’s also got a bit of an escape room vibe to it, so you’ll probably dig it if you enjoy getting locked in places and having to puzzle your way out. 45% off is the best deal this colourful co-op espionage adventure has enjoyed so far, so if you’re looking for something slick and smart to blast through with a buddy, Operation: Tango offers a unique experience that you won’t want to miss.Operation: TangoIt takes two to save the world in this cooperative spy adventure. Pair up with a friend as Agent or Hacker—with only your voices to connect you—and work together to bring a hi-tech global menace to its knees.Sean — Hotshot RacingDo you have $3.99/£3.19/€3.99 and want a decent arcade racer with a tough achievement list? Then you should definitely pick up Hotshot Racing this week. It’s a wicked little racer that will have you throwing a car around corners while speeding through gorgeous retro-style environments that are filled with colour and excitement. There are 16 different tracks to conquer and a variety of different game modes, all of which can be played in split-screen or online with your pals. Aside from the classic Grand Prix and Time Trial modes, there are some really fun, more arcadey modes that are a great laugh with pals. Cops & Robbers will have you either fleeing with cash and trying to bank it or playing as a cop and ramming the other team off the road, while Drive & Explode will have you driving above a target speed. Drive & Explode is simple, but when you’ve got some furious AI or a couple of dastardly pals trying to push you into a side wall, it becomes quite exhilarating. That being said, the AI is really quite a pain. It’s honestly ruthless and borderline unfair, even on normal difficulty, and that is part of the reason why the Hotshot Racing achievements have such high ratios. There is also a fair bit of grinding you’ll need to complete that can get a bit tedious. However, if you can put that aside, Hotshot Racing is a great arcade racer that’s a lot of fun with pals. And for just a few bucks/quids/euros? You can’t do much better. Hotshot RacingHotshot Racing is a blisteringly fast arcade-style racing game fusing drift handling, razor-sharp retro visuals and an incredible sense of speed to create an exhilarating driving experience. Tom — Farm TogetherWhen I first looked at the list of games on sale this week, I was immediately — and quite predictably — drawn to Chivalry 2 for its beautiful use of violent altercations. My favourite. After seeing everyone else’s picks, though, I couldn’t help feeling like I was really ruining the unintentional and largely wholesome theme that we’d managed to curate, so I changed my pick to something wildly different. Farm Together is a far cry from my usual recommendations, but it holds a special place in my memories due to the countless hours I shared with my little boy — good memories, and I’m definitely not bitter about the number of cows that I had to purchase. It’s a great little game that gives you a tiny plot of land to start building your farm on, with the hopes that you’ll be able to help it grow into a thriving estate. You control a little farmer either in solo play or co-op and use their green thumbs to plant flowers, trees, and vegetables, build various farming-related buildings, create ponds, raise animals, and a host of other things that aim to make you rich. It’s all wrapped up in a lovely cartoon-esque art style and features a jolly soundtrack. It’s fun to play, but the completion is a grind, so expect to be playing it for around 200 hours if you want to earn all 56 Farm Together achievements. It’s currently rocking a 40% discount in the sales, but if you have children, I think it’s definitely worth every penny. Farm TogetherGrow your own farm all by yourself, or cooperate with your friends in this unique, relaxing farming experience!Will you be grabbing any of these lovely offerings or have you got your own suggestions for us? Let us know in the comments below!
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