Here’s our round-up of five games we’d love to see on Xbox and Game Pass. There are so many great Xbox games out there, not to mention all the best Game Pass games. With that being said (and with those ever-growing wishlists and backlogs in mind) there are still several excellent games which we’d love to see come to Xbox one day, as well as titles which are already available on Xbox but which would be absolute winners on Game Pass. Heidi — Five games we want to see on Xbox and Game Pass in 2025Some of the games I’ve picked for this list are only available on PC or Nintendo Switch, but would go down a storm on Xbox. Others are already available for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, but we reckon they’d be a perfect fit for Game Pass.Whether it’s because a game has suddenly become so popular that it might be able to think about other platforms, or because they’re so great that they could help improve the Game Pass catalogue, here are our opinions on five great games we want to see on Xbox or Game Pass in 2025.Dave the DiverDeveloper: MintrocketPlatforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, PS4Release date: June 28, 2023Here I am, once again wishing for Dave the Diver on Xbox and Game Pass. To be honest, Dave the Diver is probably responsible for the idea for this list in the first place. The fishing adventure-RPG launched for PC last year, and I’ve been hoping, after all the huge popularity it’s gained, to see it come to Xbox.Its wild success is what gave us hope in the first place: after a triumphant debut on Steam, Dave then took his diving skills to Switch, and has since swum to PlayStation. Good progress, but not enough! Dave the Diver needs to bring its excellence to Xbox too. And it is excellent. It’s one of those rare games where there’s already so much brilliant stuff to do at the beginning, and then you put in a dozen more hours and suddenly, what? There’s so much more to do? The beginning was only the tip of the iceberg? Dave the Diver does an excellent job of frequently revealing enjoyable features while still managing to keep all that new content at the same level of quality. All the different parts of Dave the Diver meld so well: the restaurant management, the boss battles, the brilliant cast of characters, and, of course, the diving. Add to that a lovely art style, a brilliant sense of humour, a wonderfully weird story, and some truly excellent cutscenes, and, well, it should be on Xbox! Right, with that said, onto the next game we’re not-so-patiently waiting for on Xbox!Sun HavenDeveloper: Pixel Sprout StudiosPlatforms: PC, Nintendo SwitchRelease date: March 11, 2023“But there are hundreds of farming sims,” I hear you cry — this is true, and yet I can’t stop myself eyeing up all the new ones. Luckily, Sun Haven measures up to all my hopes so far. It has all the charm we’ve come to expect from farming sims since Stardew Valley, but it goes all-out on the magic and fantasy side of things. It is a hugely ambitious game — there’s so much more to do beyond farming, and this is all backed up by extensive skill trees which make it feel like you’re progressing all the time. Sun Haven’s ambition does get almost unmanageable when you take into account the other farms you unlock later in the game, so pacing out how you tackle the other areas helps address this panic. The art style is utterly lovely, the world is a delight to explore, and the entire thing is just a wonderful fantasy adventure to disappear into. After a lengthy time on Steam, Sun Haven is now on Switch. Admittedly, it’s been a tricky time getting the game onto Switch, and Sun Haven has its share of bugs and clunkiness, but once this is ironed out, I hope the devs might one day turn their attention to bringing the game to Xbox too. Moonstone IslandDeveloper: Studio SupersoftPlatforms: PC, Nintendo SwitchRelease date: September 20, 2023I had my eye on this one but had no idea I’d enjoy it as much as I did. Moonstone Island is a creature-collecting life-sim where you need to complete your Alchemy training in a sky littered with islands of all different sizes and biomes. These islands are filled with spirits, temples, and dungeons, and you spend most of your time happily zooming between these to fight and capture new spirits or uncover new loot. On top of this, you’ll also be making friends with the NPCs, growing crops, making potions, caring for your spirits, and upgrading and decorating your home. It’s a really enjoyable gameplay loop of collecting and raising up spirits (which are themselves wonderfully ridiculous — a sand-castle in a bucket, a lizard wearing a snorkel, and so on) and exploring the islands. It’s a bit of a contrast to Sun Haven but one thing I quite like about Moonstone Island is that it’s a little more toned-down. There aren’t too many NPCs, the farming isn’t the dominant part of the game, and the art style has a clean, pared-back look that gives the rest of the game room to breathe. Another thing which I like about Moonstone Island is that the days are pretty hectic. Normally, shorter days would be stressful (Stardew Valley taught us all to cram as much efficiency as possible in every day), but it’s actually quite refreshing in Moonstone Island to just zoom about the islands like the busy Alchemist you are. So far, Moonstone Island is only intended for PC and Switch, which is a shame; we love card battles and creature-collecting here too!The Plucky SquireDeveloper: All Possible FuturesPlatforms: Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PCRelease date: September 17, 2024The Plucky Squire is my latest obsession. It’s a dimension-hopping, action-packed, puzzle-and-platform-filled experience in which you come to learn that you’re a storybook character. You don’t have much time to digest this earth-shattering news, however, before you’re tasked with defeating the book’s villain, who’s booted you out and is trying to take over.The Plucky Squire himself, Jot, takes pretty well to the wild fact that he can now jump between dimensions, and we’re soon spun off on an adventure which takes us through the 2D pages of this book and the 3D world outside it. Another great twist is that you can occasionally rearrange the words of the book to change what’s going on in that page — creating new stairs, draining water, deflating frogs, you name it.The Plucky Squire is already out for Xbox Series X|S but it would be a fantastic get for Game Pass, especially since it’s already had its go on PlayStation Plus. The Game Pass library is massive but its monthly additions can range a bit in quality — The Plucky Squire would be a crowd-pleasing win.DinkumDeveloper: James BendonPlatforms: PCRelease date: July 14, 2022Dinkum might feel like the ideal mash-up between Animal Crossing and Minecraft, but it stands entirely apart as a wonderful game which would go down a storm on Xbox.It’s a farming sim set in a world inspired by the Australian outback, which in itself is an interesting change. Like all the best farm sims, you start from scratch and build up a town, attracting new inhabitants and terraforming and decorating everything you can get your hands on. That really is everything, too, since you can move the land block by block and reform everything to your own standards. It’s actually a little overwhelming how much remaking you can do — I usually go in with grand redesign plans and, after endless deliberation, end up carefully placing three flowers.We all loved Animal Crossing during lockdown, but it is a bit frustrating when you’ve picked some flowers and sold a few turnips and then have nothing else to do for the day. Especially since, at the start (when we’re most eager to play) you need to wait a long time for buildings to be completed before you can do anything. Dinkum doesn’t go for the same real-world timings, and so you can play nonstop in a Dinkum delirium.You’ve got the usual options of farming crops and animals (giant wombats, amazing) as well as catching bugs and fishing, but you’ve also got to hunt for food and fight predators, adding a layer of “oh my god everything’s trying to kill me” which sort of suits the outback setting. There’s also mining, which is stressful in its own special way. In the less panic-stricken portions of your day, you can also decorate your house and town. What better way to relax after being chased by crocs? No whisper of any platform yet except PC, but we are very much hoping this will change — especially since the game is, hopefully, coming to the end of its Early Access on Steam after some great content updates.Cult of the LambDeveloper: Massive MonsterPlatforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PCRelease date: August 11, 2022Like The Plucky Squire, we already have Cult of the Lamb on Xbox, but oh man would this be the perfect Game Pass game. It’s an odd setup: Cult of the Lamb mashes cute and creepy together so that you’ve got adorable, wide-eyed animals doing awful things in the name of the lamb. That lamb is you, who has been rescued from death and tasked with building a cult for the rescuer. This involves a combination of base building and going out on runs against rival cults and leaders, and it’s here where the gameplay loop excels. You have to choose your path on your runs and survive as long as possible, but meanwhile your followers are getting up to all sorts of hijinks and need a lot of attention when you get back (and you best hope you return triumphant, or they might start to lose faith).You need to decide on rituals and doctrines to keep everything balanced so that you don’t come back (well, not as often) to ill, hungry, angry followers threatening to leave and take your gold with them. Add to that that they’re a rowdy bunch at the best of times (requesting pranks on friends and meals of poop) and you’ve got your hooves full, especially since you have the power to murder/sacrifice/do all sorts of unpleasant stuff.Sure, Cult of the Lamb might not need the boost in players which Game Pass can give. It’s already massively popular with a dedicated fanbase and everything from a metal album to themed weddings at PAXAus. It’s more that Cult of the Lamb is one of those excellent games which dips so well into various genres and features that it’d be sure to be a crowd-pleaser on Game Pass.It’d be great to be able to put any of these into our list of upcoming Game Pass games, but what do you think? Anything you’re keen to see come to Xbox or Game Pass? Let us know in the comments!
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