What is an “Xbox game”? Fairly recently, the answer was simple: An Xbox game is a game that you play on your Xbox. But now, with Microsoft pushing a multiplatform strategy — and openly challenging preconceived notions of what even counts as a platform — determining the best Xbox games isn’t as straightforward as it was.For us, though, the answer is still pretty simple, if somewhat evolved. Some games (Halo, Forza) will always be Xbox games regardless of how many platforms they land on, the same way a mobile Mario game is still a Nintendo game. But others fall under the broader category of, if an Xbox is the primary way you play games, you shouldn’t miss these — regardless of who published or developed them.What follows is our list of the best Xbox games as of April 2025.How we pick the best games on XboxThe Polygon staff plays a lot of video games, and everything in this list comes personally recommended by at least one of us. We determined what should be on our list of the best Xbox games by looking at the quality of each title, but also with an eye for breadth and variety — so you should find something on the list you’ll enjoy, no matter what genres of game you like, how much time you have, or what vibe you are after.Halo Infinite$20$6067% off$20Halo is Xbox and Xbox is Halo. Yes, the most recent Halo game, Halo Infinite, is technically playable on Windows PC, but it’s just not the same. There’s something to be said for sitting down on the sofa, Xbox controller in hand, shouting about the reds and the blues (though maybe without the once-requisite Mountain Dew). It’s an intangible feeling of correctness.Four years in, Halo Infinite is as correct as it gets. Since its 2021 launch, developer Halo Studios (née 343 Industries) has consistently added features to Infinite. Firefight, Halo’s horde mode, wasn’t ready upon release but is back with multiple modes (and a third-person variation no less). The Forge map creation tools have resulted in a steady flow of community-made maps that match the quality of developer-made ones, ensuring the meta is always fresh. Periodically, new weapons shake up the sandbox. All of this fuels a robust competitive scene that’s hotter than ever. The promise of an infinite Halo has finally come to fruition. —Ari NotisRead Nicole Carpenter’s full review of Halo Infinite.$0 at Xbox$20 at Xbox (campaign)$60The natural end point of Bethesda’s “if you see it, you can walk to it” proclamation from the Skyrim days was this: If you see it, you can drive to it. That’s Forza Horizon 5 in a nutshell. Sure, the Forza Horizon series might be a bit zanier than the buttoned-up flagship from which it spun, but it is infectiously more fun. Forza Horizon 5, in particular, puts things into overdrive.Set in Mexico, it’s a bit more vibrant than the Cotswolds that defined its predecessor. Forza Horizon 5 also goes all in on the series’ wild side. You start the game Fast and Furious style, driving out of a literal plane; later, you race a freakin’ train. And between these set pieces, you can tackle really type of race you desire — sprints, circuits, off-roads, you name it — with a library of cars more extensive than Jay Leno’s garage. Best of all, for those who struggle with racing games, there’s a handy rewind button that lets you try that turn again (and again, and again). —ANRead Owen S. Good’s full review of Forza Horizon 5.$60 at XboxElden Ring$36$6040% off$36FromSoftware established its formula with games like Dark Souls and Sekiro: Die a zillion times in a row against an enemy until you memorize their patterns and defeat them. But the studio perfected it with Elden Ring: Die a zillion times in a row against an enemy, give up, then go somewhere else to die a zillion times in a row against a different enemy. Maybe you’ll eventually defeat them! Who knows? But it’ll feel rewarding as hell if you do.The allure of Elden Ring goes beyond just combat, though, satisfying as it is. Elden Ring also showed how fascinating an open world can be when it conveys a level of mysteriousness. Instead of holding your hand between every waypoint, the way many open-world games do, it explains precisely nothing. Every dungeon is a new mystery. Every lore dump is a new twist. Every character has something to contribute to the world you’re in (which was designed in part by Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin). And with an expansion that builds tremendously on the base game — 2024’s Shadow of the Erdtree — Elden Ring remains one of the strongest open-world gems on Xbox. —ANRead Michael McWhertor’s full review of Elden Ring.$36 at XboxResident Evil 4 Remake$20$4050% off$20I can’t think of a better reason to revisit a touchstone of survival horror than Resident Evil 4 Remake. This lavish remake manages to bring another level of polish to an already beloved game by pairing completely overhauled graphics and controls with the core gameplay of the original. Just like its source material, you play as handsome government agent Leon Kennedy as he undertakes a covert mission to rescue Ashley Graham, the daughter of the U.S. president, from a Spanish cult. The game follows a relatively straightforward pattern where you’ll explore, scavenge, craft, sort through items, and fight off hordes of super powerful cultists in third-person combat. It’s a system that worked in 2005 when it was first released on GameCube, and it still works now. That the remake adds other flourishes — like a parry system and additional settings to tweak gameplay difficulty — is an added bonus. While I can grant that guts and gore might not be everyone’s cup of tea, Resident Evil 4 Remake is an easy recommendation from me. Leon’s easygoing demeanor and corny jokes cushion what could be an overly drab scenario. Overall, it’s a thrilling time that’s made even more complete with the release of Separate Ways, a new DLC starring superspy Ada Wong. —Ana DiazRead Michael McWhertor’s full review of Resident Evil 4 Remake.PowerWash Simulator$17$2532% off$17I like PowerWash Simulator because I still meet people who don’t believe it is real and who question if something like it could ever be fun. I am here to say that is both very real and well worth your time. Developed by FuturLab and published by Square Enix, the title of PowerWash Simulator perfectly encapsulates what you do in the game: You hose stuff down with a power washer.In each assignment, you walk around in third person and wield a power washer that you aim and shoot to clean various surfaces. Generally speaking, jobs include everyday objects like a van or a children’s playground. However, the developers later added whimsical cleaning subjects like Lara Croft’s mansion and SpongeBob SquarePants’ iconic pineapple home. It’s not a high-adrenaline shooter experience, but nothing beats the feeling of cleaning a nice crisp line of grime to reveal a bright, shiny surface. It’s very relaxing, and there’s an ASMR-like quality to it all. Additionally, it’s a wonderful game to play with friends. That way you can split the work and chit-chat as you power wash all your worries away. —ADRead Cass Marshall’s full review of PowerWash Simulator.$17 at XboxVampire Survivors$5$5If you ever want to treat your brain with the pleasure that comes with collecting thousands of glittering objects, then I have the game for you. Vampire Survivors is a roguelike and bullet hell developed and published by Poncle. It is both an approachable game to start and an even easier game to get hooked into, making it a go-to recommendation for Xbox Series X owners. Each playthrough runs more or less the same. In it, you choose a character, like an archer or a sorcerer, who comes with one basic power. As you navigate the pixelated terrain, your character will automatically attack the enemies around you at a regular pace. All that’s left for you is to shred through hordes of enemies and reap their sparkly rewards to upgrade your character. Vampire Survivors is an endlessly replayable delight, and a great game to check out on your Xbox. —ADRead Justin McElroy’s full review of Vampire Survivors.$70For my money, one of the best games of 2023 wasn’t a game itself, but a significant expansion of one that debuted two years earlier: the Freelancer mode for Hitman World of Assassination (née Hitman 3). Freelancer puts a roguelike twist on the series’ traditional murder-for-hire action, demanding players improvise their way through series of mission with randomized objectives as Agent 47 attempts to take down international crime syndicates.The most open-ended and challenging Hitman experience yet, Freelancer mode is a high-risk, high-reward exercise that is designed to test your ability to adapt to unpredictable circumstances. It takes place across more than 20 different locations that have been released as part of this modern Hitman trilogy, so knowledge of each map’s nooks and crannies is vital. And you’ll have to earn every piece of assistance, whether they’re weapons (e.g., anything with a silencer) or items (coins for distraction, syringes for quick incapacitations or kills).Every move you make could be your last one; all it takes to ruin a flawless run is a single ill-considered plan, just one seemingly minor slip-up. I will leave you to prepare, 47. —Samit SarkarRead Mike Mahardy’s full review of Hitman: World of Assassination’s Freelancer mode.$70 at XboxCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War$20$6067% off$20The secret heart of Treyarch’s Call of Duty games since 2008 has always been Zombies. The wave-based survival mode is equal parts silly, challenging, and endlessly repeatable... in Black Ops Cold War, Treyarch has brought the focus all the way back to zombies and how you kill them.Black Ops Cold War doesn’t reinvent the Zombie-mode wheel. It keeps most of the basic ideas that Treyarch has added to the mode over the last 12 years, but simplifies them down to their most fun elements.The best example of this comes from Black Ops Cold War’s map, which takes the original Nazi research lab from the first World at War Zombie map and expands it into a modern, much larger, Zombies experience. [...] Everything I do in the map now feels like it’s in service of my survival. —Austen GoslinRead Yussef Cole’s full review of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War.$20 at XboxDevil May Cry 5 Special Edition$10$4075% off$10Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition isn’t a new game like many of the others on this list, but it is one of the first examples out the gate that put the promises of next-generation hardware on full display. The world of Devil May Cry always seems to be slick with something — water, demonic ooze, slimy roots of a world-sized tree filled with blood. All of that dazzles with easily accessible ray tracing, even if it’s a little stomach-churning. Some of the most memorable set piece battles look better than before, and having a higher frame rate makes the constant action much easier to follow.Capcom stuffed the game with characters on the first go-round, switching the campaign between three heroes with their own distinct, over-the-top fighting styles. (And the special edition adds big bad Vergil as a playable option, letting you replay the entire campaign from a new perspective.) All these options offer variety that makes the campaign — which embraces demonic camp as well as any great CW show — worth experiencing all over again. This was an excellent game when it came out in 2019, but hopefully its special edition treatment means more people will appreciate its campiness and stellar action. —Chelsea Stark$10 at XboxAssassin’s Creed Valhalla$15$6075% off$15Valhalla is securely a role-playing game with a stealth influence, instead of the other way around. It allows the player to enact both large-scale battles and quick assassinations while hidden within a crowd. The Vikings, too, introduce their own expression of stealth in their raids, where narrow longships sneak up to encampments to attack without warning.Eivor has an assassin’s blade, a gift given to her from Sigurd. Hers, though, is not hidden — she wears it atop her cloak, because she wants her foes to see their fates in her weapon.Valhalla’s most intriguing story is one about faith, honor, and family, but it’s buried inside this massive, massive world stuffed with combat and side quests. That balance is not always ideal, but I’m glad, at least, that it forces me to spend more time seeking out interesting things in the game’s world. —Nicole Carpenter Read Nicole’s full review ofAssassin’s Creed Valhalla.$15 at XboxOri and the Will of the Wisps$10$3067% off$10Ori and the Will of the Wisps already appears on our list of Xbox One game recommendations, but it’s worth highlighting its Xbox Series X optimization. Players who own a compatible television will be able to experience the eye-popping visuals of Ori at 120 frames per second in 4K and HDR.In a post on Xbox Wire, Gennadiy Korol, co-founder and lead engineer at Moon Studios, explained that the team also designed a 6K Supersampled Rendering Mode for the Xbox Series X version of the game, as well the option for players to switch between the 4K mode (which runs the game at 120 frames per second) and the 6K mode (60 frames per second). The developers also did another pass on the game’s sound design, including more dynamic range and reverb in certain parts.Ori and the Will of the Wisps was already worth playing in its original form, with its lush environments and poignant soundtrack allowing it to stand out from the crowded 2D platformer genre. The Xbox Series X upgrade makes it stand out even more. —Maddy MyersRead Andrew King’s full review of Ori and the Will of the Wisps.$10 at XboxThe Outer Worlds$19$6068% off$19I knew I’d love The Outer Worlds as soon as I stumbled into a cave and met a bleeding, dying gentleman.I offered to help, but he hesitated. Was I using Spacer’s Choice health care products? His contract clearly states that he can’t use a competing product. This was my first real introduction to the weird, corporate dystopia of the Halcyon system, where giant, sprawling conglomerates have the final word on just about everything, and everyone is simply trying to get by.But maybe I can help with this whole mess, if I decide to try. The game begins with Phineas Welles — a guy who’s a little like a nicer Rick, sans Morty — waking me from cryosleep aboard the colonist vessel the Hope. The Hope was lost in space, I’ve been frozen for 70 years, and the entire system went straight to hell while I was on ice.So I’m emerging into a space-capitalist nightmare, and Welles is asking me for help. I’ve just got to murder some robots and raiders, meet the locals down on some of the nearby planets, and try to figure out whether I’m down with Welles’ vision of eating the rich.And I gotta admit, I’m a little hungry. —Cass MarshallRead Cass’s full review of The Outer Worlds.$19 at Amazon (Xbox)$30 at XboxSuper Mega Baseball 4$5$5090% off$5The Super Mega Baseball games have always been bursting with charm, delivering the trappings of semipro sports with a goofy sandlot spin. The series drew me in with its silly fictional athletes and ball clubs, a world of lovable chuckleheads that I got to know over the course of two terrific video games. I never expected that Super Mega Baseball 3 would weaponize those emotional ties in the best way, turning my attachments to my favorite teams and players against me in its excellent, demanding franchise mode. And by all accounts, Super Mega Baseball 4 is even better.With the original Super Mega Baseball in 2014, and its 2018 follow-up, Canadian indie studio Metalhead Software brilliantly captured the spirit of the simple, fun sports games that many of us remember from our childhoods. But rather than reviving the exaggerated power-ups of NBA Jam and NFL Blitz, this series blends the cartoony essence of Backyard Baseball and Power Pros with a sound baseball simulation. Where else can you play as a team called the Sirloins, and mash home runs with a mutton-chopped slugger named Hammer Longballo?Of course, the Super Mega Baseball games wouldn’t have succeeded without a foundation of rock-solid baseball mechanics beneath the surface. But it was the combination of the action on the field and the humor infused into everything else that turned Super Mega Baseball from a novelty series into one of the best success stories in sports video games. There’s nothing quite like it on the market these days. —SSRead Marc Normandin’s full review of Super Mega Baseball 4.$5 at XboxOuter Wilds$15$2540% off$15How to describe Outer Wilds, Polygon’s game of the year for 2019, without ruining everything that makes it great?It’s surprisingly difficult, because the more you describe it, the less mysterious it becomes, and keeping the mystery alive is an enormous part of the game’s appeal.Here’s how Colin Campbell began Polygon’s Outer Wilds review:Outer Wilds is a nonviolent, first-person exploration-puzzle game set in a solar system that’s sprinkled with delightful mysteries. Its secrets are scattered among a whirling orrery of planets, which I probe and investigate.That’s the stone-cold truth of Outer Wilds, from a helpfully mechanical point of view. It’s an important, incomplete part of the description. You ought to know what you do.Thing is, the magic in Outer Wilds is as much philosophical as it is mechanical, which is why Chelsea Stark began our game of the year essay like this:Games have long fixated on humanity’s quest to play colonist, conqueror, or anthropologist, learning about and usually seeking to control everything beyond our own horizons. But Outer Wilds delivers one of the most ambitious tales of discovery I’ve ever seen in gaming, without a focus on violence or domination. It’s a triumph that we at Polygon are happy to declare our game of the year for 2019.So, yes, Outer Wilds tells the story of an alien species with adorable wooden spaceships, with which you explore the solar system — and in the very process of doing so reveals a mystery that would be a tragedy to spoil. —Polygon StaffRead Colin’s full review of Outer Wilds.$15 at XboxSea of Thieves$20$4050% off$20Sea of Thieves arrived on Xbox One and Windows in 2018 to a mixture of oohs, ahhs, and ughs. The first several hours in the game are a blast, particularly with friends. Learning how to sail, navigate, plunder — basically, how to be a pirate — is challenging and hilarious. The hours after that, at least at launch, were less exhilarating than repetitive.But Sea of Thieves is a living game. Since its March 2018 release, developer Rare has expanded the game with new areas to visit, loot to chase, and group activities to enjoy. Microsoft appears committed to this adventure, rewarding players who’ve chosen to stay on the ship and finding new ways to attract those who leapt overboard. Its anniversary update was a big demonstration of that commitment.Even if you don’t find yourselves on these beautiful seas, you should make time to stream a couple of quests for buried treasure. The game is nearly as fun to watch as it is to play. —Polygon StaffRead Nicole Carpenter’s full review of Sea of Thieves.$27 at Amazon$20 at Xbox$40Control is a wonderfully weird game. It’s also gorgeous.Its story and its characters are equal parts challenging, confusing, and intriguing. None of them is offensive enough to remain off-putting. Each makes you want to explore deeper and learn more — and it helps that Control looks and feels great while you unravel the mysteries of the Oldest House.Control manipulates light and shadow not just to look great, but to serve the very foundation of the narrative. Aspects of the game can seem weird or disjointed, but everything in Control is deliberate, which you’ll see if you stick with it. Uncertainty is a feature, not a bug.Developer Remedy Entertainment fully committed to Control’s pulpy, surreal premise, and that made Control as much a technical marvel as an artistic achievement. —Dave TachRead Dave’s full review of Control.$40 at XboxGears 5$7$3077% off$7Much like Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Gears 5 is a last-generation game that received a makeover for the Xbox Series X. The Coalition’s entry in the long-running Gears of War franchise looked good when it first came out in 2019, but now it has new and improved 4K visuals on the Xbox Series X, and can run in 120 frames per second in Versus multiplayer.Gears 5’s optimized version also makes some changes to input latency. In a post on Xbox Wire, The Coalition’s director of communications Dana Sissons ran down the stats: “In campaign, input latency is reduced by 40% and in Versus MP, this latency is reduced up to 60% over Xbox One X, meaning that player inputs translate to movement on screen much faster, allowing for an incredibly immersive and competitive experience.”The upgraded version of the game includes the option to replace Marcus Fenix with Dave Bautista, but it’s worth playing the campaign the ordinary way first if you never have. —Maddy MyersRead Dave Tach’s full review of Gears 5.$7 at Steam$10 at XboxRed Dead Redemption 2$15$6075% off$15Red Dead Redemption 2 ladles an astonishing amount of game over a meticulously drawn world that begs to be sipped and savored. Part action game, part cowboy simulator, part lament on steamrolling progress, part exploration of American ideals real and imagined, developer Rockstar Games created a sprawling — and at times shocking, or frustrating — epic every bit as grandiose as the Western films and novels that inspired it. Open-world sandboxes are nothing new to Rockstar Games, but Red Dead Redemption 2 plants a flag in the ground, declaring that the studio isn’t limited to a single, high-profile franchise. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a declaration that its quasi-Western epic stands toe-to-toe with its studio sibling, Grand Theft Auto. The staggering amount of human effort required to bring this game to fruition shows through in every vista, every dimly lit street corner, every bespoke animation for human and animal alike. That effort also, shortly before the game’s release, became a story unto itself. Reports of crunch demonstrate that games like Red Dead Redemption 2 often don’t ship without exacting a toll, voluntary or otherwise. —DTRead Chris Plante’s full review of Red Dead Redemption 2.$15 at Xbox$40The Xbox One X may be the best place to play Nier: Automata, besting the notoriously messy PC port at launch. If you need to be sold on the action RPG from Square Enix and PlatinumGames, it won’t take more than a few seconds of Googling to find dozens of odes from its devotees.That includes Polygon, as Nier: Automata landed a spot Polygon’s game of the year 2017 list. We praised it not just for being a good action-RPG-shooter hybrid, but for using its mechanics to comment on what makes games so beautiful, nasty, fun and complicated.If you need more convincing, Nier: Automata also had one of the best soundtracks of 2017. —Polygon StaffRead Janine Hawkins’ full review of Nier: Automata.$40 at XboxSunset Overdrive$5$2075% off$5Sunset Overdrive may be the weirdest AAA exclusive of the last console generation, tossing together a self-aware and silly story (an energy drink hastens the zombie apocalypse), superhero abilities, and a beautifully gaudy open world that can be traversed in a variety of playful ways. Developer Insomniac Games’ adventure feels like the artwork painted onto an old arcade cabinet brought to life.It’s unusually bright, colorful, and light. Its weapons are jokey weapons; its enemies are filled with neon orange goo. It doesn’t get in the way of itself with gloominess or a heavy dramatic twist. Sunset Overdrive is pure, unadulterated fun.As an exclusive, it’s also a bit of history now, given that Sony acquired Insomniac in 2019, folding the developer of Ratchet & Clank, Spyro, and Marvel’s Spider-Man games into the PlayStation family. —Polygon StaffRead Arthur Gies’ full review of Sunset Overdrive.$5 at XboxXbox Game Pass Ultimate Monthly Subscription$14$1718% off$14When we put Xbox Game Pass on our list of the recommended games on Xbox One, we acknowledged the weirdness of its inclusion in the lineup. After all, it’s not a game. It’s a subscription service. But, even back then, it was worth it, because Xbox Game Pass had over 100 games on its service.Now, the value add is even better. Xbox Game Pass now includes hundreds of games. It still costs the same — $9.99 per month. The current lineup includes many picks from this list, as well as critically acclaimed older games and same-day new releases. That’s barely scratching the surface.The bang for your buck is undeniable. Xbox Game Pass is the most logical purchase of this entire list. —Maddy Myers$14 at Woot (1-month)$36 at Woot (3-month)See More: