It’s that time of year again, when friends and loved ones huddle together, safe from crisp winter air, looking for entertainment. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered, with a vast array of multiplayer games that can be enjoyed together across console, PC, and supported gaming handhelds.
Whether you’re looking for quick bursts of action to keep the family entertained, a cozy co-op adventure with a partner, or something casual to catch up with friends online, Xbox has something to offer for every gaming fan this holiday season. Here’s some highlights, ranging from 2025 releases to timeless games worth revisiting:
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox on PC, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!
Tribute Games and Dotemu are teaming up again, in collaboration with Marvel Games, to craft an original, fresh beat ’em up. Featuring dynamic combat combos and dazzling pixel art, this planet-hopping adventure stands as a love letter to the Marvel Universe. Whether you’re teaming up with friends or family, Marvel Cosmic Invasion has you covered with local/online play and a drop-in/drop-out adaptive system. A cosmic battle awaits!
Start from zero and discover the newest entry in the Octopath Traveler series. Experience a story of restoration and retribution over the divine rings — an epic saga that unfolds across the realm of Orsterra. Enjoy familiar features such as the series’ HD-2D graphics, a fusion of retro pixel art and 3DCG; the player’s ability to roleplay using Path Actions of their choice; and the Break and Boost system that can turn the tide of battle. Additionally, brand-new features such as character creation and town building allow you to create your own character and restore your hometown.
Blood: Refreshed Supply follows Caleb, an undead gunslinger on a quest for revenge against his former demonic master, Tchernobog. Despite his once powerful position as a fearsome Cabal commander and one of Tchernobog’s “Chosen” few, Caleb and his fellow Chosen are betrayed by the dark god and slain for reasons unknown. Seeking answers and vengeance, Caleb rises from the grave to put a stop to Tchernobog and his murderous lieutenants once and for all.
ROUTINE
Raw Fury
☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★
Routine – December 4 Game Pass / Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Optimized for Handheld / Xbox Play Anywhere / Smart Delivery
Routine is a first-person sci-fi horror title set on an abandoned lunar base designed around an 80s vision of the future. Curious exploration turns into a need for survival when a lunar base goes completely quiet. Searching for answers puts you face to face with an enemy who is certain the main threat is you. Discoveries lead to deeper unknowns and the only way to go is forward.
Observe. Report. Survive the night. Monitor the surveillance system for anomalies and report them to survive the night. Use your sharp eyes and keen attention to detail to detect supernatural anomalies ranging from subtle environmental changes to eerie and unsettling otherworldly intruders. Can you survive the night shift, or will you succumb to paranoia…? I’m on Observation Duty 8 is the most ambitious title yet in the original viral franchise that ignited a trend in spot-the-difference horror games that have been loved by players and streamed for millions by legendary content creators.
You’re out of jail, but the debt isn’t gone. Sneak, steal, and break into houses solo or in 4-player co-op. Use lockpicks, sleeping gas, and brute force to complete jobs, outsmart security, and make enough money before time runs out. Will you pay back what you owe, or lose everything?
Seven centuries in the future, humanity is collapsing. In an attempt to spare yourself the same fate as the rest of the system, you flee to the furthest away place you can feasibly survive: Pluto. Survive the downfall of humanity in a centuries old survival bunker, or at least the first week. You crash land on Pluto, it’s the furthest away place you could reach that was apart of the CCOT’s emergency shelter program. It had been centuries since it was last used, which has left it needing maintenance. Ride out the Plutonian night while hiding from the end.
Brok, a former boxer turned detective, stumbles upon an underground bar hidden deep in the Slums. Old instincts kick in, and he jumps headfirst to prove he’s still top dog! (or…gator.) Solo or with a friend in co-op, take on creative challenges inspired by “Event matches” of platform fighters, taken to the next level with original addictive mechanics and variety. In this gritty-yet-humorous bar, meet unforgettable characters and uncover surprises around every corner as the story unfolds.
Step into the warm world of Cute Bonfire, a charming pixel-art puzzle game set inside a fireplace. Take control of a little fire spirit that moves tile by tile, pushing charcoal pieces to light up the bonfires. With 30 levels of gradually increasing difficulty, delightful visuals, and a cozy, relaxing atmosphere, Cute Bonfire is perfect for casual players who love the satisfaction of solving puzzles.
Elon and Friends: Winter Pack – 13 Games (Xbox+XPA+PC)
This winter celebration pack contains the following games: Elon and the Divine Proof, Green Soldiers Heroes, Extreme Bikers, Prison of Illusion, Super Snake Block DX, and SHMUP Mania. Windows (PC) versions are optimized for handheld PCs.
Sleep Awake is an immersive first-person psychedelic horror narrative experience that explores the realm between sleep and death. Submitted to perpetual insomnia, the denizens of the last known city on Earth are reaching a panic crisis of reckless experiments in an effort to avoid The Hush, the inexplicable disappearance of those who sleep. Playing as Katja, you must survive the devotees of various depraved death cults and desperately try to stay awake. Solve the puzzles of this mysterious world while avoiding the grasp of the death cults in an attempt to shatter the horrors of the past.
Slimeboo
Zakym s. r. o.
☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★
Slimeboo – December 2 – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Optimized for Handheld / Xbox Play Anywhere / Smart Delivery
Slimeboo is a simple and fun platformer game that is perfect for children of all ages. The game is controlled with a single button, making it accessible to even the youngest players. Boo, a small and adorable slime, has gotten lost on a tropical island. To find his way home, he must leap over all the obstacles in his path. Help him overcome them! Good luck!
Caput Mortum is a short first-person horror experience inspired by retro 3D dungeon crawlers and survival horror games. Delve into a tower of forgotten nightmares, where every step could be your last. Overcome horrors from beyond death and unlock the secrets of forbidden knowledge.
An evil Lich has tainted Mama Duck’s beloved pond and kidnapped her ducklings! Arm up and beat him once and for all in this QuackMan roguelite – storm through dungeon mazes to rescue her family! With classic arcade controls and a twist – an attack button that lets you smash walls and enemies – you’ll fight back against the Lich and his army in no time!
Embark on a journey through the depths of a lost ancient jungle temple. Start your journey through the depths of a forgotten jungle temple. Match colorful balls, unlock powerful power-ups, and construct your own temple as you progress. Choose between adventure and endless modes, immersing yourself in classic match-3 gameplay!
A pirate turned into octopus. Can you break the curse? OctoCurse is an action platformer following the story of a pirate captain who has been turned into an octopus by an evil spirit. The little octopus embarks on the quest to save the rest of his crew and reverse the curse. Experience epic pirate adventure. Explore levels, collect coins, unlock doors and climb the mysterious tower as you get closer and closer to the final showdown. Make your way through the tropical jungle, brave the harsh winter, weather the storm and endure other exciting environs. Save your friends and meet new ones along the way.
Classic sokoban with a twist and a sci-fi theme! A scientific organization sends a robot-expeditor developed on artificial intelligence to the newly discovered exoplanet Xeran, on which, most likely, there are very valuable resources for humanity.
Explore a heartfelt and thought-provoking tale of bittersweet homecoming! As Elias returns to the coastal town that once sheltered him, he’s pulled into a slow winter of connection, memory and quiet decisions. Take the role of this young man and guide the choices he makes, surrounded by the warmth of townspeople young and old, often holding conversations in a bookstore over shared coffee.
Step into the shadows of New York City in Yakuza: Shadows of New York, a gripping action-adventure where the old codes of honor clash against the forces of modern corruption. Become Kaito Nakamura, a skilled enforcer on a mission to find his missing mentor while navigating the city’s dark and treacherous underbelly.
Baseless is a challenging planet-jumping shooter. Blast from planet to planet with 360° gravity, creatively demolishing every enemy in your path. Fire powerful weapons, rescue cute friends, and discover a galaxy worth fighting for!
Detective – Rainy Night puts you in the shoes of Iker Carmona, a police officer investigating a string of strange disappearances. After a long drive, Iker decides to spend the night at a small roadside motel called the Holiday. What begins as a quiet stop quickly spirals into something far more sinister.
Finding America: The Heartland Collector’s Edition
Strap on your seatbelts for a trip to America’s Heartland! From South Dakota’s monumental Mount Rushmore to the humble farmhouses of Kansas, this lovely slice of American pie will have something just for you. Visit jazz bars in Illinois, Wisconsin’s cheese shops, and stunning national parks, all as lovingly crafted Hidden Object Scenes and challenging Minigames! Complete each chapter, unlock tons of trivia, and enjoy everything the Heartland has to offer in this all-American Hidden Object game!
Your daughter is missing. The world is gone. Only the Mist remains. In Mist, a devastating crash marks the beginning of your descent into a world lost to alien terror. As a father, you search desperately for your child—but what you find instead is a crumbling world buried in fog, crawling with monsters beyond comprehension. This is no ordinary RPG. Mist fuses idle progression, visceral real-time combat, and an evolving horror narrative into a genre-defying experience. As you explore the ruins of civilization, you’ll form a pact with a mysterious alien being that grants you strength—at a cost. Level up, mutate, and unlock terrifying new abilities as you battle grotesque creatures and uncover long-buried truths.
The Phantom is an arcade-style beat-em-up coming to PC and consoles. Play as the Phantom or his partner, Diana Palmer, in this 14-level adventure. The feared pirates of the Singh Brotherhood are battling for power and threatening the Phantom’s legacy, and it’s up to you to stop them. Use your hand-to-hand fighting skills and trusty weapons to dispatch this evil, and call in assistance from your animal friends Fraka the falcon and Devil the wolf. The Phantom features a brand-new story approved by King Features. Experience this canon addition through full-screen cut scenes and captivating in-game visuals, hand-illustrated and animated frame-by-frame by seasoned comic book artists and Art Of Play’s dedicated in-house 2D creative team.
A warrior on a mission to rescue last human remnants. What’s left of humanity are minds trapped in circuits. You are awaken as ReSetna, a warrior on a mission to rescue last human remnants. Explore seven hostile zones, face seven brutal bosses and evolve through a unique upgrade system. Uncover horrifying truth and decide if the future is worth saving.
Experience interaction in a new and engaging way. Choose to respond to what the characters have to say… directly! Deal with your own hostage situation, negotiate for more than just your freedom. Learn about the people who hold you captive, deconstruct the cult, manipulate them- all to not end up as their next sacrifice.
Your veterinary adventure begins at the wildlife park! Help injured and sick animals such as horses, deer, ducks, donkeys, goats, rabbits, and many more. With a great deal of empathy, you examine symptoms, make diagnoses, and treat over 30 different diseases. Each animal has individual needs and is waiting for your expert help. Use modern instruments, accompany your patients’ recovery step by step, and experience a varied everyday life in the animal park. Intuitive controls, realistic treatments, and lovingly animated animals make this game a highlight for young animal lovers.
Connect It is a clever, visually striking puzzle game that challenges you to link matching colors scattered across a grid. Your mission? Draw connections between all the pairs—without crossing paths. It sounds simple… until it’s not. With over 200 handcrafted levels, each one more intricate than the last, Connect It constantly surprises with new layouts and clever twists. The controls are intuitive, the gameplay is smooth, and every solved puzzle delivers that satisfying “aha!” moment.
With his children away on the moon, there is no time to relax for Dr. Cavor. Once again, Victoria is under attack. The aging but brilliant scientist begins research on a new means of defense. After much work, he finds success with Mechanized Assault Unity 19 — M.A.U.S.
Pixapple Adventure is a colorful pixel-art platformer starring a brave little apple with arms and legs! Run, jump, and collect all the stars to open the portal and reach the next level. Across three vibrant worlds — Forest, Snow, and the Valley of Fear — the challenge increases as you progress. Simple, fast, and fun, Pixapple brings back the joy of classic platformers with a charming twist.
Santa’s World is a jump-‘n-run Christmas game inspired by classic platform games. The goal is to find the three lost Christmas gifts and go to the next level while collecting items. Traps, obstacles, and enemies make the quest very challenging. Find snowballs and throw them at enemies to remove them. 3D graphics packed in a nice graphics style, great 2.5D levels and proven gameplay gives you hours of fun.
The year is 1996 and you’re employed by a science lab called Nova Nexus. You work as a security guard at the front gate to the lab, inside a guard booth. However, tonight it seems something important is happening inside of Nova Nexus and things are… well… a little strange. Your job is simple. you must make sure that only the right authorized personnel are getting into the facility. To do this, when a car arrives at the gates, it is your job to go and talk with the driver and check their license plate. Make sure that the person is on the employee register by finding the license plate on the register. If the person is not on the register you must tell them to leave. Make sure to only open the gates to employees and keep the gate closed at all times.
Inspired by 80s and 90s classics, Speed Factor is an old-school racing game with pixelated graphics, arcade driving style, exhilarating punk rock music, and some awesome classic cars! Customize the difficulty level and traction assist level to your personal tastes to make the game as easy or challenging as you want. Cruise through 50 different tracks spread across 5 locations! Win races and earn money to level up and improve your ride!
Get ready for non-stop fun in Stacky Dash! Slide to collect tiles, build paths, and race through colorful levels full of exciting surprises. Dodge blasting cannons, and zip through portals as you conquer each tricky stage! Save adorable animals to grow your own zoo and take on timed challenges to test your speed. With tons of cool skins to unlock, every level is packed with energy and fun!
Fix, build and renovate highly detailed and fully interactive tanks (German, USA or Soviet), armored cars or self-propelled guns. Experience a realistic simulator game of being a Tank Mechanic. Find abandoned and destroyed tanks from battlefields of Second World War. Use special tools to find each tank, and extract it from the ground. Grow your repair service business and start your own tank museum.
Next Fest is back! The biannual Steam event that celebrates demos for hundreds of forthcoming games begins today, October 13, and runs until 1 p.m. ET on October 20. But with 3,276 demos to choose from, it’s an overwhelming beast. Fear not, for we—like the brave knights we are—are here to highlight some of the best we’ve found across a breadth of genres, from indie to AAA.
I like to think of Next Fest as the games industry’s demonstration that genres don’t mean anything any more, as the thousands of demos are categorized through a combination of lies and jazz, and the words “point-and-click” are taken to mean “games that feature pointy objects and clicking sounds.” It can make looking for particular types of games an astonishing headache. So instead, push all such intentions aside: Next Fest is best enjoyed by just scrolling through into the deepest recesses and installing anything that catches your eye. Forget about the sorts of games you already like; instead plunge in deep and experiment. And to save your scroll wheel, we’ve picked out a selection of games that could be your new big obsession.
Of course this in no way definitive! There will be hundreds of demos worth playing, and if you’ve discovered anything you’d recommend yourself, then we encourage you to do so in the comments.
Tingus Goose
Developer: SweatyChair Release date: Q4 2025 Demo link
Normally with these roundups I like to start with a well-known name so everyone feels comfortable, safe, and familiar, before I then start adding the super-weird delights. But no such easing ourselves into the deep end today, because there is no more important demo to tell you about than Tingus Goose. I…words cannot suffice.
This is a clicker in the vein of Cookie Clicker, except you’re…well, listen, you’re clicking on the weird little baby-creatures called Tingus that fly out of the beak of a goose. A goose that is growing out of the belly of a lady lying on a bed. As you water your goose (you heard me) its neck grows longer, and it reaches for the loving kiss of another goose hanging down from the sky above. They want to mate, and it’s your job to have them meet. But you need money to water a goose, and that’s gained by, um, having the babies roll over protuberances that grow sideways out of the goose’s neck. That, as you’d expect, earns cash. And don’t worry, you can click on the babies, too, to get more money, but don’t click too often or they pop.
This is all a glorious piece of batshit crazy animation and gibberish game design, and I adore every second of it.
PowerWash Simulator 2
Developer: FuturLab Release date: 23 Oct, 2025 Demo link
See, in other years this would have been my more welcoming first entry. We’re all looking forward to PowerWash Simulator 2, right? And now we finally get to play it! Hooray!
And yes, it is of course utterly marvelous. It’s more PowerWash Simulator, but slightly prettier and with less clunky controls. I am having to force myself to stop playing to write this, and play the rest of the demos, and it’s proving tricky, and that’s what PW always did best: take over your entire life with its demonic pressure-washing powers.
Slots And Daggers
Developer: Friedemann Release date: October 24, 2025 Demo link
Oh my goodness this is the best I want to play it forever. This being Slots And Daggers, a post-Balatro roguelite slot machine game that purifies the mechanics to sweetest perfection. You begin by choosing the icons that can appear on the slots (starting with coins, sword attacks and shield) and then stop each dial to fight a monster. If you win, coins earned can be spent on new icons (perhaps a bow attack, or an upgrade to your shield), as well as on power-ups that boost your attacks, defense, and technique. You and the enemy have shield and health meters, with some attacks able to do true damage, others protected by your defenses. And, of course, the moment you lose it’s back to the start. Except you also win poker chips as you play, and these can be spent on “illegal” hacks to the slot machine that can permanently improve things.
It’s all there, right? All the ingredients of a great roguelite, in the neatest possible way. And I can assure you that it’s outstandingly moreish.
Developer: Mark Ffrench Release date: 7 Nov, 2025 Demo link
Mark Ffrench makes a very specific genre of game. It’s Fill-a-Pix puzzles writ large, the logic puzzle games that usually fill a small grid on your phone now taking up wall-size friezes. Proverbs was my favorite of his, a massive rendering of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting, Netherlandish Proverbs, turned into a puzzle. And that might sound pretentious, but damn it was wonderful. Later came 2024: Mosaic Retrospective, an incredible collage of events of the previous year, and next comes Mosaic of the Strange, the follow-up to a game I now realize I entirely missed, Mosaic of the Pharaohs. (I know what I’m doing when I should be working tomorrow…) Incredibly, this combines the puzzle concept with a point-and-click adventure, and my mind’s made up.
It’s hard to know how to convince a skeptic to give a game like this a try, but they’re blissfully absorbing and I really cannot recommend them enough.
Painkiller
Developer: Anshar Studios Release date: 21 Oct, 2025 Demo link
I’d somehow entirely missed that Painkiller was coming back. As 3D Realms trawls its archives, 2004’s Painkiller is the latest recognizable name to get a total overhaul. A decade off has done it some good, and its return gives it fresh new central characters, and it’s playable alone or in 3-player co-op. It moves extremely quickly, which is my primary desire from any 3D Realms shooter, and the AI bots seem to do a decent enough job in the demo. It’s also gloriously gory and bursting with Quake 3 vibes.
Hands up, who’s old enough to remember the Heroes of Might & Magic games? No, it’s OK, don’t strain your arm. And let’s not even ask about the OG Might & Magic fans, as the breath of the question might cause them to collapse into dust. The RPG series goes back as far as 1986 incredibly, with its turn-based strategy spin-off Heroes of Might & Magic starting in 1995. Highly regarded turn-based strategy games right up until they weren’t, the series saw diminishing returns beginning with HOMM 5 and 2015’s Might & Magic Heroes VII polished the whole franchise off for a decade.
Well, it’s back, and its latest entry is coming from Iratus developer Unfrozen. Apparently it has the good sense not to meddle with a beloved formula, letting you build your mythological armies and grow a town, with its emphasis squarely on recreating everyone’s happy memories of HOMM 3. And look, I could lie to you and pretend I understood this demo, but turn-based strategy is a genre I have never gotten my head around. I’m just excited for all the Might & Magic fans I’ve known and loved that it’s back.
Kingdom of Night
Developer: Friends of Safety Release date: Q4 2025 Demo link
I installed this one on a complete whim, and I’m very glad I did. It’s an RPG by way of a point-and-click adventure, set in 1980s Arizona with some heavy Stranger Things vibes. You play a teenage kid at high school who finds himself embroiled in a bizarre adventure of invading demons and magical powers. The demo immediately shows how the characteristics you pick affect how you play, with a choice between brains and brawn opening up different conversation options and ways to handle school encounters. It comes with an intricate spell system, real-time combat, and lots of lovely isometric pixel graphics. And I’m really getting into it. This was first announced six years ago, but is apparently arriving this year, complete with an option to play the whole adventure in co-op.
Servant of the Lake
Developer: Rusty Lake Release date: 2026 Demo link
The incredible Rusty Lake series just celebrated its 10th anniversary with a typically macabre birthday game, but now is back with an upcoming full entry in the long-running Lynchian series. Servant of the Lake has the player arrive to the Vanderboom house by horse and cart, there to be a servant to the family for a single weekend. However, long-term fans will realize this puts us in the era of the first generation of the Vanderbooms, and thus in the presence of Aldous Vanderboom, the man who becomes the series peculiar antagonist, Mr. Crow. And, honestly, you own it to yourself to play every Rusty Lake game in order, building up to next year’s release of this one.
Reanimal
Developer: Tarsier Studios Release date: TBA Demo link
Reanimal is of course what Tarsier Studios is making instead of Little Nightmares 3. It’s a whole new project from the team and, still a year on from its announcement, it doesn’t yet have a release date. But at least we can play some of it now! You play as a sack-headed boy, who begins the game steering a boat to pull a mask-wearing girl from the sea, before finally reaching dry land and beginning the adventure of their attempt to escape their hellish home. It’s all extremely atmospheric, but very slow to get going for a demo. Still, persist and you’ll experience this horror-themed adventure for a decent while.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion
Developer: Tribute Games Release date: 2025 Demo link
I am delighted to report that Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a complete delight. Tribute Games follows up TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge with another old-school side-scrolling beat ’em up, this time with a broad cast of Marvel heroes to biff with. You pick two at a time (Spider-Man and She Hulk make for a great pairing), then alternate between the two of them as you set up combos and Streets of Rage your way down these pixel-perfect streets. In fact, it’s so Streets of Rage that you even eat food you find by smashing garbage cans, just like real superheroes do.
It’s so colorful and punchy (in every sense) that it feels like it could be a classic arcade cabinet hit from the ’80s, rejuvenated for modern machines.
