Game Pass drops five indie games from the service

Five more games run down their Game Pass contracts and depart the service today. They are all indie starlets, and we reviewed every last one of them positively. 

Let’s hope you weren’t planning on playing any of them. Atomicrops (Cloud, Console and PC), Carrion (Cloud, Console and PC), Children of Morta (Cloud, Console and PC), Cris Tales (Cloud, Console and PC) and Lethal League Blaze (Cloud, Console and PC) are all out on their heel. You can still purchase them from the Xbox Store, and at a temporary reduction too.

Let’s pick out a few to highlight. Carrion is a grotesque action game where you play the Lovecraftian monster, rather than get stalked by one. Handing it a 4.5/5, we said “Carrion on Xbox One is a very well-designed and crafted game…The combat is nicely weighted and the stealth elements are light and don’t require too much patience. Whilst it’s a short, punchy game, it doesn’t outstay its welcome or become repetitive”. It found itself near the top of a lot of Game of the Year lists, and it carries the undeniable thrill of absorbing your enemies into your fleshy mass. Something we all want to do on hard days, amirite?

Another big miss from the service will be Cris Tales. Somewhere between narrative adventure and RPG, we also handed this one a 4.5/5 (giving them out like candy, we were), saying “I hesitate to call it a JRPG as it doesn’t have that feel, but is still as competent and enjoyable a game as I’ve played in a long time, all helped along by a great art style, enjoyable time-bending mechanics and a story that will keep you hooked”. You’ll need to find a few dozen hours to play it, though – it’s not a short yarn. 

The last one we’re going to platter up for you is Children of Morta. In some ways a traditional hack-and-slash roguelite, it gets elevated by its narrative, characters and an addictive sense of progression. We gave this one a 4 out of 5 (see, we’re capable of a little perspective), saying “I hesitate to call it a JRPG as it doesn’t have that feel, but is still as competent and enjoyable a game as I’ve played in a long time, all helped along by a great art style, enjoyable time-bending mechanics and a story that will keep you hooked”. 

If you’re wondering, we gave Lethal League Blaze a 4.5/5 and Atomicrops got a 4/5, so you can see why we’re lamenting today’s loss of five games. That’s 21.5 out of 25 altogether, which is a score I would have happily taken for the majority of my A-levels. 

All that’s left is to remind you that As Dusk Falls (Console, PC) is coming on July 19th. There will be more announcements – there always are – but experience tells us that should happen in the next couple of days. In the meantime, get As Dusk Falls pre-installed and have a lovely weekend. 

Were you planning to play any of these games before they were unceremoniously yoinked out of your grasp? Let us know in the comments or on our social channels.