The holidays are upon us, meaning school’s out, vacations are in full force, and, by god, you might just have a few spare moments to get some gaming in. Some of 2025’s best games can be found on Xbox Game Pass, but the subscription service is home to plenty of releases from yesteryear as well for you to revisit or experience for the first time.
This week’s recommendations for the holidays are a grab bag of some of our favorites that can be found on Xbox Game Pass, including a little something for everyone. Here are the best Xbox Game Pass games to play over the holidays.
Hades
There’s no better time to revisit a past favorite — or check out a GOAT for the first time — than a holiday break. Whether you’ll have full days to yourself for gaming binges or can only sneak away an hour at a time, Hades is perfect for anytime you have a spare moment on the couch. Successful runs will take around an hour, but good luck even making it past Meg, the first boss, if you’re just now checking it out. There’s a reason Hades was nominated for Game of the Year in 2020 and that its sequel almost nabbed the same honor in 2025 — it’s just so damn good, y’all. —Austin Manchester
Control
Never count Remedy Entertainment out. This year’s FBC: Firebreak might’ve been a miss, but don’t forget that just a couple years ago, Alan Wake 2 was a critical juggernaut. And given the response to the announcement of Control Resonant at the 2025 Game Awards, the Finnish studio is poised to release one of next year’s biggest games. If you didn’t catch the original for whatever reason, Control is on Game Pass in all its moody glory. When better to catch up than over a holiday break? —Ari Notis
If you have a lot of free time to kill over the next week, you might be looking for a nice long game that you can sink into for the season. Why not curl up with an enormous RPG like Metaphor: ReFantazio? Developed by Atlus, the award-winning game takes the basic flow of the Persona series and applies it to a very different world. Here, you aren’t playing as a group of teenagers diving deep into people’s psyches. Instead, you’re running for election after an assassination leaves a Monarch dead. That political intrigue pairs with stylish visuals, refined turn-based combat, and memorable characters to create one of the best RPGs of the 2020s. It’s especially perfect if you loved Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and are trying to recapture the thrill of playing it for the first time again. —Giovanni Colantonio
Gears of War: Reloaded
Holidays making you feel a bit nostalgic? If you’re in need of something simple to play with a cousin who’s visiting or a tween brother who’s just getting into games, Gears of War: Reloaded is about as simple and approachable as it gets. Reloaded is (yet another) remaster of the quintessential cover-based, third-person shooter about dudes who just wanna shoot up some vicious aliens — or rip a chainsaw through them. Gears is probably best played with a partner, so grab a second controller and plop it in your relative’s hands. —Austin Manchester
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
I know, I know. The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 campaign got totally slammed at launch, by critics and by players. Out of morbid curiosity, I recently started playing. And, yes, there are some baffling design choices that can’t be defended (forced matchmaking, loot caches, the entire story). But a few levels in, playing co-op with a friend and two randos, I’m… having fun? Dumb, mindless fun, but fun nevertheless. And, frankly, that’s the goal of the holidays, especially after a year like this one: unplug, unwind, turn off the ol’ brain for a bit. If you’re looking for the same, give the latest Call of Duty a try. —Ari Notis
