18 Best Xbox Exclusive Games

The best Xbox Exclusive games are a great way to see why Microsoft’s gaming environment is worth your money.

Whether you still have an Xbox One, have updated to an Xbox Series X, or are planning to buy a gaming PC, these games are great reasons to sign up for Game Pass.

Check out our lists of the best Xbox One games and the best Xbox Game Pass games for more suggestions that are available on more than one device.

If you’re short on hard drive space or in need of add-ons, have a gander at our roundup of the best Xbox One external hard drives and the best Xbox One accessories.

18. Immortality

Immortality, the new book by Sam Barlow and the Half Mermaid team, is quite an adventure.

You try to figure out what happened to the (fictional) actor Marissa Marcel by following her journey through three movies.

You do this by clicking on faces, objects, and other things to move from one clip to the next and find the hidden stories. It’s an amazing story that just keeps getting better.

17. Hi-Fi Rush

Hi-Fi Rush puts the action in rhythm-action, since its version of the genre has you doing hits on the beat to make combos and finishing moves that look great.

Hi-Fi Rush is a colorful explosion of fun made by Tango Softworks, the same company that made The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo.

It has an epic music and gameplay that will have you tapping your foot to the beat for days. With creative boss fights and beautiful art, this has been a big hit.

16. Microsoft Flight Simulator 

Microsoft Flight Simulator is an amazing experience, a truly jaw-dropping game that lets you hop into one of its beautifully remade planes and take to the skies to explore the whole world in almost unbelievable detail.

We think Flight Sim is the best of all the Xbox-only games on this list. It’s a one-of-a-kind game that looks and plays so well on consoles, it’s hard to believe it made it to platforms at all.

This one is only available on Xbox for obvious reasons, but it does work on Xbox One through the cloud. It will take you a while to get used to all the tools, but once you do, there’s nothing else like it.

We’ve spent a lot of time here finding and exploring, but every time we do our pre-flight checks and take off for another trip, even if it’s just to circle our own houses for the hundredth time, it still gives us the same thrill.

15. Pentiment

What about a murder story set in Germany in the 1600s, where you have to figure out who killed several people over the course of 20 years?

So, that’s what Pentiment is like.

Pentiment is a great little mystery puzzle game made by the people at Obsidian.

You get to know the people in the town on a personal level as you try to figure out who did it.

14. Quantum Break

Quantum Break from Remedy Entertainment, which made Max Payne and Alan Wake, might have gone a little too far with its experimental TV tie-ins, but there are times when its mix of third-person shooting and time powers really shines.

As Jack Joyce, who is played by Shawn Ashmore, the lead of a mostly star-studded cast, you accidentally become a god who can control time.

You must use your new powers to fight off waves of armed thugs and stop the terrible End of Time.

It’s worth playing Quantum Break just for those times when you trap enemies in a prism-like stasis bubble, shoot them with bullets that will soon melt the bubble, and then warp-dash to another enemy for a close takedown, all in a few seconds.

13. Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Unless you’ve played at least one Halo game, you can’t really say you’ve owned an Xbox. Halo: The Master Chief Collection is pretty much a must-have because it’s the game that made the console a gaming powerhouse.

Not only does it include Halo 1, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4, but you can also choose to remaster the older games so you can play them the way they were made or in a more updated version with better graphics.

There is even multiplayer, which got off to a rough start and isn’t as busy as it used to be a few years later.

No, the main draw here is the chance to play four of the Xbox’s most important games in their best possible forms.

The early games are remade with better graphics, faster frame rates, re-done high-resolution cutscenes, and more. Everything is brought up to date, and the oldies are remastered and given new life.

12. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a beautiful platform adventure game coming out in 2020 for the Xbox One and designed for the Xbox Series X as a launch title.

This game is all about exploring and figuring out puzzles. It was mostly based on the Metroid and Rayman series, so fans of those games should play it.

When it came out, it was praised for its artistic style, characters, action, and story. In 2020, it even won the Golden Joystick Award for Xbox Game of the Year.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest, but it has a lot of new features. For example, it has side tasks that are given by NPCs, better combat, and autosaving instead of save points.

When the game first came out, there were some problems with the fame rate and graphics bugs, but a day-one patch fixed most of these problems, and now the game runs smoothly.

Will of the Wisps may not be as well-known as some of the other games on our list, but it is still a beautiful game that you should definitely try at least once!

11. Sunset Overdrive

Sunset Overdrive is an action-adventure game made by Insomniac Games that puts speed and movement over stealth and care.

The game takes place in Sunset City, and players can run, zip-line, and parkour their way through the open-world area, which is full of mutants.

Even though it takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, Sunset Overdrive isn’t sad or dark. Instead, it’s loud, funny, and bold.

Fans of the Borderlands series will find a lot to like in this game, and the fact that the world can be explored and shot through makes it even better.

There is even a multiplayer mode where up to seven people can work together to finish a set of tasks. Items can be moved back and forth between single-player and co-op modes.

Sunset Overdrive is a fun, addicting game that is currently on Game Pass. If you want to play a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, you should check it out.

10. Forza Motorsport 7

After a few rough patches, Forza Motorsport 7 finally gets the driving game right. Everything looks as good as it does in 4K, and the AI, driving, and crashes are all better.

The game has everything you need to make the cars feel great. When you push the cars to their limits and scream around turns on the edge of their grip, it’s fun because the controls are so precise.

All of this makes for an accurate and fun experience, as long as you don’t mind having to work for it.

Getting further in the game requires you to collect cars and win events, which can be a little difficult at times.

But even though there is a little bit of grinding, this is still one of the best racing games out there.

9. Halo Infinite

Halo Infinite, which comes out in 2021, follows the Master Chief as he fights the Banished on the ringworld Zeta Halo.

The game has a lot of new features, like the grapple shot, which lets you grab things or enemies.

The world of the game is mostly open, and there are many enemies to kill, teams to save, and places to explore.

You can also find unique items in the world, like audio logs that add to the story in a way that wasn’t possible in the previous games.

Players can also join the free-to-play multiplayer, which has modes like “capture the flag” and “deathmatch.” This makes it one of the most accessible and fun online games of all time.

Halo Infinite is a new take on a series that has been going on since Halo Combat Evolved came out in 2001. It has helped bring the series back to life.

This game won the Player’s Voice Award at the 2021 Game Awards, so if you liked the first ones, you won’t want to miss it. You can play it right now on Game Pass.

8. Gears 5

Gears 5 is a must-have addition to the long-running Xbox-only series. The Gears are back at the top of their game in an action-packed journey that can be played locally or online with a friend.

There’s a strong campaign here, with a lot of focus on characters for a series that’s mostly known for its brutal fights.

It packs an emotional punch while giving fans all the violence they’ve come to expect and more.

With both the Ultimate Edition and the excellent Hivebusters expansion available on Game Pass, there’s no reason not to grab some friends, load up your Lancers, and start blasting Locust scum in the main story, Escape, and Horde modes.

Gears 5 is a huge package full of violent, bloody fun.

7. Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 is, without a doubt, one of the best racing games of all time you can play right now and certainly one of the best looking on the Xbox Series X.

Set in a fictional version of Mexico, Forza Horizon 5 boasts the largest open-world map of any of the Forza Horizon games, and there is no shortage of races and challenges to complete.

There are also numerous ways to customize your cars by swapping engines, drivetrains, and body kits.

You can even download custom tunes made by other players to help give your cars a performance boost if you don’t want to tweak everything yourself!

However, Forza Horizon 5 really shines in terms of map design, and its new local weather system is one of the most impressive in gaming.

Furthermore, there are still expansions being released, so if you start playing now, you can still look forward to even more content in the future!

6. Grounded

Honey I Shrunk the Kids by Obsidian has been in Early Access for a few years, but now that it’s out in full, it’s jumped into the top five of our favorite Xbox-only games.

Grounded is a survival game where you play as a kid who has been shrunk down and has to live in the yard with bugs and dirt.

It has a lot of depth in its crafting and survival features, and the bugs turn it into a horror game that you wouldn’t expect.

5. Psychonauts 2

After the first game came out 16 years ago, we finally got a follow-up.

Psychonauts 2 was more than worth the wait, though, as it took you on a fantastically wacky tour of different minds set to a music that will get your feet tapping.

It’s a great platform game with levels that are so well thought out that you’ll remember them for years.

Plus, there’s a helpful recap at the beginning of the game, so you don’t have to have played the original to get started.

4. Sea of Thieves

Oh, no! Since Rare’s colorful pirate antics first appeared in 2018, they have come a very long way.

What used to be boring and often pointless has been completely changed into a world full of adventure and mystery thanks to constant changes, improvements, and tasty new content.

The main draw may be getting into big sea battles with other players, fighting all kinds of strange creatures, and looking for treasure, but even just working together to move your ship is fun because of how well-made and detailed Rare’s world is.

With the best water we’ve ever seen in a video game—the sea is a character in and of itself—Sea of Thieves is an adventure playground with a lot of atmosphere that’s great for both solo and group play.

This is one of our favorite Xbox-only games we’ve played so far.

3. Planet of Lana (Xbox Series X|S)

Planet of Lana had a lot of hype before it came out on Xbox Game Pass in May 2023. Luckily, it lived up to that hype, giving players a beautiful puzzle-adventure game that they will remember for a long time.

We at Pure Xbox gave it a score of “Great 8/10” and called it a “gorgeous” addition to the Game Pass service.

In fact, Pure Xbox users chose Planet of Lana as their favorite Xbox Game Pass addition in May 2023 by a large margin.

The game got 35% of all votes and beat out games like Redfall, FIFA 23, and Ravenlok. Just because of that, we really think you should check it out right now.

2. Rare Replay (Xbox One)

Rare Replay is a great collection of Rare’s games from different styles and console generations.

It came out in 2015 to celebrate Rare’s 30th anniversary. From the ZX Spectrum to the Xbox 360, there’s a lot to discover here, and it’s made even better by behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, snapshot and rewind tools, built-in cheats, and more.

There’s a lot to explore here, and GoldenEye 007 has just joined the group. With games like Sabre Wulf, R.C. Pro-AM 2, Blast Corps, Battletoads, two Perfect Dark games, Jet Force Gemini, Killer Instinct, Banjo Kazooie, and a whole lot more, this is both an interesting history lesson and a boatload of fun.

1. As Dusk Falls

If you’re a fan of games like Life is Strange, you’ll love this interactive story adventure game from Interior Night and Xbox Game Studios.

The story revolves around two families whose paths cross in the Arizona desert, with numerous player decisions impacting how everything plays out.

What makes this game stand out is its impeccable writing that touches on many deep topics, such as trauma and family, that are often under-explored in traditional video games.

There are also many accessibility settings to choose from and a companion app that you can use to play with friends so that you can have a say in the game’s big decisions.

Upon release, As Dusk Falls was praised for its emotional narrative choices, voice work, art style, and co-op mode, all things that have helped make it a must-play for Xbox users.

Even if you’re not usually a fan of narrative-driven games, you may want to check this game out because it is surprising how invested you become in it in just a short period of time.