Xbox Game Pass Free June Games Include One Of The Most Underrated RPGs Ever

Microsoft has revealed four of the titles coming to Xbox Game Pass in June, with the first title landing on the subscription gaming service today.

There will be more Xbox Game Pass games later in the month, so consider these just the first wave. Microsoft always announces its Game Pass titles in pairs—one at the beginning of the month and one midway.

In any case, there are some pretty cool games this month including Darkest Dungeon. This is one of my favorite indie RPGs—a grimdark turn-based game that sees your roster of anti-heroes slowly go insane with various afflictions and mental maladies. It’s deeply addictive and its appearance on Game Pass has me excited for another reason as well:

The sequel is slated for a 2021 release and while developer Red Hook has not announced a date, the addition of this game to Microsoft’s subscription service could portend a more imminent-than-expected arrival. After all, what better way to get players excited for the second game than by introducing the original to a whole new audience?

Here’s the trailer for Darkest Dungeon 2:

Here’s everything coming to Xbox Game Pass in the first part of June.

Week of May 31

The Wild at Heart, June 1st (Cloud)

From developer Moonlight Kids and publisher Humble Games, The Wild at Heart is a whimsical adventure game that looks absolutely terrific and imaginative. The game’s metacritic score is good-to-average, currently sitting at 76/100.

“A mysterious hidden realm. Two precocious kids fleeing hardship. Magical creatures and an oddball order of guardians who have lost their way. A stygian evil imprisoned. Welcome to the Deep Woods.”

See the game’s Steam page here.

For Honor, June 3 (Cloud and Console)

Knights, Samurai and Vikings do glorious battle against one another in this long-running multiplayer combat game. This one launched to a somewhat rocky start, but as Ubisoft proved with Rainbow Six Siege, rocky starts aren’t everything. While the game’s overall Steam user score is “Mixed” recent reviews peg it at “Mostly Positive” which is the right trajectory for a game like this.

Week of June

Backbone, June 8 (PC)

This one just popped up on my radar and it looks pretty damn good. Backbone is a noir detective game about a racoon private eye named Howard. It takes place in my old stomping grounds, too. I lived in Vancouver, B.C. for a couple years as a kid and it’s one of my favorite places in the world. I never thought of it as a noir setting, but I think it should work pretty well.

“Backbone is a post-noir roleplaying detective adventure. Become raccoon private eye Howard Lotor as you interrogate a diverse cast of characters, collect evidence, and explore dystopian Vancouver, BC inhabited by animals.”

See the game’s Steam page here.

Darkest Dungeon, June 10 (Cloud, Console and PC)

Finally we come to Darkest Dungeon, a game you really need to play if you missed it when it released several years ago. There’s a boardgame version that I backed on Kickstarter, that’s how much I enjoy this grimdark RPG.

“Darkest Dungeon is a challenging gothic roguelike turn-based RPG about the psychological stresses of adventuring. Recruit, train, and lead a team of flawed heroes against unimaginable horrors, stress, disease, and the ever-encroaching dark. Can you keep your heroes together when all hope is lost?”

Darkest Dungeon has a “Very Positive” user rating on Steam.

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And those, dearest readers, are the Game Pass titles for June 2021. More will be revealed in a couple weeks. While there aren’t many to kick the month off, the ones on offer are pretty good and should be enough to keep intrepid gamers busy in-between bouts of outdoor adventuring as the weather is increasingly gorgeous. Bon appetite!

Lots more games, game announcements and expansions are coming out in June. Check out the below video I made that previews June’s biggest releases:

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