Best Independent Games on Xbox Game Pass

Summary

• India games on Xbox Game Pass offer innovative and bold experiences that show off the passion and hard work of small studies.

• Celeste and goat simulator are some of the best independent games that deserve your time.

• Inside are dead cells and Stardew Valley also standout indie games on Xbox Game Pass, which provide absorbing worlds and captivating game experiences.

The variety of games available in the Xbox Game Pass Library library is a real pleasure for all who subscribe to the service. And while splendid, triple-a titles are the main draws, undervalued independent games should also get attention from the masses. These titles provide experience that are innovative and courageous, and represent what a small studio of dedicated developers can do with passion and hard work.

It is really gratifying to see that these independent games are shining like diamonds in the Xbox Game Pass Collection collection. Read further if you want to find out which are the best independent games that deserve your time the most.

22

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Watching the masterpiece is difficult. How do you improve something that works so well? People in the Cherry team were confronted with this puzzle when they decided to turn around Silksong to a full -fledged game rather than DLC for the base Hollow Knight game. SilksongAs with his predecessor, he is not without his shortcomings. (Sometimes the difficulty may be occasionally.) Hollow Knight So great.

Hornet's mating is much more agile than a knight and you can feel it with every jump and crossing its blades. But there is a welcome acquaintance when you walk through Pharloom, fight enemies, and climb what you hope is Hornet's freedom. Sure, you're in a new place, fighting new enemies and meeting new animals on your way. For over eight years between games between games, it's like at home. Silksongas well as Hollow Knight Previously, one of the best independent games you could play and show the skills and passion of developers behind it every inch.

21

Dredge

You will often see great independent games that mix different elements and create amazing new concepts that are rarely seen in a larger and (usually) safer triple space. Dredge It connects the cosiness of a cute fishing simulator with a creeping horror of the Lovecraft story. And despite the fact that it seemed like an unconventional mix, it works! You play as a fisherman who pulls in his catch and distributes it to people on the coast.

But the later you stay outside at sea, the darker the sky becomes and the black waves, the more ominous things they get. And the more likely you get about the ugly, other world creation deep. It's a wonderful good fun and describing DREDGE'S The assumption does not do justice. But believe us when we say it is a fantastic independent game that is worth unsubscribing. Just make sure you have a stomach for some nervous horror in your cozy sim.

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19

Blue Prince

A characteristic feature of a good independent game is ingenuity. Independent gaming spaces offer more space for experimenting than larger budgets, stronger triple titles, surprisingly. So when you are looking for a good independent game, nay, one of the best independent games this year, you have to find the spark of creativity. 2025 gave us Blue Prince. Blue Prince is a phenomenal independent title. He describes his gaming loop walking through the house of the estate, solving puzzles and “creating” rooms, as soon as you go, it sounds confusing.

But once you start playing, it's remarkably simple to understand. And a constant stream of attempts and mistakes and discovery never calls. You are always on the verge of revealing a new secret, solving a new puzzle, or revealing another new secret that breaks up. It's a recent edition but you can just say when you play Blue Prince That he would remember it as one of the giants.

18

Bastro

2024 saw the rise of many big independent play. Oral was a fantastic narrative horror game; Neva He was a wonderful independent puzzle-platformer. But no independent game took the world storm in 2024 as much as Roguelike Darling Bastro. Inspired by poker (although it is clear, it does not play in any way as a real poker), Bastro It is an on -board building roguelike, in which you build “hands”, some of which are based on legitimate poker hands to create an interesting combos.

All this is based on the beating “Boss Blinds” in which you hope to see your hands and collection of jokers. It is difficult to explain in words how engaging Bastro It can be, especially if you have never played a deck before. However, we assure that the game does a much better job than I do. Imagine a combination Vampire surviving with Kill the tower. If it sounds interesting at all, Bastro is an independent game of your dreams.

A fair warning. Prepare for loss of virtually all your time, when after running after running after running after running after running after running after running after running after running … you get an idea.

17

Carrion

Charged as a game with reverse horror (and quite precisely), Carrion It will slip into the onurable tentacles of unidentified mass of meat, teeth and eyeballs that are studied in a safe research device when – oopsie – you can escape the detention and continue the way causing confusion.

Carrion's The game represents a neat Metroidvania-like with several turns suitable tonally. You will hide and slip through the device, hold on to unfortunate people to supplement health, enlarge yourself and keep your bloody stay to reveal your story of origin. Occasionally, you become DNA samples that increase and increase your skills, giving you more options for distribution, consumption or passage.

Overall, yes, this causes a relatively straightforward experience of relatively simple combat meetings and traverse puzzles, but is executed so well and stylish that it will never emerge as negative. Entertainment is at a smooth but visceral moment to a moment and a clear tribute of 80 and at the beginning of the 90. Years of science fiction horrors and is supplied in the spades.

16

He still wakes up deep

An independent space is a place where the horror genre truly flourishes and He still wakes up deep It is an example of this trend. He developed a Chinese room (known for production Amnesia: a machine for pigs and They all went to the ecstasy), He still wakes up deep He takes us to the oil set in the middle of the turbulent North Sea. One day the crew is drilling too far and the hell of Cthulhu will relax. With star voice performances from the cast that will lead you, you will go through the crumbling set and are looking for a way for you and your collaborators.

Although it is more on the pages of a simulator for walking rather than the horror of a ejector or survival, it is an engaging story that keeps you riveted to the inexplicable terror that visits you. In addition, if you are afraid of getting stuck in the middle of the ocean, the setting is absolutely first -class to play this anxiety.

15

Sifu

Difficulty is not a prerequisite to be considered an independent game but if it was, you can bet Sifu would create a list. This third person's troublemaker is one of the most difficult games we've ever played. You are a person whose family was murdered by a group of murderers. Your task is to remove them all, one by one before you die in old age. The only problem is that every defeat you suffer will age on the spot. And if you are too older than you get to the final boss, do not easily win.

Sifu The combat mechanics are ruthless, but accurate. When your opponent lands on you, he has the potential to end your current run. But if you can handle combat mechanics, there is no other game on the ground that will make you feel like John Wick. Even the officially licensed John Wick game.

14

Civic sleep

A handful of games here is remarkable due to the creativity behind their game mechanics. The second handful landed on this list because of their incredible narration and Civic sleep In the latter camp, he settles firmly. Reading cubes and reading the text that make up most of its playing firmly, but there are nothing to cry at home. Civic sleep The story, on the other hand, is just so riveting, it is one of those games that not only keep you late at night, but you will chew you on its themes and consequences long after completion.

Without spoiling too much of this seriously amazing story, you play as a “sleepers” whose body has an upcoming expiration date that weighs all your choices. Any interaction you are involved in, every purchase you spend on your wages, and any activity that sucks your precious time is a difficult decision you have to make. And with such topics, you can blame us for thinking Civic sleep Years after its release?

13

Dead cells

Complete publication. We should have added Dead cells On this list years ago. But it was one of the many excellent independent games that has always been on our list of “to-play”, never plays our list. But now we can finally say at the time of this update, Dead cells It is below our belts and on this list.

Dead cells There is a roguelet platform that sees you that you take control of a pile of perceived Goop, which runs through sections through depressive dungeons, shadow sewer and grim cemetery. For your runs is a free story; A decaying kingdom under a siege from some kind of “malaise” and an alchemist who operated numerous experiments on living beings. But the star Dead cells is his fight.

When you go through the game again and again to different degrees of success depending on what weapons you pick up, what permanent upgrades you managed to use and your knowledge of enemy moments, you will get mastery Dead cells' Rewarding the combat system. You will learn which weapons suit your game style and which increase these weapons. You will learn the timing of when to deal with or avoid each monster. Most importantly, you will learn what the game expects from you.

Part Dead cells That should not be unchanged, his humor is. The title is a undervalued sense of humor, which is perfectly embodied in your little pile of character who receives-and the sole that shrugs and sophisticated when it encounters something mystification. So when you play Dead cellsI was wondering why you didn't play it on Earth before, it's your accurate movement that is your answer.