5 Great Strategy Games You Can Play Now On Game Pass
Crusader Kings III is a power battle like no other
Paradox Interactive
Microsoft's Game Pass library is expanding all the time, and if you're a fan of strategy games there are plenty to pick from.
Whether you're playing on PC or the Xbox console, there is a decent selection of strategy games available – some you'll probably end up sinking hundreds of hours into, others that are are more casual pick-up-and-play titles.
Here's my pick of five of the best strategy games available on Microsoft's gaming service.
Of the games on this list, Crusader Kings III is the one I've burned the most time playing. It took me at least three attempts to get to grips with its brutally complex mechanics (do not skip the tutorial, invest time in YouTube videos), but it's amazingly rewarding once you've cracked it.
You adopt the role of a Middle Ages ruler, trying to expand your dynasty through all manner of devious tactics. You can marry your way into power, conquer neighboring territories, plot to execute enemies, bend the knee to powerful emperors, torture the offspring of your rivals… the options are countless.
When your ruler dies, you jump straight into the shoes of their rightful heir, meaning you've got to think about succession and nurturing your children to take over, in case you're struck down by a plague or lose a vital organ on the battlefield. You might even slip a poison into the rightful heir's breakfast if they're shaping up to be a feckless waster who's going to undo your hard work.
There's a host of great DLC to add to the core game, although that does mean spending extra.
By far my favorite roguelike deckbuilder, Slay The Spire sees you try and guide one of four different characters all the way to the top of the spire, eliminating scores of enemies along the way.
Each of the four different heroes has a different set of cards and abilities, meaning you need to devise fresh strategies for each. To make it more challenging, the spire changes every time you climb it, meaning you need to plan a route carefully, working out when to take on tougher enemies to earn better cards/valuable relics, and when to stop for a breather.
The key to success in Slay The Spire is putting together combos of cards that work well with the relics (special powers) that you gain along the way. Don't be tempted to grab every card you're offered, and focus on cards that complement one another.
Slay The Spire 2 is due out later this year, so it's a good time to get into this one.
Manor Lords is a beautiful medieval city builder, with an element of strategic battling for those who want it.
Personally, I prefer the more chilled combat-free mode, where you just concentrate on building out your settlement and trying to keep everyone alive by harvesting enough crops and berries in the fertile summer months, before the snow settles on the rooftops and you've only got a limited supply of meat to hunt through winter.
Don't be put off by the 'preview' tag – there's more than enough here to keep you playing, even if the game isn't technically complete. It's one of those games where you look up and discover it's 3am and you've got work in the morning.
Confession time: much like Crusader Kings III was for me in the beginning, Stellaris is one of those games I'm dying to get into, but haven't spent enough time studying to make a successful go of it yet.
This is a grand strategy game at universe scale, where you have to build your galactic empire by sending out exploration fleets, forming alliances and developing defenses to fend off enemy invasions.
Like Crusader Kings III, there's a barrage of extra DLC that adds to the base game, and unusually for grand strategy games, the console version is very well received, with a redesigned UI that's well adapted for Xbox controllers.
If I do nothing else in 2025, it will be to get into Stellaris…
Hit the high-scoring combos in Balatro
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Balatro is the most fun you can have playing Texas Hold'em poker without risking losing your bank balance.
Don't be put off if you've never played poker or averse to gambling – you'll soon pick up the simple rules and the only thing you can lose is vast expanses of time to this moreishly addictive game.
The key here is combining strong poker hands with jokers – a small selection of modifiers that give your cards special powers, such as giving you extra chips for played face cards or multiplying your score every time you play a king. Much like Slay The Spire, it's finding complementary jokers to match your cards that is the key to success here.
Success means earning enough chips to beat the next blind, until you defeat the final boss blind. There's no better feeling than seeing your chip count tick into the millions with a boss-defeating combo. It's almost as good as a win at the casino.
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