Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, uncertainty hangs over the new release calendar as well as the forthcoming generation of hardware. The Last of Us Part II has been delayed indefinitely and we still don’t have dates for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Odds are we won’t hear when these highly anticipated gaming avenues will arrive until the world is right again. In the meantime, most of us are self-quarantining, and games are a great way to keep us indoors and entertained.
Last week, the Game Informer staff came together with nearly a dozen game suggestions for Switch, and today we have assembled a list that recommends just as many for Xbox One. Whether you have owned an Xbox One since launch or just picked one up to help pass the time during your shelter-in-place, these games are all fantastic options and stand on their own in unique ways.
As always, we want to hear what games you would recommend people should play during the pandemic in the comments section below. We hope you are all healthy and safe, and that these lists help deliver a degree of fun over the new couple of months.
The Elder Scrolls Online
Giant, sprawling MMORPGs are an awesome choice for lockdown situations – with boatloads of content to explore by yourself or with some other homebound friends, Elder Scrolls Online is a solid choice for this time. ESO is having its sixth anniversary event right now, which means there’s cake available for all players. The cake just so happens to double your experience gain, which is great if you’re just starting out to catch up, just in time for this year’s big expansion, Greymoor. If you’ve never played ESO before, what began as a rather mediocre and mundane MMO has improved dramatically over the years, adding plenty of opportunities to tool around the world Skyrim-style stealing anything that isn’t nailed down and fencing it, getting bit by vampires and werewolves for exciting new skill trees, and scouring dungeons for every nibble of honey, apples, and decorative wax. ESO’s delves and public dungeons allow you to pair up with other players organically without having to put a group together, but if you do feel like grouping, chaining dungeons with random folks or your friends is fast and easy. A paragon-esque endgame post-leveling system allows you to continue growing and gain rewards long after you reach level cap, meaning your time spent grinding away sheltering at home can yield some juicy bonuses for whatever characters you feel like boosting. – Dan Tack
Cuphead
After my first hour with Cuphead, I was sure I wasn't going to like it … I was a fool. Cuphead is well known as the game that looks like a long-lost Disney film. StudioMDHR painstakingly created every asset in the game using old-school animation techniques, which give Cuphead an incredible visual style. At the same time, Cuphead is also known for being an incredible challenge, which is the reason I almost bounced off it my first time out. Thankfully, I stuck with this amazing game, because it’s an incredible thrill ride. Aside from a handful of side-scrolling platform levels, Cuphead is primarily a series of intense boss battles where you whittle away at massive health bars using a variety of Cuphead’s shooting attacks. Is it hard? Sure, but right now might be the best time for you to hunker down and try to master a game like this. If anything, Cuphead could prove therapeutic. I found Cuphead’s visually chaotic boss battles invigorating, as a worked-out pent up frustration on these cartoon monstrosities. A lot of games can help you relax, but that's not the only thing games are good for. If you really need a thrill right now, then look no further than Cuphead. – Ben Reeves
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
I usually play one game before moving on to another, devoting however much time is needed to see the credits roll. That hasn’t been the case with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Given the enormous scale of this adventure, I’ve been picking at it like a vulture, consuming large, delicious bites whenever I jump back in. I guess you could say I’m savoring it, as it’s transformed into my go-to experience when I need to dive into something for hours and days on end. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is the biggest entry in the series, and it’s remarkably consistent in its content, delivering fun, choice-driven quests, plenty of wall scaling, all sorts of stealthy staby staby moments, and a true sense of discovery whether you are sailing the seals or riding horseback into uncharted territory. Just hunting down the well-hidden cultists is an immensely satisfying use of time, given you get to play detective and take out a bad guy in the same breath. I can’t stress just how beautifully made this game is – both in the historical aspect of Greece and the experience that unfolds within it. As much as I want to see how this story ends, I also don’t want it to. It’s become a mainstay in my life. – Andrew Reiner
Path of Exile
Dungeon-crawlers are one of my go-to game genres. Not to completely dismiss the hard work that developers pour into their narratives, but I'll be honest – for me, a large part of the appeal here is that you can tune out the story, turn up a podcast, and grind your way through hordes of monsters while getting ever-more-powerful loot. If that sounds good, a great place to start is Grinding Gear Games' excellent Path of Exile. Don't be intimidated by its massive (and I really do mean massive) skill tree; there are plenty of great guides and tutorials online for when you're ready to min-max your hero. In the meantime, it's just a cathartic way to kill time, either solo or with friends. Better yet, it's free to play, so you can jump in without spending a dime. As I say every time this game comes up, you can certainly kick in a few bucks, but they're completely optional. – Jeff Cork
WRC 8
The series has long been stuck behind its competition, but this year’s entry is by far the best yet. Not only does it offer a full-fledged career for the first time (complete with upgradable employees and an R&D tree), but the racing gameplay is tight and tense as well. I really like the tracks. It sounds like a secondary aspect to the driving itself, but in a rally game, if you don’t have good tracks the game is shortchanging you. Not only are the tracks at locations around the world difficult in general, but they have features like different surfaces and configurations that really test aspects of your driving. Narrow, unforgiving asphalt paths in Germany, for instance, are simply more of a challenge for my style of driving versus loose, gravely mountain courses. This, combined with the cars’ handling and horsepower, deliver a rally experience that is exhilarating. The Xbox One has well-known and solid racers like the Forza titles, but WRC 8 is definitely worth a look if you’re up for a challenge. – Matthew Kato