February 2018 Xbox Games With Gold Predictions

THE BIG GAMES

XBOX GAMES WITH GOLD PREDICTIONS FOR FEBRUARY 2018

Every month, those who subscribe to Microsoft’s online services on Xbox One and Xbox 360 are gifted a few free games under the Games with Gold program. Usually, a couple larger or well-known games from bigger studios make that list, and we have a few predictions as to what those might be for February 2018.

The first guess is 2014 stealth/horror title Alien: Isolation from Creative Assembly. Set within the same universe as the horror Alien movie series, the game takes place 15 years after the first 1979 Alien film. You play as Amanda Ripley, daughter to film protagonist Ellen Ripley, as you investigate her disappearance while avoiding a single alien monster within a massive space station.

Alien: Isolation has been on sale numerous times since its release in 2014, and it’s honestly surprising it hasn’t be used with Games with Gold thus far due to its initial popularity back when it released and the four years it’s been on the marketplace since then. Furthermore, the game is currently free for Xbox 360 owners for an unspecified time, so it shouldn’t be too hard for Microsoft to consider offering it for free on Xbox One as well.

Another likely candidate is South Park: The Stick of Truth, the first installment in the South Park RPG series followed more recently by South Park: The Fractured But Whole. Currently, The Stick of Truth is included free in a bundle along with The Fractured But Whole if you buy it digitally through the Xbox Marketplace. By offering the first game for free with Xbox Games with Gold, despite it already being free if you buy the sequel, this would help players who are hesitant buying the second game but who still want to give the first one a try.

Check out page two where we look at a couple possible indie inclusions for next month.

INDIES

XBOX GAMES WITH GOLD PREDICTIONS FOR FEBRUARY 2018

A couple of indies usually make it onto Games with Gold as well, and our first guess for an inclusion is Thomas Was Alone from developer Mike Bithell. In Thomas Was Alone, you control some simplistic rectangles that are supposed to represent AI entities trying to get to certain areas on each level. It was very well-received for its creative use of narration, and originally released on the Xbox platform in November 2014.

Thomas Was Alone is a likely pick due to both its popularity back in 2014 and the long stretch on time since then. As well, the game is included in Xbox’s Instant Indie Collection: Vol. 1 bundle, wherein another title The Swapper is currently free with a Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft obviously acknowledges this as a noteworthy indie, and therefore would know it would make players happy as an inclusion with Games with Gold.

Another indie that could come in February 2018 is the silly platformer Clustertruck! from tinyBuild that came to Xbox One in 2016. In the game, you jump from truck to truck on super fast highways while trying to avoid whatever obstacles the game wants to throw at you like hammers, lasers, or even flamethrowers. Clustertruck! would be a great inclusion as it’s relatively cheap so it’s not a huge investment from Microsoft to include, but it’s silly and fun enough to please the casual crowd as an inclusion in Games with Gold who might not be as interested in the longer AAA titles like Stick of Truth or Alien: Isolation. Making sure there’s a game for all types of players every month is definitely a thought that Microsoft maintains.

Make sure to check back with Twinfinite in a week or so to see the official release of Games with Gold for February 2018.