Skip to main content

Retro viking action and serious demolition are the latest freebies in Xbox Games With Gold

retro viking action serious demolition coming xbox live novembers games gold volgarr screen 02
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The November 2014 crop of free Games with Gold downloads are now available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers, as detailed on the Xbox News Wire.

Xbox One owners are being treated to the lo-fi platfomer Volgarr the Viking. This 16-bit 2D action platformer from the appropriately-named Crazy Viking Studios harkens back to the quarter-munching days of punishing, arcade difficulty. The game is full of secrets that reward thorough exploration. Hack, slash, and stab your way through all manner of monsters like its 1994 all over again.

Recommended Videos

For the first half of the month, Xbox 360 owners can try out Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise from the team behind the Banjo-Kazooie series at Rare. Trouble in Paradise builds upon the sandbox life-simulation of the popular first game, letting you cultivate a pleasant garden community to attract your colorful piñata brethren.

After the November 16, Xbox 360 owners can head up to Mars in the third-person shooter Red Faction: Guerrilla. Unlike previous entries in the series, Guerrilla is open-world, letting you take to the red dunes however you’d like. The environment is eminently destructable, so you can bring buildings crashing down left and right.

If any of these titles sound exciting to you, be sure to go online and grab them before the month is over.

Will Fulton
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…
NYT Connections: hints and answers for Friday, February 14
New York Times' Connection puzzle open in the NYT Games app on iOS.

Connections is one of the best puzzle games from the New York Times. The game tasks you with categorizing a pool of 16 words into four secret (for now) groups by figuring out how the words relate to each other. The puzzle resets every night at midnight and each new puzzle has a varying degree of difficulty. Just like Wordle, you can keep track of your winning streak and compare your scores with friends.

Some days are trickier than others — just like other NYT Games favorites The Mini and Strands. If you're having a little trouble solving today's puzzle, check out our Connections tips and tricks guide for some good strategies or check out the hints for today's Connections puzzle below. And if you still can't get it, we'll tell you today's answers at the very end.
How to play Connections

Read more
NYT Strands today: hints, spangram and answers for Friday, February 14
NYT Strands logo.

Strands is a brand new daily puzzle from the New York Times. A trickier take on the classic word search, you'll need a keen eye to solve this puzzle.

Like Wordle, Connections, and the Mini Crossword, Strands can be a bit difficult to solve some days. There's no shame in needing a little help from time to time. If you're stuck and need to know the answers to today's Strands puzzle, check out the solved puzzle below.
How to play Strands
You start every Strands puzzle with the goal of finding the "theme words" hidden in the grid of letters. Manipulate letters by dragging or tapping to craft words; double-tap the final letter to confirm. If you find the correct word, the letters will be highlighted blue and will no longer be selectable.

Read more
NYT Mini Crossword today: puzzle answers for Friday, February 14
The Mini open in the NYT Games app on iOS.

Love crossword puzzles but don't have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That's what The Mini is for!

A bite-sized version of the New York Times' well-known crossword puzzle, The Mini is a quick and easy way to test your crossword skills daily in a lot less time (the average puzzle takes most players just over a minute to solve). While The Mini is smaller and simpler than a normal crossword, it isn't always easy. Tripping up on one clue can be the difference between a personal best completion time and an embarrassing solve attempt.

Read more