Skip to main content

3 Xbox Game Pass games you should play this weekend (May 17-19)

Bayek in Assassin's Creed Origins.
Ubisoft

As the weekend approaches, you’re probably happy that you’ll soon have more time to check out some video games. And if you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber and aren’t sure what to play, you have a lot to choose from. That’s where I come in. I’ve looked through the Xbox Game Pass lineup and found three games that I think all kinds of players can have a good time with this weekend.

The first game reimagined what Assassin’s Creed could be and is worth a revisit following the announcement of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Next up, we have a standout indie from 2023 that’s all about deciphering different languages and exploring how people communicate on an intrinsic level. Finally, there’s an underrated magical first-person shooter from EA that just came to the subscription service this week and is worth a look.

Recommended Videos

Assassin’s Creed Origins

Assassins Creed Origins Review
Ubisoft

This November, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will mark the Ubisoft series’ grand return to its open-world RPG style of gameplay. As such, it’s a good idea to go back and see where those concepts emerged. Released in 2017, Assassin’s Creed Origins reimagined what an Assassin’s Creed game could be by emphasizing its RPG elements and picking the bold setting of Ancient Eygpt. It follows Bayek, portrayed by Tales of Kenzera: Zau developer Abubakar Salim, as he avenges the death of his son and lays the foundation for what will eventually become the Brotherhood of Assassins.

It’s one of the strongest narratives in the entire Assassin’s Creed series, while Ancient Eygpt is one of the most unique locales Ubisoft’s long-running open-world franchise has explored so far. Assassin’s Creed Origins feels expansive thanks to its large world and RPG systems, and it thankfully doesn’t feel as bloated as its RPG follow-ups: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. If you don’t enjoy stealth games or action games, you can at least check out Discovery Tour, which is its educational mode where players can explore and learn more about Ancient Eygpt.

Assassin’s Creed Origins is playable through all versions of Xbox Game Pass across PC, console, and cloud. It’s also available on PlayStation 4 and through Sony’s PlayStation Plus Extra subscription.

Chants of Sennaar

A character overlooks a desert in Chants of Sennaar.
Focus Interactive

Chants of Sennaar is an indie game from Rundisc and Focus Entertainment that just came to Xbox Game Pass this week. As it’s a shorter game and one of Digital Trends’ favorite indies from 2023, I highly recommend you check it out over the course of this weekend. Chants of Sennaar is a puzzle game where players need to slowly piece together languages they are unfamiliar with. For example, a puzzle might have players find context clues in a room to learn how to open or close a door with a level. Over time, your knowledge base and dictionary as a player grows, and more languages are brought into the fray.

While that’s a relatively simple concept for a puzzle game, Chants of Sennaar gets the most out of it with some truly head-scratching puzzles. It’s the kind of puzzle game that makes you feel really smart when you crack it. On top of all that, it’s a gorgeous game with a vibrant color palette. You might not have heard of Chants of Sennaar before today, but it’s well worth the time of any puzzle game fan now that it’s on Xbox Game Pass

Chants of Sennaar is available on Xbox Game Pass across PC, console, and cloud. It’s also on PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Immortals of Aveum

A player blasts an enemy with magic spells in Immortals of Aveum.
EA

By this point, Immortals of Aveum is best known for underperforming and leading to massive layoffs at its developer Ascendant Studios. Removed from that context, though, I think this is a creative shooter that is well worth your time. The story, which takes place in a unique fantasy world where magic-wielding Immortals are fighting to win a brutal war, is definitely the weakest part of the adventure, but I find its gameplay quite fun. Surprisingly few shooters center their gameplay around magic, and Immortals of Aveum does so to great success.

There are three different kinds of magic that each do different things, and it’s a lot of fun to constantly swap between each type and the flashy visual effects that come with using them mid-battle. On top of that, there’s enjoyable Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order-like level exploration and puzzle-solving that makes this adventure a bit bigger than you might initially expect. Although Immortals of Aveum doesn’t have the best reputation, I recommend checking out the game for yourself and forming your own opinion on it.

For Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, Immortals of Aveum is playable through EA Play across PC, Xbox Series X/S, and cloud. It’s also available on PS5.

Tomas Franzese
A former Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese now reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
What games we’re playing this weekend (January 17-19)
A character performs a leaping attack in Dynasty Warriors Origins.

Well folks, it's been a long week. The Nintendo Switch 2 finally got revealed. David Lynch passed away. The world is quite literally burning. It's a lot for one person to take in. Thankfully, a much needed weekend is here and it's prime video game time for anyone in need for some stress relief (I know I am!). January is a quiet time for new video games, though, and we've yet to see many exciting new releases pop up. So what's worth playing?

As someone who played over 180 new releases in 2024, I'm here to help. I've got some recommendations for newly released games that you can sink into this January. Whether you're looking for some bombastic action to relieve your stress or something a bit brainier, these are the three games on my own playlist this weekend.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins

Read more
3 new PS Plus games you should play this weekend (January 10-12)
Key art for the Deathstroke season of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

A new batch of monthly PlayStation Plus Essential games dropped earlier this week. Differing from the mid-month PS Plus Extra and Premium Catalog drops, this is a group of three games available from now until February 4 that PS Plus subscribers from all tiers can redeem. It's one of the more eclectic PS Plus Essential months in some time, as it features a disappointing shooter based on the Suicide Squad comics from DC, a remaster of a 2010 racing game from EA, and a hilarious pseudo-sequel to an infamous indie game from the early 2010s. If you're wondering what you should be playing on your PS4 or PS5 this weekend, these are the games that you should be starting with.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League - Season 4 - "Meet Deathstroke"

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was an ambitious live-service shooter from Rocksteady, the developer behind the Batman: Arkham games. It's now infamous for flopping hard upon its release; revisiting the game one year later, I still have mixed feelings about it. As the game gets its final content update this month, WB Games offers Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League for free to any PS Plus subscriber who wants it. While I wouldn't recommend playing this game because it's good, it's a gaming curiosity worth claiming and having as part of your game library in case you ever want to check it out.

Read more
3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (January 10 to 12)
Zoe from Road 96.

Now that 2025 has begun, new games are slowly trickling onto Xbox Game Pass. While heavy hitters like Avowed and South of Midnight aren't here just yet, Microsoft is kicking off the new year by bringing back two amazing indie titles to its gaming subscription service and bringing some entertaining survival games down to the Game Pass Standard tier on console. If you're looking for something to play this weekend, these are the games that I'd recommend.
Road 96
Road 96 - Launch Trailer

Road 96 is a narrative adventure game about teenagers attempting to escape a fictional country called Petria, which is run by an authoritarian machine. It couples the choice-driven structure of Telltale adventure games with a roguelike structure, as each run technically follows a different teenager trying to get to the border. Some are more successful than others, and players can even die if they make the wrong decisions. It makes your individual experience as a player feel more special compared to other choice-based games. As Road 96's themes will only continue to become more relevant this year, it's perfect to kick off 2025 by playing Road 96 on Xbox Game Pass.

Read more