Unprecedented times. Most of us are under lockdowns, with a lot more free time. Gaming is a great way to spend your time. Paradoxically, some of us have lost our jobs and have limited money going around, while games can be expensive. Enter Xbox Game Pass - the perfect solution to get a massive supply of high quality gaming for a low monthly price. Think of it as Netflix for gaming, one low subscription price gives you access to hundreds of games. 

The price? It depends on your region, but the nominal price is US$10 per month. There are frequent offers for new subscribers, such as $1 for the first month, and even free trials at times. Keep an eye out, but $10 per month is an absolute bargain if you're going to make full use of it. 

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### On both PC and Xbox 

Xbox Game Pass is best on Xbox One, Xbox One S and Xbox One X. There's a huge catalogue of games - everything from acclaimed AAA games to indie hits, across pretty much every genre. 

A PC gamer? Xbox Game Pass is currently available in Beta for PC. The catalogue is definitely limited compared to its console counterparts, but there's still plenty of great titles. 

Needless to say, Xbox Game Pass is not available on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Those platforms have some excellent exclusive games too, but the sheer breadth, variety and affordability of Game Pass tips the balance firmly. Of course, if you have enjoyed your time with Game Pass and have the spare money to get into those platforms, by all means do so. 

### For those returning to gaming

There are plenty of people who haven't been playing games for years now. This is a great time to get in. If you don't have a machine to play games on, I'd recommend looking for a sale on Xbox One S or Xbox One X. The X model is highly recommended, but if you're on a tight budget and don't have a 4K display, Xbox One S will also play the same games, albeit at lower resolutions / graphical fidelity / frame rates. 

If you have a relatively modern desktop PC, you might want to consider adding in an affordable graphics cards such as GTX 1650 Super or Radeon RX 5500 XT - these will be powerful enough for HD gaming at 60 fps. RX 5700 series is a great deal for 1440p gaming, although 4K gaming is still pretty expensive. 

Really, though, it's the cost of games that add up, and this is where Xbox Game Pass is a killer deal. 

### Recommended games for Xbox One 

There are over 250 games on Xbox Game Pass. What's surprising is that its mostly high quality games - the selection is heavily curated. You may not like everything you find, but be rest assured there are no low-quality cookie cutter asset flip type games that fill the Steam catalogue. 

You can find the full list of games here: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass/games#

But here is a very select list of personal recommendations for games that I think are excellent and essential plays: Nier: Automata, Ace Combat 7, Metal Gear Solid V, Dirt 4, Wolfenstein II, Sunset Overdrive, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Dishonored 2, Subnautica, Outer Wilds, Ori and the Blind Forest, Metro Exodus, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Gears 5, Frostpunk, Forza Horizon 4, Fallout 4, Alien Isolation. Oh, and joining in May is Red Dead Redemption 2! Believe me, there's a lot more great games, but this is just a random selection. 

You can also sink your teeth into previous generation classics like Mass Effect and Fallout: New Vegas.

### Recommended games for PC

Being in beta, there are fewer games on PC, but still nearly 200. A lot of the missing games are actually the AAA titles. But there are still plenty of great games, enough to keep you busy for years to come. 

Here's the full list of PC games: https://www.xbox.com/en-CA/xbox-game-pass/games#PCgames

And some recommendations: Yakuza 0, Nier Automata, Wolfenstein II, What Remains of Edith Finch, Undertale, The Talos Principle, The Outer Worlds, Superhot, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Gris, Forza Horizon 4, Dirt Rally 2.0, A Plague Tale: Innocence. 

### Some observations

Like with all subscription services, games leave and enter on a frequent basis. The good news is most games stay for several months, and they give you a few weeks' heads up before a game leaves the catalogue. For example, GTA V is going to leave on May 7th, to be replaced by Red Dead Redemption 2. The other good news is that a vast majority of games have never left, and there's new additions all the time. The total number of games has thus only ever gone up with time. 

Most titles release on Game Pass several months after general release. However, some titles are available at launch, including many indie titles, and all Xbox Game Studios first party titles. 

The PC Game Pass requires using the new Xbox Beta app. You need to be on a recent version of Windows 10. As the Beta moniker suggests, it's a pretty clunky app, though they it is constantly improving. I don't think anyone would mind, though, once you launch the game it doesn't really matter. The Xbox Game Bar overlay is excellent, though. 

Overall, Xbox Game Pass is the perfect way for anyone to get started with modern gaming.