Surprise! Microsoft shadow dropped 2 new Xbox games, including one of this year’s biggest indies and an FPS that reminds me of a Halo mode
Both Blindfire and Animal Well are now available on Xbox Series X|S.
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What you need to know
The majority ofthe announcements from Microsoft’s October Xbox Partner Preview eventwere about upcoming games scheduled to come to Xbox and Windows PC in 2025, but a few of the titles shown are actually available to play on Microsoft’s Series X|S consolesright nowthanks to a few shadow drops. One has launched into Early Access through the Xbox Game Preview program, and the other is one of 2024’sbest PC gamesthat’s gotten a surprise Xbox port.
The former is Blindfire, an $8.99 (there’s a free trial) indie first-person shooter developed and published by Double Eleven in which players are pitted against one another in a dimly lit underworld “beneath a neon skyline.” Aesthetically, it reminds me a lot ofthe competitive Breakout mode from Halo 5: Guardiansand its dark, stylized maps, though mechanically it seems to emphasize twitchy Counter Strike-style shooting and cleverly using environmental traps to your advantage.
Matches can have up to eight players at once, with everyone fighting to be the last man standing in both solo and team-based modes. Uniquely, defeated participants can take control of night vision cameras and traps in the arena as spectators, influencing the outcome of the game by trying to aid or sabotage individuals still in the fight.Thataspect of the FPS calls the oft-forgotten 2020 battle royale Darwin Project to mind — in that game, stream spectators could vote to give players helpful powers and boosts — and will hopefully lead to lots of interesting instances of emergent gameplay.
Blindfire | $8.99 at Xbox (Xbox/PC)
This new PvP shooter from Double Eleven pits groups of eight players against one another in a shadowy underworld, with quick wits and even quicker aim required to survive and become the last man standing. Traps can be used to your advantage, though spectators can also control them to influence match outcomes.
The latter title isAnimal Well, which quickly blew up and became one of 2024’s biggest indie games when it launched on Windows PC (via Steam), PS5, and Nintendo Switch in May. Created by solo developer Billy Basso with help from YouTuber Jason “videogamedunkey” Gastrow’s game publishing label, it’s a Metroidvania platformer that starts off relatively simple, but rapidly opens up into something shockingly complex and creative as you figure out how items and creatures can be used “to manipulate your environment in surprising and meaningful ways.”
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Though Animal Well’s main story will only take you about six hours to finish, its countless hidden secrets and puzzles are where therealmeat of the game lies. Its description confidently asserts that “players will be discovering hidden puzzles for years,” and indeed, its fans always seem to be unearthing a new find when I check in with the community.One particularly wild puzzleeven required 50 players to work together in order to complete an art mural.
That isn’t to say it’spurelyan exploration game; in fact, it can have stealth and horror vibes at times, as the little blob character you play as can’t fight directly and has to rely on hiding from or tricking predators to survive. Still, exploration and puzzle-solving is definitely at the heart of the $24.99 indie.
Animal Well | $24.99 at Xbox
Billy Basso’s critically acclaimed Metroidvania platformer has finally come to Xbox, and it’s a must-play if you love exploring vast worlds, making new discoveries, and figuring out complex and unique puzzles.
Also at: Steam (PC, $24.99)
Something worth noting is that Blindfire can be played on Windows PC as well as Xbox Series X|S through the Microsoft Store, though Animal Well only PC version is still on Steam. Also, neither game is onXbox Game Pass, though I can see both — Blindfire especially — heading to the service in time. The FPS doesn’t have a roadmap or expected final release date of any kind right now, and Double Elven says to “purchase only if you are comfortable with the current state of the unfinished game.”
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Having played it myself earlier this year, I can personally recommend Animal Well wholeheartedly, and I imagine I’ll be checking out Blindfire through its free trial with some friends this weekend. Even though neither of these shadow drops aremassivereleases, I have to say that it’s nice for Xbox players to have something new to play now as they wait for all the other games shown during theXbox Partner Preview.
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Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
