Xbox Game Pass provides access to a huge library of games, including a crop of essential historical games. They include expansive strategy games like Crusader Kings III, wartime shooters in the form of Sniper Elite 5 and heartrending adventures like A Plague Tale: Requiem. If it wasn’t already one of the best deals in gaming, the expansion of Xbox Cloud Gaming to your browser, phone and other devices cements its status.
Below we’ve collected, in no particular order, the best historical games on Xbox Game Pass. The games available on each platform vary, so our picks specify whether they’re only available on PC or restricted to the Ultimate tier of the service.
1. Age of Empires IV (PC)
Perhaps the greatest historical real-time strategy series of all time, there’s no escaping Age of Empires on this list. Embellished with stylish documentary films and with thoughtful innovations on the franchise formula, Age of Empires IV is an excellent gateway into historical gaming.
2. Pentiment
Pentiment is a murder mystery set in a 16th-century Bavarian town, imaginatively rendered in the form of an adventure game. It follows journeyman artist Andreas as he chats his way through medieval Europe’s peasants and priests towards the truth, all of whom talk (via text) in their own style of font depending on their social status. Pentiment’s historical setting overflows with detail but it’s more than a veneer, this medieval world’s social and religious strife neatly corresponding to the themes of its tale.
3. Trek to Yomi
Trek to Yomi is a short game which dresses the side scrolling adventures of lone samurai Hiroki in a monochrome style inspired by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Critics have noted its unsatisfying combat as a disappointment, but praised its often screenshot-worthy visuals.
4. Chivalry 2
A bloody, slapstick slasher played over grand, multiplayer environments, Chivalry 2 plugs a controller into the action of bombastic medieval movies. You can also load your colleagues into catapults and throw them over enemy walls. Don’t expect a history lesson.
5. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
The regent of historical real-time strategy for over 20 years, Age of Empires II is a classic encompassing 1,000 years of human history. Its multiplayer scene has continued to grow, while its Definitive Edition incarnation gives it an eye-catching remaster. It became available on Xbox hardware in 2023.
6. A Plague Tale: Requiem
In A Plague Tale: Innocence, the player controlled child heroes Amicia and her younger brother Hugo through the plague-ridden and devastated villages of 1349 France. It’s a compelling stealth game, involving supernatural rats and a landscape inspired by its developers’ experiences in south west France. Requiem, launched in 2022, continues the siblings’ journey as they travel south, to the coast and beyond.
7. Assassin’s Creed Origins
Some swear by Assassin’s Creed Origins as the best in the series of subterfuge-stuffed adventure games: it was the first to take on the wonders of the ancient world, and to update the series with design cues from immersive role-playing games.
Origins continues the franchise tradition of meticulously re-creating historical sites. Origins also features the first iteration of the brilliant Discovery Tour mode, which takes the form of an educational walking tour through Ptolemaic Egypt’s historical landmarks.
8. Sniper Elite 5
The World War Two series returns for a fifth iteration in Sniper Elite 5, which sees its protagonist travel to 1944 France to confront the Nazi war machine. As always, the mission is to assassinate high-ranking officers through various means; usually a sniper rifle.
9. Sea of Thieves
Sea of Thieves has grown bigger and better over the years since it launched, and it now offers some of the best co-op experiences on Xbox Game Pass. It can be comfortably played on Xbox Cloud gaming with touch controls. Sea of Thieves recalls the pirate Golden Age, inviting players to don their best nautical garb and take to the high seas in search of tales to tell and booty to sell.
10. Inkulinati
Dogs swing swords at rabbits on the illuminated pages of Inkulinati, a turn- (and ink-) based strategy game. It follows from the irresistible concept of animating and manipulating the strange and amusing creatures found on medieval manuscripts.
11. Battlefield V (PC + Ultimate)
Folding EA Play into Xbox Game Pass has bolstered its library of historical games with the Battlefield franchise. Battlefield 1 is present, and so are the series entries with modern settings, but Battlefield V is the best pick. The scale of confrontations and the geographical breadth of the game make it an essential World War Two game, while it retains timeless arcade action.
12. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Image Credit: Ninja Theory
Celtic warrior Senua’s journey through Hell for the soul of her dead lover is at the centre of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. It’s big on sound, visuals and atmosphere, and has some tricky combat too. Perhaps its most novel feature is the way it depicts psychosis. It’s a unique game that was recognised with five BAFTAs in 2018.
13. Empire of Sin
A tactical strategy game, Empire of Sin takes players to 1920s Chicago and asks them to lead one of 14 competing families. The narrative gives the game spark, while its turn-based combat is effective if repetitive. Some elements of its design may disappoint: cover is not that reliable, which is a bit of a let-down in a tactics game.
14. Crusader Kings III
Crusader Kings III
Image Credit: Paradox Interactive
A sprawling simulator of medieval rule, Crusader Kings III provides a step-up from Total War but isn’t so daunting to put off newcomers. Political intrigue and securing heirs is the focus of the unpredictable sandbox, which has a marvellous capacity to generate alternate historical timelines.
15. Immortals Fenyx Rising
Greek mythology was already on Ubisoft Quebec’s radar for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey when they started development of Immortals Fenyx Rising, an open-world game in a familiar Ubisoft mould targeted at fans of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. As such its world is more immediately inviting and its tone more light-hearted, serviced by a pantheon of comedic gods.
16. Hades
Hades
Image Credit: Supergiant Games
Developed by Supergiant Games, creators of the beautiful action RPGs Bastion and Transistor, Hades sends you to the underworld of ancient Greek mythology. There you’ll battle your way out of hell, befriend Cerberus and explore a remarkably atmospheric and characterful setting.
17. Humankind (PC)
The historical strategy game Humankind is turn-based and set on the same scale as Civilization. Starting from a nomadic age, players are charged with directing a community through major eras of human history, building cities and negotiating with other civilizations. Within each era, the player can select from a choice of civilization types based on historical societies as templates to develop upon.
18. Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition (PC)
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios
The hybrid elements of Age of Empires III made it a little quirky on release in 2006 and struggled to convince Age of Empires II’s champions to jump ship. However its RPG-like management and alternative visuals ensure it’s a fresh real-time strategy experience. Its campaigns told stories about the colonisation of the Americas, sometimes taking worthy leads from dissenting narratives.
19. Europa Universalis IV (PC)
Europa Universalis IV is a deep historical strategy that gives players huge freedom to create new visions of the past. The game can be started at any point between the Renaissance and the Age of Revolutions, or played through as one of hundreds of nations vying for domination.
