3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (September 13-15)

If you’re a fan of strategy or simulation video games, this will be a great Xbox Game Pass month for you. Its biggest day-one releases — Age of Mythology: Retold, Ara: History Untold, and Frostpunk 2 — are all strategy games, while games like Expeditions: A MudRunner Game and Riders Republic are keeping things interesting on the simulation front. If you’re looking for something to play this weekend, I’m highlighting a trio of games that provide entertaining sandboxes to play around in.

Age of Mythology: Retold

Following remakes of the three Age of Empires games and the launch of Age of Empires IV, World’s Edge gave the series’ fantasy spinoff some love. Age of Mythology: Retold is a real-time strategy game similar to the Age of Empires titles in many ways, as players are building up towns and fighting rival civilizations. The biggest twist Age of Mythology provides is the Major and Minor Gods players choose before playing, which give them additional abilities. This remake also gives the experience a graphical overhaul, lets players reuse god powers, and has well-implemented controller support. Whether you’re a fan of the original or never played it before, this is worth checking out. Age of Mythology: Retold is available on PC and Xbox Series X/S via Game Pass Ultimate.

Core Keeper

While the idea of a mining sandbox game isn’t a new concept, Core Keeper is one of the best the subgenre has to offer outside of Minecraft. There’s plenty to uncover in its massive underground cavern, and lots of systems work together to ensure that’s always something you can do to progress. It’s a lot of fun with friends, and its top-down perspective and farming systems add aStardew Valley-like feel to the adventure. Core Keeper launched out of early access in August and is now available with Xbox Game Pass across PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It’s also on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PS5.