Best Xbox One Games

Buying guide for Best Xbox One games

Kids and adults alike enjoy playing video games, and a good game is like a good book — some keep your attention for a long time, some are quick to get through, but you always move on to the next sooner or later. Anyone who enjoys playing the Xbox One is constantly in need of new games.

Microsoft released the Xbox One console in 2013, and with new titles constantly being released, years’ worth of games are available. They have both popular and more unique titles in several different genres, for all different ages and abilities, making it difficult to know which game to get.

If you have no idea where to start in your search for Xbox One games, BestReviews has given you a leg up with suggestions for some of the games we think are among the best and even more information on what to look for when shopping for Xbox One games.

If you’re looking for an Xbox One game for a child or teenager, keep age-appropriateness in mind. Check the game ratings, as well as reviews from owners.

Considerations

Microsoft knows what it’s doing with the Xbox One video game console. They’ve had years of practice.

The company started by releasing the original Xbox console in 2001. After so many years of success, the Xbox One became the eighth version of the console, released to compete with Sony’s PlayStation 4, Nintendo’s Wii U, and more.

Versions

But because it’s the eighth in a series of very popular gaming consoles, when you’re buying an Xbox One game, you need to make sure it will work on that version of the system. Some Xbox One games have backward compatibility with previous versions of the console: the Xbox 360 and the original Xbox. Those games, from your older system, can be played on your newer Xbox One console.

Game genres

You may have a specific genre in mind when you think about Xbox One games, but there is actually a wide variety of genres available, making them suitable for every age and many different interests.

The following are the most common genres that are available for Xbox One games:

• Shooter: These games usually involve some type of weapon, and it’s nearly always a gun. “First person” shooters are games in which the player views the scene from the eyes of a virtual character.

• Horror: Inspired by horror films, the obvious goal here is to scare players.

• Platform: This type of game involves following a character as it runs and jumps over obstacles in its path. Platform games were extremely popular in 1980s coin-op arcades.

• Puzzle: A fairly obvious genre, players solve puzzles that include traditional puzzles with words, numbers, and logic challenges.

• Stealth: These games require a player to use skills to stay hidden from a villain of some type.

• Action/adventure: Another fairly obvious genre, these games involve action similar to what is experienced in an adventure movie.

• Strategy: To move through these games, a player needs to involve a certain strategy to get from point A to point B. These games quite often have a broader scope than the typical action/adventure game.

• Racing: This is often involving cars but can involve anything that can be raced — boats, space ships, rafts, and more.

• Flight simulator: Similar to racing games, flight simulators put you behind the controls of a vehicle. They’re typical very involved; some flight sims, train sims, and boat sims are sophisticated enough to be considered light training for real world situations.

• Sports: The sports genre can involve any sport at all from football to baseball to hockey.

• RPG: This genre stands for “role playing game,” and players are required to be a certain character as they role play in some type of fantasy world. As you play, the character becomes stronger and more capable, developing skills and acquiring more and more equipment.

If you’re finding that you grow tired of your games too quickly, you can look to pre-owned games to both unload your games and get “new” ones.

FAQ

Q. Are all Xbox One games offered digitally, as well as on disc?

A. Nearly all of them are, yes. The only ones that are not offered digitally are games that include some type of peripheral device needed for play.

Q. I have heard that some video games have a regional lockout. Do Xbox One games have this?

A. No. Xbox One is region-free. This means that no matter the region the game originates from, it will work on an Xbox One gaming system.