As has become customary for goodness knows how many years now, the middle of every month sees two more games become free for those making use of the Xbox Games With Gold programme, and January of 2022 is no different.
From today, the two new games that are being so generously gifted to us Xbox gamers are Space Invaders Infinity Gene, and Aground. Both can be found on the Xbox Store free of charge, so there’s really no reason not to download them and give them a whirl.
First of all, Space Invaders Infinity Gene is originally a mobile title from 2008, and an Xbox 360 title from 2010 but is now available across all of the Xbox consoles. It initially starts off as your standard Space Invaders, high-score-achieving fare, but will start to evolve in a plethora of strange ways.Â
With new power-ups, features and maps (spiral Space Invaders, anyone?), Infinity Gene’s 143 stages will all be unique. Add to this the tricky Challenge Mode and the obvious inclusion of leaderboards, and this is one with that all important ‘one more go’ appeal. Space Invaders Infinity Gene is only available for free for the latter half of January – it is only available for free until the 31st January – act fast! You should be seeing this one rolling out for zero cost right about now – and if not, keep checking as it’ll be there soon.
Secondly, 2021’s Aground is an altogether different beast from Space Invaders Infinity Gene, and given our 4.5/5 score from our review, it’s most definitely worth your time.
What we have here is a mining/crafting RPG bearing somewhat of a resemblance to the hit Terraria. It has an incredibly intriguing narrative threaded throughout the gameplay loop of gathering resources to craft the next big thing, with the ultimate aim to make it into space, as part of a desperate bid to save humanity. Aground may have a cutesy art style, but spend enough time in this pixelated world, and many more secrets start to appear. Aground is available via Games With Gold for slightly longer than Space Invaders Infinity Gene: you can pick up Aground for free until the 15th February.
But as we all know by now, whenever we see two new games enter the Games With Gold landscape, we must bid farewell to others. Luckily, the rogue-lite twin-stick shooter NeuroVoider is sticking around until the 31st January, however the bullet hell of Radiant Silvergun has now departed from Games With Gold. If you were planning to pick that one up, I’m afraid you are all out of luck.
We’d love to hear whether you are intending on checking out any of the games now available on Games With Gold. The comments section below beckons you…
