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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Lifestyle
Saqib Shah

Xbox Winterfest has begun, offering 33 free game demos for a limited time

Xbox players can now sample a range of indie games for absolutely free throughout December with the arrival of Winterfest.

The annual games showcase includes a total of 33 free demos including ten for games that have yet to be released. 

Among the newcomers is F1 racer New Star GP that harks back to arcade games like Sega Rally, a pirate adventure that may appeal to Sea of Thieves fans called Captain Bones, and post-apocalyptic fantasy RPG Vagrus: The Riven Realms. The last of those currently boasts a “very positive” review rating on PC games store Steam.

You can check out the full list of titles at the bottom of the article. If any catch your eye, you’ll need to act fast: Winterfest games are available to download until December 31. 

Xbox says it will gradually release the titles in the coming weeks, so make sure you keep an eye on the Xbox store for the latest arrivals. They'll be available on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles.

If you’re looking for more games to play over the Christmas break, check out the latest additions to PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass. Xbox’s subscription service is also currently offering customers on the Ultimate plan the Dead Space remake deluxe edition for just £7.99.

Xbox Winterfest 2023 games

  • 502’s Arcade (502 Studios)
  • Backbeat (Ichigoichie) - available Now
  • Captain Bones (World of Poly)
  • Champion Shift (SRG Studios)
  • Chessarama (Minimol Games) - available Now
  • Deceive Inc. (Sweet Bandits Studios) - available now
  • Dinosaur Fossil Hunter (Pyramid Games S.A.)
  • Donut Dodo (pixel.games)
  • Go Mecha Ball (Whale Peak Games)
  • Hidden Through Time 2 (Rogueside)
  • Howl (Mi’pu’mi Games), pre-order now
  • Kiborg (Sobaka Studio)
  • King Arthur: Knight’s Tale (NeocoreGames) - pre-order now
  • Kingdoms and Castles (BlitWorks Games) - available now
  • Long Gone Days (Serenity Forge) - available now
  • New Star GP (New Star Games)
  • Oppidum (EP Games)
  • Parcel Corps (Secret Mode)
  • Pinball FX (Zen Studios) - available now
  • Pinball M (Zen Studios) - available now
  • PlateUp! (It’s Happening)
  • Puzzledorf (Stuart’s Pixel Games)
  • Roguematch: The Extraplanar Invasion (Starstruck Games)
  • Shoulders of Giants (Moving Pieces Interactive) - available now
  • Sker Ritual (Wales Interactive)
  • Slave Zero X (Poppy Works) - pre-order now
  • Slopecrashers (byteparrot)
  • Space Boat (Recombobulator Games)
  • SquadBlast (Ultrahorse)
  • Strings Theory (BeautifulBee)
  • The Holy Gosh Darn (Perfectly Paranormal)
  • The Land Beneath Us (FairPlay Studios)
  • Vagrus – The Riven Realms (Lost Pilgrims Studio)
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