Best Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) games 2021

Project xCloud is finally live, now known as Xbox Game Pass Cloud Gaming. It adds dozens of the best Xbox games to mobile devices through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. For a low monthly sub, you can instantly access dozens of great games via the cloud, streaming them directly to your Android device (and soon, iOS and PC via the web). What games are actually well suited to the service, though? Which games take advantage of the best phones for Xbox Cloud Gaming, or the best tablets for Xbox Cloud Gaming to their full potential? Here are our top picks, with pros and cons, including latency, screen size, and other features. And remember, all of your save progress from all of these titles automatically syncs to your Xbox home console too.

Top pick

Minecraft Dungeons

$15/mo with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate $15/mo from Amazon

Minecraft Dungeons is absolutely the first game you should try with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, given the fact it supports touch controls if nothing else. Additionally, the fixed camera angle makes it light on any potential latency issues, and the accessible, yet satisfying gameplay is a fun adventure for the entire family.

Card battler RPG

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

$15/mo with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate $15/mo from Amazon

As a turn-based card-battler RPG, Thronebreaker is perfect for situations where you might not have a totally perfect connection. Thronebreaker is set in CD Projekt RED's famed Witcher universe, and tells a similarly dark tale set in a gorgeously hand-painted world.

Blob of death

Carrion

$15/mo with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate $15/mo from Amazon

Ever fancied yourself to be an amorphous blob of death and carnage? Well, give Carrion a try. Set in a mysterious underground lab, you explode out of containment and progress through a Metroidvania-like maze of facilities and caverns, devouring hapless scientists and evolving as you go.

Diablo it up

Children of Morta

$15/mo with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate $15/mo from Amazon

Children of Morta is a gorgeous pixel-style Diablo-like action RPG set in a mystical world. You play as an entire family of warriors with a diverse range of playstyles and powers, as you work through various procedurally generated dungeons to banish corruption from your homeland.

Manage a hospital

Two Point Hospital (Two Point Studios)

$15/mo with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate $15/mo from Amazon

Two Point Hospital is an excellent option for Xbox Game Pass Cloud Gaming, with passive (if oftentimes stressful) gameplay with manageable game speed, and bite-size pick-up-put-down gameplay ideal for short travel sessions with your phone. In Two Point Hospital, you manage your very own medical facility, crammed with various challenges and wacky illnesses to manage.

Be a mean goose

Untitled Goose Game

$15/mo with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate $15/mo from Amazon

This whimsical puzzle game took the world by storm when it launched, and for good reason. There's simply nothing like it. In Untitled Goose Game, you play as an angry goose, hellbent on sabotaging and terrorizing the village folk of a small English countryside hamlet. Be the goose, because peace was never an option.

Turn-based tactics

Mutant Year Zero

$15/mo with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate $15/mo from Amazon

Mutant Year Zero is a post-apocalyptic turn-based tactics game inspired by a tabletop adventure game from the '80s. Playing as a team of three mutants, you'll explore a darkly humorous world for answers about how the world fell, and why you are, well, half-human half-duck.

Beat 'em up on the go

Streets of Rage 4

$15/mo with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate $15/mo from Amazon

Streets of Rage 4 is great on Xbox Game Pass cloud, owing to bespoke touch controls that make the experience ideal for all scenarios. Streets of Rage 4 is the latest installment in the decades-old classic franchise, bringing you dozens of enemies to smash across a variety of urban stages.

Become the luminary

Dragon Quest XI

$15/mo with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate $15/mo from Amazon

Dragon Quest XI is another great addition to Xbox Game Pass for cloud, complete with touch controls, so you don't need to bring a controller along with you. Dragon Quest XI is a classic JRPG from a legendary franchise spanning decades, complete with dozens of hours of turn-based gameplay, ideal for low-latency play.

Save the universe

Star Renegades (Massive Damage Inc.)

$15/mo with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate $15/mo from Amazon

Star Renegades also has touch controls, making it great for situations where you might not have a controller. Star Renegades is a turn-based strategy game with gorgeous art pitting you and your team against an inter-dimensional galactic army. With endless gameplay opportunities, Star Renegades is an addictive and engaging combat puzzle waiting to be unlocked.

Game on the go

Project xCloud is now Xbox Game Pass Cloud Gaming, giving access to over 150 games right on your Android device. Microsoft hasn't got the service onto iOS yet due to Apple's draconian App Store policies, but if the service takes off on Android, we expect Apple will eventually cave to the pressure.

Games like Mutant Year Zero and Thronebreaker make for great titles in environments where you don't have the best pings. Since they're turn-based, you can be sure that an inopportune lag spike will get you killed, and you can play at your own pace. The same thing goes for Two Point Hospital and Untitled Goose Game, which have relatively low-stakes, slower-paced play. For better connections, you can run more action-packed games like Children of Morta and Carrion, which benefit from fixed camera angles for better responsiveness from the video feed. Lately I've been playing a lot of Dragon Quest XI on Xbox Game Pass, and its turn-based nature makes it a great option for gaming on the go.

The game at the top of the list, though, is easily Minecraft Dungeons, which is one of the few games to support full touch controls. As an action RPG, Minecraft Dungeons lets you and up to three other friends jump into Minecraft's famed blocky world, tackling various adventures that threaten the innocent villagers of the land. Create epic builds, find rare gear, and do it all from your phone, with save files that sync directly to your Xbox console at home too.

Be sure to take a look at our roundup of best Xbox One controller phone mount clips to attach your Xbox controller for xCloud gaming, too!

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Jez Corden is a full-time writer for Windows Central, focusing on Xbox, Surface, and Windows PC. He spends the vast majority of his time gaming or writing about gaming, with a mission to provide gamers in the Microsoft ecosystem the best and most up-to-date info possible.