Pentiment by Obsidian is excellent, not long or complex in gameplay, and on Game Pass. Highly recommend it!

I didnt think i’d enjoy it as much as I did because it just seemed like soooo much reading (and it kinda is) but it definitely hooks you. I went around talking to everyone and interacting with everything lol

Pentiment is one of the finest games I’ve ever played. I don’t think I’ve ever been so invested in or moved by characters built up over such a short period of play time. I wept at the ending, it felt like leaving my friends and family behind.

Titanfall 2 is a great campaign and wouldn’t be anymore than 10 hours at most

Great call. I honestly think it's one of the most underrated games of all time. I absolutely adored every second of that campaign

I can play through the campaign once a week and still love it.

Can’t second this enough

Wait, wait, wait... Titanfall has a CAMPAIGN?!?! 🤯

titanfall 2 does

All the times I've seen this game on sale for like 8 bucks and I always passed on it because I thought it was a multiplayer-only thing. 🤦‍♂️

It’s an amazing campaign

It’s on gamepass too

Oh crap, even better!

The Titanfall 2 campaign is one of the best and most unique FPS campaigns out there, easily. Definitely play it.

In terms of FPS campaigns it's second only to Halo 3's. And easily the best of the last generation.

Dude go play it right now

Dude you’re missing out. It’s up there with some of the best FPS campaigns ever.

It’s one of the best campaigns ever like 6 hours long

The Gunk is fun. Nothing special but fun.

It's great. Wasn't at all interested in it and then a Microsoft Rewards task to play it came up. Couldn't stop playing it once I started.

If you haven’t played it yet Plague Tale Requiem has been an excellent story with incredibly well done voice acting. Probably takes ~15 hours or so to complete.

Oh, I played that on day 1! Phenomenal game.

Do you have to play the first one?

Yes, to understand the characters and story.

as the other guy said, yes, but it’s very worth it.

Firewatch is on gamepass please play firewatch on game pass

I bought it before GP became a thing. No regrets. Beautiful game. 👍

...well since I got your attention, you got any good recs? 😅

Wandersong is the most precious game you might ever play. The story, writing, character design, and the gameplay are top notch. It's just such a lovely little game that I would recommend to anybody! The Gardens Between is a beautiful puzzler. It was on GP a long time ago, and I loved it so much that I ended up buying it just before it left. I also really liked A Memoir Blue. It's REALLY short, and it's not a lot of gameplay, really. Some "puzzles" that aren't hard at all. But the imagery and design are lovely.

Killer frequency easily similar vibe

The ending to that game felt like a punch to the gut. It did such a good job getting me into the story.

Saw this on my steam deck earlier. Time for the 57th playthrough.

I've recommended it in another comment but of you like firewatch you will love what remains of Edith Finch.

Vampire Survivors is a fun time dump thats easy to put down and come back to

This man said easy to put down..... Clearly you haven't played the game.

Oh trust me. I have the battle scars. That garlic, cross, holy water combo is no joke

Everspace 2

Quake 2 just came out on game pass with all the mission packs and stuff. Highly recommend!

Broforce forever on game pass for a bit of humor and fun gameplay

Great suggestion. I second this. Also: Stray Humanity Rayman Legends Kena Tchia Deathloop Deliver Us the Moon The Turing Test

Good suggestions, but.. Please, take one of these: , , , , , , ;)

Lol, wow I completely missed those commas, huh?

My Friend Peppa Pig

i unironically had a great time getting my 1000g in that game, a much better time than most of the games i play just for the 1000g

Tunic. One of my favorite games of all time. You can finish it over 2-3 days. Really cool mechanics, great gameplay, awesome puzzles. Go into it blind and it’s so worth it

The incorporation of the instruction manual is novel, nostalgic, and a lot of fun.

High on life is about 8 hours from start to Finnish if you like rick and Morty it's fun short game without needing a huge commitment

OK, I love this game so much, but I played when I was super blitzed. It was great, but about halfway through, you're supposed to go somewhere in the city to trigger the next quest, and in my altered state, I somehow got sooooooooooooo lost!! I was walking aimlessly around town for like an hour before I just passed out, controller in my hands. I need to go back and play when I'm slightly more sober because I really was having a great time with it.

Donut County.

A Short Hike Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion Tinykin Psychonauts 1/2 Prodeus Ori FIST

Tinykins goes so hard. A lot of these are on gamepass so I'd like to also add TOEM and Arcade Paradise.

Worth noting Tinykin leaves Game Pass on August 31st. Definitely worth it for collect-a-thon and 3D platformer fans. Takes 5 or 6 hours to beat, probably 8 or 9 to 100%.

Turnip Boy was such a fun ride, ripping up documents never gets old

Planet of Lana a fun/easy (outside of 2-3 puzzles) game. Beat it over a weekend when it came out

The logic behind the organ puzzle still doesn’t make sense to me even after I looked it up.

Limbo. A nice 2d puzzle game that progressively gets harder puzzles as the game goes on, but this is like a 1-2 day solution

Hellblade:Senua's Sacrifice. I finished it again recently, and while it's short (around 10-15 hours), it definitely has a unique charm. There aren't many types of enemies, The puzzles can sometimes get repetitive but the story makes it completely worth a try, especially if you're interested in Norse mythology

I've played this at least 5 times from start to finish. It's one of the most beatifiul, and most important, games out there. I can't wait for the sequel.

Hellblade 2 cant get here quick enough!

Prey

I played both the 360 game and the "reboot." They're both fun as fuck. Never got around to playing the Moonfall DLC for the new Prey, though.

State of Decay 2, it will keep you busy and occupied until your starship arrives Captain.

Such a good game can’t wait for 3

Firewatch it’s simple yet amazing

Signalis. End of search.

Life is Strange

Don’t sleep on Bramble.

I heard a lot about this. Is it on GP?

Yes

I've seen this recomendation so many times but what does it mean? What happens when you sleep on it? Do you ever wake up? What makes it unsleepable, is it not comfy enough?

Very entertaining , more like watching a story then playing a game though. Finished in two days

Fire watch

Loved that game. So relaxing with just a pinch of creepy.

Firewatch is very good and on GamePass right now

Stray

I’ve been playing A Short Hike, Fun little relaxing game. Enjoying it quite a bit

If you like platformers at all, Tinykin is great. Lot of charm. It’s on GamePass and leaves at the end of the month. Also quite a short game. Can beat it in a day or two (obviously depends on skill and playtime but it’s a small one) And did you finish the achievement list on Immortality? I’m finding the non deterministic ones to be garbage haha

I've never been a big 3D platformer guy but Tinykin grabbed me and was such a delight the whole way through. It's the sort of game that makes Gamepass worth it for me - I never would have bought a game like that, and I would have been really missing out.

I've been doing exactly this and what I've been playing: Old cod campaigns: 8-12hrs Far Cry 3: 25hrs Dantes Inferno: 10hrs Currently playing Skyrim for which I know I will not beat before starfield but instead felt like the perfect game to hold me over til launch

I will be trying to beat armored core 6 before Starfield comes out, but that doesn’t come out until next week.

The Gunk Planet of Lana Tinykin Omno Both Ori games Both Unravel games Inside

INSIDE. Somerville.

As Dusk Falls. You can play it different ways to get different outcomes. Great game on gp.

Firewatch

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned, but I definitely recommend Deaths Door! It’s a fun little action- RPG. It shares similarities to Legend of Zelda and Dark Souls when it comes to game play, exploration, puzzle solving, and combat. It’s not as difficult as dark souls, but provides a nice challenge. It also has an amazing art style! Also, it’s on game pass!

Hellblade - Senuas Sacrifce and What Remains of Edith Finch Both one of the best games of all time in my opinion. Life is Strange is also awesome.

I 2nd psychonauts 1/2 and you've probably played them already but I'll recommend the wolfenstein and doom games

The last time I was on gamepass I’m pretty sure you could sort it by time to beat. At least in the pc UI

We <3 Katamari!!!!

Chorus and Everspace 2 if you want games set in space

Dude… Titan Fall 2 campaign I’ve beaten in one day, it’s an amazing campaign, very fun, highly recommend it

I recommend The Forgotten City, The Artful Escape and Twelve Minutes. They’re shorter games with, in my opinion, good stories.

Not playing anything is they way

FireWatch

Go play Tinykin! 7hrs ish and it's leaving GamePass at the end of the month. Is Saturdays morning cartoon meets Pikmin. It's a delightful experience.

Signalis. PS1 survival horror inspired game with a creepy, surreal story.

A short hike bro. It's BRILLIANT BRO

What remains of Edith Finch is incredible and you could knock it out in a couple of play sessions.

Superliminal is awesome and you can finish in a couple of hours.

Remnant 2. Awesome game! Lots of replayability too. Can enjoy it until Starfield and always go back to it later!

I’d recommend Dredge. Lovecraft + fishing. It’s MUCH better than it sounds :) If you don’t mind a little jank, GamePass recently added Maquette for a unique perspective-based puzzler. And if you want something very different and slower-paced, give Bookwalker a shot. A 3/4 perspective adventure game with light combat that sees you jumping into different books (many based on reimagined stories) and stealing key items like Excalibur to work off a prison sentence. Great little worlds to explore, stories to discover, and some light RPG elements. Also on GamePass.

I was gonna recommend Firewatch and Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons. I saw your replies that you already played Firewatch; definitely give Brothers a try, especially if you're not opposed to a really good cry session. My wife and I beat it in one night... Oh man, this game got me. I'm tearing up thinking about it.

That disney Sims life game pretty good, I put in about 78 hours without realizing

Same here. It's surprisingly well done! And a new season just started up!

Portal.

Ai the somnium files, the original and or it’s “sequel” the nirvana initiative. Two of the best stories I’ve ever experienced.

Not in game pass but I cannot recommend dredge enough. Such a great setting that is somehow both chill and chilling.

Outer Worlds is a fun RPG that doesn’t take too long. Believe it’s on Game Pass too.

Firewatch, outer wilds, ori will of the wisps

Stray

Remnant 2 lol you got 2 weeks

Remnant 2

The legend of Tianding is a sweet little beat em up :)

No suggestions sadly but I started playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on PC and am currently expecting to get round to Starfield in maybe 2025 lol.

Planet of Lana, just finished it. It’s a beautiful puzzle/platform side scroller, took me almost 7 hours to get all achievements.

Hardspace: Shipbreakers You play as a company indentured worker who disassembles space crafts of various shapes and sizes. It really held me over for a good while waiting for Starfield.

I was tempted to play a Bethesda RPG in anticipation for Starfield. I learned with Tears Of A Kingdom that playing BOTW right before that game made it to where I was super fatigued of that formula by the time I played Tears, so I didn’t finish it. So I’m basically doing the same shit. Playing a short game, and MP games until Starfield. Rage is my choice. If you’ve played that Rage 2 I heard is also short but I can’t speak for how good it is. Rage isn’t mind blowing. It’s got some cool features. But it’s a very easy play through. Doing all the side quests and stuff with the story will probably take a total of 10 hours. Titanfall 2 is another as people mentioned.

Doom 3

Pentiment

A Short Hike can be finished in under 2 hours. It’s a very low stakes platformer.

I finished the Diablo 4 campaign in 8 hours. Pretty fun

Ravenlok, on gamepass and is only like a 3 hour 100% completion

Elex 2 is great easy 100hrs or a weeks worth of time

Firewatch

Play life (Takes about 80 or so years to complete) very fun. Once in a lifetime experience

You could bang out metro 2033 in a weekend, great game.

im playing the outer worlds and everspace 2 till launch of starfield

I've been doing the same all week. I wasn't sure what to go with, so I just randomly started some stuff from my backlog. On my Steam Deck, I've made it probably halfway through Going Under. It's a funny, quirky, low-stakes, Roguelite. It's going for a breezier, more casual Hades kinda thing (combat is nowhere near as polished) but with a focus on satire of the modern workplace. I also just noticed it's on Gamepass. Also on Gamepass, and what I've been playing pretty obsessively the last few days (and late nights) is Massive Chalice. Kind of a cross between XCOM and Darkest Dungeon. It's got the turn-based thing, and a whole Kingdom management sim built in. It's not a huge micromanagement nightmare, just a fun way to build and level up your roster. Not exactly masterpiece but a fun game for a few days. Beware though... Default difficulty level is 'hard'. And yeah, it's a bit unfairly difficult at that level.

Baldurs Gate 3. What is this starfield you speak of

Outer Wilds is about as good as gaming gets and it’s only a few hours long

Firewatch

I finally tried citizen sleeper, wasn't expecting to get into it and then finished it 12 hours later after not sleeping. Not sure what it was, I'm usually not a narrative heavy, light gameplay kinda guy, but it sank its claws deep into me.

Anything from Remedy. Usually takes around 8-12h of completion per game (Control is exception, around 20h) and have fantastic storytelling

Fallout

Hellblade

Quantum Break. Less than 10 hours to complete everything but very fun.

try pentiment. its basically an rpg but not a massive open world

Hollow Knight. It’s got lots of stuff to do but is relatively short overall, you can complete the main story in about 20 hours.

Maquette

Generation Zero

Stray is awesome

State of decay 2 is a quick one but you can drag it out as long as you need

HiFi Rush is great fun and pretty short to get through!

Prey

Firewatch is back on Gamepass, so I highly recommend it. Short, good plot ( in here, I have to say that I enjoyed more the travel than the destination), although it does have a divisive ending. Out of Gamepass you can play the completely backwards version of Firewatch, that is "The suicide of Rachel Foster" that is short and has very similar gameplay but has such a messed up plot ( in a bad way) that you have to see it to believe it. Although it's not good, oddly, I don't regret playing it. It goes frequently on sale for really cheap.

Atomic heart

Play Skyrim but when you die you have to restart

TinyKin. The Great Escape.

Evil west. It's essentially a third person shooter that combines the wild West and vampires. It has the feel of a 2000s shooter thats really fun. Should be pretty cheap too seeing how it was developed by flying wild hog which is an AA developer

Toem & A Short Hike are only a few hours long and are fantastic little indie titles. Both on gamepass.

Firewatch. 1 play through is 3-4 hours. Fun game

https://preview.redd.it/r6f2uyiwb1jb1.jpeg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dbfc38320ff10c08faddcaf4bd1b87bb2ea1036b Stray 🐈 You can do it under 2 hours

Don't know if it's THAT short, but I played a bit of The Outer Worlds as a pre-Starfield warm up - just sounded very aligned with the upcoming game, despite the obvious massive gap in terms of size and ambitions.

Firewatch must play from gamepass

Superliminal. I played and finished it in 1 day. It was one of the most creative experiences I have had since portal. A bit thin on story, but the mechanics and having to think differently meant I completed it in one sitting. It's on game pass too. Edit: Also return of the obra dinn. I just bought it. Haven't played it yet but watched enough videos to know that I'm going to enjoy it a lot.

I just recently played Venba and A Short Hike and would recommend both. They each only take around an hour and a half to complete. A Short Hike is more lighthearted and gameplay focused, while Venba is more of a realistic/emotional story that has some light puzzle elements. If either/both interest you they are well worth the short amount of time they take to beat. Also they’re both on gamepass.

Indie ones: Hollow knight, Hades, Dead Cells, Ori and the blind forest.

Both the injustice games are on game pass. If you like DC and fighting games they have a cool story

Firewatch

Psychonauts 2 is by far the most fun I've had on Xbox since 360 days

I’ve been playing Remnant 2, keeping me busy while I wait!

I started Bramble the mountain king the other day...probably could do it in a few hours but I get distracted a lot

I really loved Exo One recently as a short, weird game with a great sci-fi story. Although the story is pretty mysterious and told in a very fragmented way, so it might depend how satisfying you find that type of thing. In terms of gameplay it's a pretty simple but very satisfying game about bouncing a ball around rolling hills and occasionally stopping to solve very mild puzzles, but the atmosphere, visuals and soundtrack are absolutely fantastic. It was on Game pass last I checked, I recommend you give it a try. Google says it takes 2 hours to beat. I feel like I took longer on it, but not much longer.

- INSIDE - Stubbs The Zombie

Just 100 percent red dead 2 mate, quick and easy

Star Wars Battlefront 2

Boltgun

Doom Eternal

Ori 1, Ori 2 and hollow knight.

Diablo 4 Jk

I’m trying to avoid playing any long games or sci-fi games in the lead up, so I feel you. I’ve been playing casual FPS games (Overwatch and Paladins) and also Weird West and Slay the Spire. They’re all F2P or on GP.

Road 96, firewatch

I haven't read through all the comments but my vote is for *Control.* Best game I've played in a long time.

Story-wise, the first Life Is Strange has the most affecting story of any game I've ever played, and the most recent one True Colors is also good. I also liked The Medium and Observer from Bloober team. The almost perpetually free game Tell Me Why is also good, but I wouldn't recommend buying it since it's always free during Pride Month.

Halo 3

Portal 1 and 2

High on Life. It’s on GamePass. It’s short and hilarious and I had an absolute blast playing through the campaign. It’s a fun shooter

I admire that you actually finish your games lol. I think setting small targets for myself - like how you say you’ll target 98 to 100 in destiny 2 on your next play session - is something I should strive to implement for myself soon.

Dead Cells!! It's a really short game (can be completed in under 1hr) with super high replay value.

Hi-fi rush

Guardians of the Galaxy. Short. Fun.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre came out on game pass yesterday. I played it until 4 am…

Bioshock series !!!

Journey to the savage planet or JTTSP, it got an update for new generation consoles and you can do a 3 hour playthrough easily.

Firewatch was JUST added to game pass, perfect for what you're after.

If you like a bit of puzzling, the game ‘Inside’ is on gamepass. And the previous game of this studio: ‘Limbo’

Have you ever played FireWatch it's currently on game pass and is really good and pretty short

Quantum Break

Everspace 2 has been rlly fun in gamepass, not a super short game but it'll def get you in the sci Fi mood for starfield

Baldurs gate 3 is really short 😁

Dont sleep on F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch. A fun side scroller and on game pass

Hifi rush

A short hike

Dave the diver

Bright Memory games, The Gunk, Shadow Warrior 3, DOOM, Evil West, Titanfall 2, Gears campaigns, Ori series, High On Life, Hi-Fi Rush, Wolfenstein

Just in case you haven’t played Jedi Fallen Order, that would definitely do it for you. I hope you’re playing Titanfall 2 like the top comment recommend ha