Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature, we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows PC as well as upcoming Xbox Game Pass and soon-to-be released [email protected] games! You can get more details on these games below and click their profiles for pre-order details when available (release dates are subject to change). Let’s jump in!

Nobody Saves the World – January 18 – Xbox Game Pass ● PC Game Pass ● Optimized for Xbox Series X|S ● Smart Delivery

Available on day one with Game Pass. When the ancient Calamity re-awakens, who can save the world? Nobody! (That’s you, you’re Nobody.) Master the art of transformation to become a Slug, Ghost, Dragon, and more. Combine your forms to create powerful hybrids and defeat the forces of evil. Join a friend for online co-op and save the world together! Available on Cloud, Console, and PC.

Dysmantle – January 19 – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S ● Smart Delivery

As you ascend from your shelter after many years, a brave new old world awaits you. A world inhabited with nasty and vile creatures. A world with no other human soul to be seen. A world with nature in reigns now. You need to find a way to escape the wretched island… But before that, enjoy the bittersweet apocalypse.

Blackwind – January 20 – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S ● Smart Delivery

A top-down sci-fi action game that puts you in the shoes of a teenager trapped inside a prototype battle armor suit during an alien invasion. Face off against enemies, cut through their ranks, and fight back to stop a planetary invasion.

Downslope – January 20

The Mountain awaits. Face complex, tricky courses as you make your way further and further down the mountain’s slopes. Are you fast enough? Are you skilled enough? There’s only one way to find out.

Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S – January 20

New 5×5, 15×15, and 20×20 puzzles have been added along with the puzzles from the smartphone app Hatsune Miku Logic Paint – Mikuogi –. Use the numbers to the top and left to fill in the squares and complete the image and clear the stages to collect artwork of Miku and friends.

Pupperazzi – January 20  – Xbox Game Pass ● PC Game Pass

Available on day one with Game Pass. This dog photography game puts your love for pups to the test. As you take better photos, you’ll unlock new breeds, camera lenses, chew toys, and accessories to dress up dogs with. Don’t just pet and play fetch – save your memories of those very good boys and girls on film. Available on Cloud, Console, and PC.

RPGolf Legends – January 20 – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S ● Smart Delivery

Join forces with the spirit of a golf club and embark on a fantastic action-golfing adventure to save golf in the world! Travel around in a unique open world where monsters and golf coexist, get your best scores in 6 unique environments, and beat monsters!

Rise of the Third Power – January 20

Rise of the Third Power is a retro-themed, console-style roleplaying game, loosely based on the political climate of Europe in the late 1930s. The story takes place in the land of Rin during the height of the Age of Sail, following the events that would lead to the greatest war in human history.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction – January 20 – Xbox Game Pass ● PC Game Pass ● Optimized for Xbox Series X|S ● Smart Delivery

Available on day one with Game Pass. A tactical 1 to 3 player co-op PvE FPS where you’ll unite the elite Operators from Rainbow Six Siege against a deadly alien threat known as the Archaens. Assemble your team, coordinate your assault, and risk everything to make sure that no one gets left behind! Pre-order now for the bonus pack, Orbital Decay Bundle. Available on Cloud, Console, and PC.

Windjammers 2 – January 20 

Available on day one with Game Pass. The best flying disc game of all time is back! With amazing hand-drawn graphics, crazy new moves, gameplay mechanics and awesome new characters and stages, Windjammers 2 is the sequel you’ve been dreaming of. Available on Cloud, Console, and PC.

Gravity Chase – January 21

Welcome to the futuristic anti-gravity arcade racer with a twist. Racing competition takes place on tunnel tracks for super-fast 360-degree Zero G racing where skill and precision piloting are required to follow the optimum line, along with strategic use of pickups, powerups, and weapons to progress through the race series.

Jack ‘n’ Hat – January 21

The sinister Dr. Voo Doom has kidnapped the Princess of Ririland and incited a civil war! It’s up to repairman extraordinaire, Jack, and his boomerang hat to save her and restore peace! Jump through 20+ huge levels, collecting crystals, stars and more!

Kinduo – January 21

A game where two elemental friends overcome obstacles to return to their island. Push boxes, use electricity to connect objects, break ice blocks, blow things up, and more in this cute and colorful game!

Mushroom Wars 2 is a highly competitive real-time strategy game, where you control handsome little mushroom units. Each battle is short, usually only around five minutes, but it’s a very intensive collision between you and another player. It requires full immersion!

You can prepare yourself by playing the story-driven campaign solo, but none of the computer opponents can compete with the cunning mind of a real human counterpart.

Mushroom Wars 2, a time-proven eSports game, is now available on modern consoles. We asked our community manager for some tips on basic aspects of the game that could be helpful for novice Mushroom Generals.

Attack and Defence

At first glance, the game seems to be all about maths and numbers: IDE with more units should win the battle. But it’s not that simple.

There are defence and attack multipliers, which play a huge role in the game. By getting advantage over your opponent, you can “trade” less units in micro fights.

Ways to increase protection and attack indexes:

– leveling up the building for higher defence

– getting a higher level of morale

– using heroes’ skills, such as Rudo’s Defensive Walls or Ayner’s Rage

– building forges

Amount of Troops

Since the amount of units in opponents’ buildings is hidden, it’s hard to predict if you succeed in an attack, but not impossible. Luckily, there is a bar at the top of the match screen, which shows the sum of troops each player has. It won’t tell you the exact number in each building, but it could give an average value by dividing by the amount of buildings they own.

Morale

Morale might be the most important aspect of the game that prevents the snowball effect. The morale is shown right below the troops amount bar at the top of the battle screen. Levels of morale are visualized with stars.

As it was said before, the more morale you have, the higher attack and defence indexes you get. In addition, the speed of your units is also increasing that affects damage per second coefficient of your army.

What you need to remember: never attack an opponent with two morale levels advantage. It’s very likely that your attack won’t succeed, you’ll just ‘feed’ your enemy and give a free win in most cases.

To increase morale you need to:

– capture buildings

– defend opponent’s attacks

– upgrade buildings

– use some heroes’ active skills

You are losing morale when the following happens:

– your units die on the battlefield

– you lose a building

– inactivity

Snaking

There is a way to send units much more efficiently in a very tight line, and it’s not cheating! It was a bug in the original Mushroom Wars but became a feature in the sequel.

We call this snaking. Snaking can make your attacks more powerful and unpredictable.

To perform snaking you need to:

1. Choose a building you want to send units from and make sure it has less than 35 units inside.
2. Choose a building you want to send units to by holding the right bumper button.
3. Press the B button as fast as you can on the requested building.

We hope that these tips will help you to show your real skill in 1v1 or 2v2 battles. Good luck newborn Mushroom General!

Mushroom Wars 2

Zillion Whales

☆☆☆☆☆
8

★★★★★

$19.99

Mushroom Wars 2 is an award-winning sequel to the critically acclaimed RTS hit built upon the core gameplay experience that made the original Mushroom Wars so enjoyable.

Learning the ropes of mushroom warfare is easy with simple and intuitive controls as well as gamepad support. But the journey to become a fearsome commander requires fast reflexes, an eye for strategy, and the ability to oversee up to thousands of units at once.

Once you’re confident in your skills, putting your mushroom army against other players is the best way to improve. Mushroom Wars 2 comes tournament-ready, with a league system and ranked matches that make for fierce competition. In addition replay feature, and spectator mode make it easy to enter the competitive scene. Just want to enjoy a friendly skirmish with your friends? Custom games let you try out new strategies with up to three friends in free-for-all or team-based matches.

Whether you are battling enemy hordes in the the depths of the single-player campaign, or competing against your friends in various multiplayer modes, Mushroom Wars 2 provides intense, fast-paced short-session battles!