27 Games Hit Xbox Next Week, and 3 of Them Are Worth Your Attention [April 20-24]

Xbox‘s weekly new release calendar for April 20 through 24 is stacked with 27 incoming titles. Most are small-scale indie fare, but a few stand out, including two day-one Game Pass drops and a Vampire Survivors spinoff that nobody saw coming.
Here’s what’s landing and what’s worth flagging.

The Game Pass headliners

1. Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors (April 21, Game Pass)

Poncle took the snowballing chaos of Vampire Survivors and turned it into a hyper turn-based, card-driven dungeon crawler with rogue-lite elements. The studio calls it a “BLOBBER,” and it’s from the same team that somehow won three BAFTAs for Vampire Survivors. Build broken decks, explore familiar dungeons from a new angle and unleash combos that shouldn’t be legal. Day one on Game Pass with Xbox Play Anywhere support.
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2. Kiln (April 23, $19.99 / Game Pass)

Double Fine’s latest is a pottery power-fantasy, and yes, that’s a real genre now. You sculpt pots on a wheel, then use those ceramic creations as your body in online arena combat. It’s equal parts creative expression and destruction, which is about as Double Fine as it gets. Pre-orders include the Warrior-Artist Decoration Pack with two glazes, two stickers and a pot lid attachment.
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The notable new releases

3. Tides of Tomorrow (April 22, $29.99)

THQ Nordic’s single-player action game drops you into a flooded world as a Delta Agent, an elite operative carrying on a lost civilization’s legacy. There’s an interesting asynchronous twist: you’ll feel the presence of other players through “echoes” of those who came before you, even though you’re playing solo.

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4. Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch (April 20, $19.99)

Atari and Digital Eclipse team up for a beat ’em up set in Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse. You brawl through streets and malls as Jay and Silent Bob, fighting hockey-stick-wielding thugs, dookie demons and hipsters with babies. It’s exactly as ridiculous as that sounds. Xbox Play Anywhere support included.
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5. Sudden Strike 5 (April 23, $49.99)

Kalypso’s WW2 real-time strategy series returns with 25 missions, over 300 authentic units and the highest unit counts the franchise has seen. At $49.99, it’s the most expensive new release this week, priced $20 to $30 above most of the competition on this list.
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The rest of the week

6. Until Then (April 23) – A narrative adventure set in a post-catastrophe world where a high schooler named Mark Borja discovers that people are disappearing and memories can’t be trusted. It previously launched on other platforms to solid critical reception. Now arriving on Xbox with Series X|S optimization.

7. Dragon is Dead (April 23) – A 2D rogue-lite platformer built around precise dodging and boss pattern-breaking. Each run regenerates terrain, enemy placement and loot, but your gear and runes carry over between deaths. Defeating bosses yields rune stones for crafting legendary equipment.

8. Kristala (April 23) – Dark fantasy action RPG where you play as a feline warrior mastering ancient magic in a cursed world. Blends fast combat with parkour and stealth. It’s been in development for a while and is now arriving on Xbox Series X|S.

9. Causal Loop (April 23) – An exo-archaeologist accidentally activates an ancient alien device, reality shatters and he’s stuck in a time loop. Puzzle adventure from Headup leaning into fractured timelines and cryptic alien ruins. Series X|S optimized.

10. Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege (April 20, $9.99) – Set in 1698, an ex-soldier fights a relic-stealing priest and his monsters across the Holy Roman Empire.

11. Star Fire: Eternal Cycle (April 22, $16.99 / $13.59 pre-order) – Side-scrolling action roguelite focused on fast runs and random skill progression. Xbox Play Anywhere.

12. Our Metal Bowl (April 23) – Explore abandoned industrial structures with a robot companion, mixing corridor combat with resource extraction. Xbox Play Anywhere.

13. Rumbral (April 23, $17.99 / $16.19 pre-order) – Wake up in a dark forest with no memory, solve puzzles and discover magenta liquids hiding secrets. Series X|S optimized.

14. Combat Kart (April 23, $14.99) – Physics-driven kart racer with a drifting-and-nitro loop. Xbox Play Anywhere.

15. A Difficult Game About Letters (April 23, $4.99) – Platformer where your character transforms into different letters of the alphabet, each with unique abilities.

16. Kingdom’s Return: Time-Eating Fruit and the Ancient Monster (April 23) – Inti Creates’ action RPG combining 2D side-scrolling with kingdom-building strategy.

17. Urban Jungle (April 22, $11.99) – Relaxing sim about filling apartments with plants. You don’t water them, you just find them good spots. There’s also a cat. Xbox Play Anywhere.

18. Dimensions 2 (April 24) – A solo-developed sequel that bundles and remasters the previous Dimensions games into one package with new mechanics. Xbox Play Anywhere.

19. Farm Manager World (April 24) – Agricultural empire builder with crop rotation, soil management and multiplayer trading. Series X|S optimized.

20. Indoor Baseball (April 24, $14.99) – 1v1 arcade baseball played inside a house. Break windows for home runs. Xbox Play Anywhere.

21. Party Club (April 24) – Up to four players seat customers, serve drinks and manage chaos in a venue management game. Xbox Play Anywhere.

22. Oblitacrater (April 24) – Twin-stick shooter where you fight alien waves on a tiny planet and cash out your score before you die. Xbox Play Anywhere.

23. Guts ‘n Grunts Sr. (April 24) – Twin game to Guts ‘n Grunts Jr, set in 2052. Roll, shoot, survive against AI enemies. Xbox Play Anywhere.

24. Emoji Battlefield: Summer Vacation (April 24, $4.99) – Rogue-like FPS where emojis invade beach resorts. Modifiers include ridiculous summer hats and bouncy mode.

25. Collie Call: The Future is Calling (April 21) – Puzzle game where a robotic dog herds floating sheep into air-bubble pastures in outer space. Series X|S only.

26. GluMe (April 22) – 80-level sliding puzzle game where you control a slime collecting gems. Xbox Play Anywhere.

27. Shy Cats Hidden Orchestra 2 (April 22) – Cozy hidden object sequel. Find cats, find their instruments, unlock treasure chests across 10 levels. Xbox Play Anywhere.

28. One Button Games 5-in-1 vol. 6 (April 22) – Five micro-games, each controlled with a single button. Includes a frog road-crossing game and one-button Snake.

29. Wild Seas (April 22) – 2D tower defense where a crocodile guards a generational jewel from pirates. PC only.

30. Piggy’s Farm (April 23) – Sokoban-style puzzle where a farmer pig pushes carrots and radishes into planting spots. Series X|S only.

April 23 is the heaviest day on the calendar, with the majority of releases clustered on a single Wednesday. If you’re a Game Pass subscriber, Vampire Crawlers and Kiln are free additions that don’t require any deliberation. For everyone else, most of this week’s lineup sits under $20, with Sudden Strike 5 at $49.99 as the lone premium-priced entry. Pick your lane accordingly.