“Ye’ve got explorer’s blood, y’know?”
Achievements Earned In:
- Yello Adventures
- Pigeon Simulator
- Barbie Horse Trails
- Winter Burrow
Oh look, I actually went ahead and finished Yello Adventures this week! Now in retrospect, this game does kinda get tough, and I’m not sure how much longer it goes on for after Level 10 (the second boss fight). I wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of the game gets a fair bit harder! But, for now, it’s done and streak continued.
Achievements unlocked: 10 (+2) | Completed
It’s not often a bunch of games leave the Xbox Game Pass library at the same time that could all get completed before the deadline. There were five this time (minus two of them I’d done already or own) so I started with Pigeon Simulator, a game that I assumed would entail flying around as one of those winged rats to cause fecal disasters and steal scraps. Imagine my surprise when you load it up and the tutorial starts teaching you how to identify and capture anomalies?! Definitely didn’t see that coming. You start each “shift” with nothing and the longer you survive reaching the quota and not being destroyed you continue getting more tools and upgrades. I guess it’s not too dissimilar from “friendslop” games like Lethal Company and KLETKA. But, the game’s completion is pretty easy, and the only tough achievement is for surviving your shift long enough to fully upgrade your pigeon. You could cheese it by jumping into someone else’s game with the necessary funds, but I didn’t struggle much doing it myself. A silly time, for sure.
Achievements unlocked: 10 (+10) | Completed
Ready for extraction. Coo-coo.
The next game leaving Game Pass I decided to hit was Barbie Horse Trails, which… it’s a Barbie game. There’s not a whole lot here. There is pretty much nothing skill-based here, no missable achievements or collectibles, and the collectibles that are there aren’t all needed so there’s some good leeway. And, similar to Puppy Rescue which I’d done before, it never got crazy old. It’s just long enough and the mechanics just varied enough to not make it an absolute chore as a not-5-year-old child. Talk to friends, do what they want, photograph some nature, repeat. Easy, simple, done!
Achievements unlocked: 15 (+15) | Completed
Gosh darn it, Ken. I have more important things to do than care for a grown man!
Third game on the hit-list leaving the service is Winter Burrow. This is one I wanted to make sure I got around to when it was announced as leaving, and luckily I got sent home early on Friday so I could dedicate lots of time knocking this out in a single session. This is a very cute and simple survival game where you play as a small mouse trying to make his inherited burrow more hospitable in a frigid Northern forest. While there are plenty of ants and beetles ready to attack you, the biggest danger is your warmth, slowly ticking down anytime you’re not near a fire until you become a mouse-cicle. I never died once, though! Most of the gameplay loop is collecting materials until you can upgrade something in the burrow or you complete a quest, which unlocks a new tool so you can then proceed somewhere else for new materials. This is only hindered at times when the game can be a little obtuse in what you need to do to progress the game! Early on, it never really tells you to return repeatedly to your aunt to get new items over and over until things move along, so I spent some time running around trying to find the New Thing I needed. Other than that, this is a simple and adorable game about the value of community. The completion is just doing it all! Nothing is missable, so just cozy up and play.
Achievements unlocked: 32 (+32) | Completed
Oh god, keep running!
Rarest Achievement:
You are an eagle now! in Pigeon Simulator [4.65]
Most Common Achievements:
Welcome, Pigeon! in Pigeon Simulator [1.00]
Welcome to Canterbury Trails in Barbie Horse Trails [1.00]
Protector of Dreams in Winter Burrow [1.00]
