High connected Life, the latest task from Squanch Games, is hard to recommend. That has thing to bash with the game’s prime — instead, it’s a effect of the game’s hyperspecific humor. Unlike different drama games, like Portal 2 — which is filled with a assortment of characters, each with their ain benignant of wit — High connected Life powerfully pulls from the drama stylings of the studio’s co-founder and CEO, Justin Roiland of Rick and Morty fame.

But the crippled isn’t truthful specifically Rick and Morty that you tin boil a proposal down to a “yes” for Rick and Morty fans and a “no” for radical who haven’t seen it. Even radical who are mostly ambivalent toward Rick and Morty — similar myself — mightiness find thing to emotion (or hate) successful High connected Life’s jokes.

So however bash you cognize if High connected Life volition enactment for you earlier dropping 60 bucks connected it? How bash you cognize your person volition similar it if you determine to springiness it to them? You don’t, and you can’t. But that’s wherever Xbox’s Game Pass service tin truly enactment its magic.

Game Pass has gained a estimation arsenic a spot to observe darlings and gems you mightiness person missed. (This precise file is, successful part, dedicated to highlighting them). Small, beloved games similar Death’s Door tin flourish there, and niche titles similar Signalis can go breakout hits. And it’s evidently the champion spot to get your hole of Xbox-owned games similar the latest Gears of War oregon Halo Infinite. But Game Pass is besides the cleanable destination for games similar High connected Life.

High connected Life is simply a crippled that volition either marque you cringe truthful hard that you crook it disconnected successful the archetypal 10 minutes, oregon laughter your ass disconnected each the mode to the game’s archetypal boss. The quality is that, with Game Pass, either of those outcomes are perfectly acceptable. Either you’ll find a caller crippled that you’re excited to spot done to the end, oregon you’ll delete it disconnected your hard thrust everlastingly and ne'er deliberation astir it again — nary harm, nary foul.

Image: Squanch Games

If you bash determine to instrumentality with High connected Life, you’ll find a comedic premix betwixt Metroid Prime and Doom (2016). The shooting is simply a spot loose, and prolonged combat isn’t my favourite portion of the crippled (although it gets amended the much upgrades you get), but it works good capable that it doesn’t actively resistance down the experience. The existent amusive successful High connected Life’s gameplay is the exploration. Roaming astir planets and looking for the bounty you’ve been assigned offers immoderate cute biology puzzles wherever you tin usage 1 of your talking guns to assistance scope a caller country and, probably, unfastened a chest.

Ultimately, the crippled lives and dies disconnected of its goofs and characters, which are some rather funny. Kenny, your archetypal gun, is voiced by Roiland and sounds conscionable similar Morty from Rick and Morty. He’s perpetually jabbering and spewing awkward jokes that plaything wildly betwixt charming and mildly obnoxious. The 2nd weapon I recovered is Gus, who is voiced by comedian J.B. Smoove. Gus is delightfully chill compared to the frantic Kenny — though helium inactive fits into the game’s irreverent, random, and often soiled consciousness of humor.

The crippled is besides beauteous meta, and your guns volition remark if you intermission the crippled astatine definite points oregon effort to sprout an guiltless bystander. It adjacent pokes amusive astatine “lazy crippled design” and specifically mentions Polygon. High connected Life besides surprises reasonably often with bizarre and unexpected interactions. Early connected successful the game, I changeable a nonviolent NPC and it abruptly gained a ample wellness bar. When I killed it, Kenny congratulated maine connected sidesplitting a concealed boss. I didn’t get immoderate tangible in-game reward — I conscionable got the joke. And that’s OK, due to the fact that the jokes are what I’m present for.

Smaller games excel connected Game Pass due to the fact that they’re comparatively chartless until players find and adore them — similar radical scrolling done Netflix lone to observe a hidden gem. High connected Life is simply a antithetic breed of Game Pass game: a known commodity that looks similar an casual skip but becomes a astonishment deed successful your location due to the fact that you person nary crushed not to effort it out.

Gamers are often consenting to walk a batch of wealth to bask thing they emotion — just look astatine however costly immoderate MMO subscriptions are — but erstwhile a crippled you’ve paid for spurns you, it leaves a atrocious sensation successful your mouth. When you region that fiscal risk, and the lone happening you tin basal to suffer is simply a meager magnitude of clip and hard thrust space, you tin instrumentality risks connected games that mightiness truly astonishment you. And for this vacation season, nary crippled is much amazingly enjoyable than High connected Life.