Xbox Games With Gold free games for December are Colt Canyon and Bladed Fury

Xbox Live’s Games With Gold subscription benefit limps to the end of the year with two Xbox One games we’ve never written about: Colt Canyon Bladed Fury.

Colt CanyonThe top-down, roguelite shooter “Roguelite” launched on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2020. Imagine a spaghetti western at lower resolution than the NES’ Gun.Smoke and you’re halfway there. Here’s a YouTube video to fill in the rest.

Bladed Fury2018 launch also for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. Windows PC and Xbox One. The game is cloaked with mythology and Chinese history. Players use very specific, combination-based attacks on mortals and deities. A YouTube video is the best way to explain it.

Games With Gold began in 2013 as a response to PlayStation Plus’ free games lineup (which was, itself, a response to Xbox Live, which shrewdly got players to sign up for a monthly subscription in addition to buying a console). Four titles were offered per month. However, the service was reduced to just two after Microsoft decided there weren’t enough Xbox 360 games. A Xbox Live Gold subscription is $9.99 per month.

The better value, which Microsoft, clearly, would rather everyone buy, is Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, at $14.99 per month, which gives subscribers access to online multiplayer, the PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass libraries, and EA Play’s catalog of games to boot.

Xbox One and Xbox Series X Gold subscribers may still pick up November’s free games, Praetorians — HD RemasterUntil Thursday, November 30, A Dead End Job until Dec. 15.