What’s new in January 2023 for Xbox Games with Gold members

The arrival of 2023 brings about a new slate of free games for Xbox Games with Gold members. We’re still down to just two games now, what with Microsoft no longer offering any Xbox 360  games.

And Games with Gold keeps chugging along, whether we like it or not! Will it end up falling to the wayside in 2023 or continue to limp its way through each month? We’ll have to wait and see.

Until then, here are your free games for the month of January and the dates they’re available to download:

• Iris Fall, January 1 to 31
• Autonauts, January 15 to February 14

January highlights for Xbox Games with Gold members

First up is Iris Fall, your puzzle adventure game for January that was originally released in 2021. It’s a shadow puzzler in mono-chromatic colors and a very cool art style that will make you want to play it just to see how it unfolds. The core concept is moving 3D objects to create paths among shadows.

Of course, you can’t just hop between the 3D world and the 2D shadow world, so you’ll build the paths around portals that your character uses to get to the shadow world. It’s clever enough, clocking in around five hours of gameplay, but the vague storytelling leaves something to be desired.

Next up in January is Autonauts, which was released in 2019, and is a simulator game. Simulator, resource management, agriculture game… it’s a lot of different things. You’re dropped onto empty planets and tasked with building them up as you see fit. After a while, you’ll be able to build bots that will help you keep things running smoothly.

This is a very cute indie game that’s a nice change of pace for a Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing player or a good game for someone who’s just overwhelmed by the idea of Minecraft.

Don’t forget, your December free game of Bladed Fury is available to download and play until January 14.