What you need to know
- Ravenlok is a unique, Voxel art action-adventure game recently released on Xbox consoles, Windows PCs, and Xbox Game Pass.
- Cococucumber, the indie developer behind Ravenlok, is currently hosting an official Q&A on Reddit.
- In the Q&A, the studio praised Xbox Game Pass as being "100% worth it," with the service "solving a big challenge" for the team regarding visibility.
- Cococucumber has developed three games so far, and all three titles have come to Xbox Game Pass at some point.
Xbox Game Pass is a known quantity at this point, offering subscribers unfettered access to hundreds of high-quality games across Xbox consoles, Windows PCs, and the cloud. The service is often considered one of the best values in gaming, especially when it comes to playing first-party Xbox titles and indie games. Cococucumber, an independent developer just now releasing its third game, seems to agree with this conclusion.
Ravenlok is a brand-new, Voxel art action-adventure game from the creators of Echo Generation and Riverbond, and it launched as a day one addition to Xbox Game Pass. To celebrate the launch, studio Cococucumber is hosting an official Q&A on Reddit to answer questions from the community. One Reddit user asked the studio if Xbox Game Pass has been an aid, earning a reply from game director and producer Vanessa Chia.
"With hindsight, I am happy to report that Game Pass has been 100% worth it for us. It allows us access to so many players for the Voxel Trilogy — Riverbond, Echo Generation and Ravenlok," Chia wrote. "As indie devs, visibility is always a struggle, and knowing that there is a low barrier of entry for players to get hands-on playing the game is solving a big challenge for us."
All three of Cococucumber's games have been on Xbox Game Pass in the past, with Ravenlok launching into the service and immediately garnering attention from players. Indie games are where you can find some of the most creative and artistic gaming experiences, as I wrote in my editorial on Strayed Lights, but it can be difficult for many great indie games to get the visibility they need to succeed. Xbox Game Pass not only provides that visibility, but makes it incredibly easy for players to install, play, and subsequently fall in love.
If you're interested in Cococucumber or Ravenlok, the Q&A linked above is filled with plenty of additional answers from the team, including on the game development process, the inspiration behind Ravenlok, and even some teases for the future. If you haven't heard about Ravenlok, it's an incredibly unique fairytale-esque adventure game with stunning visuals and simple, yet addictive combat mechanics. Right now, it's one of the best Xbox Game Pass games recently added to the service.
Windows Central's take
I'm a huge advocate for the continued success of indie games in the industry, because it's indie developers that continually push boundaries and innovate in video games. I haven't played Ravenlok, yet, but I have it installed and I'm ready to experience the latest Cococucumber adventure as soon as I finish Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, The Last Case of Benedict Fox, and Deathloop (I have a lot of games to play, okay?).
If it weren't for Xbox Game Pass, though, there's a very good chance I would never play Ravenlok, simply because I don't have the time and money to buy every great game that looks interesting to me. Game Pass means I can install Ravenlok, play it when I'm ready, and then buy it when I'm done if I really loved it (as I've done for countless games I finished thanks to Xbox Game Pass). I'm happy Cococucumber is finding success in Microsoft's value-driven subscription service, and I hope other fantastic indie developers see similar results.
Ravenlok is now available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. It's also an Xbox Play Anywhere title, so you can buy it once and play it across both Xbox and PC.
Ravenlok is one of the latest games to launch into Xbox Game Pass, and is available on every tier of Microsoft's Ultimate subscription. If you need a new, creative indie game to fill your time, Ravenlok is not one to miss.
