Whether it’s television entertainment, movies or games, when it comes to subscription services, it’s pretty easy for content to fall by the wayside. There’s always something fresh, and that means last week’s new releases quickly slip to the background.

So there’s a very good chance that you may have missed the following visually striking adventures, or planned to play them before life’s distractions bumped them down your priority list. Below is a reminder in mini review form, with a further note that both these indie games are available outside of Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. You can find them to purchase and play on other platforms too.

Planet of Lana

Planet of Lana, from developer Wishfully Studios and publisher Thunderful Publishing released on 23 May, the same day as another stylish indie platformer, After Us. Except, at least personally, Planet of Lana more successfully scratched the particular itch I had, with its mix of puzzles, heart and unusual ability to call to mind Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, Star Wars and Studio Ghibli… all at the same time.

In Planet of Lana, young heroine Lana, and her older sister, lead a simple but contented existence in a backwater fishing village on an alien world. That is until the Fire Nation a fleet of aggressive robots attacks from the sky, scooping up the population, and imprisoning them in their giant spaceships. Lana embarks on an “off-world odyssey” to rescue her sister. That means avoiding the machine invaders, and various dangerous animals native to the planet. Fortunately, Lana has earned an ally in the form of Mui, a cat-like creature who can help her overcome obstacles, and vice versa.

In Planet of Lana, the single player controls both Lana and Mui, each with their own skills and strengths. For example, Lana can interact with electronics, and cross the bodies of water that her companion is terrified of, while agile Mui can access hard-to-reach places and even hypnotise monsters.

In terms of gameplay, Planet of Lana offers players a combination of traversal puzzles, more traditional ciphers, stealth sections, a smattering of quick time events (QTEs), and long stretches of just running from left to right across vibrant 2.5D environments. This is a side scroller after all.

Planet of Lana doesn’t shake up the puzzle platformer formula, but the game knows to not overstay its welcome. Depending on how quickly you master its brainteasers, a playthrough sits in the 5-7 hours bracket, deftly dodging player fatigue as it’s about to set in.

The game notably also trusts players to make sense of its story, and planetary mysteries, which are conveyed without discernible language and text. Environmental clues, like murals, carry the narrative burden instead, with players piecing together current and past events.

In the end, Planet of Lana is immersive, and extremely charming thanks to the dynamic between its two likeable leads. If you can get to the end without tearing up, and if your heart doesn’t soar whenever you hear Takeshi Furukawa’s score, which leans at times into Close Encounters of the Third Kind, well, you’re emotionally tougher than I am.

Planet of Lana is currently available for Windows PC, and Xbox consoles, plus playable with Xbox and PC Game Pass.

Dordogne

Named for the river and picturesque country district in France, Dordogne is a wholesome adventure with a stunning hand-painted watercolour style. It comes from developers Un Je Ne Sais Quoi and Umanimation, and is published by Focus Entertainment.

In this narrative-driven tale, you play as Mimi, a 32-year-old woman at a figurative crossroads, who heads to her recently deceased grandmother’s house to wrap up the estate. As Mimi explores the cottage, the experience transports her back to her childhood in the early 1980s (a quieter time of no Internet, mobile phones and social media), and the single summer she spent with her grandmother. The experience is more than simple nostalgia, though. Strangely, Mimi has no memories from before her 13th birthday. At least, she did until current events force her to revisit her forgotten past.

Honestly, I did want to like Dordogne more than I actually did. The game suffers a jarring, continual shift between being fully voice-over and text-only; the English translations are occasionally clumsy; and the gameplay typically boils down to completing chores, and being forced to slap media in your scrapbook. Both of these actions are often cumbersome with controller.

There’s no denying that Dordogne is beautiful looking though (especially the breathtaking river chapters), with its own strong visual identity, which feels like a children’s storybook mixed with 3D modelling. There are far too few moments to capture its colourful environments with the in-game instant camera. Meanwhile, the core mystery is always compelling, if abruptly concluded – and far less dark than where your mind may take you.

Dordogne is a relaxed experience for players of all ages, but older audiences will likely receive the most emotional satisfaction from the way that the game doesn’t sugar-coat the topic of family estrangement. Sometimes reconciliation just isn’t possible, leaving things forever, and sadly, unresolved. Mimi’s stumbling on old collectible letters and audio tape recordings, which delve into her family’s complicated dynamic, introduce a shadow to an otherwise sunny escapade, creating a credible contrast that makes the lighter moments stand out even brighter, and add extra poignancy.

For the record, Dordogne can be completed in one to two sittings, with credits rolling at around the three-hour mark. And in addition to being playable with Game Pass, Dordogne is available for all consoles and PC.