New Xbox Game Pass Addition Is Blue Prince Meets Hogwarts Legacy

Published Nov 15, 2026, 3:30 PM EST Chris is a Gaming Editor at ScreenRant. He has been a professional writer since 2009, and has written for top TV, comics, movie, and video game outlets like Engadget, Polygon, Destructoid, and more. He brings with him an expertise in every game genre, no matter how niche or mainstream. You may know him as the former Managing/Reviews Editor of Destructoid, where he published hundreds of game reviews across every genre, including MMOs, sports games, and Metroidvanias. Find Chris on Twitter @_SRChris. It's been a pretty decent year for Xbox Game Pass. I mean, we got a price hike and a price decrease in a short span, but the actual games on offer are pretty fantastic. It's not just day-one AAA releases hitting the platform, either, as many third parties have worked out deals to deliver day-one drops. That said, PlayStation Plus is also giving the service a run for its money. It's been a pretty wild past few years, with Sony adding tons of first-and-third-party titles to the Game Catalog. But as far as Xbox Game Pass goes, it's coming back in a big way at the end of the year. With the addition of a brand-new sequel, it's going to really make a huge splash in the puzzle genre. An Open World Escape Room Released on Xbox Game Pass (as well as PC and PS5), Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School is a direct sequel to one of my favorite modern puzzlers: Escape Academy. Launched in 2022, it whisked players away to a magical (and sometimes morose) literal academy, filled to the brim with quirky characters and escape room-like first-person gameplay. It was an absolute blast from start to finish (and the journey through both DLC packs), and this sequel aims to expand the game world in a huge way. With the original Escape Academy, the game was presented in a level-based format. In other words, each stage was essentially a giant escape room, typically themed to a story-based event or a professor on campus. Level selection took place on a traditional map screen, where you could lightly explore the academy and have some small chats with NPCs. In the sequel, it's turned into a fully-fledged open-world game, where the campus is a level. That open-world exploration includes side quests and general Easter egg hunting, while you mingle with students and teachers. The dialogue is as over-the-top as ever, with tons of puns and even macabre humor, which adds to the unique charm of Escape Academy. Traditional Challenges Are Here Too By that same token, traditional escape room challenges can be accessed by venturing out to certain areas on the map. It's arguably the best of both worlds, as fans who are just in it for the escape room gameplay can rush to the meat of the game, while completionists can stick around and comb every nook and cranny of the titular school. Those challenges, mind, can be extremely taxing. I completed the first game with my wife and only needed a time extension for the final level, but the sequel has stumped us at least once. Some of the solutions are a bit devious, but with the right mindset you can decipher everything you need to, albeit with some out-of-the-box thinking. Escape Academy has a cool way of getting you to flex your brain in ways you didn't expect. If you're an Xbox Game Pass subscriber and even remotely enjoy puzzle games, give it a shot. It'll surprise you in more ways than one, and it's a perfect way to bond with a friend or family member while solving puzzles together. Systems Released November 5, 2026 ESRB Everyone 10+ / Mild Fantasy Violence, Alcohol Reference, Mild Language, Comic Mischief, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases Developer(s) Coin Crew Games Publisher(s) iam8bit Presents Multiplayer Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op Prequel(s) Escape Academy Number of Players 1-2 players