This is just one of those games that feels custom made for a service like Game Pass. In its essence, Lonely Mountains: Downhill is incredibly simple: you get on your bike and go down different mountains, that’s it. You have a bunch of trails you need to unlock, which you do by fulfilling certain criteria making use of only 3 buttons outside the directional keys/thumbstick. However, scratch the surface and you quickly realise that underneath this simplicity lies a real game challenge which, powered by a fantastic nature-based soundtrack (no music, just sounds), can easily get you addicted to the experience. You will crash, a lot, yet at the same time there’s this sense of peaceful solitude that transports you into a zen-like mental state as you cycle your way down all these different and beautiful trails. Soon enough, the learning curve winds down and your intuition starts kicking in, which makes the whole experience even more enjoyable. The best way I can describe how satisfying playing this game is is that I downloaded it to try in between other playthroughs (you can easily finish it in 4-5 hours, though there are tons of additional cosmetic and upgrade challenges to unlock), but I found myself going back to it over and over for days, to the point of neglecting the other games I meant to be playing.

If you’re on Game Pass, absolutely give this a go. Even if it’s not perfect (the lack of control over the camera means that you sometimes get stuck in weird viewing angles which make navigation temporarily harder, but that’s really my only gripe with the game), Lonely Mountains is easily a 7.5/10 experience for me. It’s always hard for me to recommend people go out and buy such short games at full price (I believe this one is $20), but in a subscription service, there’s really no reason not to try it.

It’s kind of hard to quickly sell someone on this game whose premise is riding a bike down a downhill trail with a weird camera angle, but trust me, this is a really fun, accessible, smartly-designed, challenging game that I can’t believe passed me by at release. Fans of games like Trackmania or Trials must check it out! (Yes, it’s on Game Pass)

The base gameplay loop is a tough, fast downhill ride where it’s easy to crash, but risk-taking shortcuts through uncharted territory are encouraged due to a forgiving checkpoint system. Upon arriving at each of the game’s trails, you do one no-rules run to get familiar with it and then are presented with sets of challenges to complete. Finishing a course in 3 minutes or crashing less than 25 times might not be too hard, but the stakes are raised repeatedly, forcing you to cut corners and find occasionally well-hidden shortcuts.

The checkpoint system is smart not just because it lets you compare your times for each segment of a course, but because it allows you to take the time to perfect each section and learn the fastest route with minimal risk before the training wheels come off for the final challenges. You’ll have to finish the course in less time and with less crashes than ever, and then finish the whole thing without crashing, which can make some really tense moments at tough sections. Do that and you get to ride the trail at night, which is a cool twist.

The game has a simple but really pleasant look, and I love the natural sound design. I chose the tank control option and it feels fantastic, very responsive and easy to pick up. There is really almost nothing to complain about, it's just only fun for so long. The only real complaint I have is that some shortcuts seem limited to a specific bike rather than player skill, but this isn’t really telegraphed, so I wasted time thinking I was just not hitting the angle right. In general though, it’s satisfying to get better and better at the game, nailing tough jumps and turns, and slowly clearing off the list of challenges.