Here we go, it’s Microsoft’s turn | Xbox to unveil the first games in its Games With Gold program. For this first month of the year 2023, these are two apps from the independent scene, one focusing on programming/creation, while the other plays on monochrome and Chinese shadows. Without further ado, let’s get to the details!
Iris.Fall
♦ Developer/Publisher: NEXT Studios / PM Studios ♦ Genre: Puzzle, Brain teaser
♦ Released: 07/01/2021 ♦ Player: 1 ♦ Availability: January 1 to 31
♦ Download link: Iris.Fall
After waking up from a dream, a little girl, Iris, follows a black cat into a completely run-down theater. She travels through a strange maze made of shadows of light. The young lady even begins to believe that all the elements found in this theater are linked to her own history.
My opinion on the title
If it remains under-exploited in its concept, unlike other apps using this same process, or if its story will not be perceived at first glance, Iris.Fall benefits from a beautiful narration if you take the time to look for the “hidden” clues; just like a very beautiful artistic universe, playing on monochrome, and skillful puzzles, also using perception. To try ! 
Autonaut
♦ Developer/Publisher: Denki / Curve Games ♦ Genre: Simulation
♦ Released: 06/16/2022 ♦ Player: 1 ♦ Availability: January 16 to February 15
♦ Download link: Autonaut
Across the vastness of the universe, you visit uninhabited planets. Not in order to discover the habits and customs or resources, but to give life to these mysterious lands by using automation and colonization!
my opinion on the title
Beneath its cubic coating, reminiscent of certain similar productions and concepts, the title of Denki allows you to build a colony, with the basics of manufacturing, then to make it evolve thanks to robots, all with quite correct content. If the whole is interesting, with a fairly well thought out programming system (for robots), the repetitiveness of the task, and the joystick combo, which is not very intuitive and more difficult to learn, may cause you to lose a little patience.
LexiconTo benefit from Games With Gold games, you need an Xbox Live Gold subscription or an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription:
♦ Xbox Live Gold: 1 month: €6.99 / 3 months: €19.99.
♦ Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: 1st month €1 then €12.99 the following months.
♦ Xbox One games are playable as long as Xbox Live Gold membership remains active.
♦ Xbox 360 games are directly redownloadable on Xbox One since the end of March 2016.
♦ As of October 1, 2022, Xbox 360 games are no longer part of the Games With Gold program.
♦ Games with Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Series X|S optimization are eligible for the offer since February 2021.