45 Xbox One tips and tricks to get more from your console

Dig up a few cult hits

Strider - 2013's Killer Instinct was Double Helix’s breakthrough release, but this light-footed reboot of the classic Capcom side-scroller is probably the better title. Strider pits a lithe ninja against a world of bullets, bombs and pirouetting rivals in figure-hugging chrome. Levels branch up and down like those of Metroid, but the onus is on combat rather than exploration, with plenty of slashes and dashes to unlock.

Dead Rising 3 -  Dead Rising 4 may have only just released in 2016, but it is its predecessor which perhaps represents the best Dead Rising experience currently available on the Xbox One. While Dead Rising 3 certainly isn’t the best looking title for showing off the console’s graphical horsepower, the inclusion of all the traditional Dead Rising staples (crazy weaponry, dark humour, unlimited co-op) ensures that this third entry in the series remains enjoyable from start to finish. 

Ryse: Son of Rome - Ancient Rome gave the world masses of great poetry, central heating and a sturdy road network, but all Crytek cares about is making arms and legs fly off like punctured balloons. It turns out that this was probably for the best. Forgive the pushy microtransactions and turn a kindly eye away from the turret sequences, and Ryse’s delightfully clangy combat should hold your interest. It still looks the business, too. The face animations are genuinely astonishing at times.

Peggle 2 - If you’re looking for a decent puzzle game that isn’t quite as uncompromising in its difficult as The Witness, Peggle 2 is undoubtedly your best bet. Don’t let the Saturday cartoon visuals fool you, this is an engaging, rewarding and thoroughly addictive experience that demonstrates an intelligent approach to challenging the player through increasingly complex levels. Plus, its mascot is a unicorn named Bjorn. What’s not to love?

Sniper Elite 4 - Another wonky yet strangely irresistible ham sandwich of a WW2 shooter from Rebellion, distinguished from the competition by its Italian setting, methodical slowness and grisly X-ray kills. Sniper Elite 4's AI is inconsistent at times and the sniping hasn't moved on much since the second game hit Xbox 360, but seeing a bullet burrow through a Nazi commander’s spleen in 1080p is worth the price of admission.

Test yourself with TrueAchievements

As much as we love buffing up our Gamerscore with the endless allure of attaining more Xbox Achievements, it’s no secret that the scoring system can be imbalanced at best. Some games offer a treasure chest of points for the easiest of achievements, while others provide measly rewards for completing super rare challenges. 

The TrueAchievements app uses data mined from its extensive user base to balance out this issue, dishing out more points for the trickier achievements, while reducing those which can be acquired through very little effort. Suddenly Lego Indiana Jones 2 isn’t quite as lucrative an investment as it seems. 

Play Anywhere

A lot of the Xbox One Games releasing at the moment boast a swanky looking Play Anywhere logo, meaning that you can play the title both on your console and your Windows 10 PC, without having to purchase it twice. 

Better yet, any progress you make on either system will be recognized on the other, meaning you can boot up Gears of War 4 on the Xbox One, and find yourself at the exact same place where you left off on PC. There are only a couple of games which can accommodate this feature right now, but the list only continues to grow as time passes. 

Hook up a mouse and keyboard

Considering that the Xbox One is a close cousin to the Windows PC, it’s no surprise that you can plug your keyboard into the system with relatively little hassle. While it might not seem like this added device can offer much at first, it certainly represents the fastest way to communicate in the Xbox social scene outside of party chat. 

What’s more, Phil Spencer has suggested that the console may soon feature full support for playing Xbox One games with a mouse and keyboard, so this nifty little trick might be about to get a lot more useful. 

Play with PC friends via cross-play

Unlike Sony, which has a strict no-no policy when it comes to multiplayer cross-play between the PS4 and other systems, Microsoft is more than happy to let PC and Xbox One players compete and co-operate together on certain online games, from Ark: Survival Evolved to the upcoming Sea of Thieves. Match point to Xbox. 

For the latest Xbox greatness, check out our list of the best Xbox One games.