An important part of having a lovely time with something is setting your expectations correctly. Just ask the two old ladies who I once saw going into a screening of Zombieland and leaving after approximately seven minutes. So in that spirit, it seems important to tell you that Backbone is not the point and click detective adventure game with all puzzles you might have thought it was.
It's more accurately described as a grim, philosophical, story-focused noir game about collectivism vs. individualism, dressed up in the tropes of a detective puzzle game. Like The Good Place with more depression, or Disco Elysium with raccoons.
Microsoft have announced the next handful of games coming to Xbox Game Pass For PC, and one of my absolute faves is on the list. The gloomy turn-based roguelike Darkest Dungeon will be available on the subscription service on June 10th; an excellent chance for players who might've missed it to give it a go before the sequel launches later this year. On June 8th, the raccoon detective game Backbone is hitting the service too.
