January Xbox Games with Gold includes Celeste for free

2019 is officially here and Microsoft has revealed the free games the Xbox Live subscribers can grab via Games with Gold for January. Celeste is the headliner for this month's collection and subscribers also still have an opportunity to grab an award-winning title from December 2018.

First and foremost, this is a wonderful opportunity to get your hands on Celeste, Shacknews' Best Indie Game of 2018, if you haven't already. In our retrospective on the game, Ozzie Mejia described it as a "tough-as-nails platformer" filled with "modern platforming mechanics and ideas, ones that are a delight to master."

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light provides a different type of experience for Tomb Raider fans, one that can be tackled with a friend. Players will solve puzzles, avoid traps, collect artifacts, and fight the undead in this isometric adventure. Far Cry 2 is an interesting title to return to because it was the entry in the franchise that paved the way for the following titles' open-world format. Here's the full schedule for January Games with Gold:

Celeste: January 1 - January 31
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light: January 1 - January 15
WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship: January 16 - February 15
Far Cry 2: January 16 - January 31
Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna): December 16 - January 15

If you didn't grab them all during December, you've missed out on Qube 2, Dragon Age 2, and Mercenaries. As you can see in the lineup above, Never Alone is still available. In that award-winning adventure, players experience the rich lore and culture of the Iñupiat people as they take a girl and her fox to find the source of an eternal blizzard.

Add the Xbox Games With Gold January lineup to your calendars so you don't miss out and stay tuned to Shacknews for additional updates.