Vote now for August 2023's TA Playlist game

We hope you've enjoyed warping across the galaxy blasting human-addicted aliens in the current TA Playlist featured game, High On Life, but July is already half over, so we need you to come back to Earth for a few minutes to consider what game the community should play next month.

July is Bean Dive month here at TrueAchievements, and the annual Bean Dive event is just ready to wrap up. For those who aren't aware, the Bean Dive (named after the mad inventor of the event, Beanpotter) invites daring achievement hunters to tank their precious completion percentage by firing up all the games in their backlogs and popping exactly one achievement in each. Having dug themselves the deepest hole possible, the task then is to climb their way back out again by earning enough achievements to recover their completion percentage back to the initial value.

It's an annual tradition that goes back 14 years (and some gamers are still recovering their Dives from that long ago!), so we thought it would be good to pay tribute by offering up four of the most-Dived games for next month's Playlist. We had the devs pull some stats a few days ago, so these don't necessarily reflect the final most-played games, and we also selected by site user rating and Playlist-appropriateness. It should come as no surprise that many of the most-Dived games are recent Xbox Game Pass additions, including three of :

Planet of Lana

Planet of Lana received a lot of buzz when it launched into Xbox Game Pass in late May. This puzzle/platformer from developer Wishfully and publisher Thunderful Games boasts beautiful scenery and a touching story of one girl's "off-Earth odyssey.".

A planet that used to be a place of undisturbed balance between humans, nature, and animal has now become something else entirely. The disharmony that had been in the making for hundreds of years has finally arrived in the form of a faceless army. But this is not a story about war. This is a story about a vibrant, beautiful planet –and the journey to keep it that way.

Planet of Lana has a strong community rating of 3.99/5.00 on TA, with nearly 45,000 tracked gamers starting it since it arrived on Game Pass a month and a half ago. Around 1,400 of those gamers (just over 3%) have gone on to earn all 25 of the game's achievements, which is estimated to take just 6-8 hours. You might be able to complete it even more quickly with the help of the on-site walkthrough by WeepingBomber, which will help you earn all the collectibles and avoid missing anything on your journey.

F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch

Up next is F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch, developed by TiGames and published by Bilibili. This 2D Metroidvania set in a city of anthropomorphic animals arrived on Xbox Game Pass on 27 June, just in time to be included in many Bean Dive lists.

After the animals of Torch City were defeated by the invading Robotic Legion in the Resistance War six years ago, former Resistance fighter Rayton the rabbit has kept a low profile, until the arrest of a friend meant he had no choice but to put on his giant metal fist and fight against those oppressing him. Explore the detailed Diesel-punk city and master your combat style to free your fellow citizens from their robot overlords!

Since its arrival on Game Pass, F.I.S.T. has already been started by nearly 25,000 tracked gamers and has earned a respectable 4.11/5.00 TA user rating. Only around 1% (just over 300 gamers) have earned all 43 of the game's achievements so far, but it's only been available for a couple of weeks, so that number is sure to increase rapidly as our Bean Divers finish up and switch to recovery mode. The completion is estimated to take 15-20 hours, and while no walkthrough is available yet, there are plenty of guides to help you smash through the achievement list.

Bramble: The Mountain King

Arriving on Game Pass the same day as the previous nominee, the dark fairy-tale adventure Bramble: The Mountain King, from developer Dimfrost Studio and publisher Merge Games is our third option for next month's Playlist.

Take on the role of Olle, a young boy setting off into the dark woods to rescue his sister, kidnapped by a dreaded troll. Not everything in Bramble is exactly how it seems - in this strange land with creatures big and small, you must be careful when to approach and when to hide. Many hungry and spiteful beasts lurk in these forests and caves. Defeat the horrid creatures you encounter in different and unique ways, but be warned, courage without kindness can take you down a dark path.

Bramble: The Mountain King has a current TA user rating of 3.97/5.00 and has been started by over 20,000 tracked gamers since it arrived on Xbox Game Pass. It's estimated that it will take 8-10 hours to earn all 30 of the game's achievements, with almost 150 gamers (1%) having done just that so far. Again, that number should increase rapidly once more users get the time to really sink their teeth into this dark fantasy story. Many of the game's non-story-related achievements require you to find collectible items, so check out the achievement guides to find your way in the dark woods until a walkthrough is ready.

McPixel 3

Our final pick for the month is also the most recent Xbox Game Pass addition, arriving on the service just last week. McPixel 3, developed by Sos Sosowski and published by Devolver Digital, first released on Xbox in November 2022, bringing its special brand of over-the-top chaotic humor to the console.

Explore the city of McBurg as you make your way through 100 mind-blowing adventures. One moment you're stuck in a speeding train headed towards the cliff; the other, you're in a falling plane. Sometimes you need to win an impossible-to-win soccer match, and the other, you're a dinosaur trying to hide from a meteorite. Stuck in a flaming house? Sandwiched between two battling armies? Certainly not a problem for McPixel! Collect coins, play genre-bending minigames, and don't forget Steve!

McPixel 3 has a TA user score of 3.90 out of 5.00. Of the ~16,500 tracked gamers who've started it, around 4% (just over 600 users) have unlocked all 93 achievements, and while that sounds like a lot, the completion estimate is only around 6-8 hours. No walkthrough is yet available, but none of the achievements are marked as missable, and guides are available for most of the wackier achievements on the list, which is good because the deliberately obtuse achievement names and descriptions don't give you much to go on.

Did you take the plunge with this year's Bean Dive? Were any of these games on your list? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to vote for your favorite to play and discuss in the month of August. And if you have any ideas for games or themes for future months, be sure to drop them in the TA Playlist Game Suggestion Thread. Thanks to everyone who has already chimed in with some great ideas!

Which game should the community play for August 2023's TA Playlist?

Planet of Lana
F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch
Bramble: The Mountain King
McPixel 3

Written by The TA Playlist Team

The TA Playlist is a monthly community event. Everyone votes on which of four games to play, and then we all play through it in the following month. There's a dedicated hub to discuss everything about the game, from story beats to gameplay tips – and of course, you can track your achievement progress during the month as well. TA Playlist was created by Mark Delaney and is now run by Miles, Nici and Chewie.