Xbox Live Games with Gold for May 2021 serve up fantasy board games, island nations

We're quickly closing in on May, and that means a new batch of Xbox Live Games with Gold are on the way. Today, Microsoft revealed the games it will offer for free next month to Xbox Live Gold subscribers. As always, there will be two games from the Xbox One era and two games from previous generations that are playable through backward compatibility.

The first game up for grabs in May is Armello, which is something of a cross between a board game, and RPG, and a strategy game. If nothing else, that's an interesting mix of genres, and its fairytale characters and colorful graphics certainly help the fantasy world Armello clearly aims to create.

Joining Armello as the second Xbox One title for May is Dungeons 3, a game that puts you in the role of the bad guy. As the name suggests, this is a dungeon-builder where you'll create a dungeon for your monsters and attempt to dispatch any would-be heroes looking to explore it and plunder its treasures.

The two Xbox 360 titles up for grabs next month include Lego Batman and Tropico 4. Lego Batman hardly needs any introduction, as it's one of the better-known Lego titles that have released throughout the years. Tropico 4, on the other hand, is a political city-building game where you play as the ruler of an island nation who needs to satisfy the needs of their citizens. The Tropico series has been around for a long time, and while we've moved past Tropico 4 in the time since it was released, this could be a good jumping off point for those who are new to the franchise.

As with every month, all four of these games will have staggered availability. Armello will be available for the entire month of May from the 1st, while Dungeons 3 will be available May 16th – June 15th. Lego Batman will be available from May 1st to May 15th, while Tropico 4 will close out the month with availability from the 16th to the 31st.