Highlights

  • Headbangers: Rhythm Royale, set to release on October 31, 2023, is a colorful and chaotic online battle royale game that combines musical-themed minigames with a quirky pigeon customization aspect.
  • With 23 unique music-centric minigames, players can enjoy a range of challenges in Headbangers: Rhythm Royale, from simple rhythm-based headbanging to identifying different musical instruments.
  • Players can customize their cartoon pigeon characters in Headbangers: Rhythm Royale using an in-game currency, Crumbs, and can purchase various cosmetic items, such as hats, taunts, and outfits, to create their own unique style.

Xbox Game Pass has been on a bit of a hot streak lately. After the long-awaited Starfield finally hit the service at the start of September, it's been full speed ahead for Xbox Game Pass ever since, with games like Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Sea of Stars, Lies of P, Payday 3, and Party Animals all hitting the service on day one. And Xbox Game Pass isn't slowing down just yet, with a ton of games set to hit the service this October, such as the colorfully chaotic Headbangers: Rhythm Royale.

Set to hit Xbox Game Pass on October 31, Headbangers: Rhythm Royale has the potential to round out the month with a triumphant bang. An online battle royale that sees players compete in a variety of different musical-themed minigames, all while dressed as their own customized pigeon, Headbangers: Rhythm Royale looks like the perfect blend of Fall Guys and WarioWare, and it'll make an excellent addition to Xbox Game Pass this October.

RELATED: Xbox Game Pass Games for October 2023 Are Missing the Key Ingredient

Headbangers: Rhythm Royale Blends Fall Guys With WarioWare

Headbangers Gameplay

Inspired by the quirky head movements of the common pigeon, Headbangers: Rhythm Royale sees players join a lobby of cartoonish birds as they prepare to battle it out in a series of musical mini-games. Each match of Headbangers will have 30 players competing across four separate rounds, with each round bringing with it new and more challenging mini-games. As each round progresses, more players are wiped from the lobby, until finally one lone victor remains. For anyone that's ever played a battle royale before, Headbangers' core gameplay loop is going to feel very familiar, but its musical twist might be enough to keep even seasoned battle royale fans hooked.

Headbangers: Rhythm Royale contains a total of 23 unique mini-games. Each of these mini-games revolves around music in some major capacity. These mini-games range in difficulty and complexity, with the easiest mini-games requiring players to simply headbang to the rhythm by pressing a single button, and the harder mini-games tasking players with identifying the three different musical instruments that can be heard in just a few-second soundclip. With each mini-game only taking a minute or two, Headbangers: Rhythm Royale's gameplay feels a lot like WarioWare, but its style is much more akin to Fall Guys.

Much like Fall Guys' cute and stumpy Beans, Headbangers: Rhythm Royale lets players customize their very own cartoon pigeon. Upon completing a match of Headbangers, players will be rewarded with Crumbs, an in-game currency that can be used to purchase a vast array of cosmetic items ranging from stylish hats to antagonizing taunts, to bold outfits. Based on the trailers released so far, it seems as though Headbangers is leaning all the way into its wackier premise, and that's exemplified by its smorgasbord of tongue-in-cheek costumes, which includes dinosaur heads, wearable washing machines and TVs, and many, many more out-there items.

While party battle royales are starting to become a bit dime-a-dozen, Headbangers: Rhythm Royale's musical hook should help to make it stand out from its competitors. Headbangers is also launching with a crossplay feature, allowing players from any and all platforms to join together in one lobby. While it should be noted that those not on Xbox Game Pass will have to shell out $20 to play Headbangers on any other platform, that price seems more than reasonable for the amount of content that Headbangers: Rhythm Royale is promising.

Headbangers: Rhythm Royale is set to release on October 31 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: The Best Roguelikes On Xbox Game Pass (October 2023)