Feature: Touring the Xbox Live Marketplace on $30 Subscribe to this RSS feed

Sure, there's lots of cheap thrills to be had in the Xbox Live Arcade, but those little charges can add up fast. Here's the first of our monthly guides to getting the most out of a limited online budget.

Looking for travel guides for the other online marketplaces? Check out our guide to getting the best $30 can offer on the Wii Virtual Console and the PlayStation Store!

After sinking all that cash into a fancy TV and an Xbox 360 console, you have to watch how you spend your precious cash. Since those Microsoft Points are as good as cash, you want to spend them on the best content available. So, just like a tourist guide to surviving in India on $10 a day, we're going to help you get the most out the everything the Xbox Live Marketplace has to offer so far on just $30--future installments will cover the best available items each month using a $20 price cap.

The Wii's online content is like a trip to the Old World; everything on the Wii Shop Channel is a classic game, making a tour through that console's options like a trip through modern gaming's ancient origins.. Xbox Live Marketplace, on the other hand, is like being dropped into New York City's Times Square for the first time. Everything is shiny and new, every option imaginable is spread before you... and your wallet is only so big.

To make things harder, the Xbox 360 has been around for more than a year, so in this first installment of XTouring the Xbox Live Marketplace, we'll find you the best of the best in every category, through the end of February. There's so much to see, and only 2,400 Microsoft Points to see it with. Here's how to try new games, add to your favorite games, polish your Gamercard and customize your system dashboard.

Xbox Live Arcade

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (400 Points)

Xbox Live! Arcade is the best way to stretch your Microsoft Points. A slew of incredible games, from coin-op classics to brand new games, let you purchase even more play for your console. The first must-have game is Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. This hit started as a Project Gotham Racing 2 unlockable, and has been reshaped into the hottest Robotron-style, fast-paced shooter available. If your tastes run to slower-paced fun, consider substituting the classic card game Uno for the same price.

Cloning Clyde (800 Points)

You'll probably want to balance out the rollicking action of Geometry Wars with a more laid back title. There plenty of card and puzzle games that fit the bill, but we're going with Cloning Clyde; a cleverly-illustrated side-scrolling puzzle game that has a lot going for it. Clyde is a sort of accidental hero, cloning himself to solve puzzles, and then saving his clones from the clutches of carnivorous flowers and mechanical traps. It provides scads of levels that can be played in short bursts (that can fill-in between longer bouts of a retail game) and will last a long time between the single and multiplayer levels. Finally, it's an easy way to quickly rack up the gamerpoints. If you prefer something as adorable as it is difficult and violent, you can substitute in the newly-released Alien Hominid HD.