1 Hour 1 Decision (1H1D)

When you enjoy cleaning so much that you do it for fun! For this episode, our hosts have been tasked with checking out a first-person simulation title developed by FuturLab and published by Square Enix Collective. This is definitely the kind of game that would generate a cult following, so it makes a certain amount of sense that our listeners would request that Tom and Chris take a crack at it. Wi...

It’s a place of torment, but is that figurative or literal? Once again the Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” button is in control of game selection and for this episode it has chosen the battle royale title developed by 24 Entertainment and published by NetEase Games Montreal. With over eighty games reviewed here at 1H1D, we were due for an entry in this increasingly popular genre and it is fitting tha...

We wouldn't recommend getting near one, never mind sitting on one. When it's not picking Annapurna games, we can trust the ole "Surprise Me" button to pick a roguelike instead. For this episode, it has selected the top-down twin-stick shooter roguelike developed and published by Vlambeer. With an expanding roster of playable characters and a multitude of weapons and mutations to locate through pla...

We get this one and Outer Worlds mixed up a lot. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button sure does like to pick games published by Annapurna Interactive. This one is the first-person adventure game developed by Mobius Digital where you play as an explorer traveling through your solar system to learn secrets of an ancient alien race and discover why they mysteriously disappeared. With a focus on ex...

Pick one of the eight starting characters and then start traveling. In this role-playing game developed by Square Enix and Acquire, the first choice you must make is which story you'd like to hear. With eight different characters to choose, what are the odds that both our hosts pick the same one? Don't worry, that's a rhetorical question, we don't need you to figure out the percentage. With the "H...

The title is a made-up word, which explains why you don't know it. Play enough games on Xbox Game Pass and you will surely find something unlike anything you have ever played before. If you doubt the veracity of this statement, simply check out this puzzle game developed by Jason Roberts and published by Annapurna Interactive. It plays like an interactive graphic novel, but it is curiously devoid...

If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge multiple spinning blades of death... right? This title is listed as an action puzzle game and that seems pretty appropriate. Developed by Terri, Dose, Kitty, and JW, this is just one of many quirky indie titles published by Devolver Digital. The premise is fairly simple, your objective is to dodge an endless array of different spinning discs long enough to...

When your Skyrim mod is so involved that it just becomes its own game. Who doesn't love a good mystery? Well, truthfully the inhabitants of this idyllic Roman city aren't big fans, but they do have a compelling reason. You see, if any citizen commits a sin in their little paradise, the whole town pays with their lives. Your job is to travel back in time to figure out who dunnit... but unlike Clue,...

It has nothing to do with Australia or a medical procedure. Uh oh! It looks like our hosts are back to playing roguelikes again! For this episode, our duo has been tasked with playing an action RPG variant developed by Aggro Crab and published by Team17. Will this title's focus on humor and its bright color palette set it apart from the many other roguelikes they have already encountered? Will a p...

Imagine if The Sims had a wartime expansion… Instead of focusing on the front-line combatants, this war survival game developed and published by 11 bit studios focuses on the civilian experience. Hunger and sleep deprivation are your biggest threats in a city torn apart by conflict that asks the player to manage their homebase during the day and go out foraging for supplies when night falls. This...

Wait a minute, this isn't just ONE game on Xbox GamePass but MANY games!  Chris is joined by friends of the show Eric from the Game Positive podcast and Nave from Gaming Together podcast.  Check out their reactions as Xbox shows off all the stuff coming out throughout 2022, 2023, and beyond! What do you think? Let us know! Hit us up on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tc1h1d Drop us an ema...

Not the religious kind, the kind where things try to eat you. This first-person shooter developed by Arkane Studios has very little in common with its 2006 namesake. Well, in both games you are being hunted by aliens, but that’s basically the beginning and end of the similarities. Of course, this led to some concerns as fans looking forward to “Prey 2” received this very different game instead. Wi...

If you aren’t literally full of joy, the other citizens will take notice… and kill you. On this episode, we hand control back over to the Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” button and find ourselves faced with an action-adventure survival horror video game developed by Compulsion Games. Chris appears to have been extra targeted this time because the game allegedly has roguelike elements as well. If you...

Would you rather eat a snack bug or a bug snack? The mere premise of this first-person adventure game sounds absurd… and then you find out that it comes from the same zany studio that brought you Octodad. The team over at Young Horses combined bugs and snacks into the game’s eponymous creatures and now a listener has tasked our hosts with sampling this unusual offering. Will the colorful art style...

The wiki says this game was developed by spiders… The Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” button is back in control and it has selected an action role-playing game developed by Spiders for this episode! Okay, so it turns out that “Spiders” refers to a French game developer and not a group of arachnids that have achieved sentience and the capacity to program a video game. This is probably good news for ou...

SimCity may be gone, but that left a vacancy for a spiritual successor. Once upon a time, a game called SimCity was synonymous with the sim game genre. Of course, that was before its final entry totally bombed, souring the brand recognition of a storied franchise. Seizing their opportunity, this power vacuum in the city sim space was filled by a certain city-building game developed by Colossal Ord...

We head to Miami to tackle a different kind of war... the one on crime. Imagine our surprise to learn that the subject of this episode would be a Battlefield title that wasn't set during a world war. As their final contribution to the world of video games before receiving their marching orders from EA, Visceral Games developed and released this First Person Shooter all about being a cop and immers...

Spiders? Why’d it have to be spiders? Generally speaking, we would not advocate killing critters of any kind, but there’s no pacifist playthrough for this first-person action game developed by tinyBuild. In fact, killing bugs is just a small piece of the utter mayhem that Tom and Chris were tasked with committing for their mandated hour with this title. Will these virtual spiders prove as difficul...

Some say racing is an art form, this game seeks to prove it. It’s been a little while since our hosts were last behind the wheel and the Xbox Gamepass “Surprise Me” Button is looking to correct that oversight. On this episode, our dynamic duo takes on the stylized racing sim developed by Funselektor Labs. With plenty of cars to choose from and even more stages to drive, it seems likely that Tom an...

It’s like Ultima or Fallout, except it’s a western with fantasy and horror elements. Game requested by friend of the show WanderingDutch! Apparently this game takes its name from a term used to describe the hybrid genres of fantasy Western, horror Western and sci-fi Western. To be honest, this whole concept is news to our hosts, but that won’t stop them from trying out this action role-playing gam...

The final chapter of a trilogy that they never started. When you let the Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” Button randomly pick the games, you are bound to play some sequels. On this episode, the button ramps up the absurdity by making our hosts play the final game in the action role-playing game trilogy developed by Square Enix. Will Tom and Chris stand any chance of enjoying this game with two full g...

It's basically the combination of two of our favorite childhood things. If you grew up playing games in the 90's, then you are probably familiar with Starcraft. If you watched cartoons in the 90's, then you probably also know about Exosquad. While this base-building, survival game developed by EXOR Studios has no official ties to either of those properties, it sure does evoke fond memories of both...

This one isn’t horror, but the countless ways that you die are pretty horrifying. What happens when a knight comes home, only to find it plagued by unholy magic? Well, you can find out if you settle in to play this metroidvania style game developed by Berzerk Studio. The formula for this experience starts with the classic side-scrolling action you know and love and combines it with contemporary le...

Let’s take horror and put it in space, what could go wrong? The Xbox “Surprise Me” button seems hell-bent on giving Chris a heart attack. For its latest assassination attempt, it has selected the science fiction survival horror game developed by Visceral Games. Both of our hosts have somehow managed to avoid this title even though it was released over a decade ago, but they can no longer close the...

Tom’s favorite Pokemon are bug type… that may be relevant later. After the “Surprise Me” button’s attack on Chris, we thought it would be best to let the audience pick the game for this episode. The result is this role-playing title developed by indie studio Moonsprout Games. There is some obvious inspiration from Paper Mario, but in this game the main characters are all bugs searching for a sourc...