1 Hour 1 Decision (1H1D)

Did you know Resident Evil is called Biohazard in Japan? Now you do. The “Surprise Me” button is back in control and clearly the first item on the agenda is to give Chris a heart attack. Developed and published by Capcom, this seventh numbered entry in the horror franchise is actually something like the twenty fourth in the series. How is that even possible? Well, the franchise has been around sin...

When we hear “full motion video” we immediately think of Night Trap. On this episode, we turn control of the game selection over to our listeners and an unusual title is the reward. Developed by Sam Barlow and Furious Bee, this game is an interactive film that plays out as a “desktop thriller” where the player must unravel a mystery by watching video clips stored on a stolen hard drive. It is cert...

He kind of looks like Miles “Tails” Prower, doesn’t he? Lucky is a different fox with just one tail, well two if you count the “tale” for which this game is named. In either case, the Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” button has selected the third person 3D platformer developed by Playful Studios as the focus of this episode, so our hosts are honor bound to play it for an hour and report back with thei...

We are done watching fires, now it’s time to fight them… for profit! Is it possible that the “Surprise Me” button is learning? With the AI back in control of the game selection, our hosts have been tasked with fighting fires in this frantic first-person multiplayer title developed by Muse Games. Will Tom and Chris be able to work together to climb the ranks and become truly uber firefighters… or i...

Is the objective to watch fires or to stop them? On this episode, our hosts give the “Surprise Me” button a break and take on a random request from listeners like you! More specifically, they each spent an hour with the “alone in the woods” yet somehow “dialogue rich” adventure game developed by Campo Santo. Will the story-focused, single-player experience capture their hearts? Will the delivery o...

If there are multiple mountains, why are they lonely? It appears that 2019 was a big year for downhill mountain biking video games. Our hosts previously reviewed Descenders and now the Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” button has also selected this similar sounding 2019 game developed by Megagon Industries. With an isometric view and stylized visuals, will this game do enough differently to escape the...

If they are already dead, how are they cursing anyone? The “Surprise Me” button is back in control and has quickly returned to tormenting Chris by picking another rougelike! This time our hosts take on the isometric dungeon crawler from Passtech Games, however, so perhaps the die-and-try-again elements will spice up the classic formula instead. Whatever their preconceived notions may have been, th...

You had us at Aliens, but add “co-op shooter” and the excitement intensifies. It was time to give the "Surprise Me" button a break, so we accepted a random suggestion from our listeners and took a crack at the multiplayer third-person shooter developed by Cold Iron Studio for this episode. Did it help that we both enjoy the franchise? Did it help that it gave us an excuse to play a game co-op? Wil...

An action RPG with anime DNA... sounds familiar. Word on the street is that the "Surprise Me" button is supposed to be random, but this game sure has some similarities with others that it has selected for the show. How will this action role-playing game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Tose stack up against those others? Will both of our hosts end up picking the same protagonist, or will they...

This game was not made by Terry Gilliam, but it sure does look like it was. If you thought dating your weapons was out there, buckle up for this bizarre point and click adventure designed by Joe Richardson. The game puts you in the role of a knight looking to kill just one more person… but the war is over and it’s time for peace. Luckily, the big-bad perpetrator of the war has escaped, so it’s pro...

Have you ever been romantically attracted to bladed weapons? This is admittedly a weird one, but variety is the spice of life, right? Developed and published by Kitfox Games, this indie title is half dungeon crawler, half dating sim, and all inclusive. Do you want to date men that are swords? How about a woman that’s also a dagger? Would you rather skip all the sharp objects and just date the blac...

Embrace your role as bug knight and vanquish other bugs, but only the bad ones… right? That Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” button sure seems to love these indie titles! On this episode, our hosts reflect on the hour they spent with the metroidvania action-adventure game developed and published by Team Cherry. This acclaimed game has seen a few revisions over the years and this particular release on...

Been spendin’ most our lives livin’ in a gangsta’s paradise… in Japan! This is what happens when Sega takes the Dragon game engine and uses it to remake a PS2 title from 2006. The all-knowing internet claims that this is an action-adventure game, but it looks like our hosts may be of a different opinion on the matter. Adding to the intrigue, Chris has warned that cutscenes will probably play a maj...

All you need is love… and food… and stuff to fix your spaceship. A game about love, well isn’t that grand! In this third-person adventure game from The Game Bakers, the player takes on the twin roles of star-crossed lovers trying to live out a peaceful existence on some far-flung planet. Things are not as simple as they seem, though, as the story unravels and our couple is forced to deal with bigg...

We are doing that sweet sixteen bracket thing, but this time with twice games! We checked and we are pretty confident this is not a term used elsewhere, so there won't be any confusion this time! On this VERY special episode, we have Wandering Dutch join us to recap the next 32 games that we've played here on 1H1D. Did we double the number of games to up the ante or did we just forget to do a brac...

This game has a sizable cult following, but does it deserve it? The epitome of an indie game, this title was virtually entirely created by one person, Toby Fox. Strictly speaking, it is a 2D role-playing game about a child who has fallen into the underground and wants to return to the surface world, encountering all manner of strange monsters along the way. Beyond that, most of the decision making...

What happens when the AI replaces your eye? This mystery adventure game was both developed and published by Spike Chunsoft, who are probably best known for their contributions to the Pokémon and Dragon Quest franchises. This game is decidedly unlike those others, however, and the jury is out on how our hosts would classify this game's genre. Living somewhere between an old school point and click g...

With a title like this, you know Square Enix is involved. Series creator Yoko Taro has directed every game in this franchise with the exception of Drakengard 2... which is a confusing statement because this game revolves around a war between androids and machines and those Drakengard games focus on swinging swords and flying around on dragons. Nevertheless, we have it on good authority that they a...

After simulating goats, it was only natural to simulate the whole farm. It's hard to know where this entry falls in the vast array of Farming Simulator titles that have been released since 2008. What is known is that they were all developed by Giants Software and their gameplay revolves around managing a farm. Will an utter lack of agricultural knowledge mean that our hosts are completely out of t...

This game made the Mass Effect series a quadrilogy, just like Alien films… uh oh. When your first foray into a series is the fourth entry, it is pretty likely that you are going to feel a bit lost. Fortunately for our hosts, playing this action RPG developed by BioWare does not require that you spent 80+ hours playing the prior trilogy first. With a fresh set of characters and a new story set outs...

If you are underwater and it's below zero, aren’t you just frozen in ice? Because the “Surprise Me” button clearly enjoys skipping the first entry in every series, on this episode our hosts dive right in to the 2021 sequel to 2018’s Subnautica. Hopefully continuity will not be a major factor in this first-person, survival game developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Our hosts have...

This podcast has covered a lot of games… but can it run Crysis? On this episode, our hosts finally get around to trying the 2011 sequel to Crytek’s acclaimed first person shooter. All things considered, it is no small feat that our duo has managed to avoid this series for as long as they have. As you can imagine, this sets some dangerously high expectations… will the second installment live up to...

Traditionally you need to leave your home to forage, this game solves that. With the Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” button at the wheel, every game selection is a surprise! For this episode, Tom and Chris have spent an hour with HopFrog’s hybrid idle adventure game. Like many other incremental games, this one is known for being both simple and grindy, so that is sure to shape their feelings about th...

Does this simulate being the greatest of all time? Nope, it’s the other kind of goat. Xbox Game Pass has a lot of strange offerings and when you approach their library randomly, you end up playing some novel entries. Developed and Published by Coffee Stain Studios, this third-person physics sandbox is certainly among them. Speaking of surprises, this game has also been around since 2014 and someho...

We do not recommend attempting to survive in the frozen wilderness unless you are doing it from the safety of your living room. For this episode, we spent an hour with the first-person survival game developed and published by Hinterland Studio. If you did not already guess, we can confirm that this one is definitely an indie title... with writing, directing, and design credits all pointing to Raph...