1 Hour 1 Decision (1H1D)

The original is still there under the hood! If you thought the last episode was a throwback, get ready because this episode covers a remake of a beloved point and click adventure game that was originally released by LucasArts in 1993! Would you believe that despite his love of the aforementioned studio, Tom has never actually played the original game? Gasp! Well this remaster developed by Double F...

This legend began three decades ago! When our hosts challenge the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button, sometimes it responds with a deep cut! Behold this side-scrolling platformer developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and released way back in 2013! Did it age gracefully over the past decade? Did the trials and tribulations of the initial launch and plenty of post-launch support lead to a solid finished...

Ryu Hayabusa, where are you? With assistance from the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button, our dynamic duo returns to Team Ninja's third person action series, but of course it's the sequel to another sequel they didn't play! Adding to the complexity, though Team Ninja was involved, this entry was primarily developed by PlatinumGames. This actually sets expectations a bit higher, at least for Tom....

Beating up baddies, Marvel edition. Tribute Games is back with another side-scrolling beat 'em up! There are some mutants on the roster here too, but they aren't teenagers or turtles. Speaking of the playable roster, it's sizeable, with a smattering of famous and esoteric characters from different segments of the marvel universe. Will that mix help offset the repetitive nature of the whole beat 'e...

This former agent just wants to stay retired. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button lives up to its name with its selection for this episode. Our hosts have been tasked with playing the strangely named First-Person Shooter developed by indie studio Strange Scaffold and published by Frosty Pop. It turns out this studio likes to give their games zany names, so this is actually par for the course f...

The skipper promised a three hour tour! Our hosts play random games on the Xbox Game Pass service and often that means titles they had never seen before the "Surprise Me" button makes the selection. Such is the case with this third person adventure title developed by Polygon Treehouse and published by Whitethorn Games. Players take on the role of Alex, who gets stranded on a strange island full of...

Our hosts were teens in the late 1990s too. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has selected another narrative adventure title! The focus here is similarly on story and there's more of that teen angst and certainly some mysteries as well. Fortunately for our hosts, this one developed by DigixArt is played from a first person perspective and set in a fictional past instead of far into an altern...

The number is years, the rest is your task. For this episode the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has chosen the debut title developed by Sunset Visitor. This narrative adventure game tasks you with exploring memories to uncover the truth that's been buried for a thousand years. In it, you take on the role of Watcher and delve into THE ALLMOTHER's past to discover what happened a millennia ago...

Will there be tales told of this? The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button takes control once more for this episode. Its selection is a side-scrolling platformer developed by Sunny Peak and published by Headup. This title was conceived as a student project at ISART Digital in France and then blossomed into a full-featured game release after several years of additional effort from its dedicated team...

Not the sequel to the game from 1H1D #83. Traditionally game selection is left to the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button, but this First Person Action RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment was actually chosen by Matt aka Stormaggedon, who was previously a guest on the show for episode 225! There was a possibility that Matt would be our first repeat guest, but alas, it was not our stars. Tom and...

So there's four of these, but only the second is numbered? The previous episode had some fantastic beasts, but this one is set in the century of dragons. That's right, the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has selected the fourth title in Bioware's RPG franchise for assessment on this episode! Well, it's the fourth one if you leave out Awakening and that freemium mobile game, but most of the fra...

Let's get you sorted, doubly so! The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button is this show's equivalent of a certain famous sorting hat. It's fitting (pun intended) that it has selected that franchise's action role-playing game developed by Avalanche Software and published by Portkey Games for this numerically significant episode. The game in question puts you in the robes of an unusually late addition...

Think you can run a better park? Prove it! Back in 1993, Tom was convinced he could succeed where John Hammond had failed. Fortunately, the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has seen fit to give our hosts an opportunity to test that theory with this dinosaur theme park management simulator developed and published by Frontier Developments. The studio is no stranger to the genre and this isn't eve...

Saddle up and pedal forth for adventure! The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button spun through its options and landed on a choice that will have Tom and Chris spinning their own tires! Enter the latest game developed by Messhof, this time with publisher support from Annapurna Interactive. In this third person open world racing game, players are tasked with collecting some legendary items to save th...

Roguelites are our own personal hell. Venturing to the underworld ought to be met with a sense of dread, but for Chris, the dread he's feeling is centered on the roguelite nature of this isometric action RPG developed and published by Supergiant Games. Tom is a bit more optimistic, buoyed by the game's strong reception from both critics and players alike. Which of these two attitudes will rise up...

Not the German comedy series. There seems to be no shortage of cleaning simulators these days, but this one developed by President Studio and published by PlayWay has a different hook. Instead of power-washing someone's driveway or de-cluttering someone's home, this title puts you in the shoes of a former high school janitor that must clean up after criminals so those villains won't be caught for...

Take a trip to the 90's... the 2090's. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button delivers on its name with the selection of this retro-anime inspired FPS developed by Hammer95 Studios and published by Epopeia Games. Neither of our hosts had heard of this before it was chosen, so they are going in with zero expectations other than whatever they may associate with mullets. With an hour on their play c...

Are we trading rogues or roguishly trading? Buckle up, buttercup! The grimdark of the Imperium awaits in this turn-based tactical RPG developed and published by Owlcat Games. The studio first cut their teeth translating another tabletop game (Pathfinder) to the digital realm. Despite some early challenges there, they found their rhythm, launched a sequel, and then were tasked with taking on 40k's...

Anthropomorphic Orange is the New Black? The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button is sending our hosts directly to jail. They won't be passing go and they won't be collecting $200 on the way. Thankfully it's just part of the experience of playing the pixel-art RPG developed by Metal Head Games where the player takes on the role of a humanimal that must set things the wrong things right from behind...

Wait, isn't that the character from Arcane? Still completely oblivious to League of Legends outside his love for the animated show, Tom (and his pal Chris) must engage with another spin-off property, this time thanks to the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button. For this episode, the team will be investigating the digital collectible card dame developed and published by Riot Games. This game has bee...

Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law. If you grew up in the same era as our hosts, the source material for this first-person shooter developed by Teyon and published by Nacon is well known to you. If you are a bit younger, perhaps you caught the remake that came out in 2014. If neither of those apply, just imagine if Darth Vader was a police officer in a dystopian Detroit....

It's like playing doctor, but just the administrative part. Have you ever dreamt of being an intergalactic hospital administrator? Well that dream can now become reality thanks to this business simulation title developed by Brightrock Games and published by Cult Games. Do you want to build rooms, hire staff, and satisfy the needs of alien patients? Well that's all packed in to this quirky sim. As...

The original hits keep on coming! Before Warcraft and the massive online world it would spawn, Blizzard Entertainment had a trio of hits in the early 1990s that established them as a creative force in video games. Those games are collected here (each in multiple incarnations) for modern players to enjoy. With just an hour to harness a healthy helping of highly-regarded games, how will our hosts sp...

Tempogoo didn't sound as catchy. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button is at it again with this quirky puzzle game developed by Witch Beam and published by CULT. Tom and Chris have been tasked with spending an hour conducting the pink slime creatures that give this game its name. Will the result be music to our ears or a discordant mess? Will we watch their gardens grow or will these fruits shri...

Fast Baked Chicken or video game? This acronym could stand for anything, but what it truly stands for is Federal Bureau of Control. Developed and published by Remedy Entertainment, this is simultaneously the debut multiplayer first-person shooter developed by the studio and also the first game published by them. That said, these folks are no strangers to making games and have previously brought yo...