1 Hour 1 Decision (1H1D)

It’s the Xbox Live Arcade remake of a retro arcade game. One of the benefits of using the Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” button to select a game is that it often picks titles that our hosts have never seen. Despite its age, our hosts were not aware of this arcade shooter remake developed by Rare and (if we are being honest) they were not even familiar with the original or its sequels. Going in with...

Our hosts attended college together, but can they manage one? Back in the saddle, the “Surprise Me” button takes the reigns and picks something our hosts definitely would not have picked themselves. On this episode, Tom and Chris have been tasked with playing an hour of the second simulation title developed by Two Point Studios. Unlike the studio’s prior game about running a hospital, this one foc...

Can you break the loop? Are you sure you should? The “Surprise Me” button takes a break this episode as our hosts investigate another listener request. Up for review this time is Arkane Lyon’s first-person shooter about being caught in a time loop. As you may have guessed, this loop is definitely linked to death. More specifically, it resets on the player’s death and can only be broken by assassin...

Explore the wilderness, fight animals, maybe join a cult... Against all odds, Tom has somehow managed to avoid a certain Ubisoft developed first-person shooter franchise in its entirety. Considering the number of entries that exist in this popular franchise, it did seem inevitable that he would be playing one of them eventually and the Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” button has decided that now is th...

If they have hands, are they even really worms? The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has selected the most recent iteration of the classic turn-based artillery game for this episode. Developed by Team17, the franchise has been around since 1995 and has had numerous iterations and spin-offs across a plethora of platforms. Video Games have come a long way in the past two decades, though, so there...

This disease is totally bubonic... and you play as kids. We left the game selection for this episode up to our listeners and they have spoken! The winner of the pole was the action-adventure stealth game developed by Asobo Studio and published by Focus Home Interactive. As the title suggests, it is a game about deadly pathogens and a couple of children who end up caught in the crossfire. Sounds fa...

They once ran through the mud, now it's time for snow. Perhaps you will find it fitting that the Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” button has taken this opportunity to bring us back to the beginning of it all. MudRunner was one of the very first titles we explored on 1H1D and now it is time to take a look at the truck driving simulation sequel developed by Saber Interactive. Will their fond memories of...

Journey into Helheim and avoid sharp objects located there. Numerous individuals have recommended this Ninja Theory developed action-adventure title to Chris, so it is only fitting that the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button followed suit and selected it as the game for this episode. With its Norse mythology based narrative and metaphorical exploration of psychosis, this is sure to be a doozy of...

Feel like taking photos while the world ends around you? When Chris indicated that the Xbox Game Pass “Surprise Me” button had selected this title for the next episode, Tom was dubious that the string of syllables he had uttered were in fact a game. Well, it turns out Chris is not a liar and there is indeed a first-person photography game developed by Origame Digital available on Xbox Game Pass wi...

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...