1 Hour 1 Decision (1H1D)

Even more random than the original. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button is regularly deployed to randomly select games for this show. It is indeed fitting that it randomly selected this title developed by Stormteller Games and published by Thunderful Publishing that has much randomness seeded throughout its mechanics. From the cards and boosts you receive to the way the levels flow, many thing...

Out on the street? Get on the beat! We've reviewed a number of simulation games, but never one where you take on the role of a police officer. That changes on this episode with a title developed by Aesir Interactive and published by Astragon Entertainment. Strap on the boots of a new officer of the law and take on important daily duties like issuing parking tickets! The good new is that's apparent...

You survive by crafting more people. Here's a fresh one off the line! For this episode, Tom and Chris have been tasked with playing the newest survival game developed and published by 11 Bit Studios. The studio may be familiar to you if you are a fan of the Frostpunk franchise or if you checked out our previous episode about This War of Mine. This new title definitely builds on the Polish develope...

Does the T stand for Tom? The advantage of using the Xbox Box Game Pass "Surprise Me" button to chose games is that it will invariably select niche games that probably wouldn't be on your radar. Such is the case with this puzzle adventure title created by uvula and published by Annapurna Interactive. You've probably never heard of the studio... because this is their first and only game... but you...

Is the planet also forbidden? The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button is back in control and it has chosen the one-and-only game that will ever be developed by Typhoon Studios. Published by 505 Games, this first-person title is billed as "action-adventure" but feels a bit more like "exploration-survival" to us. If you start with inspiration from Far Cry, add comedy science fiction films, and then...

Does it display turtle power? Move over Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button, one of our hosts has taken control of game selection. If Chris can get away with putting his thumb on the scale, Tom figures he will do the same. As a consequence, our dynamic duo will be checking out the platforming beat 'em up developed by Aheartfulofgames and published by Outright Games. Tom has been in the fight with...

Shockingly not another release of Skyrim! When our duo takes a request, it typically comes along with a guest, and this episode is no exception. Enter Rick from Pixel Project Radio who has chosen the surprising remaster of the fourth entry in a series dedicated to some especially old and rolled up parchment. Co-developed by Bethesda Game Studios and Virtuos (who are quite familiar with tackling po...

Both a color scheme and a hawk god. With no context outside of the key art, our hosts were in the dark about this random selection from the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button. It turns out to be a third-person action RPG developed in New Zealand by A44 and published by Annapurna Interactive. While that is a bit more to work with, it still doesn't paint the full picture of what this decidedly styl...

Seems like a good age for doom. Was this first person shooter chosen randomly by the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" Button? Hell No! But it was developed by id Software, who debuted the once infamous but now just famous franchise way back in 1993. For those of you who weren't alive way back then, something about those pixelated demons and the sprite-based violence unsettled adults of the time, but w...

Night begins... at least historically. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button is regularly employed to choose the next game our hosts must play. It is fitting that the interactive fiction title chosen for this episode will make Tom and Chris make a number of their own choices, leading each of them to potentially unique experiences. Developed by London-based Interior Night, this is currently their...

Zero to hero in no time flat. We return now to the tried and true Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button and the result is this third-person action adventure title developed by Ubisoft Quebec. Published by Ubisoft and developed using their proprietary Ubisoft Anvil engine, this game was released on just about every platform imaginable. From the same team that brought us Assassin's Creed Odyssey, this...

A strong contrast of light and dark. Move over Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button, we have a guest with a request! For this episode, our duo is joined by the one, the only, Stormageddon! Just to be clear, we are talking about the person, not the poorly-rated 2015 disaster movie. Moving along, our illustrious guest has chosen the turn-based RPG developed by Sandfall Interactive and published by Ke...

How many aliens fit in a wristwatch? The purpose of using the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button in game selection is to ensure that our hosts play games that they would never normally experience. The third person action adventure title developed by PHL Collective and published by Outright Games that was chosen for this episode is a perfect presentation of that purpose. Chris and Tom were too old...

It only took 25 years to get it localized! Developed by Xeen and published by Square Enix, this third-person action RPG remake of the third entry in the Mana series is the first time that story is officially available for Western audiences. Despite his well-established love of nineties RPGs, Tom never got around to playing the famous SNES installment of the franchise. Three decades later, he will...

Made with real British nuclear radiation! While it may be common to see games based on historical events, those events are usually surrounding some manner of military conflict. Not so for this alternate history action-survival game developed and published by Rebellion Developments which follows the fallout of the 1957 Windscale fire. When the government moves in and quarantines the facility and th...

Up in the sky! Look! It's a bird! No planes or supermen here, just your character riding a bird on a journey to discover and document lots of strange fantastical creatures in this third person adventure title developed by Hollow Ponds and published by Annapurna Interactive. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button must want our hosts to see the forests and the trees in this game that places explora...

These wars advanced to groovy! The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has taken a turn toward strategy with its selection for this episode. Developed and published by Chucklefish, this sequel to the turn-based tactics title seems set for success. Will the developers leverage what they learned working on the original to deliver a refined experience or will they take bold risks instead? Tom seemed...

These yokai better watch out! After a brief sojourn, the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button is back in control of game selection. For this episode, it has chosen the first-person action title developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks. Following in the wake of their Evil Within franchise, the developers have hung on to some elements of horror, but also diverged from their us...

It was nearly called Joker Poker. Chris wants to play a roguelike? For you longtime listeners, I'm sure that sounds borderline inconceivable, but here we are with his thumb on the scale, pushing our duo to investigate the deck-builder developed by LocalThunk and published by Playstack. Available everywhere and now included with Xbox Game Pass, this indie title was crafted by a single anonymous dev...

Follow, follow, follow the road to the Enclave. Sometimes our hosts get lucky and the "Surprise Me" button picks something they wanted to investigate anyway. Such is the case for this fresh third person action-adventure title developed and published as the debut entry from Yellow Brick Games. With core designers formerly from Ubisoft Quebec and critically-acclaimed classics cited as inspiration, t...

Professed publicly and asserted openly. A new challenger appears! It's been a little while since we had a guest on this program and we are excited to have Dave from Tales from the Backlog join our usual duo to investigate the new action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. Mixing magic and melee sits at the heart of this title about an empire's...

Resist... your urge to run and gun! In 1992, two brothers started a company called Rebellion. Three decades later, their studio has come a long way from those humble beginnings. The most successful of their products is certainly the shooter franchise where players sneak around and one-shot their enemies from incredible distances. It seems fitting that the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has st...

What's this? Another planet in peril? It's starting to feel like the "Surprise Me" button may have an agenda as it puts our players on another alien planet in peril. In this action-adventure title by Inverge Studios, the world is suffering from an unstoppable infection, and the player is tasked with saving as many animals as possible before the end arrives. It sounds a bit like a futuristic Noah's...

It sounds gross 'cause it is gross. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has put Tom and Chris on sanitation duty! For this episode, our hosts get to work cleaning up an alien world in the action-adventure title brought to you by Thunderful Development. The titular gunk looks like a certain alien symbiote, but this relationship is certainly more toxic for the host. Will liberating the environme...

Save the universe, at least metaphorically. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has certainly surprised us with this indie puzzle adventure game developed by Feral Cat Den and published by Fellow Traveller Games. Taking inspiration from both noir-style detective stories and established scientific theories, this dialogue-free title challenges players to solve puzzles in order to prevent the mur...