1 Hour 1 Decision (1H1D)

These beasts are wild, how about their hearts? From the minds of Omega Force, the developers that brought you hordes of Dynasty Warriors, comes this decidedly different animal. In this action RPG, players must hunt one very nasty beast at a time instead of battling the typical tons of minions. To differentiate itself from others in the genre, this title includes a Katakuri mechanic, where players...

Which way will these tides turn? At the behest of the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button, our hosts engage with an isometric turn-based RPG developed by inXile Entertainment and published by Techland Publishing. Set in the universe of the tabletop RPG Numenera, this title may not be a licensed sequel to the beloved Planescape: Torment, but it shares a lot of that DNA, right down to the people inv...

No magic mushrooms, but yes to arm cannons. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has run the bases and brought home a selection! Chosen for this episode is the third entry in the double-adjective sports series developed and published by Metalhead Software. With multiple modes, including a new franchise mode, this title was poised to hit a home run, at least with its existing fans. Where will To...

It goes to infinity, but not beyond. For this episode, the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has chosen the open-world farming game developed by the small Swedish studio called FRAME BREAK. What's unique about this resource harvesting title is that the player is doing the typical exploring and crafting from inside a mech. There's also a narrative component centered on a mystery that needs solvin...

Vacation's all she ever wanted! If you work a desk job, perhaps fighting monsters could be considered a vacation from your day-to-day life. The folks over at Microbird Studios take this premise quite literally with their 3rd-Person Action RPG centered around a young clerk looking to escape the monotony of her daily life by venturing to an Alpine town where magic and monsters are real. Tom and Chri...

All we want for Christmas is a whip... and a fedora. Proving they aren't a couple of scrooges, Tom and Chris have given the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button some time off for the holiday! In keeping with that same holiday spirit, they have elected to give each other the gift of playing the latest first-person action-adventure title from MachineGames. Featuring everyone's favorite archeologist a...

Wake up! Do androids need to wear make-up? Is it accurate to call a visual novel a game? What if it incorporates dice rolls and character advancement? The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button asks our hosts to ponder these questions with its selection for this episode. Crafted by the London-based one-person development studio Jump Over the Age and published by Fellow Traveller, this title is listed...

More lucrative than flipping burgers! The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has decided to wind things down with this renovation simulation developed by Empyrean and published by Frozen District and PlayWay. What this means in practice is that our hosts have been tasked with cleaning and fixing homes. Don't worry, they won't be breaking a sweat or pulling any muscles in this exercise, because al...

You can call this one a remake! Back in 1999, Capcom released their third Biohazard title. This episode is about the remake of that survival horror game, which was likewise developed by Capcom. With over twenty years and countless franchise entries separating the two, it is clear the actual development teams were comprised of different individuals. This leaves long-time fans to wonder: which team...

Putting the car in carnage! On this episode, Tom and Chris are off to the races. But it seems dishonest to call this a racing game, as racing is only one facet of the gameplay of this title developed by Bugbear Entertainment. As the name suggests, wrecking the opposition plays a major role in every game mode, and that is sure to set this game apart from your average racer. The developers call this...

Are you ready for some football... management? With two hundred episodes behind us, the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has now selected the sports management simulator developed by Sports Interactive. Believe it or not, it is actually the twenty-first installment in this franchise! Since they are arriving quite late to this game series, how will our hosts receive it? Will they lament missing...

Doing a big number two for episode two hundred! Our show has arrived at episode 200, can you believe it? It seems fitting that the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has chosen the dangerously humorous turn-based RPG from the minds of another dynamic duo for this episode. Made manifest by Ubisoft San Francisco after the fall of THQ, this game navigated a series of development hurdles before arriv...

How long do piñatas live? The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has decided on another classic and our hosts are honor-bound to see it through... or at least play it for an hour. For this episode, they are tasked with maintaining a garden full of colorful creatures in the life sim developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios. This game launched alongside an animated series and resul...

It was crafted by a team of ninja. There are a number of classic titles included in the Xbox Game Pass library and the "Surprise Me" button has seen fit to call upon one of those classics for this episode. Developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo Koei way back in 2009, this action-adventure game was originally a PS3 port of Xbox 360's Ninja Gaiden 2. While Tom is quite familiar with the game...

Recruiting all extreme event enthusiasts! Developed by Ubisoft Annecy, the same folks that brought us Steep, comes this Massively Multiplayer Online Extreme Sports title. Weaving together seven national parks into one seamless world that can be traversed and explored using all manner of extreme sports gear, these developers have crafted quite the sandbox. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button ha...

Would you believe the title is even longer in Japanese? Developed by MONKEYCRAFT Co Ltd and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc, the remaster of the second title in the quirky puzzle franchise is the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button's selection for this episode. Tom played some of the original game way back when the Playstations were only two in number, but now he will finally t...

This drink makes you see ghosts, no big deal. Once again at the mercy of the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button, our hosts have been tasked with playing the life-sim management game by solo developer Cheesemaster Games. Conceived by Dan Beckerton and brought to life through the help of a successful Kickstarter campaign, this pixel-art title sees the protagonist move to the country and get roped i...

It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has selected the sand-packed action RPG from the Germans over at Deck13 Interactive GmbH. The subtitle makes you think it's a sequel, but it's actually a major free update inspired by player feedback from the initial launch. Neither Tom nor Chris played the game in its original incarnation, so they...

Domo arigato, sushi roboto. Here's another weird one courtesy of the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button! From the minds of the two-brother team that is Catch & Release LLC comes a sushi restaurant (and encompassing town) simulator. You play as a sushi-making robot with aspirations of becoming a famous chef, but when you are saddled with a restaurant in a sleepy town, it becomes clear that you hav...

Put your sleuthing skills to the test! The advantage of using the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button to select the games for this podcast is that our hosts are exposed to many titles they might have otherwise overlooked. Case in point, this point-and-click mystery where the player must investigate scenes for clues and words to correctly fill in the blanks on a key phrase that summarizes an import...

Medieval manuscript meets mindful melee. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has spoken and its selection for this episode is an unusual one. From a small Polish studio dubbed Yaza Games comes a turn-based strategy game ripped from the literal pages of medieval manuscripts. Proving that our ancestors enjoyed memes as much as we do, this game has all manner of armed animals and lowbrow humor. W...

N.Sane in the Neo Cortex! For this episode, our duo tackles a collection of remasters of the first three entries in the famous platformer series originally developed by Naughty Dog. Revitalized by Vicarious Visions and now available on Xbox Game Pass, it is finally time for our hosts to take them for a spin. Tom is a fan of both developers and Chris even interned at Vicarious Visions, so it seems...

Swing, swing from the tangles of your yarn body. Our hosts travel back in time to 2016 to experience the puzzle platformer crafted by the Swedish developer Coldwood Interactive and published by Electronic Arts. Both Tom and Chris have played their fair share of puzzle games, and both have extensive experience with platformers, but this title managed to slip past them. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise...

It's vivid and you float like a noble gas. The Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button has foisted another curious title upon our hosts. For this episode, they have been tasked with investigating the first-person shooter-platformer developed by Angel Matrix and published by Annapurna Interactive. In this game focused on spreedrunning, the player takes on the role of the titular protagonist and must ut...

Where they're going, they don't need roads. Developed and published in Denmark by Flashbulb Games, this game tasks the player with building vehicles out of blocks that sure do look like the famous ones from another Danish company. We are confident that's just a coincidence! In any case, it was the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button that chose this physics-based vehicle const...