[3] The game centres around two ex-FBI agents and skeptics named Mully and Scudder (parodies of X-Files protagonists Scully and Mulder) who encourage the player to undergo training as a new recruit.

[5] Palladium's vice president of marketing, Rob Halligan, explained that the success of Pyst paved the way for The X-Fools,[6] and noted that the game was being released at a time rife with interest in the supernatural: the news was buzzing with the 50th anniversary of the Roswell incident, the Mars Pathfinder mission, and the impending premiere of the fifth season of The X-Files.

[8] The game's official website went live in September 1997, and allowed players to access additional content, while providing a free demo for those yet to purchase the title.

[9] The website held a "Conspiracy Quest Contest" from October 31, 1997 to July 17, 1998[10] where players solved riddles relating to the concurrently airing fifth season of The X-Files,[11] with prizes (a digital camera, 2,000 acre real estate plot on Mars, and a Palladium Gift Pack) being awarded to multiple winners.

[16][4] Detractors included PC Gamer's Richard Cobbett, who negatively compared the game to Parroty's previous title Microshaft Winblows 98 (1998);[2] and Wojciech Kotas of The Mac Gamer's Ledge, which found The X-Files' self-referential humor better than the "lukewarm", limited, and uninspired parody of the game.