Movies and television? Yes. Video games? Yes. Board games? Yes. This episode of the podcast has it all. Movie and TV reviews include Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (it’s very very good) and The Last of Us (it is also very very good), tabletop-wise we dig into the excellent Kingdomino Origins from Coiledspring Games, and head out to explore Pikmin Bloom from Niantic. Plus, cordial.

00:00 - The perils of strong squash

07:51 - Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

18:24 - Kingdomino Origins

27:46 - Pikmin Bloom

38:24 - The Last of Us

54:19 - Visiting the Moon

All that, and quoting Confucius, with Dan (@ThisDanFrost), Kris (@DigitalStrider), Peter (@XeroXeroXero), and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about. Go check it out, if you like.

Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com

Note: sometimes we'll have been sent a review copy of the thing we're talking about on the podcast. It doesn't skew how we think about that thing, and we don't receive compensation for anything we discuss, but we thought you might like to know this is the case.

Airecon was absolutely amazing, and we have many gifts we’ve brought back for you, including Nidhoggr Mead, uh, mead, and Honey Badger Games tea, accessible character sheets and Roll Table for 2 from Fights and Fancy, and the short, strategic, simple, and sneaky Ominoes from YAY Games. But that’s not it, oh no! There’s also jumping aboard the space bus and tearing through the universe in Wormholes from AEG, and deducing the machinations of a mastermind in Tragedy Looper: New Tragedies from WizKids Games, as well as the perfect little pub game - Kluster from Borderline Editions (via Games Crusade). Plus, miracles.

00:00 - Warning: lots and lots of Airecon chat ahead.

02:00 - Nidhoggr Mead.

09:22 - Tea from Honey Badger Games.

12:30 - Accessible character sheets and Roll Table for 2 from Fights and Fancy.

15:53 - Ominoes from YAY Games.

26:02 - Oh no! We’re going to have to play Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition, aren’t we?

30:13 - The First Miracle of Airecon.

34:53 - The Second Miracle of Airecon.

38:20 - Wormholes from AEG.

45:50 - Kluster from Borderline Editions (thanks to Games Crusade for showing us it).

50:02 - Tragedy Looper: New Tragedies from WizKids Games.

All that, and the future location of a blue plaque, with Kris (@DigitalStrider), Peter (@XeroXeroXero), and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about. Go check it out, if you like.

Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com

Note: sometimes we'll have been sent a review copy of the thing we're talking about on the podcast. It doesn't skew how we think about that thing, and we don't receive compensation for anything we discuss, but we thought you might like to know this is the case.

Over on Netflix, Wednesday is straight out of the mind of Tim Burton and some of the team behind Smallville and it’s great, Gavin Inglis and Glen Rahman’s Alone Against the Frost from Chaosium is well-written, super challenging solo roleplaying for Call of Cthulhu, Resident Evil 2: The Board Game from Steamforged Games is an ace adaptation of a classic video game onto the tabletop, and Paperback Adventures from Fowers Games is moreish wordy fun.

00:00 - #LJJ and “Spa Talk”

12:12 - Alone Against the Frost

29:42 - Resident Evil 2: The Board Game

38:57 - Paperback Adventures

48:43 - Wednesday

All that, and a warm water bed, with Dan (@ThisDanFrost), Kris (@DigitalStrider), Peter (@XeroXeroXero), and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about. Go check it out, if you like.

Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com

Note: sometimes we'll have been sent a review copy of the thing we're talking about on the podcast. It doesn't skew how we think about that thing, and we don't receive compensation for anything we discuss, but we thought you might like to know this is the case.

Ghibli-esque slice of life Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation The Endless Seven-Day Journey is Millennium Kitchen’s nostalgic return to Boku no Natsuyasumi, and Mada is all about discovering the hidden game within just as much as it’s about hand management, risk taking, and prickly pears. Kids go hunting for ghosts in Joe Cornish’s very bingeable Lockwood & Co. that has sharply-written dialogue throughout its eight episodes of creepy horror, and we’re off to Airecon and have some convention advice for anyone that’ll listen. Plus, health and safety gone mad?

00:00 - Throwing axes

11:03 - Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation The Endless Seven-Day Journey

27:22 - Convention advice

41:35 - Mada

49:14 - Lockwood & Co.

All that, and hitting the nip, with Kris (@DigitalStrider), Peter (@XeroXeroXero), and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about. Go check it out, if you like.

Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com

Note: sometimes we'll have been sent a review copy of the thing we're talking about on the podcast. It doesn't skew how we think about that thing, and we don't receive compensation for anything we discuss, but we thought you might like to know this is the case.

Our Flag Means Death is a romantic comedy (with emphasis on the romance) of pirates and gentlemanliness, hot off our RRR kick we’ve fallen hard for Eega, and we have thoughts on modern horror Barbarian. We get investing in property with Rebuilding Seattle by WizKids, scope out just how much love has gone into Sniper Elite: The Board Game by Rebellion Unplugged - a hidden movement board game based on the video game - and Prospero Hall smashes it yet again with The Rocketeer: Fate of the Future from Funko Games. Plus a gaming weekend of fun.

00:00 - Sam and Dan's gaming weekend of fun.

14:22 - Eega and Barbarian

21:24 - Rebuilding Seattle

35:05 - Sniper Elite: The Board Game

42:00 - The Rocketeer: Fate of the Future

48:55 - Our Flag Means Death

All that, and the tuna bus, with Kris (@DigitalStrider) and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about. Go check it out, if you like.

Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com

Note: sometimes we'll have been sent a review copy of the thing we're talking about on the podcast. It doesn't skew how we think about that thing, and we don't receive compensation for anything we discuss, but we thought you might like to know this is the case.

The best board games to play remotely, how Back 4 Blood is a modern Left 4 Dead with deck building, we head to a Welsh village Chasing Static, you’ve got to love That Old Wallpaper’s strangely compelling theme, and The Decagon House Murders uses the howdunit format to great effect. Plus, a rich vein of stuff.

00:00 - A “job lot”.

06:06 - A question from our pal Ben Tucker: what are the best board games to play remotely?

16:35 - Back 4 Blood.

27:47 - Chasing Static.

39:52 - The Decagon House Murders.

49:43 - That Old Wallpaper.

All that, and some ASMR, with Dan (@ThisDanFrost), Kris (@DigitalStrider), Peter (@XeroXeroXero), and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about. Go check it out, if you like.

Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com

Note: sometimes we'll have been sent a review copy of the thing we're talking about on the podcast. It doesn't skew how we think about that thing, and we don't receive compensation for anything we discuss, but we thought you might like to know this is the case.

The butt-clenchingly moreish Vampire Survivors from poncle, the really lovely and dead quaint comedy Ghosts, and the lovingly adapted video game brought to life Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game from Steamforged Games. Plus pillows, and ripping music in 2023.

00:00 - Getting in the Groove and streaming dreams.

08:57 - Sam's V pillow.

12:12 - Vampire Survivors.

35:11 - Ghosts.

43:50 - Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game.

55:12 - Peter's Big D (and more pillows).

All that, and honestly so much pillow talk, with Dan (@ThisDanFrost), Kris (@DigitalStrider), Peter (@XeroXeroXero), and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about. Go check it out, if you like.

Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com

Note: sometimes we'll have been sent a review copy of the thing we're talking about on the podcast. It doesn't skew how we think about that thing, and we don't receive compensation for anything we discuss, but we thought you might like to know this is the case.

Andor is Disney+’s new Star Wars series and it’s a fantastic Brechtian political spy drama that doesn’t rely on lightsabers, K3 from Helvetiq is an abstract game that’s a cross of Chess, Connect 4, and programming, and Akropolis from Gigamic is a very quick tile laying boardgame we just love. Plus New Year’s resolutions and predictions for 2023 based on movies.

00:00 - What will 2023 bring? Let’s consult the movies!

03:52 - New Year’s Resolutions.

16:36 - K3

20:46 - Akropolis (also thanks to Play The Game HQ for their brilliant guide)

29:29 - Andor

46:42 - 2022 and Soylent Green

All that, and doubtful space elevators, with Dan (@ThisDanFrost), Kris (@DigitalStrider), Peter (@XeroXeroXero), and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about. Go check it out, if you like.

Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com

Note: sometimes we'll have been sent a review copy of the thing we're talking about on the podcast. It doesn't skew how we think about that thing, and we don't receive compensation for anything we discuss, but we thought you might like to know this is the case.

Marvel’s Star Wars homage / Kevin Bacon delivery vehicle The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special gets dissected, boardgame reviews of Luna Capital (place tiles, build an engine, reach the Moon) and Lacrimosa (Mozart’s dead, figure out his legacy), and going back to a genre-definer with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Plus we enter The Christmas Zone, and give each other our traditional Secret Santa gifts.

00:00 - The Christmas Zone.

07:01 - Secret Santa: Part 1.

13:56 - Luna Capital and Lacrimosa.

26:46 - Secret Santa: Part 2.

29:56 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

43:36 - Secret Santa: Part 3.

47:42 - The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

58:47 - Secret Santa: Part 4.

All that, and a bloated mass of content, with Dan (@ThisDanFrost), Kris (@DigitalStrider), Peter (@XeroXeroXero), and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about. Go check it out, if you like.

Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com

Note: sometimes we'll have been sent a review copy of the thing we're talking about on the podcast. It doesn't skew how we think about that thing, and we don't receive compensation for anything we discuss, but we thought you might like to know this is the case.

00:00 - Kris's birthday, celebrated not with a song, but a goldfish.

10:09 - Just to be clear, The Bear is not for kids; it’s an intense black comedy drama, shot on a small budget, all about the pressures of running a sandwich shop.

27:27 - Coffee Talk is from Toge Productions and has you brewing up hot beverages for fantasy creatures. It’s a pretty laid back visual novel, and it’s perfect for bedtime.

41:04 - Context is key, and sits at the heart of Immortality, an interactive movie (of sorts) from Sam Barlow, Half Mermaid, and Netflix, all about a movie starlet gone missing.

56:56 - Indeterminate growers.

All that, and sandwiches, with Dan (@ThisDanFrost) and Kris (@DigitalStrider).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about. Go check it out, if you like.

Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com

Note: sometimes we'll have been sent a review copy of the thing we're talking about on the podcast. It doesn't skew how we think about that thing, and we don't receive compensation for anything we discuss, but we thought you might like to know this is the case.