The Staying In Podcast - four pals talk video games, board games, movies, and nonsense

Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey. Plus a barrel-thumping good Nintendo game, a stupendous release from Hamster Corporation, and Osprey’s brilliant Day of the Dead-inspired competitive card-placement game.

All that, and saluting the flag, on Ep229.

00:00 - A weather report and holidays with Seal(s)

10:13 - Donkey Kong Bananza

22:40 - Arcade Archives 2: Ridge Racer

42:11 - Ofrenda

56:53 - Alternate uses for inventions

On this episode were Dan (@ThisDanFrost), Peter (@XeroXeroXero) and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about.

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.

Straight out of Japan - specifically Hobby Japan - comes Gibberers: The Word Game of Language Invention and Civilization Development, and it’s probably one of our favourite games? Like… ever. On the big screen we’re watching a man leap a building in a single bound, as well as a lot more, in the new Superman movie from James Gunn, and on a smaller screen we’re watching something King of the Hill fans will want to check out: Adult Swim’s Common Side Effects.

All that, and the man from Del Monte, on Ep228.

00:00 - Pea Year Zero

06:58 - Gibberers: The Word Game of Language Invention and Civilization Development

21:37 - Superman

43:35 - Common Side Effects

On this episode were 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.

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.

On the anniversary year of The Chinese Room’s BAFTA-winning Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Kris sits down with creative visionary Dan Pinchbeck to talk about this ground-breaking walking sim.

In an interview that covers a multitude of topics - full timecodes below - the two talk about the power of agency in games relating to character development, how the team was forced to include a feature that became their biggest regret, the sheer emotional force of Jessica Curry’s music, and much more.

As you might expect, this interview contains major spoilers for Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, with minor spoilers also for Horizon Zero Dawn.

03:19 - Pushing the walking sim genre

14:30 - A butterfly’s life

18:05 - A very complicated spreadsheet

24:29 - Running the whole thing as a TV shoot

33:03 - The 1980s

35:00 - Secular sacred

42:00 - Favourite places

On this episode were Dan Pinchbeck (@danpinchbeck and danpinchbeck.co.uk) and Kris (@DigitalStrider).Links to where you can find us - StayingInPodcast.com

We start the episode off with a Summer tradition, and - in a somewhat similar vein - we talk Hot Streak from CMYK. And we get all starry-eyed for Galileo Galilei from Capstone Games, plus take a walk through Kamurochō with SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Judgment.

All that, and a strawberry sandwich, on Ep227.

00:00 - It's hot hot hot

10:17 - Judgment

27:11 - Hot Streak

42:24 - Galileo Galilei

On this episode were 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.

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.

Tom Cruise and co are back for another unlikely operation in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning and we, of course, have opinions. Over on the tablecloth, we’re letting The Sandcastles of Burgundy from Ravensburger wash over us, “enabling” others with Kinfire Delve from Incredible Dream Studios, and all the lovely stuff we got up to and saw at the biggest board game event in Blighty: UK Games Expo. Plus a smidge, just a smidge, of this little new device from some plucky upstarts at a company called “Nintendo”.

All that, and an inspiring new desk, on Ep226.

00:00 - Stand Up

03:46 - UKGE

09:27 - Kinfire Delve

23:43 - A cure for snoring

30:06 - The Sandcastles of Burgundy

46:20 - Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

01:05:25 - The Nintendo Switch 2

On this episode were Dan (@ThisDanFrost), Kris (@DigitalStrider) and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about.

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.

Thousands and thousands (and thousands) of pages later, we’re ready to share thoughts on Kodansha’s wine and food manga The Drops of God. Over on the tabletop, we take a deep look at The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game from Office Dog Games, which effortlessly captures the spirit of The Lord of the Rings. Plus the only review you need of Libellud’s Harmonies.

All that, and remembering to take care, on Ep225.

00:00 - Meeting famous people

09:04 - The Drops of God

26:36 - A new segment: Staying In life hacks!

29:45 - The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game

45:23 - Harmonies

On this episode were Kris (@DigitalStrider) and Peter (@XeroXeroXero).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about.

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.

Don’t be a chicken; give our latest a listen. There’s a return to form for the MCU with Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, the lush board game adaptation of the video game which is a card game in Contention Games’ Slay the Spire: The Board Game, and the calming influence of Very Very LITTLE Studio’s Hidden Cats 3: Steampunk.

All that, and delicate editing, on Ep224.

00:00 - Chicken? Kentucky Fried, Chicken?

04:37 - Thunderbolts*

25:02 - Hidden Cats 3: Steampunk

33:38 - Slay the Spire: The Board Game

53:43 - Blue Prince, again

On this episode were 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.

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.

Let’s get fancy, shall we? First there’s talk of a lovely trip to Egypt (and talk of the less lovely “Pharaoh’s Revenge”), plus the supremely shmancy Nintendo Switch 2. Then it’s off to a murder mystery in the White House with thoughts on Netflix’s The Residence. Keeping within high society we’re rubbing shoulders with Dogubomb’s Blue Prince, and then it’s back to the more sandy landscapes for CMON’s Dune: War for Arrakis.

All that, and too many towel changes, on Ep223.

00:00 - The Pharaoh’s Revenge

10:41 - The Switch 2 pre-order

19:26 - The Residence

36:34 - Blue Prince

48:21 - Dune: War for Arrakis

On this episode were Dan (@ThisDanFrost), Kris (@DigitalStrider), and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about.

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.

It’s all the twos on episode two two two, as two of us chat about… uh… two times two (four) big topics. The chaps talk about football (!!!) and why it’s so neat to go to events you might not normally attend. Back in much more familiar territory, we bring you a battle report from Salute 52; a miniatures wargames event run by South London Warlords. If that weren’t more than enough, then we’re also talking about the wonderfully wordy Landmarks by Floodgate Games, that combines vocab with map exploration to great effect (and may well lead to heated arguments between you and your friends, honestly). Plus Enigma Quest’s Escape Arcade is like a modern Crystal Maze you can explore (and hopefully escape).

All that, and probably some more twos we haven’t thought of, on Ep222.

00:00 - Becoming a wine snob

06:42 - Football: it’s good, actually

14:52 - Landmarks

31:34 - Salute 52

46:01 - Escape Arcade

On this episode were Peter (@XeroXeroXero) and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about.

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.

Head to the tabletop with us, as we review the piratical Captain Flip from PlayPunk, and the fiendishly family-friendly EXIT Kids: Riddles in Monsterville from Kosmos. Plus a dissection of what makes The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Worldbuilding Guide from James D’Amato such worthwhile advice to read.

All that, and what Jurassic Park is really all about, on Ep221.

00:00 - The Thing

02:37 - Captain Flip

19:57 - The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Worldbuilding Guide

41:57 - EXIT Kids: Riddles in Monsterville

On this episode were Kris (@DigitalStrider), Peter (@XeroXeroXero), and Sam (@MrSamTurner).

Our Spotify Playlist brings together lots of great thematic music inspired by the stuff we talk about.

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.