Players

Squidge

Jay

Mo

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Content Warning

As Squidge says in the intro:

Squidge's Avatar Squidge

Today’s episode goes to spooky places at times and is very tangent heavy. I have a machine to play this sound to indicate when the subject changes. I want to give you a heads up when it happens, because it happens a lot. In this episode, we chat about all manner of Christmas games, including everything from being a dick as a goose, log burning videos, and dimensional portals in the basement. Also, this episode has swears in it. You’ve been warned

Show Notes

Squidge's Avatar Squidge

From active time battling to zombie slaying, waffling Taylors covers video games and beyond.

Today we are joined by Mo from The Squank and the Hag podcast to talk about Christmassy games and things.

Strap yourselves in, people. This pod isn’t like any Christmas special out there. So sit back, grab some snacks, and get ready for this episode entitled Christmas with more wrong side. "Christmas with Mo - Wrong Side, Flip Me Over."

Enjoy.

This episode introduced a rather confused (at first) guest: Mo. Mo first thought that she was Jay, and Jay thought he was Jay, too. Which led to much hilarity and confusion. But Mo then introduced herself and her podcast thusly

that’s right, the show notes can sometimes be eloquent and that

Mo's Avatar Mo

All right, so I am mo. I am one of the co-hosts of The Squank and the Hag podcast, which is a true crime and scary stories podcast, which kind of goes hand in hand with the stuff on the wall with the red string, because we also talk about conspiracies here and there.

We talk about folktales, cryptids, anything that can go bump in the night. So that could be a serial killer that actually has been convicted and in jail, or that could be some legend tale of that creepy thing outside your window at night.

So I have a co-host. His name is Kraken or Krako. Everybody kind of just has fun with his name. He’s also referred to as "crackhead," but he’s my best friend, and we have known each other for years, so we have that probably very similar dynamic to the two of you guys, where it’s a lot of just silliness and comfortable hanging out with friends and telling a story at the same time.

So it’s a lot of fun. We say "we" it’s the team, but that always sounds like we’re paying people, but we have friends who also help out. So people who research stories for us, social media ideas, merch, all that kind of stuff. But it’s fun. It’s all just friends and for fun and all that.

…

And I guess outside of that, if you want to know about me, I don’t like to leave the house. I do a lot of crafting. I do everything from knitting and crochet to building d and d terrain, painting miniatures. I learned how to cast resin so I can make my own dice. So I just do a lot of crafting and just like being creative and married with four cats. So there’s that. But it’s fun

Because it’s the Christmas episode, Squidge brought up the topic of his rather spiffy hat:

a red Super Mario cap with two very large comic book-style eyes. It is a recreation of Cappy from Super Mario Odyssey

'I don't have a Christmas hat, but I do have this.'

And a spiffy hat it is, indeed. But talk of the festive season, spiffy hats, and knitted hats for cat ears

you’ll have the listen to the episode, trust

the subject of Squidge’s mighty Christmas Cactus came up:

a very small green plastic cactus with a number of light-up gems attached to it. The gems are red, blue, and yellow

All hail. The Mighty Christmas Cactus approacheth

And how because Mo has multiple cats, she doesn’t have a Christmas Tree.

Mo's Avatar Mo

I approve

Certified: Mo Approved

And because Mo brought up her custom neon sign which reads… you guessed it, “Mo,” Squidge brought up the custom pro-wrestling belt that he got for Jay in March of this year

2023, in case you’re reading this in the future. Also, hello future person!

J-A-Dubb! J-A-Dubb! J-A-Dubb!

Holiday Hangover Games

Squidge's Avatar Squidge

So imagine: you’re entering the living room. The battlefield of festive cheer turned into a scene straight out of a slapstick comedy holiday movie. The twinkling lights on the Christmas tree are twinned with the glow of Uncle Bob’s Rudolph sweater. The cat is pawing at the carnage it wrought, reminiscing of the previous day’s epic battle with the Christmas tree.

As we venture further, the air is thick with the scent of both triumph and culinary failure. Aunt Mildred’s fruitcake, once a brave culinary experiment, has now achieved legendary status as the only fruitcake to be declared as a biohazard. Meanwhile, Grandma is serenely snoring on the couch, draped in tinsel like the queen of a Christmas jungle.

In the kitchen, where the remnants of a feast now lie in glorious disarray, the turkey carcass looks like it’s been through a Christmas war zone. Mashed potatoes have found a new home on the ceiling. And the once proud elf-on-a-shelf is now hanging from the chandelier with a faraway look in its eyes as if to say, "you weren’t there."

So with that in mind, let’s talk about holiday hangovers.

…

So in case you couldn’t guess from that, the sort of theme of this is, like: what games we play at Christmas, what games we play when we’re hungover, if we are hungover, that kind of thing. Sort of comfy games that you sit there with a blanket, that kind of thing. If the cats aren’t wreaking havoc on the house or you’re not having to clear up too much biohazardous material from the day before. That’s the whole theme of this episode

How do you even follow that?! Well…

And just before Mo brought up her first favourite Christmas video game, RUSSELL’s counterpart Delilah

Dynamic Eccentric Logic Interface, Laughing Algorithm for Humour

interjected:

Delilah's Avatar Delilah

It was at that moment that Jay and Squidge realized they had no clue what the were in for. They also didn’t know the true meaning of the word "tangent".

From here on out, listening to this podcast may result in unexpected bursts of laughter, sudden outbursts of nostalgia, and a sudden realization that the topic at hand no longer applies. Side effects may also include snorts, giggles, guffaw, and an increased appreciation for skull thrones.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you

Mo’s Game

And Mo’s game was “Viscera Cleanup Detail: Santa’s Rampage”, which she describes as:

Mo's Avatar Mo

I don’t know if you’ve ever played Viscera Cleanup Detail. There is a Christmas version, and you have to remove parts of elves from the ceiling.

Santa lost his mind and just slaughtered all the elves, all the reindeers, and you have to clean up after it, and you have to get it sparkly, 100% clean. And it is a combination of, "hey, holiday cheer," and also those games where you’re just cleaning, you’re just getting a mop and bucket and clean up the walls.

I don’t know why I love sitting here all bundled up, cleaning up the massacre of the elves workshop.

Naturally, any conversation about has to include a reference to the “Deadpool, but it’s Ed, Edd n Eddy” video:

You might be wondering how naturally. Perfectly naturally, there wasn’t a segue involved at all.

Jay’s Game

Quite simply, Jay’s game was Untitled Goose Game. But before Jay could talk about it, Mo showed off a quicksketch out what Squidge would look like as the Chiquita Banana lady (aka Carmen Miranda):

Coming soon, to a grocery store near you!

Jay's Avatar Jay

The thing that I like about untitled Goose game is not, I’m not going to cover any new ground here. Everyone knows this, right? Everyone who’s played it.

…

There’s no lose condition. Right? So you can just run around. It’s the perfect sandbox game because you can just run around and cause mischief. Not mayhem, just mischief. Right? You’re not going to hurt anyone.No one’s going to get killed, no one’s going to get harmed. You’re just picking things up and moving them around, quacking at people and chasing them down the street.

Like, what more could you ask for for a chill game, right? I’m sitting there in my oodie, I’ve got my hot cocoa, I’ve got, like, a big beanie hat on, and I’m like, oh, it’s Christmas and I’m cold, and I want to play a video game. I know, I’ll play untitled Goose game. What else do you need? Right? Nothing.

During the conversation about such silly games, Mo mentions a game called “Unpacked” - we think she meant “Unpacking”.

And because it’s natural to go from video games to shaking hands, here’s something that Jay brought up: My Shaking-hands-man

The Thunder Plain Games

For those who are new to the pod, we have a section called “Thunder Plain Games” which might be vaguely reminiscent of a certain programme on BBC Radio 4

but for copyright reasons, it is completely different

Imagine that you are in Final Fantasy X, and the Thunder Plains is a place that you get banished to. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to open a portal to the Thunder Plains and, very nicely and politely, boot you through it. You will get help, maybe it will be tomorrow, maybe it will be in a week, maybe it will be in an hour.

To stop you from getting bored, we’ve said that we’ll keep the portal open and we’ll throw through up to three video games and everything you need to play them - including an Internet connection. The only rules are that you can’t ask for help, because help is on the way, and you can’t tell anyone that you’re in the Thunder Plains.

So our question is: were we to do throw, boot, or yeet you through the portal, which games are we throwing through with you?

The important thing to remember is that there is shelter and food and everything like that. You’ll be in a lovely house, you’re just there by yourself for a little while. What are you taking with you, games wise? Video games, board games, whatever to keep you from getting bored and all that kind of stuff.

Mo’s Choices

Wasting almost no time, Mo hit us with her choices almost before Jay had finished explaining the rules. Those choices were:

  • Minecraft
  • Timberborn
  • ARK: Survival Evolved
  • Leaf Blower Revolution

Music

Links to the music used in the podcast can be found below. Definitely check them out, because they're amazing tracks by awesome musicians.

All copyrighted material contained within this podcast is the property of their respective rights owners. Please see the above list for copyright details pertaining to music used.

Games Covered

We mentioned 12 games in this podcast. In the following order, those games where: