Review: Treasure Island

"Start as you mean to go on," as they say. That's why for our first review of 2019 we picked a fantastic game, put on the loudest shirts that Matt owned, broke out the eyeliner, and squeezed in an homage to The Muppets.

Don't get distracted by all of those lovely colours, though. Featuring a bit of bluffing, a bit of logic, a bit of deduction and a lot of laughter, Treasure Island is a game that deserves some serious consideration.

GAMES NEWS! 14/01/19

Quinns: We’re awake! And alive! Shut Up & Sit Down is officially back in action, ready to spend another 12 months covering amazing board games. What new designs await us this year? What never-before-seen ideas will spring out and delight us?

Matt: What hellscape have you interrupted my slumber for? It’s 9am on a Monday morning and I’m looking at one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.

Quinns: Those are the goat entrails that I was reading, trying to divine what awaits us this year... Oh, no, sorry, that’s just Monopoly: Pizza edition.

Announcing our 2018 Donor Drive!

give these cute boys a dolar, i hate everything about this, defenestration
Quinns: Hi everybody! It's that time again. If you've enjoyed the work we've done this year, or if we've just helped to point you towards some great games, please consider donating to Shut Up & Sit Down.

And this month, we've got a little bonus for you! If you enjoyed the little trip down memory lane in this video, the unedited 30 minute video of us commentating on early Shut Up & Sit Down will be in this month's donor newsletter. And however much you choose to donate to us, you'll get your cute self on the mailing list.

Thank you, everybody. It's been a pleasure and a privilege to spend the year working for you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and pick up some festive snacks for our special, extra-long Christmas stream that we'll be doing tomorrow! So far we're planning on playing (a) Keyforge, and (b) a jigsaw puzzle, because why the hell not?

Review: Keyforge

smash dad, keyforge kitchen, let me into your house im gonna be sick
For our last review of the year, Matt pulled out all the stops... and then Quinns appeared and started plugging them back in again.

It seems this pair can't quite agree on Keyforge. Is it fun, or not-fun? Is the business model good or bad? Is the universe a joke or a failure?

Let us know your experience with Keyforge in the comments! Whatever our thoughts on it, Keyforge's staggering initial sales hint that this game is going to be with us for quite some time.

10 Board Games to Buy the Enthusiast this Christmas

Quinns: I’m hoping that by now you’ve all seen Matt’s amazing video on big games to play with your family over Christmas. Didn’t he do a good job? And wasn’t it kind of hot seeing him dressed as a reindeer 30 seconds in?

But there’s simply no time to imagine stroking Matt’s downy fur, or his rock-hard antlers. Today I’m presenting our second (and final) holiday list feature: 10 strong gifts for the hobbyist board gamer in your life that you can actually buy.

That's because a lot of the hottest games this year, like Root, Brass: Birmingham and Welcome To, sold out almost instantly. Not so with this list! We’ve made sure each of these titles is in stock to buy in North America and the UK.

Games News! 10/12/18

dad's wrong again, one million million dolars, bring back pluto
Quinns: Good morning everybody! How are we all? Are we feeling Christmassy yet?

On second thoughts, perhaps we shouldn’t waste our energy on chit-chat. We have a dense and fibrous stack of news to get through, you and I. We’re going to be bloated with announcements by the end of this. Stuffed with stats. Packed with press releases.

Let’s start with the smallest announcement and see how we fare, eh? I'm talking about the tiny towns of Tiny Towns.

SU&SD Play… Men at Work!

press f to pay respects, where in the world is rita modl, two-brick matt
The choice of which game of play on our Twitch channel this week was a no-brainer. Which is to say, we knew we'd have no brains remaining after flying back from PAX Unplugged, so we chose a game that could be enjoyed by eight-year-olds.

Men at Work is the next beautiful box coming out of Pretzel Games, makers of Flick 'Em Up and Junk Art, and we love the heck out of it. And like those previous games, it functions as a lovely object, as well as a silly challenge, and - if you so choose - an arena where actual tactics can be deployed.

If you'd like to watch the full stream, with the beginning, the end and all of the hilarious comments in between, it'll be available here for the next sixty days. And if you'd like to hear about us talk about Men at Work on the podcast, you'll find that sweet ol' chat on episode #88.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Don’t Miss Our Streaming Tonight!

Quinns: Hello my board-based bosom buddies! Shut Up & Sit Down's misadventures on Twitch will be continuing, live, any minute now, right here on our channel. You can expect the show to run from 7pm GMT to 10pm GMT.

This week will be especially worth your time because we're playing a game that isn't even out yet- the next dexterity game from the makers of Flick 'Em Up and Junk Art, it's Men at Work!

If you've not joined in the fun on our Twitch streams yet, lemme tell you, it's an absolutely fantastic time. Our Twitch commenters are routinely a lot funnier than the stream itself, and as hosts we're really starting to find our groove.

In other words, try it! You might just like it.

Time for me to join the others and take my place. I'll see some of there!

Podcast #89: Those Unattainable Vegetables

bad hexagons, bad prawns, bad words, and crunk monks
Matt and Quinns are joined in this episode by Microsoft Powerpoint(!) to discuss their experiences with a selection of hot new board games. They're talking about the trashed monks of Heaven & Ale, the unattainable carrots of Reykholt, the questionable fishing practices of Captains of the Gulf, the bad nouns of Trapwords and the passive-aggressive parapets of Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig.

In a rare mailbag double-bagger, the pair then field two questions, one about the phrase "The Teach", the other about theoretical business ventures for SU&SD. Quinns wants to open a new telephone hotline and Matt wants funding for... erm... well, it's not exactly clear.

This podcast is also available as a video, which includes the 20 minute Q&A with the audience at the end.

15 Great Games to Fill Your Table This Christmas

The Spirit of Christmas, Auntie Sandra, Lying to your mother
What are the very best card and board games to play with coworkers and family this holiday? Games that are actually FUN - that you could bring to a party as a great gift for cheap, or tuck in the stocking for Christmas Eve?

Quinns will be writing a piece next week about games more suited to those who already love the hobby, but as part of our ongoing mission to convince the world that board games are great, we wanted to put together an easy resource for the question we seem to get almost all the time: “What game should I buy to play with my family?”

If you’ve been linked to this by someone else who loves board games, hello! We’ve put this list together as both a video and a written list. Enjoy!

Matt: Greetings Holiday Humans, it’s time to mildly panic as you realise that family will soon descend upon you like a flock of seagulls to a discarded ice-cream. Rather than trying to explain your job to relatives to the point that you might have a mental breakdown, we’d recommend playing board games instead.

These are the 15 best big-family games: all play with at least 6 people, and most can handle 8. In no particular order, let’s go!