SU&SD Play… Fireball Island!

We're back with another gem from our Twitch channel! This week we want to show you have to have responsible fun with Restoration Games' Fireball Island.

Warning: This game contains choking hazards, fireballs, bees, snakes, rockfalls and a vengeful god. Do not operate while under the influence. Or was that "Only operate while under the influence"? We can't remember.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Podcast #95: The Danish Crisis

a small ham, a terrible roundabout, quintin's simulated subconscious
In this special episode of our award-winning podcast, Matt and Quinns talk about their trip to Danish board game convention Fastaval.

Games discussed include the superb Hansa Teutonica (02:56), the as-yet unannounced Deep Blue (12:02), the also-unannounced Auto (15:50), Flamme Rouge’s unnamed campaign expansion (24:05), That’s Not Lemonade (35:43) and Mid-Life Crisis (45:23).

Finally, we close with a discussion of Fastaval itself, and what makes it so magical (59:18). Is it the terrifying, viking-like cleaning crew? Is it the black tie award ceremony? Is it the unparalleled gender equality, or the world-class roleplaying games?

It's all of these things, and more. Huge thanks to the organisers for choosing us as this year's guests of honour.

GAMES NEWS! 13/05/19

poor orbiting commenters, almost bruce willis, one tickled trout
Ava: After a week playing the fun game ‘moving all the objects I own from one building to another and then slowly finding new places for them to sit’, I’m mostly on my own for this week’s Games News. I’m cosily nested in an incredibly tall house on a slightly different hill in my gorgeous little valley. The sky is blue, the trees are green, the garden is gravelly and the game table is flat.

What a perfect time to roast up some news.

Kickstarting its way into orbit this week is Space Race, a follow up to a card game of the same name that looks to take up a little more of your table. The art direction is the star here, all blueprints and sharply inked illustrations. Players will build rival agencies sending astronauts into the void with a some literal and metaphorical engine building and what looks like a bit of orbital area control.

Review: Gùgōng

that gets my scrote, a greasy bribey baby, we don't eat pears here
Oof! When was the last time a game let you get jade, AND sail boat, AND great wall?

Gùgōng is the new game from venerable designer Andreas Steding, and we think it may well be worth your time. This game is a teasing web of tricky economies and corrupt cardplay, and we absolutely can't wait for the expansion to be revealed later this year.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Card Games That Don’t Suck: Skull

not to be confused with krull, krill, cull, or ska
Quinns: For as long as SU&SD has been around, Skull has been our constant companion.

Do we need something to play at 1am at a board game convention? It's Skull. Do we need to improvise a game out of almost no components at all? It's Skull. Do we need to show off to people how great this hobby is with a minimum of rules overhead? It's Skull.

Of course we had to do it for Cards Games That Don't Suck. Thanks so much for supporting this series, everybody! I'm having an incredible time with it. And oh boy, do I have an amazing find for you next episode...

GAMES NEWS! 06/05/19

incautious moles, vicar amelia, dripping with side-eye, tickle my ballot
Quinns: Good morning, Ava! I understand that you just mainlined the latest episode of Game of Thrones before coming to work.

Ava (they/them): I’m definitely trying to squeeze so much into to today that I’m genuinely offended they tagged on an extra twenty minutes to this episode. I’ve got a game of Twilight Imperium set up downstairs, and by the end of the day someone is going to rule the galaxy.

But more important than the galactic throne, the iron throne, or even just the throne throne? It’s the news throne, baby, and someone’s got to sit in it.

Quinns: Let’s take turns? Just so nobody has to die.

SU&SD Play… Chinatown!

prawn town, non-sexual photos of prawns, a nice park, full of prawns
Fab negotiation game Chinatown has finally received a new print run! To celebrate, Quinns dusted off the copy he used in his 2014 review for a playthrough on our Twitch page. Can Chinatown newcomers Matt and Kylie make a fool of him in his own streets? Yes, of course they can.

Ooh, and while you're watching, don't forget to quote the famous movie line! "Forget it, Jake. It's prawns."

GAMES NEWS! 29/04/19

warp and weft, wigs and cogs, wonks and cubes
Ava (they/them): Oh dear. The bosses took a break to get rotten in the state of Denmark. Specifically, they're attending the Fastaval gaming convention, and only dropping the occasional cryptic photo (see above) into the company Slack.

That means I’m on my own for this week’s games news. They shouldn’t have left me alone. I don’t know enough of the news-ropes to not pick a random sentence, append the word news to random bits of it and pretend it’s an intro.

I guess it must be time to news-sail the news-seas and news-harpoon some news-whales.

Review: Tiny Towns

in the pockets of big stone, fighting with rainbows, a katsu sambo
Quinns: Tiny Towns is a cute little 30 minute city-building game that arrives in U.S. stores tomorrow. The box is full of winsome wooden buildings, players erect farms and homes, and on the cards you can see animals living peaceful lives.

All of which is a little misleading. The best bit of Tiny Towns is hearing one of your neighbours - having carefully examined their own tiny town - mutter “Oh, sh**.”

Intentionally or not, designer Peter McPherson has captured the reality of living in a tiny town. Friendly interactions, with a pungent undercurrent of jealousy.

Podcast #94: Seven Players, Exchanging Bananas

clomping in circles, desperate for citrus, almost eating the intern
Recently, Quinns was tasked with hosting a 7 player game night, and rose to the challenge with Herculean vigour.

In this episode, Matt, Quinns and intern Kylie discuss his breathtaking efforts. That means talking about Watson & Holmes (03:00), Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space (12:14), and a little card game called Bourré (19:55). Incidentally, Bourré is probably the only time that SU&SD will ever crossover with the NBA. Afterwards, the group slims down for a chat about some 3 player games, namely Gùgōng (27:34) and Chinatown (38:30).

Finally, the team answers a quick reader mail asking what table is best for board gaming. Big or small? Square or circle? That's right! We are beyond parody.