Shut Up & Sit Down

Review: Piepmatz

the baron of blackbirds, relentless oatmeal, bad seed, big egg, a boy on a hog

Quinns: Piepmatz is a profoundly beige card game for 2-4 players about songbirds fighting over a bird feeder. Now, I should be up front- this game is not a best-in-show card game, as I talked about in my recent 6 Nimmt review.

But you know what? I think it comes very close indeed. I’ve loved my time with it, and it’s now nesting in my game collection.

Let me tell you how it works. This design’s a little fussy, so bear with me. “Pretty rough teach on this one,” as I learned never to say on podcast #89.

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GAMES NEWS! 26/08/19

lovely lumps, paste on paste on paste, great wet trail, diseased fruit

Quinns: Ava, you must dampen the news and lift it to my forehead. Brighton is experiencing the last big, thick heatwave of the summer. I don’t know if I’ll survive.

Ava: It’s not just Brighton! It’s a bank holiday, so air all across the United Kingdom has turned into a thick, hot porridge, and I’m so glad we get to slip into a nice cool bath of news together.

Quinns: Ah, I forgot. Not only do the banks get a day off, so does air.

Not news, though! The news never stops, and we never stop never stopping it. Onwards!

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Review: Silk

the goof generator, snarfing up stragglers, meat-tarts

At long last, Shut Up & Sit Down’s campaign for “More Worms in Games!” has borne fruit. Disgusting, wriggling, glistening fruit.

Silk is the first published work from designer Luis Ranedo, as well the first game from artist Roc Espinet. Considering that this this is their first effort, here at SU&SD we can’t wait to see what beautiful, nasty business they get up to next.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

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More Fun Stuff for SHUX 2019 announced!

big box secrets, big game mania, and an english minute

Quinns: Have you got your ticket for SHUX 2019 yet? Because the big show is just six weeks away, and our team is up to our elbows in SHUX prep, stuffing it full of games, shows and special features.

Matt’s packed our very best announcements into the above 2 minute video, but here are some high points…

Pandemic designer Matt Leacock and Gloomhaven designer Isaac Childres are going to be on our stage, talking about their games!
I’ve signed up to do a terrifying, high-octane stage show compressing the history of board games in 60 minutes!
You’ll be able to play one of the intense social games from hit Korean show The Genius!
Our free library now has in excess of 1,000 games!
You get a free game and a limited-edition pin upon arrival!
Kids under 10 get in free!
Fully wheelchair accessible!
Exclamation marks!!!

My anticipation for SHUX ’19 is reaching boiling point. How much more excited can a man get? I intend to find out.

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Card Games That Don’t Suck: Eleusis

possibly the only crossover we'll ever have with scientific american

This week, our series on the best games that you can play with a 52 card deck gets EPIC.

Eleusis (rules reference here, tips here) might end up being the most thematic game in this series. This game has God, scientists, experiments, prophets, even false prophets. Bizarre setting aside, it’s also a pretty great game that asks 4-8 players how much they’re willing to stake on their own deductive powers.

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Behind the Scenes at SHUX, by No Pun Included!

pip is crying, matt is pretending to be human, quinns is arrested, and more!

Quinns: Here’s a fun little extra for you folks! The 2019 SU&SD Convention is just around the corner, but did you know that last year, fabulous board game review show No Pun Included came to SHUX and filmed a whole lot of it? Today, we’re thrilled to present their behind the scenes look at our con.

That also means that this is a No Pun Included video that we’re hosting on our channel. I know! We’re crossing the streams! Will anything be the same again?! It probably will, yes.

If you haven’t watched NPI recently, they’ve been on an absolute tear. Be sure to check out their review of the be-hyped Pax Pamir 2nd Edition, heavyweight roll’n’write Welcome to Dino World, or their favourite game of 2018, Now Boarding. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again- Efka and Elaine are treasures.

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GAMES NEWS! 19/08/19

one frankenstein, many colons

Ava: Look at that, this week’s games news is mostly about travels! I’m on pseudo-holiday in sunny Glasgow. All the sequels are moving to Las Vegas, and other games are jumping onto tin boats and seaplanes. Not to mention what Quinns wants to get up to in San Francisco.

Quinns: Let’s hop on board the news travelator and send back some postcards.

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SU&SD Play… Concordia: Venus!

all hail the immortal nubbin, the nubbin is truth

Our team is taking a break from streaming on Twitch as we go roaring into convention season, but we’ve finally uploaded our very last stream to YouTube!

In a clash of two titans (and two troublesome assistants), Kylie and Matt took on Ava and Quinns at Concordia: Venus, the team-based expansion for SU&SD favourite Concordia.

“A team-based management game?” you might be asking. “How does that work?” Well, as we found out, in some ways it doesn’t work, but that’s precisely the point.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

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Podcast #99: Sea Football

how small is sand?, which sheeps are you?, and how do i anxiety?

Matt, Quinns and Ben are circling podcast #100 like talkative nerds circling a numerical drain. Quickly! Before they slip away, why not listen to them talk about the games? On this podcast there’s chat about party game We’re Doomed! (02:23), classic card game For Sale (10:00), 2010 smash hit Alien Frontiers (15:40), the enigmatic Wooly Wars (23:26), hot new box Air, Land & Sea (30:03) and Kickstarter behemoth Cerebria: The Inside World (40:11). There’s also a lovely reader mail this week asking which games have the best Endgame Energy. In news that continues to blow our minds, podcast transcripts are available here courtesy of our fabulous community, and are usually completed within a week of the podcast’s release. Also, if you’re a geologist who would like to contribute to our discussion of sand, please do leave a comment. We’re clearly idiots, and we need all the facts that we can get.

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Tactics and Tactility #1 – On going with your gut

numerical tentacles, agonising mistakes, and switching off the targeting computer

[Introducing a new bi-weekly column! In Tactics & Tactility, Ava Foxfort will be exploring the culture and magic of tabletop, accompanied by fabulous illustrator Tom Humberstone. The series began its life on this blog, and we feel privileged to offer it a new home.]

Ava: I can see all the numbers in front of me. Power Grid lays out every variable incredibly clearly. So many numbers, spread out in stout cables across the board, paper money rustling in my hand, and adorable little power stations. Every number is ready for taking, and there’s just no way I can get them all into my head.

Good evening, folks, it’s time to watch my brain slowly crumble.

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