Podcast #77: Shipping & Deceiving

get comfortable, loosen your tie, and help yourself to a glass of paul's beer

HONK! After a long journey, the latest Shut Up & Sit Down podcast is now docking with your ears. The pinnacle of opinion-container technology, it’s 400 metres long bow to stern (but you shouldn’t feel a thing since it’s largely metaphorical). The thing is, the boys have finally played Container, a ridiculous economic game that’ll be enjoying a similarly ridiculous new “Jumbo” edition in July. This podcast also contains chat about Decrypto (see Paul’s recent review) and Medici, each of which deliver big experiences in small containers. Finally, we spend a whopping 25 minutes discussing two games: Brass: Lancashire, which is the new edition of classic game Brass, and Brass: Birmingham, the hot new “sequel”. We’ve now played both of these much-anticipated games, and you know what? Going against Quinns’ Brass video review, Shut Up & Sit Down can finally recommend Brass. But you’ll have to listen to find out why… Enjoy, everybody!

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Podcast #76: Long John’s Bad Mind

bunny's too tight to mention, who is the baddest god, paul's spooky dog

It’s been a while since the last podcast, but we’ve not been idle! Like a board game version of Nintendo’s Kirby, over the last month the team has been sucking in experiences and now we’re going to expel them at you in a 90 minute special episode. Boomf! In order of appearance, Matt, Quinns and Paul discuss The Mind, Cardline: Animals, Bye-Bye Black Sheep, Kemet: Set (which is so new it doesn’t even have a Board Game Geek page!), Treasure Island, Fireball Island (which has just 8 days left on that Kickstarter) and Bunny Kingdom. That might be more games than we’ve ever had on a podcast before, and you know what else? They’re ALL GOOD. Finally, we soothe our aching jaws with a gentle chat about what makes kingmaking (one player causing another player to win) enjoyable in a game, and what makes it frustrating. Lovely stuff. New podcast feeds (if you’re missing episodes 71 onwards, try these): iTunes Google Play RSS for your favourite player

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Podcast #75: Stress Testing your Tarot

quinns is undone, matt is sleeping with tim schafer, paul has seen a dog

This week, Matt, Paul and Quinns reunited in a hotel! We didn’t record them all crying with joy for five minutes straight, but we did record them sitting down afterwards to discuss some board games. First off, the team discuss stress-testing some of their favourite games from the last year at the 2018 Game Developer’s Convention in San Francisco. Did Ethnos, Fog of Love, Azul or Barenpark buckle under pressure? But wait, there’s are new games too! Matt has thoughts on the as-yet unpublished Puzzlegami, Leigh joins the team to describe the as-yet unfinished Four Empires, and Paul provides some thoughts on Star Wars: Legion and Age of Steam. Enjoy, everybody! And if you’d like to hear the team record a live podcast in person, we’re recording two of ’em at the UK Games Expo in June. Come stop by! New podcast feeds (if you’re missing episodes 71 onwards, try these): iTunes Google Play RSS for your favourite player

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Podcast #74: The War of the Stuffed Sun

wetting the bed, the furthest a dwarf has run, kidnapping a dragon

Everybody, please remain in your seats with your seatbelts securely fastened. We’re expecting some turbulence. Some turbulent discussions of board games, that is! In this one and only 74th episode of the SU&SD podcast, Matt and Quinns discuss their weird wooden mates in the Journeyman expansion for Isle of Skye. They chat about stabbing nightmares with pencils in Stuffed Fables, which might be best described as “Toy Story directed by Tim Burton”. There’s a discussion of the grand game of War of the Ring (second edition), and the real-life backache it gave Quinns. Finally, the two offer their smokin’ hot first impressions of Rising Sun, a beautiful game about Japan (but not) where you fight wars (but you don’t) and negotiate alliances (but not really). Enjoy, everybody! New podcast feeds (if you’re missing episodes 71, 72, 73 and 74 try these): iTunes Google Play RSS for your favourite player

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Podcast #73: The 2017 Pearple’s Choice Awards!

a family show, the award for best quintin, a middle finger to the march of time

Who’s this, arriving fashionably late in a limousine? Why, it’s only a new podcast discussing the winners of the 2017 Pearple’s Choice Awards! Quickly, cinch up your black tie or crawl into the nearest dress before joining us on a discussion of the best games of last year. There’s reflection on Gloomhaven, Sagrada, Inis, Captain Sonar, Fog of Love, Azul, Consulting Detective, Twilight Imperium 4th edition and so, so much more. You also get to hear the team collapse in on themselves like a dying star when exposed to the madness of the Best Expansion category. Just what is an expansion for?! Huge thanks to forum user clg9000 for organising such a fun event. New podcast feeds (if you’re missing episodes 71, 72 and 73 try these): iTunes Google Play RSS for your favourite player

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Podcast #72: Climbing Mount London

IS THIS THE END FOR OUR HEROES?! Matt, Paul and Quinns were last seen launching an expedition to get to the top of the Shut Up & Sit Down review stack. They talked about wanting to scale games like Mountaineers, A Tale of Pirates, The Climbers, the second edition of London and the Munchkin Collectible Card Game (which actually sounded… quite good?). They were also talking about getting to the bottom of a thought-provoking reader mail. It’s rumoured that it questioned whether pirating board games became an ethical grey area in some countries. Today we found this recording. It’s the only evidence we could find that they’re still alive. Come home safe, boys. New feeds (if you’re missing episodes 71 and 72 try these): iTunes Google Play RSS for your favourite player

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Podcast #71: The Dragonholt Assault on Fake Eggs

Matt and Paul regroup for a post-festive ramble through the wilderness of sentient cardboard. Paul shares some thoughts on Legacy of Dragonholt and Celestia – which Matt is comedically unable to recall too clearly. Meanwhile, Matt has been toying with the free co-op app for Imperial Assault – and compares his experiences with this to the recently-reviewed Gloomhaven, for your pleasure / horror. We then talk a little about the shocking phenomenon of fake board games, as covered by Paul in this week’s news, and finally cap off the first pod of the year by addressing the hard-hitting issue of S.N.A.C.K.S. Basically, Paul is mildly interrogated about cookies. Who – in truth – is the real cookie monster? Only the cold hands of time will decide. Thanks for listening!

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Podcast #70: Trading Shady Trees

the paul cannon, the walnut sprout, squid gym membership

Who’s feeling cosy? In this final, festive podcast of 2017 Matt and Quinns tuck themselves beneath the Christmas tree before cutting it down for victory points. That was an oblique reference to the first game the pair discuss, the noble Photosynthesis. The boys then get far too excited about cubes and the possibilities thereof in the absurd game Sidereal Confluence: Trading and Negotiation in the Elysian Quadrant. They then discuss Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire, the new Games Workshop board game showcasing beefy people hitting one another with hammers. Finally, we read out a heartwarming love letter to the Play By Forum section of the SU&SD forum, and read out our last ever Folk Game of the Month, with a little discussion about depictions of mental health in fiction. Best wishes to everyone who has trouble at this time of year.

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Podcast #69: An Erotic Scottish Village

paul's billage, um bongo: legacy, library gnomes, tired biclists

Oh my goodness! Apologies if anyone was looking for a board game, we seem to have them all here. In this 69th instalment of the SU&SD podcast Paul chats about Charterstone and explains Ex Libris. Matt is fascinated by Fabled Fruit, Fast Forward: Fortress and Fast Forward: Flee. Quinns catalogues Clans of Caledonia and flaps his lips about the Flamme Rouge: Peloton expansion as well as the free Flamme Rouge app, which contains all-new game mechanics. Importantly, we also have our new podcast feed set up and working. If you’re not seeing episodes 68 or 69 in your podcast feed then you’re subscribed to the wrong feed. Search for “Shut Up & Sit Down” in your podcast player until you find this new, improved feed that has the latest episodes, and delete the old feed (which you can see here). Thanks for listening, everybody!

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Podcast #68: Brotherly Love and Troublesome Pies

steve buscemi, a chocolate onion, is it a Fibonacci thing

Matt and Quinns took to the stage at PAX Unplugged for this Very Special Phillysode! The first segment, “Card games that made us feel bad”, includes chat about Capital Lux, Hanamikoji and Plums. Then there’s “Eurogames that are actually quite good”, featuring Pie Town and Altiplano. Finally, the boys move onto their game of the show, and possibly the year: Jacob Jaskov’s Fog of Love. Surprising no-one, Matt and Quinns’ first simulated relationship had chemistry but was horrible for everyone involved. This podcast was followed by an extensive audience Q&A which can be found here in our video of the event. The boys were asked to recommend an out-of-print game, how they pick games during a game night, which video they most enjoyed putting together, whether Matt’s hair is affected by the tides and more! The answers may surprise you.

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