Review: City of the Big Shoulders

This week on the website Matt discovers that you *can’t* just stuff things inside of a jacket in order to recreate David Byrne’s signature look. We also made two new friends, one of whom is most definitely not alive – the other one? We’ll leave you to decide. Find out why City of the Big Shoulders, this caramel rainbow of brown and beige pieces, has captured a tiny piece of our heart..

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City of the Big Shoulders

After the great Chicago Fire of 1871, the brave men and women of Chicago sought to rebuild their once-great city, and rebuild it they did. Over the next 60 years Chicago experienced an economic golden age, making such great progress that it hosted The World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, followed not long after by a … Read more

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This week on Shut Up & Sit Down…

Ava: Greetings humans and gentleworms! Welcome to a whole new week at Shut Up and Sit Down, the website where humans turn board games into thoughts that we blast directly into your ears and eyes. This week is the last week in January, objectively the worst month of the year, and we’re nearly through it! Well done folks, we did it together. Try not to look directly into the eyes of February, a month that would technically be worse if it wasn’t a whole three days shorter. How are we going to get you through the final Jan-stretch? Well, on Tuesday, we’re going to be streaming our porkiest stream yet, a game of City of the Big Shoulders, an economic cube pushing game with some of the stock market shenanigans of the baffling board game sub-genre known as 18xx. I have no idea how it works so I’m likely going to be thrashed by Matt and Tom, what a treat! Wednesday is review day, and I’m permitted to tell you that it’s likely to be the wettest review of the year so far. Matt will be serving up a platter of opinions that shouldn’t actually make you wet, but you do you. Finally, we’ll wrap up the week with our traditional podcast, our tentpole discussion this week is Vampire: The Masquerade – Vendetta, a game we tried on stream and I quite liked but was worried it might be a little unbalanced. What will Quinns, Matt and Tom think? I’ll find out when I start editing the podbeast, but you’ll have to wait until Friday. What lovely bit of anticipation for you. Aren’t you lucky! So everybody, tell me, what’s been getting you through the chilliest, toughest time of the year? Or if you’re in the southern hemisphere, what can you tell me about summer? Is it really real?

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Podcast #107: The City of the Pork Shoulders

‘Ello ‘ello ‘ello, wot’s going on ‘ere then? Looks and sounds like there are three english men crammed inside one english cupboard talking about a series of “board games” from who knows where. That’s a recipe for disease-based disaster right there. City of the Big Shoulders? You’re certainly crammed shoulder-to-shoulder in here, though one of you is a bit smaller than the others. I’ve heard it’s as good an economic euro as any, though I, for one, prefer my commodity speculation games a little less beige. Last Bastion? I’ve heard that one’s a pretty dandy co-operative game, but personally I felt the fantasy redesign was a little lacking.

Wait, I swear on me nan’s ghost that I saw more games in here when I first burst in. Are you hiding ‘em? What’s that on there? Is that a game on your mobile device, Mr Lees? Is it Vlaada Chvatil’s classic tableau-builder, Through The Ages? You of all people should know those is contraband, as they remind people of ‘the time before’, when they could play games with their friends around their tables spreading all their germs. Not any more. You’re going to prison, but seen as we can’t go outside, I’m locking you in your own dishwasher. It’s for the best.

Tap below for full timestamps and more info!

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