El Grande

SU&SD’s Christmas Gift Guide 2023

Matt: Hello and welcome to The Shut Up & Sit Down 2023 Gift Guide Extravaganza-wham-o-palooza-video! We have got an entire pile of games for you, in a variety of different categories.

Tom: We’ve got so many games… it’s too many! Three categories!

In this old-fashioned 133rd episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast Tom and Ava have been left on their own, and are abusing the privilege with a personal campaign to get some wonderful, fusty old European games reprinted. Come join us on a journey across a continent! We’ll be making friends with weird faces in Saint Petersburg, stealing some surprisingly colourful bricks from The Palaces of Carrara and getting grandiose in Spain with El Grande.

It’s weird for us to cover so many out of print games, but don’t worry, these are all currently available to play online through BoardGameArena or Yucata – so put your feet up for the no longer a very mystery tour, because I just told you all where we’re going, oops!

Have a lovely weekend, everybody!

Tap below for full timestamps and more info!

In this award-winning game, players take on the roles of Grandes in medieval Spain. The king’s power is flagging, and these powerful lords are vying for control of the various provinces. To that end, you draft caballeros (knights) into your court and subsequently move them onto the board to help seize control of provinces. After every third turn, the regions are scored, and after the ninth turn, the Grande with the most points is deemed the winner.

In this mysterious 132nd episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom, Quinns and Ava clamber aboard a raft of games that’s gently sailing down a river made of…dreams… Do not get into the water, the dreams are also full of plague.

We’re going to be rambling about an absolute bunch of games that, when combined, would make up our perfect post-covid boardgame night. If you want to be surprised by each addition to our lists then click play! Or if there’s anything in particular you’d like to hear about, we’ve got all the games timestamped below.

Have a lovely weekend, everybody!

Tap below for full timestamps and more info!

Quinns: As we continue our marathon-like jog through Board Game Geek’s top 100 games ever, today I can reveal that we’re out of the weeds. We’ve played every single board game in the 60-41 slot!

Which isn’t to say that we always enjoyed ourselves…

Today Quinns and Matt have joined forces to teach El Grande, one of the grand old girls of board gaming. This box is every bit as charming and dangerous as she was back in 1995, and with stock availability of the new “Big Box” still excellent, she remains a very smart purchase.

Any requests for what game we should teach next? Please first check that someone else hasn’t requested the same game as you, in which case you should just upvote their comment!

Quinns: Ladies and gentlemen, roll up! It’s time for a new series where we take a look a team SU&SD’s board game collections. Come and see! Be amazed. Be aghast. Be envious. Comment with thought-provoking assertions like “why do you have that game it is bad”.

You guys will have seen my collection in the background of loads of SU&SD videos, but I don’t think you’ve seen the work that goes into it. Come with me today as I perform… a CULL.

But before that, let me show you my collection as it stands. It’s both completely ridiculous and not as ridiculous as you might think.

Read more

SU&SD’s Top 50 Games Ever, 2015! #40 to #31

Quinns: It looks like our Top 50 is maintaining its structural integrity, for now. At the first sign of trouble, it is of utmost importance that you all evacuate the website immediately.

I refuse to have any more dead on my hands.

Quinns: Board games go in and out of print all the time. It’s like a party where sexy new friends arrive in a steady stream, only for each one to fall through a network of trapdoors.

But to quote patron saint of board game reviewers Tom Vasel, if a game is really good, it’ll always get another print run. The theme of this week’s games news is, apparently, an awful lot of sexy people arriving back at the party, dusting themselves off and grabbing another fistful of canapes.

Let’s start with the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of El Grande! Or as we call it in my house, 50 Shades of Beige.

Quinns: Hey! You’re up late. Come here, I want to show you something. Isn’t she becautiful? She’s called… “El Grande.”

What? She looks old?! Could you have some respect? Yes, she’s old. She was released in 1995, but she’s still for sale today because she’s a classic. She’s also one of my favourite games, and you’re going to listen as I tell you why. No, you can’t go to bed. Sit down. You might learn a thing or two. No you can’t have a glass of water. You screwed that up.

The thing is, we’re covering a lot of flashy games these days. Games of neon dice, plastic warriors, of mechanics so thick and layered as to resemble some glutinous design lasagne.

I like El Grande because it knows you don’t need any of that to be grand. It has almost royal quality you won’t find in any of this cardboard pomp.

SU&SD’s Christmas Gift Guide 2023

Podcast #133 – Saint Carrara The Grande

Podcast #132 – Dreamin’ of a Game Night

SU&SD Take on The Board Game Geek Top 100: 60-41

How to Play El Grande!

Feature: A Day in the Life of Quinns’ Game Collection!

SU&SD’s Top 50 Games Ever, 2015! #40 to #31

Games News! 02/02/15

Review: El Grande

Feeds