Modern Art

Podcast #130 – The Big Reiner Lovecast

In this freshly-pressed 130th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, we’re making amends. “The Beefcast” left the team torn in two, sundered, ruined… borked beyond repair. Now? It’s time to rekindle the fire, and what better way to do so than talk about the man that broke us? That’s right, it’s time to talk ‘Kniz.

Take a seat as Quinns and Tom natter about recent video review stars My City and Modern Art, with a little wiggly chat about The Quest For El Dorado smashed in the middle. We also take the time to make plenty of great behind-the-scenes podcasting errors, for your pleasure!

Tap below for full timestamps and more info!

For this hot HOT review, Tom went back in time to 1992 and stole the design documents for a game that he’s sure will one day be a classic. Who did he steal them from? What was the game? One can only dream.

In the second of a double-Reiner-february-feature; a review of Modern Art, just for you. It’s an absolute classic in the auction game genre, and maybe one of Tom’s favourite games of all time? Watch him squirm as he grapples with the burden of encompassing that which cannot be encompassed.

Buying and selling paintings is a very lucrative business, at least that’s what Hollywood’s led us to believe, and that’s the premise of this game. Five different artists have produced a bunch of paintings, and it’s the player’s task to be both the buyer and the seller, hopefully making a profit in both roles. He does this by putting a painting from his hand up for auction each turn. He gets the money if some other player buys it, but must pay the bank if he buys it for himself. After each round, paintings are valued by the number of paintings of that type that were sold. The broker with the most cash after four rounds is the winner.

December 4, 2020 Specials

Welcome one, welcome all! It is officially the most December-est time of the year, and that might mean you’re on the lookout for the perfect gift for the board gamer in your life? The board gamer in OUR life wants “an egg timer”, so there’s really no knowing if you’re barking up the right tree – but the whole SU&SD team is on-hand this week to give you great suggestions for great games that are currently in stock! Enjoy!

0:54 My City
1:51 Tournament at Camelot / Tournament at Avalon
2:35 Gùgōng
3:10 Undaunted: Normandy / Undaunted: North Africa
4:06 Pandemic Legacy Season 0 / Pandemic Legacy
4:28 Quacks of Quedlinberg
4:54 Oceans
5:19 Monikers: Serious Nonsense
6:03 Patchwork
6:22 The Mind
6:41 No Thanks!
7:00 The Crew
7:35 Ghost Blitz
8:24 New York Zoo
8:54 Modern Art
9:27 Solo RPGs: 9:41 Artefact, 9:58 The Sealed Library & The Wretch3d, 10:18 Thousand Year Old Vampire
10:38 Senet Magazine

A few more worth a look!
Little Town
Unmatched
Junk Art
Paris: La Cité de la Lumière
A Fake Artist Goes to New York
Watergate
Insider

Podcast #85: Do you have any Fascist Fish?

Come on up! Make yourself at home in our twiggy podcast nest, where Paul and Quinns are ready to regurgitate some warmed-up board game knowledge into your waiting beak. This episode features the quietly fabulous tile-laying of Gunkimono. There’s Taj Mahal, the fourth in a fantastic series of beautiful Reiner Knizia remakes. We’ve had a first play of Trade on the Tigris, a new negotiation game from the designer of Space Cadets. Quinns talks about how GKR: Heavy Hitters is almost his favourite game of all time, if it could just be combined somehow with Critical Mass (see podcast #84). Also, like the rest of the internet, we’ve begun playing Root and can’t seem to stop. Finally, the pair chat about a reader mail asking when, and where, we’d consider playing board games for money. Full podcast transcript available here.

Paul: Hot summer strawberries! It’s the middle of August, the sun is (sometimes) in the sky (here it’s mostly just windy) and this is the season that you finally get into board games. It’s an intimidating prospect: you’ve eyed those enormous boxes on the shelves with price tags that would make a banker blush, but this really doesn’t have to be a hobby that destroys your wallet.

Wait! What’s that noise? An approaching siren? An… ice cream van?! It’s me pedalling furiously toward you in the Shut Up & Sit Down Budget Bus, adding a host of surprising prices in this sequel to our indispensable article, How To Build an Amazing Board Game Collection for $10. GET ON BOARD.

Quinns: Christmas is almost upon us, everyone! That sweet stretch of the calendar where board games take center stage, or at the very least share the stage with potatoes and Jesus Christ.

Are you thinking about buying a new game to play with your relatives? Or are you wondering which game to buy for the stalwart board game collector in your life?

Either way, we’ve got you covered with the below holiday game guide. Enjoy, everyone!

Paul: Dear Readers, did you know that Games News is the exact opposite of the Battle of Hastings? It’s true. Rather than fearing the invading Norman (news) hordes, we beckon them onto our beaches, wave them toward us and are delighted when they fire new games right into our eyes.

How else can we find out about such fine titles as A Handful of Stars?

Quinns: With CMON’s new edition of Modern Art, a game of blisteringly quick and dangerous art auctions, Shut Up & Sit Down continues its exploration of classic Knizia. Just who is Reiner Knizia? Where did he come from? What is he doing? We’ve interviewed him and I still don’t know. All I can tell you is that he’s responsible for more than 500 games, literally some of which are good.

But Modern Art isn’t just the oldest Knizia game we’ve ever reviewed. With the exception of 1981’s Consulting Detective, I think this is the oldest game we’ve reviewed, period. It came out way back in 1992, when Paul was celebrating his 30th birthday and Matt hadn’t even been born yet.

Can you feel it? This site is trembling with time right now. Slip inside my cardboard Tardis. Let’s see if the years have been kind.

Quinns: Hello everybody! So glad you could meet me here, at the Games News pub. It’s my round! Who’s for a pint of news? [points at you] News and soda, was it?

It’s happy hour, so we’re going to start out with a double news on the rocks. The nonsense-mongers at Hasbro have just unveiled two new games. Speak Out: Kids vs Parents is a familial evolution of their game Speak Out, both of which feature your team trying to work out what the hell you’re saying while you wear a dentist’s cheek retractor.

Doesn’t that sound like a game we’d make up as part of a skit? I can only approve that Hasbro has made it a reality.

The press image for it (above) is freaking me out, though. The combination of Habro’s clean-cut toy photography (which has always looked a little “uncanny valley” to me) with rictus grins is absolutely terrifying. Imagine coming downstairs and finding them in your living room. “WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME,” bleats the mother, spraying spit across the room.

Podcast #130 – The Big Reiner Lovecast

Review: Modern Art

The SU&SD 2020 Holiday Gift Guide

Podcast #85: Do you have any Fascist Fish?

Our Shopping Guide to the Best Cheap Board Games!

Our Holiday Gift Guide, 2017!

Games News! 06/11/17

Review: Modern Art

Games News! 06/03/2017

Feeds