Podcast #119: The Big Reiner Beefcast

In this venomously 119th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast Ava, Quinns and Tom gather around the podfire to burn every game they own in a ritual that can be traced hundreds of years into the past. It’s to keep it at bay. This week we politely disagree about Village Green (01:51), tut about Glasgow (10:43), and aggressively grumble about Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Crypt Hunters (23:05). Then, the gloves come fully off for an all out argie-bargie over a load of Kniz’ – Through the Desert and Blue Lagoon (31:20)! Tigris & Euphrates and Yellow and Yangtze (48:42)! They’re all here, and they’re all loudly shouting each other and I want to go home now please, Quinns did a swear. Thanks to our amazing community, podcast transcripts are available here, and are usually completed within a week of the podcast’s release.

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Through the Desert

From prolific designer Reiner Knizia comes a game of strategy, patience, and cool plastic camels. The desert is still treacherous, mysterious, and without mercy but, for those willing to risk the dangers of the shifting, sun-baked sands, it holds riches beyond compare.

In Through the Desert, two to five players each control a tribe of nomads vying for control of the desert. By establishing caravans and taking over oases, the players gain points as their tribes increase in power.

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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.

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Review: Through the Desert

Quinns: When I’m teaching games, I always start with a thematic sales pitch. “We’re terrifying wizards out to prove ourselves,” I might tease. “We’re nasty, competitive park planners.” “We’re Scottish lairds exploring our very own island!” It’s a fun way to get people excited and offer a handle on what’s about to happen.

With the recent remake of Reiner Knizia’s Through the Desert, that just had to stop. “We’re all making caravans of camels,” I’d haltingly explain, “But the caravans can’t cross, like how you can’t cross the streams in Ghostbusters. The camels come in five colours, and when we run out of a camel the game’s over. Also, we’re not actually going through the desert? We’re kind of going around it… Mostly we just want water? They probably should have called it Reiner Knizia’s Thirsty Twerps.”

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Games News! 07/08/2017

Quinns: GOOD MORNING. That noise you hear is me cranking the Games News press, pumping out hundreds of thousands of individual copies of this for all of you, our fine and beautiful readers.

Paul: And THAT noise you hear is me pedalling away on my bike, after hurling THIS, your very own copy, onto your doorstep. Look at me ride! A dog is chasing me! You look down at our headline…

Quinns: ANOTHER CLASSIC REBORN: Just like Tigris & Euphrates, Ra and Samurai, Reiner Knizia’s Through the Desert is back in a shinier, sexier incarnation, care of Z-Man Games. Will this be yet another refurbished classic that we fall dramatically in love with?

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