Reviews 21 - Shut Up & Sit Down

The Dean Dexterity Double Reviews: Junk Art and Pingo Pingo

This week, Paul springs into action and plays against type as he looks at not one, but two games of the more physical variety. First up, he takes on the chunky and junky Junk Art, before going on to wrestle with (and shoot at) the penguins of Pingo Pingo. It’s all guns and blocks and dashing and crashing. Good heavens, I’m getting a headache.

Why this strange change of interest? What’s with Paul’s new, more active lifestyle? And what is the meaning of Quinns’ unusual delivery? That’s a lot of questions for a Friday. Let’s all go and have a lie down.

Joy of joys! The latest SU&SD review has arrived at port, having completed its grand tour of Seafall. Ah, see how it’s sitting low in the water? It must be carrying a tremendous cargo of opinions and insight. That, or it’s leaking.

If you haven’t heard the hype around this game, all you need to know is that it’s designer Rob Daviau’s third legacy game following on from the amazing Risk Legacy and Pandemic Legacy. But while those two games were fairly straightforward, Seafall is an ambitious epic. In other words, it’s the most exciting box we’re expecting to review all year. So what are you waiting for? Click play! Watch. And be amazed.

Gather close to the fire pit, everybody. Paul and Quinns want to tell you about the last of our favourite games from Gen Con 2016. This one’s called Inis, it’s the third game in the series that brought us Cyclades and Kemet and, frankly, it’s a little bit perfect. Not only is Inis the best game of plastic soldiers running around a map that we’ve played all year, it manages that with a 5 minute rules explanation and – look ma! – no dice.

The only problem is that Inis isn’t out yet. English-language distributors don’t always get a lot of Matagot’s stock in, either, so pre-order at your local retailer to avoid disappointment. And have a fantastic weekend!

In honour of the Rio Olympics Games, Quinns has done a review about diving! Just like in the Olympic Games, Captain Sonar is a contest where two teams dive beneath the seas and try and destroy one another with high explosives, drawing one another’s movements on sheets of acetate.

If you regularly play games with a group of six-plus feisty men and women then you’ve got to watch this video. Captain Sonar isn’t just fun, it’s like nothing else you’ve ever played. And even if you can’t get those numbers together, Captain Sonar will do backflips to accommodate you. Literally.

Have a fantastic weekend, everybody.

Captain Sonar should be arriving in shops any day now. Pre-order at your local retailer to avoid disappointment!

July 29, 2016 Reviews Ra Dr. Reiner Knizia returns to SU&SD with a new edition of Ra, one of his most-loved designs ever. What will Quinns make of this 1999 classic in the blessed light of 2016? Why isn’t Paul at Quinns’ party? And what the shit is Quinns wearing? One thing’s for sure. Auction … Read more

Here’s something a little different! During a live podcast at the UK Games Expo we finally had an opportunity to play Cat On Yer Head, a game designed entirely for crowds. So we thought, why not film it? And why not do Shut Up & Sit Down’s first ever collaborative review, with Paul and Quinns presenting, Matt and Pip doing some panicked camerawork and 200 SU&SD fans lending a hand?

Because you know what they say. You can never have too many cooks.

Enjoy, everybody! If you’d like to buy Cat On Yer Head either digitally or as a physical book, you can do so via the above link.

We can only apologise. After five years of assuming we didn’t know anything about reviewing kids games, it turns out that we’re amazing at it. How embarrassing!

But Libellud’s Loony Quest is more than just a great kid’s game. This is the a drawing game that’s up there with Pictomania and A Fake Artist Goes to New York. Think you can snipe a eight rocket penguins in under 30 seconds? Then it’s time to put your tiny child’s felt-tip pen where your mouth is.

Oh god don’t actually do it now you’ve got pen on your teeth jesus we can’t take you ANYWHERE

Did you find the excellent Imperial Settlers a little cold and unforgiving? Do you trust them bones? Would you risk your city’s fate on a the roll of the dice!? Paul seems pretty happy to, over and over, as he looks at cute newcomer Dice City. It’s got cemeteries and catapults, mines and militia, which is just about everything an ambitious mayor could need, right?

Take a seat and break out the popcorn for a video that’s both a review and… a little something extra, courtesy of a very special guest. Have a terrific weekend!

Hold onto your hardhats! Power Grid was one of the first reviews SU&SD ever did (archivists will find that ancient episode here), and now Quinns has returned with yet more hot air, desperate to expunge his thoughts as if he were a dirty old steam turbine.

This time around we’re reviewing the “deluxe” 10th anniversary edition, as well as the new The Stock Companies expansion that’s compatible with either edition of the game. Has this classic still got what it takes, or is it fossil fuel?

(That blast of dance music half-way through the video is Showdown by F.O.O.L.)

Ahh, is there anything more beautiful than that most classic of English summers? What about the so very gorgeous cards of Mystic Vale, cards you don’t just play, but cards you can build, piece by piece?

Intrigued? You bet you are! We took our two most experienced druids, Quinns and Matt (Paul is a bard), and we put them in a room with cards and crystals and radiant peaks. We asked them not only how it compares with our two very favourite card games, Trains and Arctic Scavengers, but if it’s capable of being as beautifully magical as the luscious Seasons.

Unfortunately, there was too much conjuration energy in that room.

The Dean Dexterity Double Reviews: Junk Art and Pingo Pingo

Review: Seafall

Review: Inis

Review: Captain Sonar

Review: Ra

Review: Cat On Yer Head with 200 Players!

Review: Loony Quest & The Lost City

Review: Dice City

Review: Power Grid Deluxe & The Stock Companies Expansion

Review: Mystic Vale & bonus Mystic Crumble

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