SU&SD Presents: Board Gaming’s Golden Age! (2017 update)

Hi everybody! Remember Quinns’ old talk on the current “golden age of board games”? Here’s a new performance of it! It’s a lot like the old talk, but snappier, more informed and down from a whopping 45 minutes (you can still watch the original here) to just 15 minutes. Perfect for sharing with your friends or perennially-bemused relatives.

This talk was just one of several snappy and informative talks given during a contemporary board game study day at London’s prestigious Museum of Childhood, and it’s not the only one we filmed, either. This week we’ll be uploading three more, including a brand new talk from Quinns!

Stay tuned, everyone, and thanks to everyone who came down on the day.

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Please Donate to Our Internet Web Site?

Hey you!

You might have noticed that a lot of work goes into Shut Up & Sit Down. This month we’re asking for you to become one of the donors who make that possible.

Never mind “digging deep”- if every person reading this had a just a paddle in their pockets that would more than suffice for Team SU&SD to keep the lights on for another 6 months. If you donate by December 18th you’ll receive our donor newsletter telling you everything we’re planning for 2017, and you’ll also have supported us in our quest to make play better.

We talk a little about inclusivity in the above video, which always results in some people asking why we keep banging on about it. This month we found we had one more reason why: It turns out that while women are only a fraction of our viewership, they’re disproportionately more likely to make a donation to SU&SD.

Finally, if you have any questions regarding donations, please email [email protected].

Thank you all for another incredible, loved-up six months. And do look forward to the next two weeks on the site! We have one or two very exciting slabs of calorific Christmas content coming your way.

– Team SU&SD

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Review: Cat On Yer Head with 200 Players!

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.

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Podcast #44: The video!

Hot diggity and a lack of dignity! It’s the second podcast we recorded live at the 2016 UK Games Expo. This time we offer definitive feels on Spiel des Jahres-nominted games Karuba and Imhotep, as well as chatting about Beyond Baker Street, Yeti, Coup: Rebellion G54 and a game jam winner called Lantern. We also ask an important question: Have you started building your mausoleum?

If you’d rather listen to this as a slim-fit podcast, you can do so right here. But you’ll miss Matt and Pip having some trouble with their stools…

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Podcast #43: The video!

Long and spicy like a hot dog, the 43rd EVER SU&SD podcast is HERE! Quickly, consume the whole thing before it starts disintegrating and leaking board game mustard into your lap.

In this cast Matt, Paul, Pip and Quinns met up with 300 fans in a sweaty room at the UK Games Expo to discuss what they’d been playing. That meant The Ravens of Thri Sahashri, Ice Cool, Treasure Hunter, the Horses & Stagecoach expansion for Colt Express, Codenames: Pictures, Czech Games’ new game Adrenaline and more besides! Finally, we end with an electrifying game of Question Wood Toy Folds High. Can Matt fix his losing streak?

If you’d prefer to enjoy this video on the move, it’s available as a humble podcast right here. The comments are separate on each post, though, so CHOOSE WISELY. Are you team podcast, or team video?

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The 2015 Gen Con Special!

The 2015 Gen Con Special!

What do board games, miniatures games, dexterity games, dinosaurs, dancing, Spider-Man, hot cosplay, leather kilts, hugs, remorse, death-defying climbs, arguments, soapy baths, vampires, fragile cities, farkles, conferences, boffing, children and blindfolds all have in common?

Why, they’re all featured in our GEN CON SPECIAL EPISODE, of course!

Exposure to this special may create a burning desire for more Gen Con Specials. If this occurs, go and watch last year’s Gen Con Special again.

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The Second Live Podcast

The Second Live Podcast

(This video is also available as a podcast.)

Last year team SU&SD hustled 300 people into a dingy Gen Con annex to record a live podcast. It was incredible. So this year we did it again!

After a shaky start where Matt, Quinns and Pip realise their audience is only there to hear about their hotel, the board game chat begins in earnest. We discuss the croquet mallets of T.I.M.E. Stories, the wandering chicken nuggets of Evolution and waste disposal in The Bloody Inn. Then it’s time for QUESTION STACK ‘N FALL! Which is different from Question Jenga by about £8.

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SU&SD Play… Watch the Skies 2 (Pt. 2)

SU&SD Play... Watch the Skies 2 (Pt. 2)

OH MY GOD, it’s the thrilling conclusion to our Let’s Play of the largest game anyone’s ever played, ever.

Confused? Find part one here, and find our video of the original Watch the Skies here. Palpitations of excitement? Find sedatives here. And find the actual URL of the music we used here, as we misspelled it in the edit.

If these videos look like they were a whole load of work from a whole lot of people, they were. And we did it for you, personally. Enjoy.

NOTE: If you’re worried about spoilers, probably don’t read the comments first.

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SU&SD Play… Watch the Skies 2 (Pt. 1)

SU&SD Play... Watch the Skies 2 (Pt. 1)

Last year, we were invited by the UK Society of Megagame Makers to save the world from aliens in a colossal 60 person game titled “Watch the Skies”. You can see our floundering, corruption and “charm offensives” as the nation of Japan in this video.

This year the Society invited us back for the sequel. With over three hundred players, this would be the most mega megagame ever staged. A game so big that the Pope was not only a player, he had his own team.

Could we save the world from aliens for a second time? Get yourself a hot drink, a comfy chair and find out. Enjoy, everybody! And when you’re done, go and watch part 2 right here.

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Paul’s 2014 Convention Special

Paul's 2014 Convention Special

We sent Paul off to Firaxicon and then to BGG Con, to conduct insightful interviews with games designers and to test the water in these foreign lands. He was fine. He’s fine. It’s okay. He came back with lots of info about the upcoming XCOM board game, Kanban: Automotive Revolution and Geek Chic’s fine tables.

Admittedly we haven’t seen him since he uploaded this video. We’re also analysing this video frame-by-frame to figure out who that slender figure is we keep seeing in the background. But we’re positive that he’s fine, and also if you’ve seen his body then please let us know!

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