How to Win Games and Manipulate People

Those of you with functional memories may recall that at the very first SHUX in 2017, myself and Alan Gerding sat down in cosy room and had a chat about psychology. It was pegged as a talk about the psychology of games, but being both exhausted and faintly ill-prepared, we decided instead to enjoy a rambling introduction to some of the magic behind this unfairly-maligned strain of science.

And the people in the room at the time loved it! The people online afterwards? Not so much. A chunk of those who watched it were understandably annoyed that we didn’t tackle the topic as intended, and were more than woolly with our citations. And wow! Look what you made us do.

This year myself and Alan returned with an actual powerpoint presentation on the fascinating topic of manipulation, with a lens particularly focused on how you might use this information during games with elements of persuasion. It’s meaty, it’s interesting, it’s surprisingly fun. If you want the slides for this lecture-in-sheep’s-clothing, you can find them here.

We hope you enjoy it – have a great weekend!

Review: Lords of Hellas

Who’s a fan of Greece’s Pieces?

This week, Matt’s strapped on his cyber-sandals for a jaunt through Lords of Hellas. This is an enormous, Kickstarted “dudes on a map” game of slaying cyber-monsters, building cyber-statues, amassing cyber-hoplites and going on cyber-adventures.

Will this game triumph, like Homer? Or fall out of the sky like a big Icarus idiot?

Have a fantastic weekend, everybody!

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Review: Combo Fighter

As anyone who’s seen us at conventions will know, it’s hard for team SU&SD to spend a day out and about without getting into a punching fight or muscle demonstration.

As such, it was only natural that we’d review Combo Fighter. An expandable, simple card game about kicking bottom, and a glorious team effort between designer Asger Johansen and artist Snorre Krogh. If you like the sound of a lightning-fast 1 vs 1 game that’s more intelligent than it has any right to be, do take a closer look.

(And if you’d like to see more of this kind of thing, check out our impressions of Critical Mass on podcast #84.)

Have a great weekend, everybody!

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Card Games That Don’t Suck: Egyptian Ratscrew

This week, our series on the best games that you can play with a 52 card deck gets violent.

Egyptian Ratscrew plays a lot like Jungle Speed, except with more fire. Literally. This is the first game that SU&SD has covered with a greater than zero chance of ending in flames. Also, huge thanks to Gnalistair on YouTube for pointing out that the game gets even better if you require players to first slap their forehead before slapping the table.

If you like the look of the Carte Rouge puzzle deck in this video, the Kickstarter is right here.

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Review: Dune

At long last, the final instalment of SU&SD’s “Worm Series” is here. Today, what began with Matt’s Silk review now reaches its dramatic conclusion.

In other, less important news of people waiting a long time, after a wait of 30 years the legendary Dune board game is again being made available. But have the years been kind to this game? Is it still a classic? And how long will Quinns be able to go before recommending Jodorowsky’s Dune?

Have a fantastic weekend, everybody.

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Review: Silk

At long last, Shut Up & Sit Down’s campaign for “More Worms in Games!” has borne fruit. Disgusting, wriggling, glistening fruit.

Silk is the first published work from designer Luis Ranedo, as well the first game from artist Roc Espinet. Considering that this this is their first effort, here at SU&SD we can’t wait to see what beautiful, nasty business they get up to next.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

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More Fun Stuff for SHUX 2019 announced!

Quinns: Have you got your ticket for SHUX 2019 yet? Because the big show is just six weeks away, and our team is up to our elbows in SHUX prep, stuffing it full of games, shows and special features.

Matt’s packed our very best announcements into the above 2 minute video, but here are some high points…

  • Pandemic designer Matt Leacock and Gloomhaven designer Isaac Childres are going to be on our stage, talking about their games!
  • I’ve signed up to do a terrifying, high-octane stage show compressing the history of board games in 60 minutes!
  • You’ll be able to play one of the intense social games from hit Korean show The Genius!
  • Our free library now has in excess of 1,000 games!
  • You get a free game and a limited-edition pin upon arrival!
  • Kids under 10 get in free!
  • Fully wheelchair accessible!
  • Exclamation marks!!!

My anticipation for SHUX ’19 is reaching boiling point. How much more excited can a man get? I intend to find out.

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Behind the Scenes at SHUX, by No Pun Included!

Quinns: Here’s a fun little extra for you folks! The 2019 SU&SD Convention is just around the corner, but did you know that last year, fabulous board game review show No Pun Included came to SHUX and filmed a whole lot of it? Today, we’re thrilled to present their behind the scenes look at our con.

That also means that this is a No Pun Included video that we’re hosting on our channel. I know! We’re crossing the streams! Will anything be the same again?! It probably will, yes.

If you haven’t watched NPI recently, they’ve been on an absolute tear. Be sure to check out their review of the be-hyped Pax Pamir 2nd Edition, heavyweight roll’n’write Welcome to Dino World, or their favourite game of 2018, Now Boarding. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again- Efka and Elaine are treasures.

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SU&SD Play… Concordia: Venus!

Our team is taking a break from streaming on Twitch as we go roaring into convention season, but we’ve finally uploaded our very last stream to YouTube!

In a clash of two titans (and two troublesome assistants), Kylie and Matt took on Ava and Quinns at Concordia: Venus, the team-based expansion for SU&SD favourite Concordia.

“A team-based management game?” you might be asking. “How does that work?” Well, as we found out, in some ways it doesn’t work, but that’s precisely the point.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

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