Dungeons and Dragons with Mark Hulmes

Last year we transported our bodies to Bristol for a day of filming with Mark Hulmes – a Dungeon Master extraordinaire who specializes in creating high-grade fun within the realms of Dungeons & Dragons. Be aware that whilst we’ve snipped out the swearing, the series does contain infrequent graphic descriptions of violence.

Joined by friend of the show Pip Warr, we delved into a world of monsters, fine wine, and terrifying levels of socioeconomic privilege. Quintin squeezes into the boots of a tired and possibly dangerous Dwarf, Pip is a Druid Dragonthing who doesn’t entirely understand humans, and Matt is just a terrible man who also unfortunately seems to have acquired a gun.

This is a three part series which will continue next Wednesday, and shortly after this one wraps up we’ll have a video of the same group playing The World Wide Wrestling RPG. Honestly, it is quite the thing. 

Chomping at the bit for more? Please enjoy this video from last year’s SHUX in which the team and friends played through a D&D adventure as the cast of Rat Queens – with the author of the series acting as Dungeon Master! We had an absolute blast with that one, although do bear in mind that it is honestly very rude.

Review: Gloomhaven

Sentient trebuchets rejoice! With just hours to go until the end of the board gaming year, we’ve snuck in our review of 2017’s biggest game. The fantasy hack-and-slash epic that is Gloomhaven weighs in at a preposterous 22lbs, it takes hundreds of hours to finish, and it raised more than four million dollars on Kickstarter.

It will be enjoying a global retail release just next month, but should you buy it?

Let’s take a look.

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Our Xmas Pledge Drive is Now Open!

Quinns: Oh my goodness! With just Matt’s Gloomhaven review and a year-end podcast to go, that’s almost it for us this year.

“But wait!” you cry. “I haven’t had nearly enough Shut Up & Sit Down!”

Then please, consider thanking us for the service we’ve been providing for more than six years with a donation. Anyone who signs up to donate in a given month will enter the prestigious SU&SD Gold Club, and members receive a monthly behind-the-scenes newsletter, discounts on merchandise and early access to ticket sales for SHUX, the SU&SD convention.

Paul: This December’s newsletter goes out in a week’s time and it’ll be a holiday special, containing our plans for 2018, a blooper reel and access to ALL previous newsletters!

Thanks, everybody. We’ve had a great time putting together a year’s worth of board game coverage for you guys. Who fancies another year?

Merry Christmas from Team SU&SD.

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Review: Azul

The holiday season is upon us and Paul has discovered a very special gift has come his way! But does it really suit? Azul is an abstract game, nothing like the sort of thing he usually enjoys, so was this a present poorly chosen? Has someone made a terrible mistake? Are the holidays ruined?

There’s only one way to find out! Sit back, get comfortable and enjoy our special, seasonal, candlelit review.

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Review: Twilight Imperium, Fourth Edition

At last. A full six years after we rugby-tackled one of the most glorious and gargantuan board games ever made, we once again take on Twilight Imperium. Sleeker and shinier than ever, just how does the refined fourth edition compare with its previous incarnation? Look no further, for we offer you the definitive review of this epic space opera.

And yes, we really do mean definitive. After Matt and Paul prodded the game so much at Fantasy Flight’s headquarters for Matt’s in-depth documentary, Quinns took on the brave (some would say Herculean) task of looking at this new edition both as a standalone game, but also alongside its predecessor, which is now widely discounted. Which one deserves your money?

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Spoiler-Free Review – Pandemic Legacy: Season 2

A mere 700 days later and IT’S HERE! Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 is the sequel to our game of 2015, Pandemic Legacy, and it’s even more ambitious than the first game. Not only is this box heavier and more expensive, it tells a far more complicated story.

But what do we think? Has the lightning of genius smote this particular property once again? Or does Season 2 feel like a difficult second album?

If we were you, we’d take a deep breath, click play and find out.

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Meeple Circus with NoPunIncluded and Actualol

This week’s video is a playthrough of the outrageously silly and frustrating Meeple Circus -a game so hot and squeaky-fresh that it isn’t actually available yet. Sorry. (If you want to read more, Paul recently tried and enjoyed it at SHUX). But if you’ll just put that goat and plank down for a moment – look at who we’ve got with us in this flipping video? 

Assembling an incredible sort of UK board game supergroup/cabal, this video features guest appearances from Jon Purkis (aka Actualol) as well as Efka and Elaine! (No Pun Included). For the inititated, we’d love to point you towards Jon’s song about Pandemic Legacy, and NoPunIncluded’s review of Great Western Trail – if only for the shocking revelation that cows are no longer required for fresh milk.

But do go and poke around! Both channels do great stuff, and it’s worth noting that just last month Actualol popped onto Patreon. Finally, special apologies to Efka – Matt got a bit too involved in the game and literally wasn’t a proficient cameraman. Everyone else: enjoy!

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Review: The Voyages of Marco Polo

October 7, 2017 Reviews Conflict-Free Games, Games for Two, Heavy Games, The Voyages of Marco Polo Hot dog! At the time of writing The Voyages of Marco Polo is ranked as BoardGameGeek’s 39th best game ever. Our team has now comprehensively tested, teased and tutted over every aspect of its complicated machinery to bring you what we … Read more

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SU&SD Play… The Metagame!

In the words of Tom Jones, “What’s new pussycat?”

We’re so glad you asked, Tom! It’s a video of Shut Up & Sit Down and special guest Mark Hulmes playing The Metagame in honour of our Kickstarter for Metagame: The Game: The Games Expansion: Game Away. It’s hard to express exactly how good The Metagame is in words alone, so we decided that we’d make an actual play video that proves, once and for all, that this game is not messing around.

And if you think this game looks like pots of fun? We’ve got good news! We’ve just unlocked our stretch goal so any who backs the Kickstarter (where you can also get the base game) gets a free booster of board game-related cards.

As promised, this video isn’t replacing an ordinary SU&SD video. We’re sticking to our bi-weekly schedule, and Quinns will have a fresh’n’tasty new video review for you next week.

Enjoy, everybody!

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Space Lions: The Story of Twilight Imperium

We’ve come a long way, baby!

Six years ago SU&SD published a review of the grand, weird game of Twilight Imperium 3rd edition. Today, we present a first for the board game industry. Please enjoy our amateur attempt at a documentary on the history of the game – which is really the history of Fantasy Flight Games – and the development of the new, shiny, 4th edition. Huge thanks to our donors, without whom this project (which we started work on back in 2015!) would never, ever have been possible.

As you buckle your seatbelt for this ride through time and outer space, please bear in mind that the doc doesn’t cover the nitty-gritty of game mechanics that have changed from 3rd to 4th edition. We’ll be covering that in our forthcoming review of Twilight Imperium 4th ed, which Quinns will be creating since he had almost no involvement in the doc.

Instead, we tried to make the documentary of broader interest, so please consider sharing it with board game-curious friends. Or just tell your mum it’s Netflix? That might work.

Enjoy, everybody!

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