Quintin Smith
Tom: Good morning everybody, and a happy… THURSDAY? Oh no. I have overslept terribly. Listen, I can explain my tardiness. Each limb of Shut Up & Sit Down digitally assembled earlier in the week to chat about what exciting content we’re putting out, and all we had to show for it was a big collective moan. Well, that and the productive decision to not put out a video this week; sliding our schedule back a notch to make sure everything’s looking less exhausted. It’s ‘the year’, what else can we say? You can still expect a podcast on Friday – Quinns and I are going to have a little ramble about a smattering of solo RPGs that I’ve been playing over the past couple days and weeks. I think it’ll be a lot of fun, so keep your ears open so that one can crawl in and have itself a home. Normal video service will resume next week – and until then, stay hydrated! xx
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Ava: Hey there peoplefolks, welcome to another bright, shining week on Shut Up & Sit Down. We’re nearly at the end of the wintery void, and right now there’s sun falling on me and it feels like hope. Wahey! What are we hoping for this week? We’re hoping for a stream, a review and a podcast, and you know what, it’s all actually going to happen. (Terms and conditions may apply) On Tuesday we’re streaming the potion-popping extravaganza that is Quacks of Quedlinberg, and we’re even going to chuck in the currently German-only Alchemists expansion. We promise it won’t be as chaotic as when we tried to do this with Excalibohn. We’ll be slightly more prepared for those explosive potion notions. Wednesday is review day, and all I am permitted to say is that Matt will be talking about a game that got him so excited he dressed up all fancy, and may have an appearance from the newest, least-living member of the team. Finally, on Friday we’ve got a lovely little podcast special, with Tom, Quinns and myself having a chat about what we’re planning and dreaming of for our first, perfect game night once all this *gestures vaguely* is a bit less diseasey. Without wanting to get too serious, what hopes are you hoping right now, folks?
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Quinns: Greetings from frosty Brighton, everybody! I wish I could say “snowy Brighton”, but alas, today the sky produced about three sneezes’ worth of snow and then gave up. But while I can’t offer you snow, this week I can offer you a pile of fresh, cool, crunchy board games. On Tuesday Matt and Tom will be streaming what at least some people are calling the game of 2020, Beyond the Sun. Would you like to see what the fuss is about? Was the discussion on podcast #124 not enough for you? Or are you just monstrously impatient for our video review, which will only be published when the game is back in stock? If you answered “Yes”, “No,” and “That’s right”, you won’t want to miss this one. On Wednesday Tom will be publishing a video review of one of board gaming’s stone cold classics, a game that is, in fact, older than he is. But not much older. I can say no more. And then Friday will see the emergence of the very 130th Shut Up & Sit Down podcast. Remember how episode #119 was called “The Big Reiner Beefcast”, in which we all argued about legendary designer Reiner Knizia? We’re tentatively calling episode #130 “The Big Reiner Lovecast”. Look forward to further chat about My City, The Quest for El Dorado, and more besides.
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Ava: Greetings humans and gentleworms! Welcome to a whole new week at Shut Up and Sit Down, the website where humans turn board games into thoughts that we blast directly into your ears and eyes. This week is the last week in January, objectively the worst month of the year, and we’re nearly through it! Well done folks, we did it together. Try not to look directly into the eyes of February, a month that would technically be worse if it wasn’t a whole three days shorter. How are we going to get you through the final Jan-stretch? Well, on Tuesday, we’re going to be streaming our porkiest stream yet, a game of City of the Big Shoulders, an economic cube pushing game with some of the stock market shenanigans of the baffling board game sub-genre known as 18xx. I have no idea how it works so I’m likely going to be thrashed by Matt and Tom, what a treat! Wednesday is review day, and I’m permitted to tell you that it’s likely to be the wettest review of the year so far. Matt will be serving up a platter of opinions that shouldn’t actually make you wet, but you do you. Finally, we’ll wrap up the week with our traditional podcast, our tentpole discussion this week is Vampire: The Masquerade – Vendetta, a game we tried on stream and I quite liked but was worried it might be a little unbalanced. What will Quinns, Matt and Tom think? I’ll find out when I start editing the podbeast, but you’ll have to wait until Friday. What lovely bit of anticipation for you. Aren’t you lucky! So everybody, tell me, what’s been getting you through the chilliest, toughest time of the year? Or if you’re in the southern hemisphere, what can you tell me about summer? Is it really real?
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Quinns: Hello everybody! Welcome to our new look Monday post. Today, with a heavy heart I must announce that after many years of faithful service, the Games News is being retired. This will be sad news for its regular readers, but the Games News demanded a tremendous amount of work from our team while outright refusing – and you’ve got to hand it to the ol’ Games News here – to ever grow in popularity. So this year, instead of doing the Monday news our team will be redoubling its efforts to make more of the stuff you like, as well as taking the time to come up with brand new features. Instead, on Monday we’re going to be doing these nifty little posts checking in with our community and teasing what we’ve got coming up that week. For example: On Tuesday of this week (tomorrow!) head over to our Twitch page to watch us play the new and pleasingly mauve-coloured card game Vampire: The Masquerade – Vendetta. On Wednesday I’ll be presenting our first video review of the year, a eurogame that Shut Up & Sit Down donors will already have heard me squeaking about in our behind-the-scenes newsletter. Then on Friday you can look forward to podcast #126, which was a LOT of fun to record- Tom, Ava and myself discussed the new Uwe Rosenberg game Hallertau, and then spent the whole rest of the podcast discussing which Rosenberg games Tom should play. But enough about us! What did you get up to this weekend, everybody?
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Tom: Ava, I have placed the news under arrest. I found it stealing lollipops from toddlers and pelting old people with bricks.
Ava: One of those crimes definitely seems worse than the other.
Tom: How about stealing bricks from toddlers and pelting old people with lollipops? Either way, the news has been thoroughly cancelled and we’re going to have to manage this week without it. I hope you’ve brought all your best ‘News?’ to the table.
Ava: Erm. We’ll see?
Ava: I don’t think you’re ready, for this jelly.
Tom: I don’t think i can handle this.
Ava: It’s just jelly Tom. It’s all just jelly.
Tom: And news, right?
Ava: Yeah, sure, you can call it that if you want!
[Eric Tonjes is Shut Up & Sit Down’s miniatures gaming correspondent. This week, we’re publishing an article from Eric of a rather different nature. Content warning: This piece contains terminal disease and the loss of a loved one.]
Eric: As I write this, I’m looking at a copy of Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 sitting on my bookshelf. I am smiling. I am crying. It is a game I will always love, and I will never know how it ends.
Elizabeth and I got married almost a decade and a half ago. I was already firmly entrenched in my hobbies, painting miniatures and running a weekly D&D campaign. Initially it was “my thing,” and I never tried to make her love games. However, over our early years, she slowly eased into them. We played some Ticket to Ride, some Catan, and soon she was hooked. I remember the first time we finished playing Caverna, which became an enduring favorite. She told me she really liked it, probably in part because she won. I pointed out that she couldn’t say she wasn’t a board gamer anymore. She gave me her little half-smile and said she didn’t know what I was talking about.
Ava: Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom.
Tom: Aaaah. Stop poking me. I’m awake, I’m awake. I thought it was meant to be worm month??
Ava: Tom. It’s TUESDAY. We SLEPT THROUGH THE NEWS. And anyway, worm month was a lie sold to you by the greedy greeting card companies after they accidentally acquired thirty tonnes of sentimental worms after a spelling mistake on their annual words order.
Tom: I’m feel betrayed! But I sympathise. We’ve had similar issues with the Games Newts. Onwards!
Ava: Tom, Tom, wake up, I’m really sad about disco again.
Tom: Whabuhhuh?
Ava: Turns out the first line of that song is ‘do you remember the twenty first night of september’, but we already used that joke already earlier this month even though we were due to do the games news on the actual 21st of September. We wasted the joke! It wasn’t the right time!
Tom: At least you aren’t calling me Ronald, like last week.
Ava: Go back to bed Ronald. It’s time for a games news disco.