News 22 - Shut Up & Sit Down

Games News! 09/04/18

Paul: What is that distant honking I hear, that mournful note that sings its way through the evening fog? Why, it’s the horn on the Games News Barge! And who is sailing it into port? Why, it’s Quintin Smith!

Quinns: My hold is stacked full of the freshest Games News stories, my crew primed and ready to unload them. What’s first? Only Plaid Hat’s in-depth update of Starship Samurai. With an unusual anime aesthetic and design credentials from Isaac Vega (Dead of Winter, Ashes, City of Remnants), I’ve been awaiting some hot hot details on this game for a long time.

Quinns: Goodness gracious, I’m beat! I’ve just finished moving house from London to Brighton and it turns out my grasshopper-like body is nowhere near as good at lifting boxes as it is at reviewing them. On the subject, believe the hype: the Kallax shelving unit is the prettiest, cheapest board game storage made by anyone, anywhere.

But enough about my new flat*! This is the Games News, not the Quinns News, and I’ve got some smokin’ hot stories to get my journalistic tongs around.

Uwe Rosenberg could be the most consistently excellent designer working today, and this explanatory post on his next game, Reykholt, just shot it to the top of my most-wanted list.

Paul: Welcome to Shut Up & Sit Down’s Games News, the only organic board games news on the internet, specially selected by our team of expert newsologists and prepared for you with only the very highest quality ingredients.

Quinns: That’s right. Our artisanal news is of the very highest quality and proven by science to be extremely good for your health. Ah, I see the first course is being served now! A light soup full of tiny boats, representing the latest expansion for legendary drafting game 7 Wonders- 7 Wonders: Armada!

Paul: Of course! What is the ocean if not a really, really, really big soup?

Paul: Push, PUSH. I can see the head! We’re almost there. Any moment now!

Quinns: AAAAAA at last! After so long! Is it a girl? Is it a boy?

Paul: IT’S NEWS.

Quinns: I… hmmm. Oh! A new version of the Avalon Hill cool-as-cucumber classic History of the World? What a fascinating way to start the week!

Paul: We know it’s Games News time when we hear the honk of the Games News Freighter (SS Games News) as it makes its way up the Games News channel, to disgorge Games News upon the Games News docks.

Quinns: OH NO A MAN HAS BEEN CRUSHED.

Paul: Such is the weight of Games News and the danger of not taking things easy. We should all relax with Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea (seen above).

Quinns: Hi all! We’re not doing a full Games News today as Paul and I both happen to be moving house, but I thought I’d scribble something about this week’s top story.

Batman™: Gotham City Chronicles is the smokin’ hot, spandex-spangled new Kickstarter that launched this week, and at the time of writing it’s raised some $2.5 million (plus shipping). It could end up being one of the biggest Kickstarters of all time.

That’s hardly a surprise. Not only is it offering more than 100 Batman-related miniatures and something called a “Bat-Tablet”, it’s also the sequel to Conan, which we reviewed and loved. Kickstarters this exciting are as rare as bat’s teeth. Not only that, publishers Monolith have stated that unlike Conan, Batman will only be available through Kickstarter, so the pressure’s on! Should you buy it?!

Speaking personally?

…I’m afraid that I’m not 100% sure you should.

Quinns: Paul, there’s so much Games News to unload off the Games News truck today. We have to get it in before it spoils in the sun.

Paul: Oh NO. These headlines are supposed to be refrigerated, this story isn’t packaged properly, this one has started leaking…

Quinns: Huh, here’s something interesting we don’t usually put on the shelves, a tale of a Kickstarter gone sour and plagiarism accusations. We don’t usually start off the news with high drama, but I’m not sure this is a story we can ignore.

Paul: Welcome to another tub-thumping edition of Games News, the only board games news anywhere that features FIREWORKS and PYROTECHNICS and a ten meter CATHERINE WHEEL-

Quinns: paul you’re on fire

Paul: ON FIRE WITH EXCITEMENT about CASTELL and LOWLANDS and even HARRY POTTER.

Quinns: We’ve got a whole mess(e) of news for you this week! That’s my very clever way of saying that most of this week’s stories come from BoardGameGeek News’ coverage of Spielwarenmesse, the world’s largest international toy fair. Through that link you can join those guys at the coal face, or you can stick with Shut Up & Sit Down as we collect the shiniest announcements.

And speaking of shiny, Coimbra is a 2018 release that I’m really excited about. That’s not just because this site has yet to try any games from notable Italian designers Flaminia Brasini and Virginio Gigli (perhaps best known for Lorenzo il Magnifico and Grand Austria Hotel). It’s because this is a German-style resource management game that actually looks nice, with striking art by the inimitable Chris Quilliams.

Paul: I shake the champagne bottle, pop the cork and what comes bursting forth? February! February everywhere, gushing and bubbling in all directions. I don’t know about you, but I have a distinctly good feeling about February as a games month.

Quinns: Is there anything finer than sharing a frosted glass of February with some good friends? And what a Games News it’s brought us! With everything from Aztecs to political intrigue to some strange new version of Monopoly that I might actually play.

Paul: You’re kidding.

Quinns: Drink up!

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