Shut Up & Sit Down

How to Play Skull!

maybe it's not a skull, i bet that's a skull, is that a skull, oh DAMMIT

If you ask us what our favourite game is, it changes with the weather. If it’s a sunny day, Cosmic Encounter. If it’s wet and windswept, Consulting Detective. If it’s a sleepy autumn night, Memoir ’44. And so on, forever and ever, until we get tired and go to sleep.

But if you ask our team which game they’ve played the most, you’ll only get one answer: Skull*. Arguably the best bluffing game ever made, and a glittering showcase of just how much game you can get out of a minimum of rules.

If you’re still not sold, check out Matt’s review and a recipe! Skull with Fresh Pizza.

*Though Quinns’ Netrunner habit and Paul’s Carcassonne addiction do offer some competition.

Review: Mexica

nobble traditions, a party of the future, secret truths, crash bandicoot

March 25, 2016 Reviews Mexica, New to Games? Quinns and Matt want you to come on holiday with them! Come along to the ancient city of Tenochtitlan. Don’t worry, it’ll be demolished again once we’re done with it. Mexica was a bit of a surprise for us. We hadn’t heard anything about it, but this … Read more

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Podcast #39: Dancin’, Brawlin’ and Burglin’

crime's fine, quinns the acrobat, '90s archetypes, foy-errs

Paul, Matt and guest star Jonathan Ying come to us LIVE from GDC 2016 discuss the hottest new board games! And by “hottest” we mean “weirdest” (and by “new” we mean “old”). Designer Tim Fowers stopped by our lounge to demo his games to us, the sneaktacular co-op Burgle Bros and deck-building word-builder Paperback. Fantasy … Read more

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Games News! 21/03/16

quinns and thompson sitting in a tree, tinder for paladins, resting with the fishes

Quinns: My god! We just got back from running our board game lounge at the annual Game Developer’s Conference and it looks like someone left the news spigot flowing for the entire time.

Our biggest story is that Ra, one of Reiner Knizia’s old and therefore good games, is coming back in a pretty new print run! In a rare example of SU&SD being ahead of the curve (rather than about two months behind it) our entire team has actually played the original 1999 auction game and is in agreement that it’s well worth your money.

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How to play Galaxy Trucker!

quinns is a cheat, he's cheating, stop him, matt stop him

These “How to Play” videos are giving us a great chance to dust off some of our all-time favourite boxes. Of course we were going to do Galaxy Trucker. We’ll climb back into its rickety cabs any chance we get.

If you want to see more of this absolutely hilarious game your next port of call should be our Let’s Play, which we swear to god was not “rigged” despite what you might have read. The game is just that ridiculous.

After that, you should just buy the darn thing. It looks like the Anniversary Edition in this video has now sold out, but the base game is ready and waiting for you.

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Review: Arena Rex

grisly flourishes, nudey men, apoplexy, scotch, oil, a lack of magic

[We were so happy with Eric Tonjes’ work introducing us to miniatures games with his reviews of Infinity, Dropzone Commander, Warmachine, Malifaux and the Batman Miniatures Game that when we heard about a new, very special minis game we had to get him back.]

Eric: I’ve spent the last few months working those pectorals and drenching myself in olive oil. Why? So that I can now sit shirtless at my computer for a proper review of Arena Rex.

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Review: Patchwork

rotated for your pleasure, humane killings, the curious case of paul's buttons

Paul: True story: I got in trouble for sewing once when I was six years old. I wasn’t supposed to be sewing because, apparently, sewing is not a thing that a man does. That seems a little strange since I have definitely met some tailors who were men and whose helpful craft meant I wasn’t instead stumbling naked through life. Anyway, being thus steered from sewing surely explains why I’m not as good as I should be at Patchwork.

And it’s such a shame because I want to be better at it. I’m sure I could. I’m certain I’m on the verge of some sort of needlework breakthrough, of a real understanding of petite, precise Patchwork. I cannot stop now. I must master this splendid, splendid challenge. This flat, unassuming and apparently drab affair is so much more than it seems. Do not underestimate its prosaic presentation.

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Games News! 07/03/16

he's not looking at the board, LOOK AT THAT BOARD, fury of teenagers, dead of maldives

Paul: March is here and with it what might be THE MOST EXCITING GAMES NEWS OF THE YEAR SO FAR. Maybe. I don’t want to get your hopes up or anything, but we have a whole host of great stuff here. Let’s get started with one of the most interesting games concepts I’ve seen for long time…

Quinns: Fog of Love! Riding high on its early Kickstarter success, Fog of Love is a two-player game about trying to navigate the ups and downs of a relationship, about trying to understand your partner and about trying to get what you want both from a relationship and from life.

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Review: Star Wars Rebellion

the climax of the egg trilogy, battle cats, large dogs, emotional monsters

Hold on to your womp rats! Quinns is here with one of the biggest reviews of the year. Star Wars: Rebellion is Fantasy Flight’s forthcoming Star Wars star war.

One side plays the Empire, another the Rebellion, in a vast conflict involving more than 150 plastic miniatures and countless twists, turns and heroics.

In other words it’s about the most exciting thing imaginable. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this early review.

How to Play Condottiere!

clutch heroines, emergency bishops, scarecrow power

Condottiere is a card game with a little bit of everything. A bit of area control, a bit of bluffing, a bit of hand management, a bit of negotiation and a bit of luck. It’s like a delicious sampler platter of everything board games have to offer, and it’s a perfect game to start your collection with.

Shut Up & Sit Down has talked up this classic since the site began. Check out this review from back in 2011! It turns out this game is still available in shops and still excellent, so it’s time to do it again!

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