Quinns: We have awoken from the post-AwSHUX slumber! Well, I’ve awoken. Well, I’m half-awake. Well, my right eyelid is gummed shut and I’m still wearing my pyjamas- the point is that I’m here, and I’m ready to tell you what’s coming up Shut Up & Sit Down.

On Tuesday we’re streaming Keystone: North America, a game of developing an ecosystem and the first release from hot new publisher Rose Gauntlet! Then on Friday you can look forward to episode #139 of the podcast, which will be (get ready) a special episode all about manuals. Basically, Matt had a near-death experience laying out the manual for RATS: High Tea at Sea, and will be telling us what he learned as a springboard to discuss manuals in general.

No video review this week, although we do have our next five(!) reviews planned. You can look forward to our video reviews starting up again from Wednesday the 12th of May.

Finally, let’s have a little peek at the games topping the BGG Hotness and see what we think, eh?

1. Evil scientist simulator My Father’s Work tops the hotness this week, with its Kickstarter campaign at a hefty $445,000 and counting! For a closer look you should absolutely check out Tom explaining the game in our AwSHUX preview videos. We’re learning to expect zesty games like this from Renegade Game Studios, who often pair innovative games with very strong art design.
2. Matt Eklund’s Stationfall takes the #2 spot. It’s my first time seeing it and it reminds me of a tabletop Space Station 13? A highly thematic, highly chaotic game of hidden objectives and strong theming. Or maybe you could describe it as Nemesis without the aliens and with more of a sense of humour?
3. Next up is Lost Ruins of Arnak by CGE. Released last year, this game is turning out to have some real staying power! Not only is it still in the hotness, it’s currently listed as BGG’s 7th best family game and 103rd best game of all time.
4. Fourth is Dune: Imperium. Our team was broadly pretty cool on this box, and you can hear why in podcast #127. Like Arnak, this game combines deckbuilding with worker placement, and we felt it was no more and no less than the sum of its parts. (Except Matt, who thought it was not “Bad” but “Good”.)
5. And riding unexpectedly high in the hotness is Vivid Memories by Floodgate Games! Could this be a result of Tom explaining it so masterfully in his AwSHUX preview, and then again on podcast #138? Probably, yes.