Shut Up & Sit Down

Podcast #112 – Spooked in Sea, Spooked in Space

SpaceMealz, face tats, twitch.tv/grandad, Birds: Say Their Names

On this week’s episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Matt, Tom & Ava sit around in a board game soup, rambling about a series of games that we’ve been playing in the darkest reaches of lockdown – and even go so far as to talk about some digital card games! The horror.

Join us for a bumbling episode where we talk about everything from the raucous Forgotten Waters to the pensive and tense The Crew, as well as a quick chat about Gloomhaven and its upcoming mini-adventure Jaws of The Lion. We’ll also be talking about all the recent games we’ve been streaming – such as the delectable 1s and 0s of Slay The Spire, and the existential dread of Mothership. Last, but not least, we’ll be giving some positively DANGEROUS thoughts about Wingspan, a game that everyone can agree is QUITE NICE.

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Review – Wingspan

bird girth, eatin' bone in the sheets, the secret of quinns' bad marriage

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a bird. In fact, it’s all of the birds.

At long last, after a preposterous 7 print runs in 14 months, Shut Up & Sit Down has published a review of Wingspan. It’s the biggest success story that the tabletop scene has seen in a long time. But is it a success story on our tables? Or in our hearts?

Click play, and find out.

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GAMES NEWS! 15/06/20

Competitive Firing, Your Friend is A Complicated Human and Making Them Not Sad Is Sometimes Something That Isn’t So Simple, Back-To-Back-Back-To-The-Future, Meeple-Level-Marketing

Tom: Hey there, reader. Are you excited by news? Do you like boardgames? Do you want to make a fortune through-

Ava: What are you doing.

Tom: Shh! Let me finish my pitch.

…As I was saying – you, the reader, stand to gain cardboard riches beyond compare. How? Well, it’s as simple as the power of positive thinking, and SU&SD’s patented Pear-Shaped Marketing Scheme.

Ava: You’re not meant to tell them the SHAPE of the scheme! They’ll put the pieces together!

Tom: But that’s just the shape of the company! You hired me and Mart, and now I’m hiring the… wait… a moment… Is this a pyra-

Ava: STREAM SCHEDULE! We all love the stream schedule and there is nothing shady to be discovered within it. This week, Matt will be deviating from boardgames to play some Slay The Spire on Tuesday, and then Matt and Tom will duke it out in Dice Throne on Thursday. Then, next week, we’ve got some real corkers – we’ll be playing some Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion on Tuesday, and continuing through MOTHERSHIP on Thursday. Isn’t that all so exciting! Follow our Twitch page now, and you’ll never miss a show. Until you obviously, ineviatably do.

Tom: Ava, it’s so exciting that I’ve forgotten whatever I was just talking about. It’s so exciting that YOU should be a part of it, reader! You just have to mail your entire boardgame collection to the Shut Up and Sit Down offices and soon you’ll be working your way up the corporate ladder that we call home.

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SHUX’20 Update

AwSHUX, bring your favourite chair from home, hug a publisher (safely)

AwSHUX Update!

AwSHUX will be open to everyone! It will also be free for everyone, attendees and exhibitors! Bookmark https://awshux.show, the site will go live on Friday Oct 16. We’re just finishing final tweaks leading up to the show. There will be no password, signup or any registration needed, the site will open to the public. You may want to create a Discord account (free) to do demos at exhibitor booths or hang out with other attendees. A Twitch account (also free) will come in handy if you want to interact/comment on Twitch streams over the weekend but you do not need one to watch the stream. Tabletopia (who have kindly partnered with us) will have a special link that we’ll have on the AwSHUX site to enjoy free access to all their games over the weekend as well!

– – –

June 10, 2020 – Hello everybody. Today we’ve got an announcement about this October’s SHUX, the Shut Up & Sit Down convention. To state the obvious, hosting an event where thousands of people from all over the world can meet and sit in close proximity is no longer “a great idea”.

If you were planning on attending SHUX in 2020, or even 2021, here’s everything you need to know. And if you weren’t planning on that, scroll down to the next image on this post for a fun surprise!

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8000 Years of Board Game History in 43 Minutes

dusty drugs, a gamble and a sausage, leave chess alone

For this week’s Wednesday video, we wanted to offer something a little different.

At SHUX last year Quinns gave a talk on the history of board games. A quick’n’dirty tour of the games of ancient prehistory, all the way through to the invention of cardboard in the 19th century.

We present it today as a reminder that while today’s tabletop scene is overwhelming white, this is a blip in the 8000 year history of the hobby. The earliest known board games are found in Africa. Dice were invented in the Middle East. The first games that tell stories are found in Egypt. Playing cards were conceived in China. Chess came from India, by way of an Islamic Caliphate.

This hobby owes a debt to people of colour that it could never possibly repay. At the very least, we can make sure we don’t forget it.

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GAMES NEWS! 08/06/20

The Big News, This’ll thistle

Ava: There’s just too much news, Tom.

Tom: Yes, but most of that isn’t actually about games is it.

Ava: I know, but it feels super weird to be focussed on one narrow stream of stuff when so much huge other stuff is happening.

Tom: How about this. We’ll pick a few fruits from the kickstarter tree, oggle a few upcoming intrigues, then try and be thoughtful and highlight some good work, good links, and ways to help?

Ava: Maybe a teensy bit of stream promotion first? Just a wee dram to get the cockles warm?

Tom: A little stream promotion; as a treat.

So! All stream donations/subs for the next month are going to Black Lives Matter and the Stephen Lawrence Trust – so your regular scheduled boardgame buffoonery now comes with a small side of potential positive change. This Tuesday we’re playing Oceans with Dominic Crapuchettes, and on Thursday we’re going to be playing MOTHERSHIP – a roleplaying game! Imagine! That will feature myself, Ava, Matt and Pip and I’m super excited for it. Then, next week, we’ll be playing Dice Throne on Tuesday and [something else] on Thursday! Tune in, it’s always a cosy time.

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Podcast #111 – Cramped Cats, Demonic Cricket

squeaky-dry, Catholic superpowers, hot splotter problems

Are current events getting you down? Ha ha. That’s our little joke. Of course they are. But in this episode of the podcast, Ava and Quinns are here to remind you through the magic of tabletop, things can always be worse! There’s the threat of adorable animals drowning in Isle of Cats (02:43), a world-devouring demon invasion in Planet Apocalypse (12:53), the startling cruelty of medieval Italy in Antiquity (24:17), as well as the bum-punishingly long Western Empires (46:01).

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A Message from Our Team

Everybody at Shut Up & Sit Down is finding it very hard to work this week, and we’d imagine that many of you feel the same. We offer love and solidarity to those currently struggling in the face of police brutality – we stand unequivocally with those who rightly demand justice. While the severity of violence towards peaceful protests isn’t an issue our country shares today, Great Britain is equally guilty of allowing systemic racism to thrive – and the culture of our hobby is far from exempt.

As a small show of immediate support, we will be donating all money raised through Twitch streaming this month to Black Lives Matter and The Stephen Lawrence Trust. This is a start, but it is far from enough. This need for action extends beyond this week or this month, and the team remains in serious conversation about how we can make a difference on a more long-term basis. If you already donate via Twitch – you don’t need to do anything. If not, we would ask that you donate directly via the links above.

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GAMES NEWS! 02/06/2020

eyebrow wagglers, Ur my sunshine, crocodile vores, sheep smugglers

Ava: Come on, come on! That games news needs to be piping hot when it goes to the serving hatch or table four is going to send it right back! Have you chopped those opinions yet? Peeled the puns? How’s the reckon roux reducing? Have you even basted the takes?

Tom: Oh darn, I’ve made a ramble roux instead; and these takes are absolutely underdone, let alone properly basted! I’m going as fast as I can, chef, but we really need a news potwash – I’m still doing the dishes from last week!

Ava: Gah! Do I have to do everything myself? Please tell me that you’ve at least properly prepped the stream schedule?

Tom: Yes Chef! Tuesday we’re serving a seafood course – a pan-fried Oceans with guest chef Dominic Crapuchettes, and on Thursday we’ve got some survival space food courtesy of Galaxy Trucker with Matt and Tom! Then next week? Tuesday sees us crunching some cuboid croutons floating in joke soup – hastily whipped up by Matt and Tom over some delicious Dice Throne. And then Thursday has us sitting down to the main course! MOTHERSHIP! A LIVE RPG WITH TEAM SU&SD!

Ava: You let the goof slip a little at the end there.

Tom: It’s just too exciting, chef!

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Review – Western Empires

a 10000 year-old mosh pit, what is wine, putting the "fire" in fire sale

Gird your tabletops! Western Empires is the biggest game we’ve ever reviewed in both length and girth. A 9 player, 12 hour game? What could be bigger than that?

We’ll tell you what else. The combined game of Mega Empires, which you’ll be able to play when Eastern Empires releases in the near future. A game that the United Kingdom Department of Bigness and Sizeitude has gone on record as calling “Too Big”.

Also in the video is our new table from Geeknson! In fact, this exact table is on Kickstarter right now. You’ll find Quinns’ thoughts on that (and gaming tables in general) at the 18:04 mark of this video.

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AwSHUX Update!

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