Podcast #81: Our Irradiated Pastries

this belongs in a museum, this probably doesn't, sugar as a mechanic

Hot damn! We’ve got some smokin’ exclusives for you today. In this podcast we chat about our playtest of Reef, the next game in the series that brought us Azul. We gossip about Newspeak, a great-looking code-cracking game that will be arriving on Kickstarter imminently. We offer our thoughts on the fabulous labour of love Museum, which has yet to make its way to Kickstarter backers. Matt lays out his controversial verdict on Fantasy Flight’s Fallout board game! As temperatures continue to rise, the boys discuss their secret pastry playtest from Jenn Sandercock’s Edible Games Cookbook, and talk about what to do when busy board game conventions become too hot to handle. Finally, we approach a fiery finale where… oh dear. It seems the temperature of this podcast is reaching dangerous levels. Please, whatever you do, don’t click play! Podcast burns are NO JOKE

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Podcast #80: Until The Sheep Goes “Berp”

artichoke-gate, quintin's famous pet shop, super towel robots, paul's eyes

Oho, this episode of the award-winning Shut Up & Sit Down podcast has more scoops than sweet shop, and is just as sweet. We found out that learning geography CAN be fun in the tense game of Destination X. We learned that Lowlands is the best Uwe Rosenberg game since A Feast for Odin, and it isn’t even designed by Uwe Rosenberg. We learned that the amazing-looking Starship Samurai is, perhaps, not as good as we were hoping. And we learned that Quantified – an upcoming game you’ve definitely never heard of – is a thought-provoking co-op game about surveillance and big data. We also found out that the vikings that hang around outside the UK Games Expo are not to be trifled with, as Matt narrowly escapes being skewered by an actual spear. Finally, we implemented the OMEGA PROTOCOL: A quick-fire round of questions that were tweeted to us by the audience, right then and there. Huge thanks to everybody who came down and contributed to the veritable cyclone of questions that followed.

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Podcast #79: Law, Order and the Order of Logging

what can you do with wood, why paul left the band, what is embezzling

Excuse me, are you ready to report for jury duty? In this episode of our award-winning podcast, Matt, Quinns and Paul discuss the hellish lumber management of Lignum, the lumbering hell-management of Huns, they have a troubling conversation about Holding on: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr and have a good laugh about Band Manager: The Boardgame. After that? This show throws open the doors of the SU&SD law courts. Matt claims that Quinns threw away his copy of Pandemic Legacy Season 2, and is requesting that he pays £65 in damages. Quinns would prefer not to pay the fee and has invited a real-life lawyer, his friend Clark Burscough, onto the podcast. Will he be proven guilty, innocent, or somewhere in between? This podcast is also available as a video.

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Podcast #78: Paul’s Good Lamp Years

putting boys up chimneys, thinking about dogs, breaking poker

Rain falling on cracked windowpanes. Once-boisterous assembly rooms, now silent. Mr. Paul stalks the halls of his once-proud lamp factory, his mind a warren of regret. How did my business venture go so wrong? Excitingly, this week on the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast Paul and Quinns discuss their experience of running 19th century factories in the ENORMOUS game of Arkwright.  Also, there’s chat about why Quinns didn’t get along with the beautiful new edition of card game High Society, the pair once again discuss the superb NMBR 9, and Quinns talks about being a brave weather fairy in the game of Broom Service. Finally, the pair take their shoes off and paddle around the mailbag to answer not one, not two, but three little questions! Don’t come in, the water’s cold and full of jigsaw puzzles and binding agreements. New podcast feeds (if you’re missing episodes 71 onwards, try these): iTunes Google Play RSS for your favourite player

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Podcast #77: Shipping & Deceiving

get comfortable, loosen your tie, and help yourself to a glass of paul's beer

HONK! After a long journey, the latest Shut Up & Sit Down podcast is now docking with your ears. The pinnacle of opinion-container technology, it’s 400 metres long bow to stern (but you shouldn’t feel a thing since it’s largely metaphorical). The thing is, the boys have finally played Container, a ridiculous economic game that’ll be enjoying a similarly ridiculous new “Jumbo” edition in July. This podcast also contains chat about Decrypto (see Paul’s recent review) and Medici, each of which deliver big experiences in small containers. Finally, we spend a whopping 25 minutes discussing two games: Brass: Lancashire, which is the new edition of classic game Brass, and Brass: Birmingham, the hot new “sequel”. We’ve now played both of these much-anticipated games, and you know what? Going against Quinns’ Brass video review, Shut Up & Sit Down can finally recommend Brass. But you’ll have to listen to find out why… Enjoy, everybody!

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Podcast #76: Long John’s Bad Mind

bunny's too tight to mention, who is the baddest god, paul's spooky dog

It’s been a while since the last podcast, but we’ve not been idle! Like a board game version of Nintendo’s Kirby, over the last month the team has been sucking in experiences and now we’re going to expel them at you in a 90 minute special episode. Boomf! In order of appearance, Matt, Quinns and Paul discuss The Mind, Cardline: Animals, Bye-Bye Black Sheep, Kemet: Set (which is so new it doesn’t even have a Board Game Geek page!), Treasure Island, Fireball Island (which has just 8 days left on that Kickstarter) and Bunny Kingdom. That might be more games than we’ve ever had on a podcast before, and you know what else? They’re ALL GOOD. Finally, we soothe our aching jaws with a gentle chat about what makes kingmaking (one player causing another player to win) enjoyable in a game, and what makes it frustrating. Lovely stuff. New podcast feeds (if you’re missing episodes 71 onwards, try these): iTunes Google Play RSS for your favourite player

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Podcast #75: Stress Testing your Tarot

quinns is undone, matt is sleeping with tim schafer, paul has seen a dog

This week, Matt, Paul and Quinns reunited in a hotel! We didn’t record them all crying with joy for five minutes straight, but we did record them sitting down afterwards to discuss some board games. First off, the team discuss stress-testing some of their favourite games from the last year at the 2018 Game Developer’s Convention in San Francisco. Did Ethnos, Fog of Love, Azul or Barenpark buckle under pressure? But wait, there’s are new games too! Matt has thoughts on the as-yet unpublished Puzzlegami, Leigh joins the team to describe the as-yet unfinished Four Empires, and Paul provides some thoughts on Star Wars: Legion and Age of Steam. Enjoy, everybody! And if you’d like to hear the team record a live podcast in person, we’re recording two of ’em at the UK Games Expo in June. Come stop by! New podcast feeds (if you’re missing episodes 71 onwards, try these): iTunes Google Play RSS for your favourite player

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Podcast #74: The War of the Stuffed Sun

wetting the bed, the furthest a dwarf has run, kidnapping a dragon

Everybody, please remain in your seats with your seatbelts securely fastened. We’re expecting some turbulence. Some turbulent discussions of board games, that is! In this one and only 74th episode of the SU&SD podcast, Matt and Quinns discuss their weird wooden mates in the Journeyman expansion for Isle of Skye. They chat about stabbing nightmares with pencils in Stuffed Fables, which might be best described as “Toy Story directed by Tim Burton”. There’s a discussion of the grand game of War of the Ring (second edition), and the real-life backache it gave Quinns. Finally, the two offer their smokin’ hot first impressions of Rising Sun, a beautiful game about Japan (but not) where you fight wars (but you don’t) and negotiate alliances (but not really). Enjoy, everybody! New podcast feeds (if you’re missing episodes 71, 72, 73 and 74 try these): iTunes Google Play RSS for your favourite player

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Podcast #73: The 2017 Pearple’s Choice Awards!

a family show, the award for best quintin, a middle finger to the march of time

Who’s this, arriving fashionably late in a limousine? Why, it’s only a new podcast discussing the winners of the 2017 Pearple’s Choice Awards! Quickly, cinch up your black tie or crawl into the nearest dress before joining us on a discussion of the best games of last year. There’s reflection on Gloomhaven, Sagrada, Inis, Captain Sonar, Fog of Love, Azul, Consulting Detective, Twilight Imperium 4th edition and so, so much more. You also get to hear the team collapse in on themselves like a dying star when exposed to the madness of the Best Expansion category. Just what is an expansion for?! Huge thanks to forum user clg9000 for organising such a fun event. New podcast feeds (if you’re missing episodes 71, 72 and 73 try these): iTunes Google Play RSS for your favourite player

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Podcast #72: Climbing Mount London

IS THIS THE END FOR OUR HEROES?! Matt, Paul and Quinns were last seen launching an expedition to get to the top of the Shut Up & Sit Down review stack. They talked about wanting to scale games like Mountaineers, A Tale of Pirates, The Climbers, the second edition of London and the Munchkin Collectible Card Game (which actually sounded… quite good?). They were also talking about getting to the bottom of a thought-provoking reader mail. It’s rumoured that it questioned whether pirating board games became an ethical grey area in some countries. Today we found this recording. It’s the only evidence we could find that they’re still alive. Come home safe, boys. New feeds (if you’re missing episodes 71 and 72 try these): iTunes Google Play RSS for your favourite player

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