In this 52-card episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Ava and Tom are chatting about a whole bindle of different card games – some of which Tom took with him on holiday, some of which are new adventures in the world of trick taking, and some of which are juuuust for Ava. It’s a rambly wander through a whole bunch of different boxes… right here.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Tap below for full timestamps and more info!
It’s a full house, baby! In this episode of the podcast Ava and Quinns discuss FIVE games, each and every one of which they are IMPRESSED BY. Has that ever happened on the podcast before? We’re not going back to check. That could take *minutes*.
Quinns can offer some early impressions of Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 (04:15), Ava’s been dueling a stranger in Innovation (19:36) (and you can read Ava’s splendid roundup of Chudyk’s games here), there’s a lovely drawing game called Geometric Art (34:12), a revisit of Spirit Island (41:12) and we close the show with some impressions of the hot new card game Spicy (57:35).
Thanks to our amazing community, podcast transcripts are available here, and are usually completed within a week of the podcast’s release.
Read More
Ava: Welcome to an occasional series introducing you to a single, storied game designer. Today I want to tell you about the games of a man called Carl.
Certain designers have a set of obsessions that shine brightly when you put all their work together. There’s a pattern of passions that unite their work. Carl Chudyk is my my board game design crush, and it’s because he ploughs a furrow that nobody else could. His games are relics from a weirder, smarter world. He builds layered puzzle-systems where possibilities multiply at every turn. They’re challenging to learn, but a delight to wrangle.
It’s odd though. I struggle to recommend them to people, even though they’re my favourites. I don’t like to push people into an experience that might feel horrible the first time round. It’s like asking someone to dive into a river that will be cold until they adjust.
But I want to talk about Carl Chudyk anyway. Once you’re swimming with him, you’ll find something you couldn’t get anywhere else. You’ll open tiny boxes and find yourself tucking ideas under possibilities and watching your table turn into a sea of systems. You’ll still be finding surprises on your hundredth play.
You’ll get stories. Stories of the time a game felt different to anything else.
These aren’t reviews. There’s no time for that.
Instead I’m going to dissect a few games, pull out a few gutsy details, and see if I can read in the entrails why Carl is the way he is. Why he fills me with wonder and what makes me scream. Take a deep breath. It’s a fast river, you might not be able to get out.
This game by Carl Chudyk is a journey through innovations from the stone age through modern times. Each player builds a civilization based on various technologies, ideas, and cultural advancements, all represented by cards. Each of these cards has a unique power which will allow further advancement, point scoring, or even attacking other civilizations. Be careful though, as other civilizations may be able to benefit from your ideas as well!
To win, you must score achievements, which you can attain by amassing points or by meeting certain criteria with the innovations you have built. Plan your civilization well, and outmaneuver your opponents, and with some luck you will achieve victory!
Read More
Paul: Quinns hello Quinns good morning Quinns have you seen? There’s a few interesting things that came in the Games News Sack this morning.
Quinns: That’s not the “Games News Sack”, Paul, that’s the postman’s bag.
Paul: Well he won’t be needing it any more. The important thing is that we’ve got the Games News today. As well as everyone else’s mail. And a few spare, loose limbs.
Quinns: Okay then. I guess now is as good a time as any to start telling people about Tail Feathers! A new skirmish game from Plaid Hat arriving in just a few months that combines Mice & Mystics with the X-Wing Miniatures game.
Read More
Quinns: The first edition of Innovation, a card game ranked in Board Game Geek’s top 150 games of ALL TIME, looks – as you can see – supernaturally boring.
The tiny box looks like it should contain soviet suppositories, and inside it you’ll find 110 cards in the same hospitalised colour (Lung? Nicotine?). The deathly manual informs you that every one of these cards is an “innovation”, from archery to automobiles, and 2-4 players will use them to race from one end of history to the other.
Let’s say you agree to play Innovation, even though it’s clearly not your thing. That experience can be compared to going to drink a tall glass of dirty water, and discovering it’s neat whisky.
Read More