On this gritty episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Emily are chatting about a whole dune’s worth of sandy, sandy games! Well, two of them are sandy. The other two are just games. In fact one of the two sandy games is mostly water. Listen, it’s Friday afternoon and I’m ready to stop working and start playing Deadlock, which I am hopelessly addicted to. Truth be told, the new fortnightly podcast schedule only exists to fuel my addiction to losing roughly four games in a row every evening until the end of time. I will die ignorant, and I will die angry. You can’t stop me! YOU CAN’T STOP ME!!

This episode, we’re talking about Sand, Surf’s Up, Sumo, and Tokkuri Taking! Enjoy!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

01:41 - Sand

15:26 - Surf’s Up

27:46 - Sumo

33:24 - Tokkuri Taking

Thanks to our amazing community podcast transcripts are available here https://bit.ly/SUSDPodTranscripts and are usually completed within a few weeks of the podcast's release.

On this solitary episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom ALONE is checking out a whole cluster of games he played in one big week of boards! Enter… if you dare…

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

02:28 - Life in Reterra

06:44 - Belratti

11:49 - 23 Knives

16:35 - Festival

20:56 - Joyride: Survival of the Fastest

30:16 - Arcs

33:52 - Pampero

On this addictive episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Pip are talking about a board game and… a VIDEO GAME? First up, a sensible and grounded conversation about the slightly perplexing world of Ancient Knowledge - a tableau builder set on top of an ancient conveyor belt. This is then followed by a ramble about Balatro - a poker-themed deck builder that’s quite clearly NOT A BOARD GAME. It’s made of ones and zeroes! It’s on a screen! The horror, the horror, the horror.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

04:51 - Ancient Knowledge

22:14 - Balatro

In this wobbly 165th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, the whole gang beams their thoughts about games to an audience of hungry gamers at PAXU 2021! Enjoy a quippy Quinns, a meticulous Matt, an articulate Ava and a terrified Tom as they collectively ramble through no less than 5 excellent games - from the undead discos of Castle Party to the hellacious horse racing of Long Shot: The Dice Game; ‘this one really do got it all.’

This will be the last podcast of 2021, but stay tuned for early next year where we’ll be uploading the second PAXU special.

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

Timestamps:
1:50 - Castle Party
11:51 - The Great Zimbabwe
17:33 - Reef Encounters
25:31 - Big Shot
32:31 - Long Shot: The Dice Game
44:56 - 2021 Spatchtower Backer Update

In this industrious 164th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Matt and Quinns are mostly talking about two games where I (Tom, hello) rinsed them; two crusty brains pummelled into the dust by three cups of coffee and an unending desire to ‘prove myself’ in the cardboard battlegrounds of ‘board games’. Huzzah.

On this podcast you can hear words about the hellacious retail disasterpiece of Brick & Mortar, the dice-chucking mayhem of Rush Out! and the nonsensical auctions of Furnace. Three games wallowing in a lot of minutes - minutes stuffed with observations, rammed with remarks and runneth(ing) over with criticismé.

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

In this FESTIVE 163rd episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, the whole gang's here to talk you through all kinds of games, big and small, that they reckon you should buy for your loved ones this holiday season! A bumper list of 13 entire boardgames; there’s got to be something for everyone, even if one of them is - of course - Quacks of Quedlinburg.

Fancy something we mention in this episode? Tap here for shopping links, videos, and brief written details of every game we've recommended in this episode.

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

In this week’s episode, Ava is joined by Matt for a natter about two recent games - both of which feature DICE and HEADS. You can see the whole creative process unfolding! Matt has checked out the Cuphead game, and Ava is bang-on-time for Halloween with the gorgeous Die of the Dead.

In this mind-bendingly 161st episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Quinns are talking about Ireland and brains! In this podcast, you can hear our thoughts about Brian Boru, and telepathically download our feelings about Mind MGMT. You might also be able to intuit our opinions on Detective: City of Angels and Kabuto Sumo… but that’s what the video reviews are for, really.

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

In this “Truly Cyberpunk” 160th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast Tom, Ava and Matt are talking about a number of weird games played semidigital-style with the wonders of the internet and Matt’s hands! In this episode we have a sequence of little rambles about Dinosaur World, Floating Floors and echoes: The Cocktail!

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

In this juicy 159th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Ava, Tom and Quinns are living it up at AwSHUX 2021! Enjoy an appetiser of the Exit Advent Calendar, followed by a mouth-watering main of Unfathomable, before finally settling down to the biggest pile of desserts your relenting stomach can muster. That’s right, we’re going to be rambling about the six previews that we’re most excited for at this year’s AwSHUX: Winter Edition. Stick around to hear brief snippets of Picture Perfect, Steam Up: A Feast of Dim Sum, Brick & Mortar, Beast, Mythic Mischief and Super Team.

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

In this chaotic 158th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Ava, Tom and Quinns are slamming bugs into walls! We’re talking about the expansive box-ticker Hadrian’s Wall alongside the entomologically-inclined wrasslin’ of Kabuto Sumo! We also have some brief chats about our recent video reviews of Descent: Legends of the Dark and Burgle Bros 2: The Casino Capers - two be-coloned sequels of varying quality!

Apologies for some slight background noise at times in this one - all three of us had various drilling going on nearby that was hard to weasel out properly! And, as Quinns mentions at the end of this one, there won’t be a podcast for the next couple of weeks while we focus on getting prepped for AwSHUX. See you toward the end of October for a live special!

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

In this numerically 157th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Ava and Tom are visiting Egypt, Ganymede and *checks notes* some parks. That’s right, we’re chatting about the sandy box of miniatures and angst that is Ankh: Gods of Egypt, the love letter to parks that is Parks, and the last shuttle to Ganymede in Ganymede.

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

In this deliberately 156th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Matt are poring through the back-catalogue after a lovely afternoon of playing nice games together. We’re chugging along in Empyreal: Spells & Steam before literally obliterating hundreds of invaders in Spirit Island. It’s a tonal soufflé! I will not elaborate further.

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

On this extra-terrestrial episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Emily are venturing into SPACE in MLEM: Space Agency, and digging deep down into the mines in Kutna Hora: The City of Silver. Two very different games, on this one, but both absolutely worth checking out. 

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

02:30 - MLEM: Space Agency

19:00 - Kutna Hora: The City of Silver

In this constructively 155th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Quinns and Tom are absolutely going to build you two cities and then bury you in witches. Today we’re talking about Magnate: The First City and North Berkeley, two very different takes on the property market with at least some political undercurrents, and we’ve got Witchstone, which switches to witches. Plus a little bonus micro-chat about Tom’s recent review of The Adventures of Robin Hood.

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

In this resplendent 154th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Ava and Tom are going to be talking about a whole bouquet of different games! Tune in for some thoughts on the gently charming LUNA Capital, and Ava’s segment on ‘games what were one thing but are now a different thing’ - where we’ll be talking about Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition and Lost Cities: Roll and Write, as well as their respective parents.

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

In this considerably 153rd episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Ava, Tom and Quinns are talking all about stories. First Ava and Tom dive deep into the watery archipelago of Sleeping Gods, and then Tom and Quinns trade water-cooler gossip about their ridiculous times with Hostage Negotiator: Career. There’s bells and swamps and influencers and ghosts. It’s truly the podcast that has everything!

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

In this nastily 152nd episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Quinns get shonky while talking about two games against the clock! We ramble for far too long about Egizia, a game of rivers and building monuments - before then chatting about Regicide, the hot new card game that’s got everyone a-bubblin’. We also talk a tiny bit about The Crew, and Tom does a bad joke twice!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

In this rapidly 151st episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Ava and Quinns are climbing mountains and swinging from trees to tell you about some board games about climbing mountains and swinging from trees.

Quinns introduces us to Trek 12, a game of mapping out mountains, roping numbers together and some clever envelopes. Then Ava wants to be a bit over-familiar with Fast Sloths, a game of hitch-hiking sloth racing.

In this wobbly 150th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, a freshly-jabbed Tom and perfectly off-kilter Matt are ready to tell YOU about SOME GAMES!

Matt regales us with the story of him crushing my space station in Star Scrappers:Orbital! We pretend to know all about wargames with Freedom! Tom rambles about his UKGE adventures in a smushed up-special!

And before you listen to this most excellent podcast, dear listener; a fun tidbit. We were going to do a big chunky roundup of all the exciting things Tom saw at UKGE, but so much of it was sufficiently interesting or strange that we’re going to save it for future, more in-depth coverage. Stay tuned for some opinions, and some hot, hot games!

It's a very special episode of the SU&SD podcast! Are you gonna learn about drugs? NO.

Instead, Matt done a big ol' interview with tabletop veteran and fabulous man Andrew Navaro. Andrew used to be the head of the legendary design studio Fantasy Flight Games, then became the director of Chip Theory Games, and now he represents Earthborne Games, a brand new publisher with a focus on sustainability.

Enjoy, everybody!

In this industrious 148th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Quinns and Tom are jumping into two varyingly bleak economic games. The Cost is an asbestos-mining infrastruct-em-up with a beige board and some bleak commentary, while Arkwright: The Card Game takes Arkwright’s cutlery manufacturing to a more compact place.

In this exceedingly 147th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Ava and Tom are talking about two games that couldn’t be more different! We’re getting trapped in a ‘bullet hell’ in Level 99 Games’ Bullet♥, and Ava trapped a bunch of her friends in a kind of ‘Pork Hell’ in TEETH: Night of the Hogmen!

Apologies for the lateness of this week's podcast! This site's own Tom Brewster has fallen ill with Covid-19. Tom's okay, but in his own words, "It sucks."

In this emergency episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, we're presenting one of our favourite panels from the most recent AWSHUX, our "Away SHUX" online convention. In it, Quinns has a terrific talk with his favourite Go YouTuber, In Sente, a.k.a. Michaela Galluci.

The pair shared their favourite tips for teaching complex games to people, but eventually succumbed to the temptation of just talking about Go. Did you know that it's a good game? It's a good, good game. If you missed Quinns' review of Go last year, definitely check it out.

We hope you're having a great weekend, everybody. Your regular podcast will be back next week.

On this adventurous episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt wander into great beyond to ramble about their favourite things in Earthborne Rangers! There’s some very light spoilers in this one - with emphasis on the very - but it’s mostly just a podcast where we wax lyrical about one of our favourite games in recent memory.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

In this mischievously 146th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Quinns, Ava, and Tom are going back to Oxford one last time for a night of card games, libraries, gardens and gratitude.

We’re looking at Atheneum, Ohanami, Similo and No Thanks! Four games with a lot of cards and not a lot in common! It’s almost entirely games we’re a bit ambivalent about! Is that exciting? I do hope so.

In this chilly 145th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Matt, Ava, and Tom are popping off into space! Do you want anything? We’ll be back in 5 minutes - but I’ve not got my keys so you’ll need to let me in thanks x

First we’re getting cold with Cryo - a game left us just a little nippy. We’ll then be negotiating ourselves into oblivion with Moonrakers - a game that has less connective tissue to the bond film of the same name than you might think!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

In this hungrily 144th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Quinns, Tom and Ava are locked in a room together! A week long gathering of your verifiably rowdy hosts kicked off with three cracking reprints of lovely older games, and then we all did a podcast about them!

We start with Big Daddy Kniz’s Royal Visit, move to Cornwall for Martin Wallace’s Tinner’s Trail before jumping across the pond for a steamboat race in Mississippi Queen!

Due to a live record, some of the trips and erms have been impossible to excise, so expect a slightly more chaotic pod than usual. We were very excited to be playing games together.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

In this willingly 143rd episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Quinns and Tom are going on an adventure(s)! Keep your hands and feet inside the box at all times - especially as we lower the lid over the top of your head and slide you into a Kallax. It’s where we keep all the adventures.

We’re going on ADVENTURE through ARNAK in the Lost Ruins of Arnak! We’re going on an ADVENTURE through TIME in The Loop! And last but not least, we’re going on a CARD GAME through FANTASY in Fantasy Realms!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

In this frankly 142nd episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Ava and Tom have been left alone again, and proceed to gush for almost an entire hour about the hottest hotgame right now: Oath! They shouldn’t let us get away with this stuff.

I can only promise that we do get to ‘how to play’ in this podcast, but it made sense for us to get whimsical about the victory conditions first to frame the rest of the rules, because they’re quite special.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

In this cuddly 141st episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, we’re taking a breather with a brew, and a couple of gentle games with cosy, cosy themes! We’re (k)notting our whats with The Whatnot Cabinet, trailing fairies in Fairy Trails, and… doing something else unusual in Herbaceous!

In this decadently 140th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Boardgame: The Podcast, we’re talking about a couple of hot-button-games that we’ve come over all tepid about. We’ll first guide you into the asymmetrical port of Merchants Cove, before serving up a delicious mug of mathematical coffee in… Coffee Traders!

Have a lovely weekend, everybody!

In this butt-clenchingly 139th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, we’re talking all about manuals! Do not try to escape, you have been warned! Thrills abound as Matt and Ava jungle-gym their way through a forest of Adobe products, kerning, and intriguing observations - all centered around RATS: High Tea at Sea - the roll and write that we think is quite good! No need to ask for any other opinions, we are the professionals, after all.

Have a lovely weekend, everybody!

Live and scary from AwSHUX 2021, it’s Quinns, Tom and Ava! Apologies for the incredibly unhinged energy on this one, it was powered by nerves and I’m also editing it at 1 in the morning! What a combination!

We’ve got an absolutely brutal lineup of games on this one, folks. We’re talking plants, gardens and sheds in Three Sisters, we’re slapping down a bunch of little wooden towers in Medina, and we’re serving up hot hot murder on our pals in Night of the Ninja.

BUT WAIT! There’s more! At the tail-end of this pod, embark on an odyssey of AwSHUX previews! Tom and Quinns will battle it out in an arena of hyperbole - armed with 26 separate previews that they’ve ruthlessly whittled into the silliest segment around!

In this indubitably 137th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Quinns are producing decibels about two games that they are both a bit excited about! First off we’ll ramble about Nidavellir’s moody dwarves and chunky coins before taking a break in the wilderness of Cascadia; a land of solitary bears and salmon on the slalom.

We then finish this pod off with some very brief thoughts on recent video reviews for Cubitos and Stardew Valley: The Board Game - so if you need thoughts on rolling, growing, moving, and crowing… then you’ve come to the right place on your Friday evening! What luck!

Have a lovely weekend, everybody!

On this climate-friendly episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt take half an hour to amble through their first play of Daybreak - the latest co-op save-the-world-like from Pandemic designer Matt Leacock, new designer Matteo Menapace, and publisher CMYK games of Monikers, Wavelength, and Lacuna fame. A stacked lineup, for sure; but what do we think of the game? Find out more by having a little listen...

Have a great weekend, everybody!

In this imperceptibly 136th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Ava, Tom and Quinns chat about two chunky pieces of cardboard chicanery about people in history going places and taking what they find. Anno 1800 and Stroganov are up for discussion and traveling in opposite directions in more ways than one.

Have a lovely weekend!

In this whimsically 135th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Quinns chat about a number of single-player pen-and-paper map-drawing/journal-making role-playing games - or ‘Solo RPGs’, for short. We’ll be digging deep into Delve, thinking back to Field Guide To Memory, and shooting upwards to be Alone Among The Stars, each game a new designer and a new direction.

Have a lovely weekend, everybody!

In this floaty 134th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Matt and Quinns peek through a collection of cumulonimbi to deliver their verdict on just one game: CloudAge! Expect a dash of opinion, some twists of chatter, and just one unexpected visitor. We’ve got it all!

Have a lovely weekend, everybody!

In this old-fashioned 133rd episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast Tom and Ava have been left on their own, and are abusing the privilege with a personal campaign to get some wonderful, fusty old European games reprinted. Come join us on a journey across a continent! We’ll be making friends with weird faces in Saint Petersburg, stealing some surprisingly colourful bricks from The Palaces of Carrara and getting grandiose in Spain with El Grande.

It’s weird for us to cover so many out of print games, but don’t worry, these are all currently available to play online through BoardGameArena or Yucata - so put your feet up for the no longer a very mystery tour, because I just told you all where we’re going, oops!

Have a lovely weekend, everybody!

In this mysterious 132nd episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom, Quinns and Ava clamber aboard a raft of games that’s gently sailing down a river made of...dreams… Do not get into the water, the dreams are also full of plague.

We’re going to be rambling about an absolute bunch of games that, when combined, would make up our perfect post-covid boardgame night. If you want to be surprised by each addition to our lists then click play! Or if there’s anything in particular you’d like to hear about, we’ve got all the games timestamped below.

Have a lovely weekend, everybody!

In what is clearly the 131st episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Matt, Tom and Ava are going to continue recent pod-tradition and natter about just the one game, thanks.

That’s right, it’s Faiyum! A game about being both (a) in Egypt and (b) confused! Happens to the best of us. We’re going to be chatting about how it really works, how it sort of works and how it doesn’t work in a hodgepodge chat about one of the stranger board game offerings of 2020.

We had some technical difficulties with this one, so apologies if things feel a bit bumpy. It suits the game in question!

In this freshly-pressed 130th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, we’re making amends. "The Beefcast" left the team torn in two, sundered, ruined... borked beyond repair. Now? It’s time to rekindle the fire, and what better way to do so than talk about the man that broke us? That's right, it's time to talk 'Kniz.

Take a seat as Quinns and Tom natter about recent video review stars My City and Modern Art, with a little wiggly chat about The Quest For El Dorado smashed in the middle. We also take the time to make plenty of great behind-the-scenes podcasting errors, for your pleasure!

In this juicy 129th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, it’s time for business, baby! Join Matt and Tom for a conversation about Carnegie, where our thoughts doth runneth over. Literally. We aimed to keep this one short and sweet but then Matt got ever so excited about history - something that we like to call ‘a nerd move’, in the biz.

Think of this one as the ‘one-two-punch’ of board game podcasts, if you will. A first half that basks in the utter joy of the thing, and a second where reality rears its ugly head at our barred doors. We just wanted to enjoy a game about a hard day’s work, reality! Why do you always spoil our fun?! I JUST WANTED TO CRUSH A WHOLE UNION IN PEACE!!!

Have a lovely weekend!

In the unbelievably 128th podcast we spend a surprisingly long time chatting about Vampire: The Masquerade - Vendetta, a game with as much blood as it’s got colons! This pink-hued game doesn’t take a rose-tinted view of the source material, which Quinns and Matt get deep into a big nostalgia blanket for. How sweet! Eventually we might even talk about the game. We wrap up with some racist beans, and a surprising experiment with Tom’s pockets!

Have a lovely weekend!

In this garishly 127th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Matt, Tom and Ava have a meandering little chat-a-thon about Dune Imperium - a spicy hot game that at least two of the folks on the podcast... aren’t all that hot for. I bet you can’t guess who.

We’re trying a bunch of new formats to see what fits in our new world of weekly pods - so, as always, your thoughts and feelings are appreciated.

Have a lovely weekend!

On this Knizian episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Matt delve into Bitewing Games’ double-feature of new Reiner games - Cascadero and Cascadito. How do they compare to other classic Knizzes, and which of the two boxes should you add to your collection? The boys then have a little natter about Fit To Print - a mildly more relaxing alternative to the Galaxy Truckers of the board game world.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

Cascadero - 02:10

Cascadito -22:14

Fit To Print - 31:51

In this frighteningly 126th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Ava and Quinns try their very own best to convince our very own Tom to play their favourite Uwe’s. What’s an Uwe? I thought it was a big sheep, but I’ve been wrong before.

But before the great Uwe Showdown - where we discuss games as great and diverse as Nusfjord, Glass Road, A Feast for Odin and Le Havre - we first have a neat little discussion about Hallertau; the biggest and bumpiest box of bricks, bits and bobs that Germany has EVER seen. Does it live up to the hype? What’s the bottom line? And most importantly… How many beans?

We tried to keep this one shorter, as per the new podcast-a-week project, and we failed miserably! Please enjoy our nonsense rambling for close to an hour, until we start to get knackered.

Have a lovely weekend!

WELCOME to the 125th SU&SD GAME OF THE YEAR PODCAST! Because technically, every game is a game of the year! Why? Because it came out that year, dummy! That’s just maths!!!

On this timely episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, the four musketeers gather once again to chat about just one game that they each think deserves Game Of The Year status in 2020. Who will win? Will their game be from this year? Will they even chose a game at ALL! Answers to these questions and more can be found… right here!

Thanks to our amazing community, podcast transcripts are available here, and are usually completed within a week or so of the podcast's release.

Have a lovely weekend!

It's a podcast! And you know what that means… it’s Friday time! Wait...

On this rambling 124th episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast Ava, Tom, and Quinns chat about a couple light and silly games to brighten the mood before plunging headfirst into a big greasy barrel of eurogames. Master Word and Sticky Chameleons don’t stand a chance, guzzled up before your very ears like boardgame hors d’oeuvres. The main course? Alhambra, Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road and Beyond The Sun - each course more chunky and crunchy than the last. Get cosy and settle in for a banquet of the most enticing mechanics that boardgames have to offer...

Have a lovely weekend!