Shut Up & Sit Down

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!

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!

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

Just a very little update for our plans this year. We're swapping to three episodes per month rather than four, with a bonus episode each month for folks supporting us on Patreon.

Cheers!

On this mystical episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns are delving into the future… and being embarrassed by the past. It’s the SU&SD 2024 Predictions Special, where our two intrepid hosts guess at what treasures await for the hobby in this glittering, shiny, brand new year.

Want to vote? If you listen to this podcast on Spotify, there should be a polls section where you can cast your opinion as to which of our hosts deserves a game from the others’ collection. A video of the resulting pilfering will be shared in part on our Twitter once the poll closes, and in full in our monthly ‘Bonus Bits’ Newsletter for donors to the site.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

03:57 - 2023 Predictions Revisited

21:01 - 2024 Predictions Created

On this AMAZING episode of the Shut Up AND Sit Down Podcast, Tom AND Pip chat ABOUT A trilogy of excellent games that start with A! Yes, really, that’s the theme. It was kind of an ACCIDENT!

In-between retrospective chats about Tom’s favourite ‘gentle tile build-em-up game’ Akropolis and Portugese tile-smashing simulator Azul, there’s ample time to chat about the latest in the soothing nature-themed game subgenre; Aqua.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

03:21 - Akropolis

10:22 - Aqua

26:18 - Azul

On this triptychal (NOT A WORD!?) episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are summing up the final selection of games that they played at PAX Unplugged - ready to wipe the slate clean and begin a whole new year of boardgames!

We’re chatting about the trick-taking-twist of Inside Job, taking on a double whammy of family in CDSK and Fun Facts, and finishing up with two very different dexterity (?) games; Nekojima and Turbo Kidz.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

00:57 - Inside Job

06:39 - Fun Facts

13:58 - CDSK

19:36 - Nekojima

25:22 - Turbo Kidz

On this untimely episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Emily and Tom are chatting about two cracking games with a little twist of nature in them - Forest Shuffle and Apiary! The former has you playing cards and building a forest, whereas the latter is 99% about moving a big plastic bee, I think? Awkwardly tucked away at the end of this podcast is, fittingly, Misfits - a stacking game with A GHOST!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

02:30 - Forest Shuffle

12:25 - Apiary

28:04 - Misfits

On this moderately larger episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt chat about a few more games that they played at PAX Unplugged! We’re dealing with the chunkier games of the bunch here - the games that got us to calculate, manoeuvre, and… drive a big truck into a wall. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

01:28 - Dune: Imperium

07:27 - Nucleum

21:28 - Evacuation

35:05 - Thunder Road: Vendetta

On this hot meat sandwich of a Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are running through a selection of the games they played at PAX Unplugged!

First up are some excitable impressions of the latest from Leder Games: Arcs! That’s followed up with a double bill of Grandpa Beck games - the raucously silly Cover Your Assets and Skull King - which in turn is followed by ANOTHER double bill of mushroom-themed boxes with Mycelia and Mycelium: A Mushling Game. Finally, we get to the real good stuff, where Tom and Matt wax lyrical about Strike; a ridiculously simple dice-chucking game that we simply couldn’t get enough of.

This is the first in a double, potentially TRIPLE feature of PAX Unplugged games! Next time, we’re tackling the big crunchy boxes that melted our brains…

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

03:43 - Arcs

13:44 - Cover Your Assets

19:31 - Skull King

24:45 - Mycelia

32:21 - Mycelium: A Mushling Game

39:38 - Strike

On this international episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom welcomes the absolutely fabulous Emily to the airwaves! Wahoo! Together, they chat about Bonsai, Infiltraitors, and Crash Octopus - a trio of much-hyped games that are all pretty damn good!

Please do show your appreciation for Emily in the comments on the site! She was SO nervous about appearing on the pod, and I think she absolutely bossed it.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

On this bedominoed episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Pip chat about a couple of pleasing games they’ve been playing over the past couple days! Djinn is a fabulously satisfying game of stuffing spirits into bottles, and Moon River is a divisive entry into the Kingdomino series of games! That’s games! Two of ‘em! Read ‘em and WEEP!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

01:54 - Moon River

21:48 - Djinn

On this historic episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Matt and Tom are smacking chess pieces together in Match of the Century, cramming their brains with tetrominoes in Mind Space, cramming their drawers (NOT RUDE) with junk (NOT RUDE) in Junk Drawer, and stealing eachothers words in Shenanigrams! It’s a smorgasBOARD of BOARD games! See what I did there? WAHOOEY!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

Match of the Century - 01:47

Mind Space - 13:40

Junk Drawer - 21:10

Shenanigrams - 25:17

On this DUALITY of a Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns are EXCLUSIVELY talking about games for just two players! After an afternoon of cards and “Brotherly Bonding” they’re ready to let it rip - where IT is opinions and RIP means AMIABLY DISCUSS! We’re nattering about Dogfight, Nawalli, and Sail on this one - with a little snippet of Mind Bug thrown in for good measure.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

Dogfight - 03:33

Nawalli - 13:46

Mind Bug -  24:38

Sail - 26:53

On this briny and newsworthy (?? episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Pip and Tom are chatting about a couple of games they found right at the very depths of the sea. First up, we run through the twists and turns of dragon-packing simulator Sea Dragons before settling down to the familiar comforts of archipelago-based 4X-ing in Orichalcum.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

02:28 - Sea Dragons

15:56 - Orichalcum

On this jam-packed episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns are going through all the games that Tom brought back from Essen! This doesn’t include the whole host of eurogames he played whilst there, which might even be a separate podcast all by itself! Goodness! We also have time for a very sneaky mention of Crystallo’s latest expansions, and a fair portion of semi-irrelevant chat. Just what the doctor ordered!

Thanks for bearing with us during that brief podcast pause - we’ll be back to the regular schedule from now on!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

03:47 - Crystallo

06:47 - Sky Team

12:22 - Viking See-Saw

14:37 - 3 Second Try

16:44 - Ninja Master

18:06 - Nuts A Go-Go

21:32 - Tiger and Dragon

26:01 - RoboTrick

31:13 - The Same Game

36:36 - Prey Another Day

41:21 - Triqueta

44:51 - Match of the Century

On this greasy episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, we’re talking about a whole BINDLE of games. First up we chat about YET ANOTHER Devir small-box Eurogame (The White Castle) before then talking about Soulaween - an abstract game that’s had Quinns making sweeping, terrifying statements. Finally, some chat about a bundle of little card games sent to Tom - including recent review Five Three Five alongside Harvest and Bridge City Poker.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

02:44 - The White Castle

14:58 - Soulaween

28:30 - Five Three Five, Bridge City Poker, Harvest

On this verdant episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Pip have a chat about the nature-based-games they’ve been digging into recently - Evergreen and Planted! Enjoy!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

04:11 - Evergreen

18:10 - Planted

On this 3-digit episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Pip are chatting about 003 different games, and scoring NO POINTS for it! First up is the light deduction puzzler The Number, followed by a retrospective and sleepy chat about Broom Service. We tie things up by talking about the much-hyped Sea Salt & Paper, trying to get BIG BLUE POINTS in the BIG BLUE SEA.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

02:04 - The Number

14:57 - Broom Service

30:45 - Sea Salt & Paper

On this hastily-themed episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns are nipping through a triathlon of games that have some amount of animals in them. First up, Tom digs out the practically ancient Zooloretto for an enticing retrospective, before having a chunky chat about another recent Devir small-box wonder; 3 Ring Circus. Closing out the pod; Feed the Kraken - a be-dumbification of hidden role games featuring a large watery friend.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

02:09 - Zooloretto

08:50 - 3 Ring Circus

23:48 - Feed the Kraken

On this confrontational episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and “NEW POD PERSONALITY PIP” chat about a whole cluster of games! First, the pair divine the precise co-ordinates of a sweet potato in Tiwanaku, before bearing witness to the unholy power of fire in Iki. To close out the pod, Tom recommends Pip try out Block Party, a game of making a detailed carrot from cubes.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

01:57 - Tiwanaku

22:40 - Iki

38:25 - Block Party

In this inconveniently titled episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns talk about Three* Great* Games! We’re talking about two* cracking* games from Reiner Knizia - Zoo Vadis and My Island, as well as the latest tiny-box game from Devir; Bamboo!

Rarely does my cold and mechanical editors heart chuckle whilst chopping pods, but I made myself laugh with this one. I think it’s good fun*. Enjoy!

*(with caveats)

Note: Quinns refers to the wrong artist during our Bamboo section - the painting is a Hokusai!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

01:30 - My Island

12:47 - Bamboo

22:37 - Zoo Vadis

On this eco-mechanical episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt chat about two very different - but very thematic - games! First up are Matt’s early impressions of Earthborne Rangers - a massive game about protecting and engaging with the environment from one of the folks who made Twilight Imperium happen. Then, our dynamic duo shift gears to talk about their time about causing and preventing riots in the one-v-all game of prediction; City of the Great Machine.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

01:53 - Earthborne Rangers (Production Chat)

10:01 - Earthborne Rangers (Game Chat)

24:18 - City of the Great Machine

Note: Sorry about the audio on this one! Some very jacked up mics produced a lot of room noise that was hard to scrub. We’ll have this fixed in a couple episodes!

In this clay-based episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are talking about a cluster of games they’ve played together recently. First up is a lengthy chat about Golem - the crunchy, Italian-designed eurogame based on the folkloric Jewish automata (it’s quite good!). Then, a couple of very speedy chats about Resist! (a fantastic solo game where you play as the SPANISH revolution) and Stomp The Plank (a great push your luck game we recently reviewed).

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

01:47 - Golem

23:56 - Resist

32:13 - Stomp The Plank

Note: We misquote Will Smith's line in Independence Day a couple times in this podcast - not realising the ⁠pretty charged history⁠ of misquoting it in such a manner! Apologies for this, it was not our intention to offend!

In this loamy episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are taking a little wander through the hills and valleys of… a rather complicated engine builder. We’re talking about recent BGG darling Earth and its soil-based engines, alongside a few brief chats about seance-based deduce-em-up Phantom Ink and mud-based clean-em-up Dirty Pig. Matt also has a few words to say about the student games we got to briefly drop in on at the recent UK Games Expo!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

02:17 - Earth

26:19 - Phantom Ink

38:31 - Dirty Pig

44:52 - Student Games

In this unknown episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are talking about a couple of the games they played at the UK Games Expo! First up we’re taking off to visit Planet Unknown - a chunky tile-laying game with a spritz of Susan. We’re also going to be chatting about Big Boss - a new ‘n improved version of the Kramer Klassic from 1994! Finally, a quick chat about War of the Ring: The Card Game after the recent video review!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

02:00 - Planet Unknown

17:18 - Big Boss

36:01 - War of the Ring: The Card Game

In this bright green episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Ava are ambling through a selection of good new games! We’re talking about the latest Friese title ‘Findorff’, the much-anticipated expansion to Beyond The Sun - ‘Leaders of the New Dawn’, and our upcoming video review for the hidden movement game ‘Beast’!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

03:04 - Findorff

16:54 - Beyond The Sun: Leaders of the New Dawn

32:10 - Beast

In this squishy jelly baby episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Ava are chatting about a cluster of funstuff they’ve been hanging out with recently! First off, Ava apologises for her callous disregard of engine-building classic Gizmos, and Tom slightly loses his mind during a game of Rolling Heights. Finally, our two intrepid boardsplorers (?!?) chat about Ava’s latest, smallest video review for Hamlet.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

06:09 - Gizmos

19:43 - Rolling Heights

33:38 - Hamlet

In this pitch-black episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Quinns tells Tom and Matt all about his time at Cabin Con in the United Situation of America! On this podcast, we’re talking about a cluster of small RPGS (Bluebeard’s Bride, Cowboys With Big Hearts, Brindlewood Bay) and a couple of games that require an entire house (This House Is Haunted and Werewolf in the Dark). It’s a fun time!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

05:47 - Brindlewood Bay

12:12 - Bluebeard’s Bride

16:27 - Cowboys with Big Hearts

23:51 - This House Is Haunted

30:49 - Werewolf In The Dark

In this 7.341/10 episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns are talking about three games - one great, one ‘just fine’, and one that’s completely deranged. We’re chatting about Mobile Markets, Amun-Re, and Mogul - and bizarrely it’s the 2015 Train Game that’s the deranged one. IT’S GOT A BOWL!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

03:30 - Mobile Markets

15:30 - Amun-Re: 20th Anniversary Edition

29:06 - Mogul

In this refreshing episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns are chatting about a smattering of great old games that they played ‘Just For Fun’! We’re starting with two classic Knizias in Taj Mahal and Samurai, before alighting to the pub for some small box gems - Mundus Novus and Parade.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

05:53 - Taj Mahal

15:58 - Samurai

26:30 - Mundus Novus

36:22 - Parade

In this algorithm-friendly episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns are FINISHING WHAT THEY STARTED. This episode of the podcast is something of a companion piece to our Top 10 Small Games video, and we’re chatting just a little bit more about some of the best games on that list.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

04:54 - Spots

10:09 - For Sale

15:16 - Worldbreakers

22:15 - Hungry Monkey

26:05 - Aquamarine & Voyages

29:19 - Trailblazers, Curious Cargo, Pipeline

In this ‘north of average’ episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Ava are talking about three interesting, if a little boring, games. First up we have Panchayat and Kingsbridge - two games that don’t dazzle, but do ask interesting questions about what we recommend and why. We then have a chat about Skymines - a Pfister reimplementation that impresses!

Timestamps:

02:21 - Panchayat

15:56 - Kingsbridge

33:10 - Skymines

In this communal episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Matt and Ava are chatting about their speculative board game commune? I don’t know either, dear listener.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

In this wordly (???) episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Ava and Tom natter about some of the word games they’ve been playing recently! Tom waxes lyrical about Paperback Adventures and LOK, two games featured in the just-published word game special, whilst Ava brings Letter Jam and Fiction to the table! Enjoy!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

03:03 - Paperback Adventures

11:47 - Letter Jam

18:36 - Fiction

29:15 - LOK

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!

Timestamps:

03:21 - Yokai Septet

08:56 - Bridge

20:55 - Ghosts of Christmas

24:00 - Nine Lives

30:02 - Bug Council of Backyardia

33:07 - Skull King

38:21 - Innovation

In this lightly depressed episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns are having a chat about the games they've played recently on a rainy Thursday afternoon. First up is the team-based Mafia crunch-em-up La Famiglia: The Great Mafia War - a game we have mixed feelings about. We then take a trip through a roleplaying game about Superheroes (Masks) and a deckbuilding game about Star Wars (Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game). 

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

03:37 - La Famiglia: The Great Mafia War

17:59 - Masks

32:27 - Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game

In this complete failure of a Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Quintin Smith and Tom Brewster are coming to you, hats in hand, to apologise profusely for not making a robust and fully-featured video review of the ancient game of Mahjong. In this episode, we talk about Mahjong, our experiences playing it for review, and why it didn’t quite make its way onto your screens!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

In this completely solitary episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Ava is taking you through a triplet of solo games in this meandering river of a podcast! She’s talking through Oranienburger Canal , Maquis, and Mage Knight - a smattering of solo for your Friday evening.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

03:37 - Oranienburger Canal
12:04 - Mage Knight1
18:26 - Maquis

Hey gang! No podcast this week, as we've got LIFE STUFF to take care of! We'll be back as normal next Friday, as always. Ta!

In this mildly nostalgic episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Matt and Ava are casting their eyes back to PAX Unplugged… to re-explain some of the games we goofed up the first time. ‘Scharfing’ Sauces in Sauscharf, ‘Deliverering’ Pizzas in Psychic Pizza Deliverers Go To The Ghost Town, and acting like a total ‘Shark’ in… Shark!

Enjoy!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

01:59 - Psychic Pizza Deliverers Go To The Ghost Town

12:11 - Sauscharf

21:07 - Shark

[apologies for some slightly wonky audio on this one - it's another one-mic-two-boys special!]

In this close quarters episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns are having a natter about two very interesting Collectible Card Games they’ve played recently - Flesh & Blood and SolForge Fusion! Enjoy nearly an hour of rambling chat where we don’t entirely know what we’re talking about - but are having fun regardless.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

01:49 - Flesh and Blood

26:55 - SolForge Fusion

In this rapidly plummeting episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are talking about Stationfall and Deal with the Devil - two games that we didn’t quite love, but really enjoyed thinking about!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

03:38 - Stationfall

25:17 - Deal with the Devil

In this peppy and positive episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns are talking about the first set of games they’ve played this year; a triple-bill of Ginkgopolis, The Wolves, and The Search For Lost Species! Our intrepid hosts struggle to pronounce the name of the first game, struggle to comprehend the strategy of the second, and just plain struggle with the third. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Tap below for full timestamps and more info!

Timestamps:

04:12 - Ginkgopolis

19:24 - The Wolves

28:41 - The Search for Lost Species

In this new paradigm in Shut Up & Sit Down Podcasting history, Tom and Quinns are chatting about what they think the board game industry holds for us all… in 2023! Expect a series of 5 completely uninformed opinions laced with ‘reckons’ and ‘guesses’ - all with a competitive twist. We're hoping to circle back on this episode in 2024 and be overjoyed by quite how wrong we are.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Note: This podcast was meant to come out a little earlier, who could have guessed? If you're looking for more Frosthaven thoughts, as the intro might suggest, then we've got our FrostCast just one pod away in the feed. Cheers!

On this surprisingly colonic episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Quinns tackle two fantastic games... that one of us wishes were just a smidge better. That's right, it's the Undaunted: Stalingrad Spoilercast, and the HEAT: Pedal to the Metal... praisecast? These are two games we've reviewed recently and both think are just peachy. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

02:48 - HEAT: Pedal to the Metal

18:48 - Undaunted: Stalingrad

26:51 - Undaunted: SpoilerGrad

In this slightly early episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt have sat themselves down for a lengthy, lively chat about the game everyone is eagerly awaiting; FROSTHAVEN.

This is a mostly spoiler-free episode, focusing on what you’re going to see upon opening the box and little more than that. We start by chatting about some of our first impressions, before talking characters, story, and future coverage.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Trying something new today! This is our first ever video podcast, so if you're getting this in audio format, enjoy?! Or pop over to our website or YouTube for the video version and to see our obviously hilarious faces. Full game list with links to all these reviews on our website as well: https://bit.ly/3FtNROK

In this voyage of a Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Ava and Matt are sailing the high... skies... with Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest, and saving a small French town from disaster in Oltree. We've got pirates, we've got knights, and we've got more disagreements than you might expect on this dandy little pod. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Tap below for timestamps and more info!

Timestamps:

01:50 - Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest

25:19 - Oltree

In this winter sweater of a Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, we’ve got a very special episode for you. It’s just Ava on this one, in Ava’s Cosy Corner - a solo podcast all about the cosiest games she's played this year. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:

01:09 - Floriferous

05:52 - Kim Joy’s Magic Bakery

12:12 - Meadow