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On this morally bankrupt episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Matt are once again doing what they do best; playing at board games and going “:-)”First up is Emberheart! It’s got dragons, it’s got bidding, it’s got scales and wings and another attribute that we can’t quite recall. And it’s goooooood! Following that, our podboys sit at the cardstock conveyor belt that is Sushi Go Party: Chef’s Special! Listen as they they pluck onigiri, california rolls, and strawberry deserts directly from the waiting palm of the chef - cramming them all at once into eachothers’ mouths! Now that’s a Sushi Go Party.And finally, a spot of Eternal Sevens - a spiritual-sequel to the underground hit of 2025, Eternal Decks. It’s got Tom feeling complicated thoughts about cards, about sequels, about lightning, and about bottles....Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:04:13 - Emberheart12:18 - Sushi Go Party: Chef’s Special21:27 - Eternal Sevens

#299.1 - Shut Up & Sit Down Loves and Endorses Poaching

On this mildly cooked episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Matt are fresh out the “BGD Mines”! Wiping the sweat from their collective brow, they pop a gnarly squat and spin a cardboard tale…Both have been playing a spot of The Queen’s Dilemma - the long-awaited follow-up to the King’s Dilemma that somehow contains even more dilemmas. As well as that particular hot scoop, Tom’s been playing some Railway Porters - another ‘20s themed Saashi Special where you try your utmost not to drop a suitcase on top of the waiting station master.And finally, there’s a recap of the not-previously-podded games featured in our last video review. As a little experiment, we uploaded that last video to the podcast feed. It didn’t quite sit right, so we’ve binned it off and replaced it with TRUE, NOVEL PODTHOUGHTS.Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:7:06 - The Queen’s Dilemma24:29 - Railway Porters30:23 - Yonder, HERD, No Loose Ends

#299 - DILEMMAS FOR DAYS

On this glittering and golden episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Matt and Tom are sitting atop a dragon’s hoard of card board! Wahey! That’s what we in the business like to call “Rhyme Style”, and you can find many examples of it in the youthmusic of today :)Right atop the pile is the latest from frivolity enjoyers Weast Coast - Loners! It’s a card game that has an entire clown car of variably ripped dudes. Proceed with caution! Hachi Machi!!! We follow that up with the latest game from the Reiner Knizia Cardboard Industrial Complex: Gold Country! It’s camel speculation. You’ll see what we mean. Last but by no means least, Matt chats about some strange dream he had about a kind of figure-of-eight draconic salad spinner - completely unrelated to our discussion of 8 Dragons.Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:2:47 - Loners12:57 - Gold Country23:24 - 8 Dragons

#298 - Prospective Dragons

On this delicately preserved episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Matt and Tom are venturing through a rolling landscape of cardboard and canned fish.Moytura and Azure are the latest double-bill of mythological titles from Bitewing Games, and have gotten Tom and Matt all excited about abstraction. We follow these beasties with the briny offerings of Conservas - a solo game about making sure you’ve got juuust enough fish to turn into canned delicacies to be consumed en masse by TikTokers (we presume). And finally, Matt enters his happy place: putting numbers into boxes. Daydream is a roll-and-write with a charming presentation that, like the very best games, hides a crunchy core… Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:02:34 - Moytura13:00 - Azure23:08 - Conservas29:57 - Daydream

#297 - Fomorian Fishies

On this starchy episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt have been playing a clutch of GREAT LIL’ GAMES!First up is Yotei - a tableau builder centered around everyone’s favourite not-quite-a-vegetable: “The Potato”. We’re following that up with a double dip of Operation Barclay and Evenfall - a podcasting first! Never before have military officials and covens of witches been so closely intertwined. Finally, we’re locking, stocking, and smoking all of our various barrels in Rattlesnake - a contender for one of our very favourite card games this year.Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:00:43 - Yotei10:17 - Operation Barclay24:02 - Evenfall36:05 - Rattlesnake

#296 - Potato Profiteer

On this constantly revolving episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are perusing a gargantuan grocery store of games. This one stocks four whole games! Can you believe it?First up is Market Fresh - a Kramer and Kiesling reimplementation that Matt’s played, and Tom is chomping to. We follow that with a quick spritz of Echoes of Emperors - a game that crunches the computer strategy genre into cardboard form, and close out the podcast with a double bill of flippers; Fliptoons and Flip Pick Towers.Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:01:03 - Market Fresh11:20 - Echoes of Emperors17:46 - Fliptoons26:39 - Flip Pick Towers

#295 - Flip and Mix

On this adjective-riddled* episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are sorting through approximately one standard carry-on worth of cardboard luggage!Matt brings The Great Sea to the table - the latest Garphill excursion into ancient history. What’s in this bit of history? Mostly water, it seems. With boats on it! They’re like houses that float? You’ll get the hang of it.Dark Pact is our second game, and feels like a deckbuilder broke free of containment, and has been growing all manner of new limbs whilst we’re not looking. Essentially a race to break the game as fast as humanly possible, it’s gotten Tom rather perplexed.And finally - Typeset - a game designed by the monstrously talented folks at DVC Games. Just when you think you’ve seen everything in a word game, one comes along and gets you spelling ‘TOGWOF’.Have a great week, everybody!*Only some adjectives are present in this episode - and indeed all episodes - of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast.Timestamps:02:01 - The Great Sea17:35 - Dark Pact28:24 - Typeset

#294 - Clandestine Vocabulary

On this VIOLENT episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Matt and Tom engage in gladiatorial combat to finally decide who is the ULTIMATE BOARD-BOY!We begin our gauntlet with a bout of ‘Neko Syndicate’ - a BLOODY game of cats making sushi deliveries in a sort of tableau-building pyramid! It’s nasty stuff.Round 2 threatens an EXPLOSIVE END in ‘Bombusters’ - a co-operative family game where various anthropomorphised rabbits deal with increasingly complicated explosives. Red wire? Yellow wire? Either way? Prepare for an absolutely brutal listening experience.Then, the knockout punch! ‘Off With Their Heads!’ is our grand finale, and has you rolling* (punches), writing (wills)... and playing (cards)? Sounds peaceful, yeah? Well it’s only got a flippin’ GUILLOTINE in the title!! It’s going to be an utter casserole.Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:02:06 - Neko Syndicate14:34 - Bombusters24:12 - Off With Their Heads!*There’s no actual rolling, but that can be our little secret.

#293 - ENDLESS VIOLENCE

On this Edenic episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Matt and Tom strip down to their bare cheeks to chat about games wot are all about “Outside, like birds and that”.First up is Nature; a game that takes 2014’s Evolution and 2020’s Oceans, and hydraulically compacts them into one biodegradable box. Not just one box, mind, but a whole ecosystem of modules and traits that’ll get your neighbourhood zoologist all hot under the collar.That’s then followed by a slice of Perch - a surprisingly lethal “pigeon control game” in which you stack birds atop a vicious fountain. I’d imagine it’s what those pesky sky rats would be doing with their spare time too, if they weren’t so busy defecatingFinally we hitch a ride on the great grey car of the savanna in Tembo - an elephant road trip that’s way more cruel than it has any right to be. Tom’s taken great pains to crack this one open, and feast on all the delicious game-goo contained therein.Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:01:46 - Nature16:58 - Perch24:41 - TEMBO: Survival on the Savanna

#292 - The Natural Special

On this absolutely soaked episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are getting drenched in two positively sopping releases.First up, our intrepid explorers plunge into the depths of Thesauros! It’s got scubas, it’s got sharks, it’s got sunken treasures! All wrapped up in a slate-grey layer of project management and fund allocation.And following the adventurous land of ‘The Ocean(s)’, our lads point at a few seagulls, bins, and plant pots in the cosy Welsh town and game: Tenby! Who will have the most porches?! Who will find the most relevant landmarks? It’s all to play for in the quaintest Tenby-builder on the market today.Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:01:16 - Thesauros17:30 - Tenby

#291- Wet Famous

On this slippy ol’ episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are chatting about Emberleaf; a game of woodland creatures amassing honey and battering bandits! “Like Pooh gone all vigilante on them asses”.Our dynamic duo then seek to area control eachother in a WORTH WRESTLE! Whose critical opinion on this luminous box will come out on top? Neither, really. They’re both pretty chill about the whole thing. Everyone’s allowed opinions - even YOU!Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:01:19 - Emberleaf16:20 - Wroth

#290 - The Turnips of Wroth

On this post-apocalyptic episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, we’ve got the last remaining swigs of game in this here canteen - don’t gulp it all to yourself, now! Share nicely…First up is Phoenix New Horizon, a game of building post-apocalyptic power networks and trying to get a promotion. That’s followed by a slightly spoilery chat about Regicide Legacy - a game that asks the bold question; “What If Regicide, But Legacy?”. The pod’s rounded off with a quick chat about Zenith’s standard two-player mode, and spicy four player variant! Just like… never mind.Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:01:49 - Phoenix New Horizon17:57 - Regicide Legacy27:13 - Regicide Legacy Spoilers33:31 - Zenith

#289 - Standard Box, Kallax Nightmare

On this gloopy episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are donning their Memory Marigolds and getting elbow-deep in the past; recalling titles played all the way back in November 2025 (imagine!).Expect rambling thoughts about a whole cluster of games played at PAXU 2025, and a few other sneaky additions to the lineup last-minute.Have a great week, everybody!Timestamps:01:14 - Epona10:19 - Joyride: Full Throttle13:42 - Petiquette17:32 - Wiggle Roulette20:34 - Pick ‘n Packers28:31 - This Is Not A Game About A Pipe34:43 - No Loose Ends

#288 - The Memory Tub

On this ticked-off episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are rambling about the box-ticking bonanza ‘Tend’ as well as the chronologically questionable ‘Take Time’!Have a great weekend, everybody!Timestamps:01:19 - Tend23:31 - Take Time

#287 - Tending Time

Website Copy: On this free-flowing episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are chatting about competitive marble-pilfering simulator 12 Rivers, as well as a double-bill of absurd racing games in Hot Streak and Magical Athlete!You may be expecting that this podcast thumbnail would show the promised board of 12 Rivers (which you can find here) and instead shows a picture of Hurley - the not-a-hotdog from Hot Streak. This is intentional, and important.Have a great weekend, everybody!Timestamps:01:14 - 12 Rivers12:43 - Hot Streak26:41 - Magical Athlete

#286 - THE BIG WET SPRINT

On this subsequent episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Matt and Tom are returning to a couple of the games they were excited about in the Essen Special, as well as covering one that was missed from the billing!Excuse the occasional odd buzzing on this one - we tried to scrub it as much as possible but there's only so much you can do to heal a dodgy microphone before you start making Matt sound like a blender.Have a great weekend, everybody!Timestamps:02:33 - Winning Ticket15:41 - Feya’s Swamp37:04 - Sanctuary

#285 - Second Servings

On this FULL CAPS CHUNKY episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are talking about all of the games they played at Essen 2025!This is an audio-only reupload of the video we just put out on the main channel - so if you’d like to enjoy a physical tier list alongside these wobbly words? Then that’s where it is, and will be, forever and ever.Excuse the mildly iffy audio on this one!Have a great weekend, everybody!<strong>Timestamps:</strong>01:00 - Chemical Overload07:50 - Collect!12:45 - Tolleno19:05 - A Carnivore Did It!21:40 - Echoes of Time23:55 - Pyradice29:07 - Tax The Rich32:09 - 3 Witches37:53 - Agent Avenue43:33 - Recall46:59 - Feya’s Swamp54:43 - Wie Die Karnikel58:20 - Milch Mit Abführmittel1:03:34 - Big Shot1:08:07 - Night Soil1:11:24 - The White Castle: Duel1:16:58 - National Economy1:21:05 - Railway Boom1:23:38 - Pulitzer1:30:28 - Sanctuary1:34:29 - River Rats1:39:32 - Ghost Lift

Our Top 22 Games of Essen 2025!

On this flexibly numerical episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are, you guessed it, talking once again about games with CARDS, BOARDS, and DICE! In exactly that order - each game picking up a new component like a hungry Katamari.First up is Duel for Cardia - a perplexing little two-player dueller that lets you hop back in time to un-win your opponent - swiftly followed by 20 Strong, a solo-only game of clobbering a wolf. Or escaping a dream! Or becoming an alien. It’s a modular game system, you see.Finally, we’re chatting about Vantage - an open-world board game that’s one of 2025’s biggest! And Tom’s feeling all confused about it…Have a great weekend, everyone!Timestamps: 02:12 - Duel for Cardia11:23 - 20 Strong25:37 - Vantage

#284 - Exponential Cards

Usually the moniker of ‘Cosy Game’ is a snug portent of mild-mannered fun - a thoroughly whelming box that’s pleasant enough, but doesn’t tickle us for more than a couple plays. But this week on the podcast? Matt and Tom are chatting about a whole bunch of cosy games that surprised them, with a bit more pep than might have been expected…We’re talking Frogs and Rabbits and Crows in ‘A Wild Venture’, Trains and Cars and Passengers in ‘Railroad Tiles’, and Lakes and Lakes and Lakes and LAKES in Cascadia…. Alpine Lakes!Have a great weekend, everyone!Timestamps:02:54 - A Wild Venture16:20 - Railroad Tiles27:43 - Cascadia: Alpine Lakes

#283 - The Grumpy to Cosy Pipeline

This week on the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, we’re talking two players! Tag Team is a head-to-head brawler, and Suna Valo is exactly the same, but for farms! Finally, Matt waxes lyrical about General Orders’ Samurai Sequel: ‘Sengoku Jidai’ - and, within it, has perhaps found a game that’s too small for even our perma-shrunk noggins.Have a great weekend, everyone!Timestamps: 02:44 - Tag Team15:09 - Suna Valo23:54 - General Orders: Sengoku Jidai

#282 - Two Player Town (Population Two)

It’s just little old Tom this week on the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, and he’s taking you through a bunch of odds and ends that might otherwise slip through the metaphorical cracks of the metaphorical floorboards. They wouldn’t fit through the real floorboards. That’d be silly. And we don’t do silly, here.Let us know what you think of these episodes! They’re a little unusual, but quite fun to make in a pinch!Timestamps: 02:21 - Joraku07:33 - Calimala12:35 - Tofu Shifu16:52 - March of the Ants23:34 - Beaver House26:24 - Naishi

#281 - Tom’s Game Gauntlet II: The Return of ‘Game Gauntlet’

Three kinds of wood, all alike in dignity. Except one of them is on fire, and one of them has a lot of toothy rodents in it. I’m really straining to find some way of making a kind of beaver ratatouille joke, but it’s not coming naturally. ‘Beavertouille, he only does Dams this time?’. I don’t know. Get out of my restaurant.Timestamps:01:52 - Hutan: Life in the Rainforest12:50 - Flash Point: Legacy of Flame32:27 - Timber Town

#280 - The Firefighters of the Rainforest

PAX East! Truly the highlight of everyone’s July!For whatever reason, it’s taken us absolutely ages to get round to covering the board games that we played at PAX East - but better late than never! This is especially true in this pod right here, where we’ve got three hot servings of board game to ladle directly into the laps of our ravenous listenership. We’ve got a starter and dessert made of space - with Galileo Galilei and Moon Colony Bloodbath protecting a gooey fantasy center all made of Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship!Have a great weekend, everybody!Timestamps: 03:18 - Galileo Galilei18:16 - Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship31:18 - Moon Colony Bloodbath

#279 - The Very Timely PAX East Episode

Come come, hungry diners - take a seat at the big table and have a little gander at this spread of delectable games!Oops, all good games on this one! This podcast features chat about a space tourism simulator (Galactic Cruise), a light-and-breezy turtle-based engine builder (Australis), and TWO entire TWO PLAYER games about being Greek and In Trouble (Iliad and Ichor).Have a great weekend, everybody!Timestamps: 01:46 Galactic Cruise 22:12 Australis31:04 Illiad40:41 Ichor

#278 - Brewster's Board Game Buffet

On this scenic detour, Tom and Matt are chatting about RULES! What are they? Who made them?! And what do they want with my PIN number?!?This is a companion podcast to the most recent video on the YouTube channel - ‘The Board Game With No Rules’ - and is a more loose and daft excursion into the wild world of rulesless games.Timestamps: None, it’s just RULES!

#277 - The Rules Ramble

On this advanced episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are once again settling into the pod-thrones to yap about “some games wot they have played”.Nova Era challenges players to develop a healthy civilisation, 3 Chapters is a set collection AND trick taking AND drafting game all squished into one box, and Creature Caravan is a gentle ride through a terrifyingly large deck of cards.There’s lots to like! Three whole games to like, in fact. Board games! Who knew?!Thanks for listening, everyone!Timestamps: 01:38 - Nova Era15:39 - 3 Chapters26:52 - Creature Caravan

#276 - It Means ‘New Ears’, Officer

On this floriferous episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are yappin’ about Barcelona, Bluebells, and Board Games!Cities is first up on the docket - a city-building game that’s real dinky and designed by two of our favourite small-and-simple designers. Following that, Matt continues his recommendation of Floristry from our video review into the podcast world, and Tom talks about his mixed feelings towards ‘The Morrison Game Factory’...Thanks for listening, everyone!Timestamps: 02:32 - Cities13:12 - Floristry24:43 - The Morrison Game Factory

#275 - Find Yourself A City To Live In

On this microscopic episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are yammering on about a few of the rather interesting games they’ve played over the past few weeks! Expeditions: Around the World is like if Ticket to Ride had only one train going spare, and Penguin Party has got Matt all excited. Diatoms is an algae-based puzzler with nifty pattern-based-scoring, and Crafting the Cosmos has you making LIFE ITSELF?!Have a lovely weekend, everyone!Timestamps:02:34 - Expeditions: Around The World09:19 - Penguin Party19:09 - Diatoms31:41 - Crafting the Cosmos

#274 - Arctic Algae Expeditions (In Space)

On this long overdue episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are hosting an intervention for one particular publisher… and also talking about some board games!First up is a chat about Daitoshi, the latest ambitious and busy design from site favourites Devir, followed by some nattering about the “area-control-deck-builder-mutation” Altay and “tic-tac-toe-em-up” Architects of Amytis!Have a lovely weekend, everyone!Timestamps:01:59 - Daitoshi17:40 - Altay33:17 - Architects of Amytis

#273 - The Big-Game-Small-Box Intervention Special

On this refreshing burst of Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt have a bouquet of nifty games to natter about!First up is a chunky chat about Pagan: Fate of Roanoke - a two player head-to-head witch hunt with flecks of Netrunnner. Is it any good? Yes! Should you buy it? Maybe…Then, a double-bill of yapping about Shuffle & Swing; a mice-based eurogame of making human instruments - followed by a sneak peek of our upcoming video review for Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon.Have a lovely weekend, everyone!Timestamps:01:46 - Pagan: Fate of Roanoke17:32 - Shuffle and Swing26:29 - Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon

#272 - Podcast Adjacent Enjoyment Material

Sorry! Tom forgot to upload this episode of the podcast because he was on a plane. A plane! In the sky! How do you expect us to podcast under these conditions?!On this dromedary episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt natter about a collection of - YOU GUESSED IT - boardgames.Resafa! It’s a game about camels and irrigation and cards and POINTS! PlayProp! It’s a game of trying to get corks into a cup and screaming! Elfenroads! It’s a game about gently meandering down winding fantasy paths until an errant ‘cart orc’ ruins your day, or week, or possibly year.Finally, the dynamic duo chat about another characterful couplet; Dracula vs Van Helsing - a two-player duelling game we'll review in a few DAYS time!Thanks for listening everyone! Have a great week!Timestamps:01:41 - Resafa12:41 - Elfenroads20:30 - PlayProp25:56 - Dracula vs Van Helsing

#271 - Elfenroads, Take Me Home

On this far-flung episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are getting eaten by minotaurs in Corps of Discovery: A Game Set In The World of Manifest Destiny, as well as bending metals in Mistborn: A Game Set In The World of ‘Mistborn’. They also talk about Fromage: A Game Set In The World of Brie, and Triqueta: A Game Set In The World of ‘Three Goats and a Wolf or Two’.Thanks for listening everyone! Have a great weekend!Timestamps:02:00 - Corps of Discovery: A Game Set In The World of Manifest Destiny15:10 - Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game26:46 - Fromage33:14 - Triqueta

#270 - Or Episode 9 Billion, If You'd Rather

On this powerfully allied episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are negotiating poorly in Tonga Bonga, getting all sandy (again!) in Dune Imperium: Bloodlines, and meandering through a bucolic farm or two in Black Forest.Thanks for listening everyone! Have a great weekend!Timestamps:01:36 - Tonga Bonga12:17 - Dune Imperium: Bloodlines24:24 - Black Forest

#269 - Tomga Benga, Never Defeated

On this galloping episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are chatting about the wonders of nature in Spectacular, engaging in frivolous spending with Winner’s Circle, and taking Bilbo for a spin in The Fellowship of the Ring: The Tricktaking Game. There’s even time to get Stuck In A Lift for just a little while…Thanks for listening everyone! Have a great weekend!Timestamps:01:41 - The Fellowship of the Ring: The Tricktaking Game12:40 - Spectacular24:30 - I’m Stuck In The Lift28:30 - Winner’s Circle

#268 - Spectacular Horses In Your Area Want To Chat

On this uphill episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom is rambling to Matt about a couple bits and bobs he’s played recently! First up is Flamme Rouge’s ‘Grand Tour’ expansion, that turns a simple session of Flamme Rouge into a month long tour! Is it as good as it was when Matt played it just seven short years ago? Find out here!
That’s then followed by a little recommendation for a recent Oink title - Moving Wild - before capping the podcast off with a bit of retrospective chat regarding SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence after our recent(ish) middling review…
Thanks for listening everyone! Have a great weekend!


Timestamps:
02:15 - Flamme Rouge: Grand Tour
17:55 - Moving Wild
28:07 - SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

#267 - The Hungry Bikers

On this machiavellian episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt have a chatter about even more curiosities picked up from Essen! First up is Power Vacuum - a diplomatic trick-taker where you play as fascist toasters - followed by Beyond The Horizon, a reimagining of 2020’s Beyond The Sun. Finally, a little beachfront chat about Seaside - a game that’s got Matt’s favourite component of all: “A Bag”

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:
2:18 - Power Vacuum
18:49 - Beyond the Horizon
31:37 - Seaside

#266 - Beyond the Blender


It's a chunky extra special feature from Matt and Tom, sat FACE TO FACE on the very same table! Let us drag you through a rolling discussion about the games we've enjoyed most in 2024. This is also available as a VIDEO - so just choose your poison and dive in!

Timestamps:
2:59 - Earthborne Rangers
10:35 - Daybreak
18:25 - Arcs
24:22 - COMPILE
28:47 - Tichu
33:51 - Spectral
36:59 - Leviathan Wilds
43:36 - Eternal Decks
49:46 - SPECIAL MENTIONS
50:14 - Dune Imperium: Uprising
52:03 - Slay The Spire
56:41 - Vale of Eternity
59:18 - How To Make Friends at Conventions

2024’s Best Games

On this slowly sinking episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are chatting about a cluster of small games they’ve played recently! Tom’s got the cosy, tile-laying pairing of Middle Ages and Flower Fields, whilst Matt brings novel Oink releases Deep Sea Adventures: Boost and Souvenirs From Venice to the table.
Have a great weekend! 

Timestamps:
03:33 - Middle Ages
10:59 - Souvenirs from Venice
20:21 - Flower Fields
26:49 - Deep Sea Adventures: Boost
36:23 - Lord of the Rings: Duel

#265 - Shallow Sea Shoppers

On this eclectic episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are talking LOGISTICS in Minecart Town, CURRENCY in Pax Penning, and CONCEPTS THAT ARE AS LARGE AS DEATH in Compile!
Have a great weekend! 
Timestamps:
02:22 - Minecart Town
15:31 - Pax Penning
32:13 - Compile

#264 - The Big Sheep BBQ

On this rock-and-rolling episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are chatting about three very different games. First up is Rock Hard 1977, a euro-ish game of being a ROCK STAR that had one of the funniest arcs of any game we’ve played this year. We also chat about Tom’s most recent BGA obsession, Newton. It’s a game of cards and efficiency! What more could you want? Finally, the gang chat about The Gang - a game that asks ‘what if poker was co-operative?’ Makes u think, don’t it.
Have a great weekend! 
Timestamps:
01:57 - Rock Hard 1977
21:40 - Newton
31:13 - The Gang

#263 - Candy Rehab

This week on the inimitable Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt showcase their survival skills by going to Germany and then RETURNING from Germany, having played such a very large quantity of games.
Our Essen 2024 special is a quickfire spectacular, running through a bunch of the notable games we got our hands on during the show.
Many pints of sweet sweat have been pumped into the world in order to bring you this episode of the podcast, so you're morally obliged to at least TRY and enjoy it.

Timestamps:
1:26 - Fischen4:43 - Power Vacuum9:19 - GibberersThe Word Game of Language Invention and Civilization Development11:47 - Da Da Da13:43 - Bomb Busters17:06 - Saltfjord20:11 - Duck & Cover24:51 - Altay: Dawn of Civilization28:28 - Packen Wir's!31:58 - Bauernschlau34:52 - Draft & Write Records39:31 - Lords of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth44:36 - Captain Flip49:03 - Oinky Bits

#262 - The HOTTEST Essen Podcast POSSIBLE



On this out-of-this-world episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt have played two incredibly spicy space games that have got them all excited. First up is SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence; a game of discovering aliens and working out ‘what their deal is’ that’s absolutely fascinating and packed with CGE’s specific, odd tendencies. Following that tall act is Sol: Last Days of a Star, a game that sits on the complete OTHER end of the spectrum. Pilot your ‘sundivers’ away from a dying star, as you desperately eke out turns before everything is gone forever? The perfect way to spend a Thursday evening.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Timestamps:
01:44 - SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
20:37 - Sol: Last Days of a Star

#261 - The Outer Space Special

On this… seedy… episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Emily are talking about two bucolic farm-em-ups in Windmill Valley and Harvest, as well as the utterly innocent Courtisans. Emily decided the theme on this one after the fact and I’m still reeling. Seedy? It’s a family show, come on now We also end up spending a weird amount of time getting into the particulars of how the two very pleasant and agricultural games listed are not entirely to each other's aesthetic tastes. Strange!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Timestamps:
02:16 - Courtisans
13:40 - Windmill Valley
27:09 - Harvest
39:33 - Recent Reviews: Defenders of the Wild

#260 - Aesthetic Arguing

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.

#258 - The Sandy Special

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

Tom's Game Gauntlet

On this terrifyingly tall episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Matt and Tom are checking out some games with BIG THINGS in ‘em! Skyrise is the latest from Brass: Brum publishers Roxley Games and has you making great stinkin’ scrapers, and Leviathan Wilds from new publisher Moon Crab Games gets us climbing the backs of crusty creatures. It’s a good pair of games!
Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:
02:30 - Skyrise
19:47 - Leviathan Wilds

#257 - Big Buildings, Bigger Creatures

On this VGA-Compliant episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are chatting about two excellent asymmetric games they’ve been dabbling with recently! First up is Ironwood - a game where wood and metal collide in a Root-Lite frenzy of asymmetric squabbling - followed by Undaunted 2200: Callisto - the newest, most lunar entry into the Undaunted series!
Have a great weekend!

Timestamps:
02:37 - Ironwood
23:31 - Undaunted 2200: Callisto

#256 - Iron/Wood and Un/Daunted!

On this rambling, tangient-rich episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Pip chat Wings and Wyrms in a creature feature on Wyrmspan! Then, we take a break from the hotness to discuss an old classic that Tom was bored to tears by; Roborally.
Have a great weekend!

Timestamps:
03:23 - Wingspan & Wyrmspan
26:27 - RoboRally

#255 - Dragons & Demolitions

On this freshly sloganed episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Emily huddle around the boardgame campfire to tell tales about games of old. Or new. They’re all new games and I’ve wasted this pastoral image in an unfitting manner. Too late now! Nobody reads these descriptions and I’ve got stuff to do! We’ve gotta get going! 
On this podcast we talk about Kinfire Chronicles: Nights Fall, Hollywood 1947, and Vampire Village - a fine crop of funky boards.
Have a great weekend!
Timestamps:
04:12 - Kinfire Chronicles: Night’s Fall
20:04 - Hollywood 1947
31:17 - Vampire Village

#254 - Dungeons & Directors

On this battered episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Matt are making batteries in Salton Sea, eating batteries in After Us, and getting battered in Dobro! It’s the battery special, officially sponsored by Duracell and the horrible bunny that we all hate.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Timestamps:
03:27 - Salton Sea
22:13 - After Us
38:53 - Dobro

#253 - batteries.

On this mildly unhinged episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Emily are taking on a double-bill of two player games followed by a BIG CHUNKY BOX. First up is Quacks of Quedlinburg: The Duel - a two-player only version of the bag-busting (sorry) classic! We then chat about the ying to Quacks’ yang in the highly-tactical time-bending fish-em-up Fisheries of Gloucester! Finally, we chat about Bloodstones - a divisive strategy game that Tom bravely defends and recklessly batters.

It’s a good pod! We had a lot of fun! I hope you can tell!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:
05:20 - The Quacks of Quedlinburg: The Duel
14:58 - Fisheries of Gloucester
25:28 - Bloodstones

#252 - Just Two Players, Looking For A Third

On this almost chiaroscuro episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down Podcast, Tom and Pip are chatting about games that could not be more different. First up, Rats of Wistar - a crunchy engine-building game with rats and cards and being as efficient as possible within a strict turn limit. That’s followed up with Dro Polter and Rafter Five - two Oink games that are some of their silliest yet.
Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:
02:10 - Rats of Wistar
25:11 - Dro Polter
36:33 - Rafter Five

#251 - Tom and Pip's Haunted Rat Raft

On this chronologically consistent episode of the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast, Tom and Emily are rambling their way through three whole games! We’re talking about Ito - a relaxed party game about untangling your pals’ opinions! We’re talking about CATAN: Starfarers Duel - a two-player-only version of Catan: Starfarers that’s weird and wonky! AND we’re talking about Faraway - a game about doing everything in reverse.
Have a great weekend, everybody!

Timestamps:
1:26 - Ito
8:17 - CATAN: Starfarers Duel
22:43 - Faraway



#250 - A Straightforward Podcast

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

#249 - The Ancient Art of Putting It All On Red

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

#248 - Silver & Space

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!

#247 - Even More Love for Earthborne Rangers

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!


#246 - Daybreak is Optimistic and Intriguing

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

#245 - Cascaduo!

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!

A Quick Podcast Update!

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

#244 - Our 2024 Board Game Predictions!

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

#243 - Triple A!

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

#242 - The PAX Unplugged Playlist (Pt.3)

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

#241 - Bees and Trees

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

#240 - The PAX Unplugged Playlist (Pt.2)

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

#239 - The PAX Unplugged Playlist (Pt.1)

On this international episode of the Shut Up &amp; 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!

#238 - BIG CHALLENGES

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

#237 - Spirit Cows!

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

#236 - Brain of the Century

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

#235 - The Exclusively Two-Player Special

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


#234 - What News, From The Sea?

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

#233 - The Essen Special!

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


#231 - Everything is an Abstract

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

#232 - Tom and Pip Touch Grass

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


#230 - It’s a Numbers Game

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

#229 - The Triple Animal Special!



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

#228 - Best Nemeses!

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

#227 - Three* Great* Games!

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

#226 - Earthborne Rangers & Great Machines!

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

#225 - Golem Down!

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


#224 - Welcome to EARTH

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

#223 - Planet of the Big Bosses

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



#222 - The Friese 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




#221 - Rolling Hamlets!

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

#220 - Gerding’s Game Gulag

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



#219 - Business Secrets of the Pharaohs

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


#218 - The “Special Treasure Chest” Special

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



#217 - We Reviewed Ten Great Small Games!



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



#216 - Ken Follett & Cryptocurrency

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!



#215 - The Great Board Game Commune Of ‘96

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



#214 - We’ve Played Some Word Games!

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

#213 - Oops, All Card Games!

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

#212 - Quinns' Sad Mafia

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!

#211 - We Tried (and Failed) To Review Mahjong

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


#210 - Ava's Solo SoloCast

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!

No Podcast This Week!

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

#209 - A PAX Redux!

[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

#208 - The Collectible Card Game Special!

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

#207 - Facing Total SpaceDeath in Stationfall

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

#206 - Three Exciting Ways To Say ‘Ginkgopolis’

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!