News

Tom: Hello! Sorry for a slightly late monthly post here – we’ve been scrambling together videos and podcasts aplenty before pootling up to Birmingham for a whole load of the UK Games Expo! We had a wonderful time and have come back loaded with games and excitement for them – an excitement that will gently trickle out of us into all kinds of fun content. Ew.

We’ve got a really lovely slice of videos lined up for you this month. Very soon we’ll have a review of Beast for you – a cracking iteration of the hidden movement genre that throws us right back into the kinds of games SU&SD reviewed when it was just a little baby. We’ve also got a video review of War of the Ring: The Card Game, as well as some quick-and-nasty reviews for games we played at expo. We’re slowly gearing back into the rhythm of more regular videos, so expect a whole heap of content over the next few months! (I hope!)

Podcasts-wise? It’s the wild west out there. We’ve played so many games, and next week myself and Matt will be sitting down to record multiple pods telling you all about them. I don’t entirely know what to expect from those, or even how long we’ll record, but we played enough exciting games to keep us chatting for a good long while. They’re making some great stuff out there!

As for streams – I think I might start worming my way through the System Shock remake very soon – but I’m thinking about changing the day we stream on. More on that soon, as it’ll all abide by the classic stream motto – “idk, it’s chill”. For donors to the site, the next newsletter will be a fun recap of UKGE and will arrive a little later than usual – I was thinking about writing it whilst there, but I was simply having too much fun. What a silly job. Thank you for letting me do it!

Tom: MAY! The last month of the year you can count on one hand! Unless you’re my uncle Terry, who can only get up to March on account of a freak bobsled incident. What have we got planned for YOU, though, this month? On our little site? Called Shut Up? And?? Sit Down???

First up, let’s talk about videos. We’ve got a bumper Frosthaven video from Matt very soon – undoubtedly an exhaustive guide to our feelings on one of 2022’s biggest games that, if you’re anything like me, will be an accompaniment to your next few ‘Waiting For My Pasta To Boil’ sessions. I’ve started writing a script for Guards Of Atlantis 2, a game I’ve played a bunch of recently and developed all kinds of complicated thoughts about. Look forward to that in a few weeks, I should hope! Outside of that, Quinns and I are stewing on whether or not to take a leap into the world of Nine Men’s Morris for a video that’s being formed ‘Title-First’, but also thinking about a format for a few classic Reiner Knizia games we’ve been playing recently. Lots to think about!

On the podcast front, you can expect the “Gerding’s Game Gulag” Special mentioned on the last podcast, alongside some chats about what we’ve been playing recently. I’ve given Findorff a couple shakes after reading its frankly ridiculous blurb. We also played some Mobile Markets, Amun-Re, and Mogul just the other day – all of which will no doubt get a slice of coverage – and I’m still gradually trying to pull groups together for a Brass Birmingham Revisited podcast, and, gulps, John Company. 

Nothing much changing on the streams front, continuing to pursue a schedule of ‘Whatever We Fancy’. This week we’ll return to King Of The Castle after some balancing changes have made it so I’m less likely to continually ‘Get My Ass Beat’, which should be fun!

What have you been playing lately? Anything that you just didn’t love or couldn’t get into? Anything you inexplicably can’t stop playing?

Tom: April! The month of my birth. In it we shall surely make some videos, some podcasts, and some streams! Here’s what’s happening this month on Shut Up & Sit Down.

Coming soon, we’ve got a few great video reviews. I’m just about to embark on playtesting a chunky box with a robust community around it to see if a video springs forth – but I’ll be coy about exactly what game that is, just to keep things exciting. Myself and Quinns are working on a ‘Top 10 Small Games Video’ that’ll hopefully be done this month – a rapidfire assessment of a bunch of little boxes we’ve been digging into that’ll hopefully capture some of the energy of the 10 Oink Games video we made all the way back in 2019. We’ve got some other ideas simmering too – one incredibly large box in particular finally getting a full script from Matt – but I will not over-promise!

Podcasts! We’ve got some great games to cover on that front too! If the right boxes arrive on my doorstep at the right time, a ‘Retrospective Special’ on a few old favourites in shiny new jackets might appear somewhere on the podfeed – and we’ve also got a plump stack of new games to natter about too. I’ve not quite sorted out the schedule for such delights – a week of holiday was followed by a week of video… which was then followed by a week of ILL! Rubbish.

Stream-wise, things should be really fun. I’m going to play some Slay The Spire: Downfall on Tuesday – a wildly impressive fanmade mod to one of my favourite deckbuilders! We’ll also probably squeeze some more King Of The Castle in at some point, alongside any suggestions thrown out by the general Twitch public. I’m not sure what to do on my birthday – as it does fall on a stream day! Do I go out and enjoy a nice meal with my partner, or do I use the occasion to force Quinns to play Fortnite in front of you folks? We’ll see.

What have you been up to, everybody?  

Which games have you been enjoying lately?

Tom: Hello folks! Welcome to Wednesday, the very first of February! You’re reading this direct from the café where I’ve set up a temporary office to fill out our monthly schedule, to craft this very post, and to write our next video review! It’s all very exciting. I’ve got my laptop, a big coffee, an HP Deskjet 2710e, a second monitor, and a massive boom mic for a quick podcast record while I’m here. My ‘associates’ should be arriving any minute.

Let’s talk about videos! Our next review will be for the hot new Splotter game – Horseless Carriage! You can look forward to that, hopefully, next week. Where does it sit in the Splotter Canon? You’re going to have to wait to find out, but I should hope it’ll be an interesting video. The next video after that will be the first from Quinns this year – on yet another classic family-weight game involving pleasing, clacky components! What might it be? I’m going to leave this one as a teaser, just for fun!

Audio-wise, we’ve got some treats! This week’s pod will be the fabled CCG Double-Feature, where myself and Quinns go head to head in a… well, hopefully quite a nice chat about two interesting new CCGs! After that, you can expect a smattering of ‘what have we been playing’ podcasts, as well as some full-fat-thoughts on Paperback Adventures! I’m hoping, too, that we might even have something special ready for the end of the month, but I’ll tease no more than that.

Lastly, what about streams? Yesterday we played some Against The Storm, a fascinating little Roguelike City Builder! That, and the previous stream, will be available as VODs over on the Twitch. Next week’s stream will most likely be a Destiny 2 dungeon or two with a couple friends of the show, schedules permitting, and the week after that we’ll be playing some of the digital implementation of Paperback Adventures.

That’s the month! Some great stuff coming down the pipe for you all to look forward to – hopefully not too messed around by me moving into a new flat! Wish us luck, we’re hoping to get the paperwork signed so I can continue on living life as normally as a professional board game reviewer can. Thanks everyone! What have you been up to, recently?

What did you play in the last week?