Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We're showing our thanks with a surprise podcast about ... well, maybe we'll just let the episode speak for itself. Gobble gobble.

03:23 - ICECOOL 04:46 - Meeple Circus 06:11 - Root 06:42 - Sheriff of Nottingham 07:47 - Fauna 08:22 - Piepmatz 09:07 - Evolution: Flight 09:56 - Gulo Gulo 11:29 - Zany Penguins 12:07 - Funky Chicken 13:56 - Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn 14:51 - Rook 16:19 - Chess 17:36 - Biblios 19:53 - Scythe

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We've all got them, whether we'll care to admit it or not, quirks and and biases that might be irrational, but nevertheless affect our judgement of the games we play. This week we're looking at a few of the little things that might weigh a game in or out of our favour, even if they don't necessarily make much sense. Before we exercise extreme prejudice, we talk about Flamme Rouge, The North, and Ragusa.

02:03 - Cursed Court 02:39 - Flamme Rouge 09:28 - The North 15:43 - Ragusa 24:08 - Board Game Biases 25:51 - Vindication 26:08 - Suburbia: Collector's Edition 30:39 - Anachrony 32:15 - Scythe 33:26 - Magical Athlete 36:16 - Pipeline 41:02 - Adrenaline 41:28 - Fog of Love 43:23 - The Battle at Kemble's Cascade 45:05 - Pandemic

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Uh oh, you're not enjoying the game you're playing. Now what? Is it okay to excuse yourself? Maybe it's better that you just call it rather than continue to have a bad time. This week we're talking about scenarios where some or all of the players of a game might decide it's better to bounce than to wallow in misery. Before we make an early exit, we talk about SEAL Team Flix, Paranormal Detectives, and I'm the Boss. 01:21 - SEAL Team Flix 10:32 - Paranormal Detectives 18:53 - Mysterium 21:37 - Crokinole 22:12 - Cursed Court 23:27 - I'm the Boss! 31:50 - Bouncing off Games 33:49 - Menara 36:37 - Cosmic Encounter 38:45 - The Great Zimbabwe 39:40 - Megacity: Oceania 40:25 - Founders of Gloomhaven 43:52 - Diplomacy 45:22 - Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge 46:08 - Merlin 47:00 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea 48:54 - LLAMA 49:33 - Nemesis

Where has the year gone?! It's almost time to start packing our bags for various family gatherings, and inevitably the most important question becomes ... what games are we taking? Whether it's specific games for specific people, or games that work in large inexperienced groups, we're here to make your holidays merry and bright. Before we head on home, we talk about Ethnos, Street Masters, Templari, and Carnival of Monsters. 03:02 - Ethnos 08:12 - Street Masters 11:39 - Sentinels of the Multiverse 14:08 - Templari 17:14 - Carnival of Monsters 25:21 - Top Five Games for the Holidays 29:16 - Werewords 30:20 - Letter Jam 30:20 - SHH 31:21 - Ingenious 32:53 - Sushi Go! 34:39 - Fast Forward: FORTRESS 36:01 - Cartographers 37:14 - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong 38:14 - Cryptid 39:36 - Cursed Court 40:43 - One Night Ultimate Werewolf 42:16 - Coloretto 43:54 - Hanabi Deluxe II 44:56 - Just One 46:46 - Air, Land & Sea 47:51 - Res Arcana 49:13 - Codenames 51:05 - WINK 52:16 - Medium

It took us almost a hundred episodes, but we finally reveal how to have fun with your friends even when you're losing. Specifically, we're talking about games and mechanisms that help us enjoy our losses, because let's face it, we can't all be winners. Before we celebrate our setbacks, we talk about Sierra West, Mansions of Madness: Second Edition, and Black Angel.

01:37 - Sierra West 11:17 - Mansions of Madness: Second Edition 20:17 - Black Angel 24:02 - Troyes 27:18 - Solenia 35:30 - Q.E. 35:43 - Ponzi Scheme 35:59 - Biblios 38:52 - Aeon's End: War Eternal 40:59 - Ghost Stories 43:56 - Agricola 44:37 - Terraforming Mars 46:31 - Lords of Vegas 47:00 - Diamant/Incan Gold 48:20 - Twice as Clever

Blue Tank's back to talk take-backs, so take that to the bank. It's bound to happen, someone makes a mistake on their turn and desperately wants a do-over - but how do you handle it? It's a delicate balance of making sure everyone at the table is having a good time, and not slowing the game down. So what's fair? Before we undo, we talk about Air, Land & Sea, Menara, and Seasons of Inis. 02:57 - Air, Land & Sea 03:03 - Heroes of Land, Air & Sea 08:43 - Hanamikoji 10:59 - Menara 22:09 - Riff Raff 23:08 - Inis 23:08 - Seasons of Inis 53:31 - Dominant Species

We're joined by the Blue Tank for a quick look back at SHUX, before we dive into a discussion on games that are better than their mechanics suggest. These are games that we might describe as not very good, but somehow still give us incredible experiences that we find distinct and unique. But that makes them good, right? Before we lose all credibility, we talk about Kingdomino Duel, Panic on Wall Street!, and Blood on the Clocktower. 02:22 - SHUX 06:27 - Kingdomino Duel 11:29 - Panic on Wall Street! 18:52 - Blood on the Clocktower 23:48 - The Resistance: Avalon 36:57 - Experiences that transcend mechanics 38:02 - Fuji Flush 38:58 - Happy Salmon 39:40 - True Colors 39:40 - A Question of Scruples 40:32 - Zombicide: Black Plague 41:26 - Hundreds of Horses 49:30 - Loopin' Louie

Shut Up & Sit Down's very own Quintin Smith joins us live on stage at SHUX 2019! We play a rousing game of Hundreds of Horses, discuss some games from the convention, and lay out the unspoken truths of board games - opinions about the hobby we vehemently hold, even if everyone else is too afraid to say it. Before we speak truth to power, we talk about Deep Blue, Curios, Obscurio, and Vast: The Mysterious Manor.

02:51 - Hundreds of Horses 08:05 - Deep Blue 11:44 - Curios 16:03 - Obscurio 20:55 - Vast: The Mysterious Manor 28:07 - Unspoken Truths of Board Games 29:05 - Neilan: Theme and storytelling 32:22 - Flamme Rouge 33:40 - Too Many Bones 34:16 - Kellen: The decline of interactivity 36:40 - Troyes 37:47 - Hansa Teutonica 38:26 - Agricola 38:26 - A Feast for Odin 39:10 - Mark: Playing to win 41:48 - Inis 45:20 - Twilight Imperium 47:55 - Quinns: Reading flavor text 50:03 - Pax Pamir (Second Edition) 50:58 - Scythe

Mark Rosewater, head designer for Magic: The Gathering, defined three player archetypes back in 2002, and we figured it'd be fun to see how we can apply them to, not just board games, but your three beloved hosts. We look into what makes a Timmy, Tammy, Johnny, Jenny, or Spike tick, and try to find some board games each might like. Before we profile ourselves, we talk about FlickFleet, Québec, and Ra.

02:13 - FlickFleet06:19 - Québec09:10 - El Grande10:29 - Tapestry15:00 - Ra21:56 - Magic: the Gathering Player Archetypes31:08 - Gùgōng40:27 - The Voyages of Marco Polo40:55 - Rising Sun41:19 - Crokinole41:47 - Dominion42:47 - Terraforming Mars43:15 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar43:50 - Cosmic Encounter44:47 - Dune45:31 - Glory to Rome

Inspired by BoardGameGeek's new system for classifying board game mechanisms, we give our thoughts on the changes, as well as talk about classification in general. Somehow it always leads to heated discussions, whether it's arguing what a Civilization game even is, or why we need classification at all. I'm sure we'll all agree in the end. Before we taxi into taxonomy, we talk about Piepmatz, Era: Medieval Age, and Cursed Court. 02:45 - Piepmatz 05:05 - Arboretum 08:42 - Irish Gauge 10:38 - Era: Medieval Age 19:00 - Cursed Court 29:43 - Board Game Classification 36:53 - Codenames 51:35 - Tapestry 52:12 - Civilization 53:10 - Scythe 56:55 - Great Western Trail 58:30 - 18Lilliput