Shut Up & Sit Down

372 episodes listed below

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Fast rules talk, sharper table verdicts.

The gist

Shut Up & Sit Down turns recent board-game plays into lively criticism, with Matt Lees and Tom Brewster moving from jokes to mechanics at speed. The appeal is in the messy precision: box sizes, fiddly shops, cooperative puzzles, worker placement, and why a promising game nearly works.

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About Shut Up & Sit Down

Shut Up & Sit Down is a board-game review show with the energy of a conversation that has already been going for years and has no interest in slowing down. Matt Lees and Tom Brewster talk through recent plays with a mix of practical criticism, hobby shorthand, and deliberately sideways comedy. The show is fluent in the texture of modern tabletop gaming. It notices the size of a box, the awkwardness of a shop display, the joy of little envelopes, the burden of two player sheets, and the strange relief of a rule that finally makes the table make sense. Episodes often gather games under loose themes, then happily bend those themes until they become jokes. A violence special turns out to include bomb-defusing rabbits, sushi-making cats, and a gentle Alice-inspired flip-and-write. A nature special moves from evolution to birds on a fountain to tactical survival on the savannah. A seaside episode compares quaint coastal building with underwater treasure management. The structure is casual, but the attention is not. The pair can spend time on why a component workflow is fiddly, why a cooperative puzzle works through silence, or why a vibes-based party game loses tension once a player discovers another player’s logic. They are especially good at explaining how a mechanism feels in play without sanding away the absurdity of describing cardboard systems out loud. Legacy games get treated as both a design category and a pile of tempting little boxes. Roll-and-writes are judged not only by clever scoring, but by whether their table footprint and reference materials become a second game nobody asked for. The humor can be blunt and knowingly ridiculous. The underlying taste is more careful than the surface suggests. Praise arrives with caveats, complaints arrive with affection, and the best moments come when a joke suddenly clarifies the whole design. It is for listeners who want board-game talk that respects the hobby without acting solemn about it.

Made for: For board-game hobbyists who enjoy detailed criticism, modern mechanisms, and comic digressions that still come back to the play experience. Best suited to listeners comfortable with hobby terms and quick conversational pivots.

What sets it apart: Its strength is the collision of exact physical critique and unruly banter. Few review shows make table space, component movement, box format, theme, and player psychology feel this funny without losing the judgment underneath.

In their own words

The world's best board game review show.

As heard by us

Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026

Sharp mechanical criticism, playful conversation, and close attention to how board games behave once real people put them on the table.

Shut Up & Sit Down turns board-game criticism into lively conversation, with Matt Lees, Tom Brewster, and Quinton Smith moving easily between jokes and close mechanical scrutiny.

Read our full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

A 'Kallax nightmare' gets the attention your overstuffed game shelf has been quietly requesting.

Press play if you want

to hear whether little boxes are enough to make a legacy game feel like one
to have your 'just play by vibes' instinct tested against what the rules reward

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

board game reviewsrules and mechanismscomponent fiddlinessworker placementroll-and-write gameslegacy game expectationscooperative puzzle gamestheme versus play feel

Talks about

Leisure Hobbies

Best episodes of Shut Up & Sit Down

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

#294 - Clandestine VocabularyApr 17, 2026

A sea-splashed board-game chat with sharp attention to tactile design.

Shut Up & Sit Down follows Matt Lees and Tom Brewster from loose across-the-water joking into a lively discussion of The Great Sea, Dark Pact, and a small word game.

#289 - Standard Box, Kallax NightmareFeb 6, 2026

A funny, box-conscious review of legacy games, changing play, and the shelf trouble that follows.

Board-game storage anxiety gives this episode its shape. Phoenix New Horizon is framed as a bulky legacy-style object: magnetic flip box, stickers, reset packs, and smaller boxes nested inside a larger one, with the hosts treating it as a Kallax problem as much as a game.

#288 - The Memory TubJan 23, 2026

A rubber-gloved rummage through old games, instincts, and the mechanics that steer a table's mood.

The 288th Shut Up & Sit Down episode approaches old games as things pulled from a warm, gloopy memory tub, with no firm running order and no guarantee of what will bob up next.

#287 - Tending TimeJan 9, 2026

Tend and Take Time get the hosts talking about choices, communication and keeping track of a crowded table.

Tend gives the hosts plenty to juggle: a large farming roll-and-write, two sheets, and cards for fishing shapes, prices and neighbours' requests. Take Time puts a different kind of pressure on them, with numbers, a clock puzzle and limited communication in a cooperative game.

#286 - THE BIG WET SPRINTNov 28, 2025

A bet on Mum makes Hot Streak's mix of timing, hidden cards, and bad luck easy to picture.

Running is the loose thread through this board game conversation. Mascots race in Hot Streak, cartoon characters race in Magical Athlete, and water runs through 12 Rivers.

#217 - We Reviewed Ten Great Small Games!

Ten small games, one unruly assignment, and a rewarding World Breakers detour.

Ten small board games become a brisk test of Shut Up & Sit Down's podcast instincts, as Quinton Smith and Tom Brewster turn the job of explaining and rating them into something looser and more conversational.

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About Shut Up & Sit Down

In their own words

As heard by us

Why you'd press play

Talks about

Best episodes of Shut Up & Sit Down

Podcasts like Shut Up & Sit Down

Episodes

Tom's Game Gauntlet

#292 - The Natural Special

#291- Wet Famous

#290 - The Turnips of Wroth

#289 - Standard Box, Kallax Nightmare

#288 - The Memory Tub

#287 - Tending Time

#245 - Cascaduo!

A Quick Podcast Update!

#244 - Our 2024 Board Game Predictions!

#243 - Triple A!

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

#241 - Bees and Trees

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

#285 - Second Servings

Our Top 22 Games of Essen 2025!

#284 - Exponential Cards

#283 - The Grumpy to Cosy Pipeline

#282 - Two Player Town (Population Two)

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

#280 - The Firefighters of the Rainforest

#279 - The Very Timely PAX East Episode

#278 - Brewster's Board Game Buffet

#277 - The Rules Ramble

#276 - It Means ‘New Ears’, Officer

#275 - Find Yourself A City To Live In

#274 - Arctic Algae Expeditions (In Space)

#272 - Podcast Adjacent Enjoyment Material

#271 - Elfenroads, Take Me Home

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

#269 - Tomga Benga, Never Defeated

#268 - Spectacular Horses In Your Area Want To Chat

#267 - The Hungry Bikers

#266 - Beyond the Blender

2024’s Best Games

#265 - Shallow Sea Shoppers

#264 - The Big Sheep BBQ

#263 - Candy Rehab

#262 - The HOTTEST Essen Podcast POSSIBLE

#261 - The Outer Space Special

#260 - Aesthetic Arguing

#258 - The Sandy Special

#257 - Big Buildings, Bigger Creatures

#256 - Iron/Wood and Un/Daunted!

#255 - Dragons & Demolitions

#254 - Dungeons & Directors

#253 - batteries.

#252 - Just Two Players, Looking For A Third

#251 - Tom and Pip's Haunted Rat Raft

#250 - A Straightforward Podcast

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

#248 - Silver & Space

#247 - Even More Love for Earthborne Rangers

#246 - Daybreak is Optimistic and Intriguing

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

#238 - BIG CHALLENGES

#236 - Brain of the Century

#235 - The Exclusively Two-Player Special

#234 - What News, From The Sea?

#233 - The Essen Special!

#231 - Everything is an Abstract

#232 - Tom and Pip Touch Grass

#230 - It’s a Numbers Game

#229 - The Triple Animal Special!

#228 - Best Nemeses!

#227 - Three* Great* Games!

#226 - Earthborne Rangers & Great Machines!

#225 - Golem Down!

#224 - Welcome to EARTH

#223 - Planet of the Big Bosses

#222 - The Friese Beast