Quinns: It's still Simplicity Week here at SU&SD! While I have no control over what the news is (such things are beyond the grasp of mere mortals, like the weather or burning oven pizzas), I will be rating each news story on how wonderfully simple it manages to be.

Our top story is the announcement of Lords of Xidit! Seen above, this is a re-invention of award-winning 2002 release Himalaya, set in the universe of Seasons. They are taking a game about managing yak caravans, and turning it into a game where you play an Idrakys in the realm of Xidit working together but also competing to fight The Black Southern Host while hiring bards and not forgetting to build sorcerer's guilds.

SIMPLICITY RATING: An abomination, burn it with fire.

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Today's the beginning of Simplicity Week here at SU&SD! Aren't games a little too complex? Isn't life a little too complex, with all these mobly phones and dark webs and human rights? We think so, so from today through next Friday we'll be turning our simple brains to some simple games, inarguably the most beautiful games of all.

Quinns kicks us off with a look at Going, Going, GONE! A bargain-hunting game that could be the savviest and funniest purchase you've made this year.

HELLO everybody! Do you enjoy SU&SD? Would you like to help us do what we do, and receive a goodie bag from us in April? There are just 19 days left to get in on the second ever Gold Club bag, which is hardly any days at all!

Of course, if you're a subscriber, you can just sit back and wait for the goods to come to you!

A couple of other announcements. By now, your rewards for our first pledge season should have arrived. If you've yet to receive these, or your bag was damaged, please email Quinns directly via support@pretend-money.com and he'll ship a replacement out immediately with some extra Haribo inside.

Second, for everybody waiting for a forum or full episodes, we request your patience for a little while longer. Turns out turning SU&SD into a sustainable business is a lot of work, and we've never done work before, so it's very confusing. Apparently there are "lawyers" involved, who are a bit like wizards but a lot less fun.

Sincerely,

-- Team SU&SD

Paul: Every year I make myself a new, sometimes private resolution and every year I do my best to see it through, but 2013 proved an exception. I told myself I’d try to design a tabletop roleplaying game and it wouldn’t matter if I was particularly successful or not, the point was to try and to learn from my mistakes. Then 2013 happened and I might as well have been Lear yelling at the storm. I was mostly wet and useless.

So I’m trying again and this time I’m going to write about it. Over the next few weeks I’m going to look back at games I’ve played and the systems I’ve played with, poke at mechanics that I have and haven’t liked and, most importantly, try and put some ideas together. Sometimes there will be some number crunching and design theory. Other times, there will be stories. Sometimes the two will meet and we’ll discover that dragons used to fly at five miles per hour.

So, let’s not delay. I want to start with a the story of how I was inspired to do this, over a year ago, then look at the sort of things I might want people doing in my game, then give a rough outline of what sort of game I'm going to fumble towards. Why not come with me and, I hope, not chuckle too much as I stumble my way through my thought process?

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Quinns: Good morning, my mewling clutch of board-kittens! You look adorable! Alas, I know your secret. If you don't get your weekly games news, you'll become a snapping, thrashing pit of board-gators, keen to rend my body like so much gory blu-tac.

I'm quite attached to my body (specifically, by my skeleton) so let's get you your news. It's the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal, and Stronghold Games has announced PANAMAX, a board game of managing shipping companies located in the Free Zone of Colon. An area I thought was to be found nnnnnnno apparently I have too much moral fortitude to make that particular joke about Paul's mum.

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Arriving like a shimmering meteorite of steely ludic logic, Quantum is landing in shops now! It's got dice. It's got spaceships (which are dice). It has scientific research (which is another die). It even models the psychological size of your galactic race as you scream and smash your way around deep space (using, yep, another die).

Is Quantum pushing the boundaries of what dice can do? Or is it just like my one gross uncle who has pickles for every meal? It's time... for the review.

The Shut Up & Sit Down podcast has been sighted again! Quickly, catch it in our Podcast section before it disappears back into the Thames in search of tasty nutrients.

Ah, it's a fine specimen this time! Paul and Quinns discuss Richard Garfield classic RoboRally, they're playing Rex again, they've found time for Time 'n' Space, given a blood test to Blood Bound and were briefly riveted by Rivet Wars.

Ah, look! Between the gills! It's also got a lengthy segment where Paul and Quinns discuss the books of board gaming, including The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky, Playing at the World by Jon Peterson and The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks.

Enjoy, everybody!

Paul: Welcome, welcome to Games News. How many of you are there? Just the one, or you might be joined later? Very well, please follow me. Here, is this seat by the window acceptable? Excellent.

Today's specials include a particularly unusual video, a wide selection of Kickstarters, some very special special editions and a veal with nut roast. Ah, I see you're interested in the Space Cadets buffet, a smorgasbord of space chaos. Let me recommend you an excellent wine to go with that.

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