Which Game First: A Board Game Podcast

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up: We go marching one by one, eating food along the way in BitesNext up:  We unite the workers of the future world whether they like it or not in Euphoria: Build a Better DystopiaAnd lastly: We search for pirate booty and avoid cannon balls in Ship of Treasures Bites Designed by: Brigitte Ditt, Wolfgang DittPublished by: BoardGameTables.com / Allplay (2020)Players: 2 – 5Ages: 10 & upPlaying time: 20 minutes In Bites, players move ants along a trail and collect food as they go. However, the value of that food depends on how the other ants move. Shared incentives mean you are always trying to figure out what the other players are up to. Variable “rules cards” tweak the rules to every game so that each play is fresh. During setup, a trail of food is laid out. On each player’s turn, they can move any ant to the next food in the trail that matches their color (red ant to apple, purple ant to grapes, etc). Then the player takes the food token directly in front of or behind the ant, saving it to score at the end of the game. However, players don’t know for sure how much the food is going to be worth until the matching ant makes it to the ant hill at the end of the trail. This creates shared incentives as players work together to advance some ants and hold others back. Along the way players also have the chance to pick up chocolate, which can be turned into special actions, and wine, which provides a way to score bonus points. Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia Designed by: Jamey Stegmaier, Alan StonePublished by: Stonemaier Games (2014)Players: 2 – 6Ages: 13 & upPlaying time: 60 minutes In Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia, you lead a team of workers (dice) and recruits (cards) to claim ownership of the dystopian world. You will generate commodities, dig tunnels to infiltrate opposing areas, construct markets, collect artifacts, strengthen allegiances, and fulfill secret agendas. Euphoria is a worker-placement game in which dice are your workers. The number on each die represents a worker’s knowledge—that is, his level of awareness that he’s in a dystopia. Worker knowledge enables various bonuses and impacts player interaction. If the collective knowledge of all of your available workers gets too high, one of them might desert you. You also have two elite recruit cards at your disposal; one has pledged allegiance to you, but the other needs some convincing. You can reveal and use the reticent recruit by reaching certain milestones in the game… or by letting other players unwittingly reach those milestones for you. Your path to victory is paved with the sweat of your workers, the strength of your allegiances, and the tunnels you dig to infiltrate other areas of the world, but the destination is a land grab in the form of area control. You accomplish this by constructing markets that impose harsh restrictions of personal freedoms upon other players, changing the face of the game and opening new paths to victory. You can also focus on gathering artifacts from the old world, objects of leisure that are extremely rare in this utilitarian society. The dystopian elite covet these artifacts—especially matching pairs—and are willing to give you tracts of land in exchange for them. Four distinct societies, each of them waiting for you to rewrite history.

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up: We craft custom superheroes to prepare for the climactic battle in Origin StoryNext: We save animal species by creating beautiful habitats in SanctuaryAnd lastly: We go “blammer” and “splammer” to grab all the glamor in Hammer Time Origin Story Designed by: Jamey Stegmaier, Pete WissingerPublished by: Stonemaier Games (2025)Players: 1 – 5Ages: 14 & upPlaying time: 45 minutes Your inner superhero is ready to emerge, one chapter at a time. Reveal your backstory, gather gadgets and allies, develop a grudge against your archenemy, and unleash an ultimate ability as you transform. Use a combination of brains, love, speed, and strength to craft your origin story. Origin Story is a 1-5 player competitive tableau-building, trick-taking game played over 5 rounds. Each round represents a chapter in your development and grants a new card to add to your player mat. Charge your cards and use their abilities to score more points than your opponents. Sanctuary Designed by: Mathias WiggePublished by: Feuerland Spiele & Capstone Games (2025)Players: 1 – 5Ages: 12 & upPlaying time: 40 – 100 minutes In Sanctuary, you will plan and design a modern, scientifically-managed zoo for animals and visitors. A supply of 135 unique zoo tiles provides you with animals, buildings, and projects. In every game, you want to find the best mix from those available to build the most successful zoological establishment. Different effects on the tiles will help you to achieve conservation goals and to increase the attraction of your zoo. Each player has a set of four action cards to manage their gameplay, and the power of an action is determined by the slot the card currently occupies. One of those cards will let you play projects, and the other three cards will let you play animals of a specific habitat: forest, rock, or water. Sanctuary is based on its predecessor Ark Nova, but modifies and simplifies many of the mechanisms of that game in an elegant and surprising manner. Your goal to find the best way to puzzle together your animals, buildings, and projects on your zoo map is an ongoing pleasure! Hammer Time Designed by: Shaun Graham, Scott HuntingtonPublished by: HABA (2020)Players: 1 – 4Ages: 5 & upPlaying time: 15 – 30 minutesIt’s Hammer Time! Players are working to collect shiny gemstones in the mine. They’ll knock the gemstones off the box using the hammer. To complete their tasks, they need to collect the right number and color of gemstones. But be careful – anyone who knocks too hard will wake Dragomir the Dragon and lose their loot! The first player to completely fill all four of their wagons wins the game.

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up: We are “going on an adventure” roll and write style in The Hobbit: There and Back Again Next: We program our tanks and let them loose in the arena in BOOM! PatrolAnd lastly: We amp up our game, that’s watt we’re here for in VOLT The Hobbit: There and Back Again Designed by: Reiner KniziaPublished by: Office Dog / Asmodee (2025)Players: 1 – 4Ages: 10 & upPlaying time: 30 minutes The Hobbit: There & Back Again is a competitive adventure game in which players draft dice to make pathways, collect resources, and perform actions that help them to reach their chapter goal. Each of the players has their own adventure board book open to the same chapter of the game, and they play in turn order starting with the shortest player. That player rolls all of the dice, then selects one, then the next player selects one, and so on until all dice have been chosen, at which point the next player rolls all the dice once again. With your chosen dice, you use a dry-erase pen to mark the current chapter of your book, drafting a path to evade trolls, battle goblins, solve riddles, and pen the best conclusion to each chapter. The game takes players through the eight most iconic challenges faced by Bilbo and the Dwarves in The Hobbit, such as overcoming trolls, goblins, wargs, and giant spiders; reclaiming the treasure of the dwarves; and defeating the dragon Smaug. In the end, you want to complete the most rewarding journey to The Lonely Mountain. The Hobbit: There & Back Again includes a solo mode, as well as a way to increase the game’s difficulty, whether for some players to balance different skill levels or for everyone to increase the challenge. BOOM! Patrol Designed by: Nicole Amato, Anthony AmatoPublished by: Smirk & Dagger Games (2025)Players: 2 – 4Ages: 10 & upPlaying time: 40 – 60 minutes Hello and welcome to the BOOMburg Battle Arena where the most celebrated tank crews have assembled for an all-out battle for gold & glory. So get ready to crush buildings, grab those power-ups and make things go BOOM! Choose your celebrity tank Captain, like Jonesy Ninelives of Crew Tomcat or Rosie Rhino of the Charging Armored – then outsmart, outmaneuver, and outblast your rivals in the ultimate arena battle. BOOM Patrol is a competitive tank battle game that plays like a mash-up of Mario Kart and Battlebots. Whether you Medal – or get blown into next week comes down to your strategic and tactical decisions. All in a game that cares more about fun than precision. ‘Cause if it looks close enough, it’s close enough to crush with 30 tons of treads and armor! Featuring an intuitive and innovative movement system, programmed command cards, asymmetric tank captain abilities, and videogame-like logic, this is just a blast to play. And with the toy-etic cardboard tanks, you will find yourself making tank noises as they rumble across the arena and turn their turrets with a “TINK, TINK, TINK,” before firing. VOLT Designed by: Emerson MatsuuchiPublished by: HeidelBÄR Games (2018)Players: 2 – 4Ages: 10 & upPlaying time: 30 – 45 minutes In VOLT, each player takes the role of an operator controlling one robot to challenge other players. By “programming” three steps ahead, players try to anticipate the moves of other rob...

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up: We turn the pages and grow a spine in A Place for All My BooksNext: We forge a bond to destroy the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the FellowshipAnd lastly: We test our memory skills and … what was I thinking about? in That’s Not a Hat A Place for All My Books Designed by: Alex Cutler, Michael MihealsickPublished by: Smirk & Dagger Games (2025)Players: 1 – 4Ages: 10 & upPlaying time: 60 minutes A Place for All My Books is a puzzley book gathering, sorting and organizing strategy game where players arrange stacks of books in different rooms of their apartment as personal projects. When done, they can admire their accomplishments and gain their rewards – not least of which is renewed energy. They can then spend that social battery to leave the house & brave heading out into the village… to pick up more books! The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship Designed by: Matt LeacockPublished by: Z-Man Games (2025)Players: 1 – 5Ages: 14 & upPlaying time: 60 – 150 minutes As members of The Fellowship and the allies who rise to aid them, you must embark on a journey that may either save or doom Middle-earth. Navigate a world beset by shadow, where every choice forges a new path. The threads of destiny weave together, and the fate of The Free Peoples lies in your valor, friendship, and resolve. Will the One Ring be cast into the fire, or will the bearer be lost to despair? The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship is a co-operative game in which each player controls two characters, lending their unique abilities to protect Frodo, battle enemies in pivotal locations, and evade the menacing Nazgûl and Sauron’s searching Eye. Each playthrough presents new challenges with 24 different objectives, 14 events, and 13 playable characters. The game is won if the group destroys the One Ring before Frodo loses all hope. That’s Not a Hat Designed by: Kasper LappPublished by: Ravensburger (2023)Players: 3 – 8 Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 15 minutes Can you remember a few items? Sounds easy? It’s a challenge in “That’s not a Hat”! Players give gifts to each other while trying to remember who gave what and which gift they have in front of them. If they can’t remember, they have to bluff to avoid a penalty point. An unforgettable game!

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up this week: We are dumping our cards while getting in the groove in MojoNext up: We revisit the 20th century one playing card at a time in Exhibition: 20th CenturyAnd lastly: Avast! May the cards turn up The Jolly Roger in Skull King Mojo Designed by: Antoni GuillenPublished by: The Flying Games & 25th Century Games (2023)Players: 3 – 8Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 30 minutes To win, you will need to have as few points as possible at the end of the game. To do this, discard your big cards OR prefer to play the small ones. Part with your cards OR keep those of the same suit. Do you have the Mojo card? Be good or you may regret it! Mojo is a real party game. The more people there are, the stronger the interaction. It is also fun to try different strategies over the games. Depending on our opponents and our cards, the options are numerous, which makes the game dynamic and different in each game. Mojo means extreme luck in everything you do. Nature is the source of its energy, and animals are its vectors. May the Mojo be with you! Exhibition: 20th Century Designed by: Peter Joustra, Ron van Dalen, Corné van MoorselPublished by: Cwali (2021)Players: 1 – 5Ages: 9 & upPlaying time: 20 – 50 minutes In Exhibition: 20th Century, players aim to build the best museum exhibition of 20th-century objects. On your turn, you take a card from your vehicle’s current continent, move your vehicle to the card’s continent, refill the empty spot, and then place the card into one of your personal showcases. Cards must be placed according to general rules (ascending years, different continents in most showcases) and showcase-specific requirements to earn Fame Points, with the game ending when no player can place more cards. Skull King Designed by: Brent Beck, Jeffrey BeckPublished by: Grandpa Beck’s Games (2013)Players: 2 – 8Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 30 minutes Skull King is a trick-taking card game where the main objective is to correctly bid the exact number of tricks you will win in each round. Each of the ten rounds begins by dealing one more card than the previous round, after which all players simultaneously bid by revealing the number of tricks they expect to take. Players then compete in tricks using colored suit cards, trump cards (black Jolly Roger), and powerful special cards like Pirates and the Skull King. You score points only if you match your bid exactly, gaining bonus points for capturing high-value or special cards, while over- or underbidding loses you points.

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up: We travel the world to create beautiful landscapes in Paper WorldNext: We make the perfect garden of insects, flowers, and frogs in PergolaAnd lastly: We unlock the solution using columns and rows in Digit Code Paper World Designed by: Alexandre Aguilar, Benoit TurpinPublished by: Lumberjacks Studio (2025)Players: 2 – 4Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 15 minutes Paper World is a tableau-building card game where players create a 3×3 grid of cards to form a landscape. On your turn, you can either take cards from a central area, taking all cards of the same color or value, or you can place cards from your hand into your landscape. When placing cards, they must be the same color as the card below them and in ascending numerical order. The goal is to collect stars from the cards in your landscape and by completing public objectives to have the most points at the end of the game. Pergola Designed by: Michał Gołąb Gołębiowski, Przemek Wojtkowiak Published by: Rebel Studio (2025)Players: 1 – 4Ages: 10 & upPlaying time: 45 – 60 minutes In Pergola, you get to be a cheerful gardener, ready to bring your dream garden to life! Your mission is to plant a wonderful mix of flowers that will invite all sorts of charming insects to visit. Every decision you make will shape the beauty of your little garden oasis. So, roll up your sleeves and let your creativity bloom as you create a delightful haven in nature! Pergola is a board game for 1-4 players that is centered around action drafting, tile placement, and set collection. Over the course of 15 turns, players choose a gardening tool from a central board, which grants them resources like plants and insects to place in their own garden. The chosen tool also determines a specific action the player must take, such as moving a frog, a water droplet, or an insect. The goal is to strategically arrange these elements in your garden to create various sets that will earn you points at the end of the game, with the player who has the most points being the winner. Digit Code Designed by: Shota HasuikePublished by: Playte (2025)Players: 2 – 5Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 20 minutes So just for reference, this is how to play the in-person version. On BGA where we played it, the code is set by the computer and we all have the chance to guess Digit Code is a deduction board game for 2 to 5 players where the goal is to be the first to crack a hidden six-digit code. Each number in the code is represented by a digital clock-style display with seven segments. Players take turns asking a specific set of questions to the person who set the code, which can be about a number’s odd or even status, its value relative to an adjacent number, or whether a specific segment in the display is filled. By using logic to piece together the answers, players narrow down the possibilities until they are confident enough to make a guess, with the first correct guess winning the game.

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up: We flock together like birds of a feather in Oh My Pigeons!Next: We make really big bids and hope it does the trick in Colossal Cat In The BoxAnd lastly: We hop around the board releasing rabbits in our wake in Bunny Boom Oh My Pigeons! Designed by: (not listed)Published by: Ravensburger (2024Players: 2 – 5Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 15 minutes Oh My Pigeons! is a fast-paced, “take-that” party game where players compete to be the first to fill their “bench” with silly little pigeons. On your turn, you play a card and set off one of the following: * Gaining Pigeons: Take pigeons from the central flock and add them to your bench. * Stealing Pigeons: Take pigeons directly from other players’ benches. * Removing Pigeons: Force other players to return pigeons from their benches back to the central flock. * Swapping Benches: Exchange your entire bench (and its pigeons) with another player. * Rolling the Die: If you play the “Oh My Pigeons!” card, you roll a special die with various outcomes: * Gain Pigeons: Take 3 or 5 pigeons from the flock. * Steal Pigeons: Take 2 or 4 pigeons from other players (you can split them among multiple opponents). * “Poo” Flick: This is a dexterity element! Place the die near your bench and flick it at an opponent’s bench. Any pigeons knocked off their bench return to the central flock. * “NON” Card: This is a special card that can be played anytime, even on another player’s turn, to cancel their card action or prevent them from taking pigeons or flicking the die after a roll. * Draw Cards: At the end of your turn, draw cards until you have 3 cards in your hand again.  The game immediately ends as soon as any player fills all the spaces on their bench with pigeons. That player is declared the winner. Colossal Cat In The Box Designed by: Muneyuki YokouchiPublished by: Bézier Games (2024)Players: 2 – 5Ages: 14 & upPlaying time: 20 – 40 minutes Cat in the Box is a unique trick-taking card game with a “quantum” twist: your cards don’t have a fixed suit until you play them! Unlike traditional trick-taking games where cards have a set suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades), in Cat in the Box, your cards are “colorless.” Each round is played in two parts: preparation, where you are dealt a hand, discard one card, then place a guess how many tricks you’ll win, and trick taking. When you play a card, you declare its color (red, blue, yellow, or green) and place a token on a central “research board” to mark that specific number/color combination as “observed.” Here’s the catch: You cannot declare a color for a card if that specific number/color combination has already been observed on the research board by any player. This is where the “paradox” comes in. If you’re forced to play a card but cannot legally declare a color for it (because all options for that number are taken), you’ve caused a paradox, and the round ends immediately. You can score points in multiple ways, as you score points for the number of tricks won, if your guess during preparation was correct, and if you’ve created a “run” of tokens on the research b...

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up: We press our luck with every new card dealt in Flip 7Next: We spell out names five letters at a time in HookyAnd lastly: We get nice and limber as we yell out “timber” in Logger Flip 7 Designed by: Eric OlsenPublished by: The Op Games (2024)Players: 3 & upAges: 8 & upPlaying time: 20 minutes Flip over cards one by one without flipping the same number twice. Sounds easy? Think again! This isn’t just any deck of cards… In Flip 7 there’s only one 1 card, two 2’s, three 3’s, all the way up to twelve 12’s and even a zero! plus a bunch of special cards that can score you extra points, cards that give you a second chance if you flip a card that would bust you, a card to stop everything and flip three on yourself or an opponent, or freeze you or your opponents in your tracks. Are you the type of player to play it safe and bank points before you bust, or are you going to risk it all and go for the bonus points by flipping over seven numeric cards without busting? Press your luck meets strategy in this addictive card game that’s sure to be the greatest card game you’ve ever played! Hooky Designed by: James Miller and Friends of AseemaPublished by: Rio Grande Games (2023)Players: 3 – 5Ages: 14 & upPlaying time: 45 – 60 minutes Did you hear that bell? School is in! Take a look around though, and you’ll see some empty seats. Uh oh! Of the 26 children who should be in class today, three students are off playing hooky. It’s your job as the homeroom teacher to figure out who’s missing as students straggle in from the playground.  In Hooky, each letter of the alphabet is represented by one student. Every player receives an opening hand of letters, with three returned to the box- the students playing hooky- and three set aside to be revealed after rounds one, two, and three- the students coming in late. Players start the game by creating a five-letter word using at least one of the letters in their hand and telling the other players how many of their secret letters are in that word, but not which letters. Over the course of five rounds, players similarly quiz each other asking about five letter words and keeping track of the amount of secret letters contained in those words. Players not only gain points by guessing which letters are playing hooky, but you can gain points if you correctly guess the letters in other players’ hands as well! Will you play it safe and try to deduce letters one by one, or will you shoot for the moon and hope your guesses are lucky? Let the search begin! Logger Designed by: Erik DresnerPublished by: Unpublished / Loony Labs (2008)Players: 2 – 4Ages: (not listed)Playing time: 20 – 30 minutes Four rival lumberjacks are competing to chop down the most trees for their business. However, standing in their way are tree-hugging hippies protesting the deforestation. Logger is a game played with Looney Labs pyramids, some meeples, and a 6×6 grid. While that sounds simple enough, there’s more to this game than looks! Players move orthogonally around the board, planting seedlings and growing trees as they move adjacent to those spaces. Once a space has a fully grown tree, a player can chop down that tree as well as any other fully grown trees in that line. Watch out though, as players can place protesters into trees to keep ...

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up: We mind our P’s and Q’s … well mostly our Peas in Easy PeasyNext: We cut the blue wire … no wait, the green wire, or was it the red wire in Bomb BustersAnd lastly: We go off the rails on a crazy train, and we go loco on our locomotive in Rollecate Easy Peasy Designed by: Thomas Favrelière, Alex Fortineau, Simon MoulardPublished by: BLAM ! (2025)Players: 2 – 6Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 15 minutes Easy Peasy is a card game where the objective is to get rid of your cards and end the round when you think you have the lowest score Each player starts with a hand of numbered cards along with a row of cards in front of them. In all, there cards are numbered 1-10 and there are 6 colored suits. In the center lies 2 discard piles, along with a third pile of cards denting the direction, either up or down. On your turn, play your cards on one of the 2 discard piles, respecting the direction set by the Up&Down card: either go up in value, or go down. If the card you play matches the color on the discard pile, take a bonus action and discard another card if you can. Don’t hesitate to change this direction to gain an advantage and slow down your opponents! Try to get rid of all the cards in your hand to end the round and score as few points as possible! At the end of a round, all players will count their total sum value of cards in their hand, and they will also separately count the sum value of the cards in their row. Take the lower value of the two, and compare scores. After 3 rounds, the player with the lowest total score wins the game. Easy Peasy lemon squeezy. Bomb Busters Designed by: Hisashi HayashiPublished by: Pegasus Spiele & Cocktail Games (2024)Players: 2 – 5Ages: 14 & upPlaying time: 30 minutes There is a bomb full of wires and the countdown has started, who are you gonna call? YOU! To clear the bomb, you need to collaborate with your team of bomb disposal experts! Using the wires on the tile holder in front of you, try and figure out your teammates’ wires. Find and cut identical wires, but watch out, if you cut a red wire: BOOM! Use your equipment wisely to meet the varied challenges which get harder and harder. Tick tock tick tock… Will you figure it out before it’s too late? In Bomb Busters, there is a set of 48 normal wire cards numbered 1-12 (4 of each value) with some yellow and red wire cards. These are dealt out. Each mission is different, but your goal is always the same: go through all 12 numbers without blowing up! Players place the tiles on their stands and then take turns pointing at each others’ wires and guessing their values. If the guess is correct, the wires are cut. If not — the detonator advances! If you manage to cut all wires without blowing up — good job, the mission is completed! But if the bomb goes off – Try again! Rollecate Designed by: Michiel de WitPublished by: Gam’inBIZ & H.O.T. Games (2019)Players: 1 – 4Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 10 – 15 minutes Rollecate is a tile laying game, based on a historic steam locomotive, built in 1967 by a famous Dutch engineer. It’s been sitting in storage for the past five years and is eager to get rolling again — and the players of this game will make that happen! The players are going to build new tracks for Rollecate to ride on.

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up: We light up the city sky with colorful fireworks in FestivalNext: We’re planners of the future competing to build the most impressive city in NEOMAnd lastly: We go for maximum bling in our collection of finery in The Great Split Festival Designed by: Grégory GrardPublished by: Scorpion Masqué (2024)Players: 2 – 4Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 20 minutes In Festival, you select tiles to place on your tableau to create the most impressive and beautiful fireworks display possible…and of course, score the most points! You have two stacks of tiles in front of you, with each neighboring player having access to the stack closest to them; tiles come in four colors and four firework designs. Four stacks of objective cards are in the middle of the table, along with four crowd-pleaser tiles. On a turn, take a tile from the top of either stack and place it in the 3×3 grid on your board, whether on the ground level or on an existing stack. Alternatively, you can take an objective card from the top of its stack and place it to the left of your board. To end your turn, see whether you’ve satisfied any of your objectives or the crowd-pleasers that are available to everyone. Move each completed objective to the right of your board. Whenever a player has completed six objectives or a stack of firework tiles has run out, the game concludes at the end of the round. In addition to scoring completed objectives and claimed crowd-pleasers, you have a target color and firework type depicted on your board. Each tile of this color or type at the top of a stack on your board is worth as many points as the number of tiles in that stack. If a tile matches both color and type, you score it twice. Time to light up the sky with our review! NEOM Designed by: Paul SottosantiPublished by: Lookout Games (2018)Players: 1 – 5Ages: 10 & upPlaying time: 45 minutes NEOM is a drafting and tile placement city-building game. Players compete to build the most impressive city utilizing a tree of 17 different goods (from three different tiers) that can each be unlocked, allowing the placement of increasingly powerful tiles as the game progresses. Tiles also feature roads which must be connected without being rotated. At the start of each game, players draft cornerstones — powerful, unique tiles that heavily change what is most valuable from game to game. Then there will be three generations of tiles, each generation yields more productive tiles. Types of tiles are color coded, and type of tile has its own set of scoring rules. There are residential, industrial, commercial, public, and resource tiles to choose from. There are also disaster tiles that you can unleash on your opponents. You’ll need goods to help build your future city, run your roads to the edges of your tableau to have access to your opponent’s resources.  The game ends after 3rd Generation, with lots of ways to score points, most points of course wins and becomes the future ruler of this city of the future. The Great Split Designed by: Hjalmar Hach, Lorenzo SilvaPublished by: Horrible Guild (2022)Players: 2 – 7Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 45 minutes In The Great Split, you draft cards to collect riches such as gems, gold, artwork, and tomes, adding them to your collection to make it the most prestigious of all!

Welcome our Annual Firsties Award Show. It is a look back at board gaming in 2024, where we review our reviews, thereby awarding some very special board games with the accolades they most certainly earned. Best Strategy Game – This Award goes to the game that keeps you up late at night, wondering what strategy you’ll try next!Nominations: Amun-Re (20th Anniversary), Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig, Foundations of Rome, High Season: Grand Hotel Roll and Write, The Shipwreck ArcanaWINNER: Amun-Re (20th Anniversary) Best Themed game – This award goes to the game whos theme was best executed throughout it’s art, narrative flavor, components and mechanics.Nominations: Bristol 1350, Crossbows and Catapults, Flutter, Inori, MLEM: Space Agency, The Fox ExperimentWINNER: The Fox Experiment Best Archeological Find – This prestigious award goes to an oldie but goodie, a throwback to the 20th century, played by our parents, and still enjoyable today.Nominations: Billabong, Junior Executive, Metro, RageWINNER: Metro Best Online Game – This award goes to the game that translated best, and was even improved from its physical counterpart.Nominations: Challengers!, Hydroracers, The Mother Road: Route 66, Time MastersWINNER: Challengers! Firstie Worstie – This “award” goes to the game simply has no good reason to keep playing with the best move being to bury deep in the ground.Nominations: 24 Game, Con Sonar!, Goats Day Out, Junior Executive, The Lunar Dial, VaultWINNER: Junior Executive Game of the Year – This is the award for a game that was made widely available in 2024. It is a game that we found the most memorable, engaging, and well reviewed by all of us.Nominations: Amun-Re (20th Anniverary), Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig, Crossbows and Catapults, Foundations of Rome, The Fox ExperimentWINNER: Foundations of Rome And that brings us to the end of the Sixth Annual Firsties Awards Podcast. Thank you to all our listeners for another great year of dice rolling and card dealing, board gazing and meeple moving. Onward to 2025, and Happy Gaming Explorers!

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up: We find out just how many Vikings can duke it out at once in OdinNext: We go for a stroll, then duck for cover in RefugeAnd lastly: We dart through the rain of the busy city streets in Umbrella Odin Designed by: Yohan Goh, Hope S. Hwang, Gary KimPublished by: Helvetiq (2024)Players: 2 – 6Ages: 7 & upPlaying time: 15 minutes In Odin, you want to empty your hand as quickly as possible, sending all your Vikings out into the world. The game lasts several hands, with each hand consisting of one or more rounds. The deck contains cards in six suits, each numbered 1-9, and each player starts with a hand of nine cards. The lead player for the hand lays a single card on the table. The next player either passes (but can play on a future turn) or plays the same number of cards (or one more than that number) with a higher value. When you play two or more cards, the cards must be the same number or color, and the value of these cards is created by placing their digits in order from high to low. For example, if you play a blue 3 and blue 6, their value is 63, not 36. When you play and are not the lead, you must take one of the cards from the previous play into your hand, then discard the rest. Play continues around the table until either a player is out of cards, which ends the round immediately, or all players have passed in succession. In the latter case, discard the cards last played; whoever played these cards lays a single card to start a new round. Alternatively, if the lead player has cards in hand of a single suit or number, they play all of these cards at once to end the hand. When a hand ends, each player scores 1 point for each card they still hold. If no player has at least 15 points, shuffle the deck and start a new hand. If someone does have 15 or more points, whoever has the fewest points wins. Refuge Designed by: Gérald CattiauxPublished by: Bombyx (2024)Players: 2 – 4Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 30 – 45 minutes Refuge is a press your luck tile placement game, where each player is going for a leisurely stroll outdoors in perfect weather. Until the weather turns, and you need to get home before the storm hits. The goal of Refuge is to create a path by both drawing tiles from your bag and adding useful tiles to your bag to draw later. Your walk is made up of tiles drawn from your bag and placed in front of you.  Players conduct five (5) walks during the game. Each walk consists of a variable number of turns. On each turn, players draw tiles from their bag to add to their path until they choose to go home, ending their walk, or encounter a storm. At the end of the fifth walk, the player with the most victory points is the winner. If a player returns to the refuge, any remaining players continue playing until the walk is ended for all players. When returning to the refuge, tiles are scored according to the number of animals on them. If a player returns to the refuge, they may permanently discard one of their played tiles from the game. All other tiles are returned to their bag after returning to the refuge. If a player is caught by the storm before returning to the refuge, they receive no points for animals on their tiles, and they must pay one step per tile in their path. If they have insufficient steps, they lose 1 victory point for each step they are short, to a minimum of zero. They then return all tiles to their bag.

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up: We sharpen our pencils to fluff pillows, await guests in High Season: Grand Hotel Roll & WriteNext: We gather Materia and feed our familiars to become masters of magic in SpellBookAnd lastly: We’re fancy French rail barons trading our way to the top in Paris Connection High Season: Grand Hotel Roll & Write Designed by: Virginio Gigli, Ryan Hendrickson, Simone LucianiPublished by: Lookout Games (2023)Players: 2 – 4Ages: 12 & upPlaying time: ~ 45 minutes In High Season: Grand Hotel Roll & Write, you prepare rooms, accommodate guests, make personnel decisions, and court the favor of the emperor, all while managing your money and trying to avoid loans. Each player has a hotel board and staff board. At the start of a round, roll dice based on the number of players, then place them on the six spaces (numbered 1-6) on the action board. On a turn, draft one of the dice, then use the associated according to its strength, which is based on the number of dice on that space when you remove it. The actions allow you to: Prepare as many rooms for guests as the strength of the action, paying the cost for each. Occupy a prepared room by paying the cost minus the action’s strength; gain the depicted one-time bonus when doing so. Advance on the emperor track equal to the action’s strength; gain the listed bonuses as you reach them, with a point bonus for reaching the end of the track first. Earn Krone, the game’s currency, equal to the action’s strength. Hire a staff member on your board, paying their cost minus the action’s strength. Two staff members give you a permanent bonus, two grant a one-time effect, and two provide bonus points during scoring. If you are the first player to occupy one of the eight rows or seven columns, you earn bonus points that are unavailable to anyone else who occupies this row or column later. When you occupy all the rooms in a contiguous color group on your board, you gain an immediate bonus of points (for a blue group), krone (red), or steps on the emperor’s track (yellow). The bonuses and effects of the staff differ on each board, so you need to figure out how to take advantage of the opportunities available through them in combination with your particular arrangement of hotel rooms and the dice available each round. After seven rounds, players tally their points – don’t forget to subtract points for debt – the winner is the player with the most points, and win the High Season, while all other players must answer the emperor for committing high treason. SpellBook Designed by: Phil Walker-HardingPublished by: Space Cowboys (2023)Players: 1 – 4Ages: 12 & upPlaying time: ~ 45 minutes Spellbook is a set collection and engine-building game, where players are each trying to become the greatest wizard of the Annual Grand Rite. Players are gathering bits of raw magic, called Materia, to feed their pet familiars and to learn spells.  Each player starts with 7 blank spell books – all players will play with the same 7 books, and will learn the same sets of spells. Each book has its own color: red,  purple, green, black, white, blue, and yellow.  The Materia players are gathering also come in these 7 colors. From a community set of Materia, players will either collect Materia by drawing from the ...