Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we spend a weekend in a cabin in the woods and play a whole lot of board games! A few friends and I recently spent a weekend playing board games at a cabin we rented in Cedars of Lebanon State Park. We played the board games that don’t fit into normal game nights! Most ran about three hours long, some longer. These are the crunchy, brain-burning games that some of us love to play, and in this episode of the podcast, I report out on the games we played, all of which were fantastic.

Music:

"Open Road" by Purple Planet. "Old Tom Bombadil, A Hobbit Folk Song" by Heimburger Music.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too. So here’s a FIRST PLAY review of a new game that I think you might like!

Today we’ll take a look at Club Spooky, a 2-to-4-player game designed and illustrated by Connor Wake and published by Always Awake Games.

Episode Links:

Pre-order Club Spooky from Always Awake Games.

Music:

"Open Road" and "Spooked" by Purple Planet

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, I play capture the flag with seven of my friends in Challengers! 

Challengers! is 2022 game for 2 to 8 players designed by Johannes Krenner and Markus Slawitscheck and published by Z-Man Games with art by Jeff Harvey. It’s a little hard to describe. If I said it’s a deck-building, auto-battler built around a capture-the-flag tournament structure, would that make sense? Maybe not. You'll have to listen to this episode to get the full description.

If you're looking for a high energy game that blends strategy and luck and plays equally well at 4 players or at 8 players, Challengers! is the game for you. 

Episode Links:

Buy Challengers! on Amazon.

Buy Challengers! Beach Cup on Amazon.

Music:

"Open Road" and "Rise of the Superhero" by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Our last episode on second editions of the games Santorini and Tortuga 1667 reminded me about another second edition of a family favorite game that’s out now: Parks designed by Henry Audubon and published by Keymaster Games. We covered the first edition of Parks way back on episode 7 of the podcast, and I thought I would reshare that episode here on the podcast feed in honor of the new edition of Parks. 

In this episode, I’m changing things up a bit and recommending a great board game for couples: Parks by Keymaster Games.

I’m a big fan of the US National Parks, ever since I took my kids out west on what we called the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Tour. We saw the largest of each: we went whale-watching off the coast of San Francisco, we saw redwoods and sequoias in California, and we visited the Grand Canyon in Arizona. We visited three National Parks during that trip—Grand Canyon, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia—and each of them provided amazing sights and experiences.

The board game Parks, designed by Henry Audubon, does a great job of capturing the beauty and wonder of the US National Parks. It is the prettiest game I own, with stunning artwork from the Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series. In the game, you take on the role of hikers, exploring the great outdoors and visiting as many National Parks as you can.

We have two special guests in this episode. My wife Emily stops by for some color commentary and thoughts on why she enjoys playing Parks. Also, Matt Aiken from Keymaster Games joins us to talk about the origin of the game and why he thinks it’s a great game for couples and to tell some stories of people playing PARKS in the great outdoors.

See my photos of Parks, First Edition.

Learn more about Parks, Second Edition.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Open Road,” “Sunbeam,” and “Summer in Paradise,” https://www.purple-planet.com/.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we go back to the island in second editions of podcast favorites Santorini and Tortuga 1667! 

Santorini: Pantheon Edition takes the original Santorini and its “Golden Fleece” expansion and presents them in a new package with revised rules and upgraded components. The teenager and I have been playing it regularly since we got it, and we are loving it. 

When I heard about Tortuga 1667: Deluxe Edition, I was excited at the prospect of upgraded components for the game, but I was a little worried when I heard that there would be revised rules. The original game is so, so good, it was hard to imagine how they would improve it, but they did!

In this episode, I discuss what's new in each of these games and what I appreciate about the changes. Kudos to Roxley Games and Facade Games for these quality second editions of some of our favorite games! 

Links:

Pre-order Santorini: Pantheon Edition from Roxley Games.

Buy Tortuga 1667: Deluxe Edition from Facade Games.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

"Open Road," "The Concept" by Purple Planet. "Pirates!" by Tabletop Audio.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we conspire together to take out one of the worst evils of the 20th century in Black Orchestra! 

Black Orchestra is a 2016 cooperative game for 1 to 5 players designed by Phillip duBarry with art by Lucas Soriano published by Tabletop Tycoon. In Black Orchestra, players take on the role of conspirators in Nazi Germany working together to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The game is based on actual attempts by members of Hitler’s military and civilians to take out the man they saw as an incredible threat to their country. 

The game is a rollercoaster full of close calls and near misses. Our military history correspondent (age 13) approves! Hear his thoughts on the game in this episode.

Links:

Buy Black Orchestra on Amazon.

Listen to the Immersed episode about Black Orchestra.

Read about The Faithful Spy by John Hendrix.

Learn about the Black Orchestra expansion, Resistance.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

"Open Road," "The Concept" by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we sail the high seas on our Viking ships to establish trading routes and not pillage in Knarr! 

Knarr is a 2023 game designed by Thomas Dupont with art by Antoine Carrion published in the US by Pandasaurus Games. Knarr celebrates the trading life of a Viking. In the game, players take on the role of Viking traders, recruiting crew to your ship, then sailing to distant lands to establish trade routes. Your trade routes will earn you victory points, as will the songs that skalds sing about you. 

If you’re looking for a medium-light game that offers a fun twist on engine building and celebrates the softer side of Vikings, Knarr is the game for you.

Links:

Buy Knarr on Amazon.

Get ready for your first play of Knarr.

3D print your own Knarr insert.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

"Open Road" by Purple Planet. "Vikings" by Tabletop Audio.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we work together to tell the story of how a religion changes over the centuries in… Keep the Faith! 

Keep the Faith is a storytelling game for 2 to 5 players about religions in transition. Each player represents a sect within a fictional religion. Players collaboratively make up the story about the religion and how it changes over five hundred years, with a focus on how the material and observable aspects of the religion reflect or contradict the religion’s core values. 

Keep the Faith is currently on BackerKit seeking crowdfunding. If you’re listening to this before March 6, 2025, follow the link below to the BackerKit page to see if you’d like to help get this game published. Keep the Faith will be published by Central Michigan University Games, an academic press that specializes in peer-reviewed board and role-playing games with educational utility.

The designer of Keep the Faith is Greg Loring-Albright, and I'm excited to share highlights from an interview with Greg that I did for my other podcast, Intentional Teaching. Greg shares about his design goals for the game, the role of agency in Keep the Faith, and the challenges of designing a game about a sensitive topic like religion.

Links:

Support Keep the Faith’s crowdfunding effort before March 6, 2025.

Listen to a longer cut of my conversation with Greg Loring-Albright on the Intentional Teaching podcast.

Throw a few bucks at the Intentional Teaching Patreon to hear a few more clips of my talk with Greg.

Listen to Liz Davidson’s conversation with Greg on her Beyond Solitaire podcast.

Learn more about Greg Loring-Albright on his professional website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

"Open Road," "Summer in Paradise" by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Today we have a FIRST PLAY review of Everdell Duo, a 2025 game designed by James and Clarissa Wilson with art by Andrew Bosley and Enggar Adirasa, published by Tabletop Tycoon. The game is a two-player version of the popular 2018 game Everdell, a game that launched a trend in board games featuring friendly anthropomorphic forest animals. Both games are set in the land of Everdell where the squirrels are woodcarvers, the badgers are innkeepers, and the hedgehogs are doctors.

Everdell Duo is a quality two-player experience with all the things you’re looking for in a game: balanced design, thematic mechanics, and adorable art and components. Duo feels like the original Everdell, with worker placement and resource collection and card combos, but with a simpler, faster, and more competitive experience.

Links:

Preorder Everdell Duo from the publisher.

See my photos of Everdell Duo.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

"Open Road" by Purple Planet. "Forest: Day" by Tabletop Audio.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we gather around an African watering hole to see who can chase away the most animals in Kariba!

Kariba is about animals gathering around an African watering hold, so the cards are all elephants and giraffes and zebras and meerkats and such. Players take turns playing cards from their hands to the watering hole in the middle of the table, with larger animals chasing off smaller ones. Kariba is my favorite game to bring to family gatherings when (a) I know there will be young kids there, especially pre-readers and (b) I don’t have much space in my luggage, since it comes in a very small box.

Links:

See my photo of Kariba.

Buy Kariba on Amazon.

Watch a watering hole in the Namib Desert.

See Felix Kindelán's Instagram.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

"Open Road," "The Concept" by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we fight zombies and frostbite and maybe stab our friends in the back in Dead of Winter!

In Dead of Winter, a 2014 game designed by Isaac Vega and Jonathan Gilmour with art by Fernanda Suarez, players take on the role of survivors of a zombie apocalypse, trying to find the resources they need to fend off zombies and hunger and cold and the occasional fellow survivor. Dead of Winter is a semi-cooperative game, in that you’re mostly working together to beat the game, but each player has personal objectives that might get in the way.

Dead of Winter was the game that helped me appreciate the world of board gaming beyond Settlers of Catan, and it was my favorite game for several years. I'm happy to help celebrate its tenth anniversary with this episode, which features comments on the game from me, the teenager, and the toddler.

I didn't have time to mention the expansions for Dead of Winter in the episode, but there are two: The Long Night, which adds more characters and scenarios and three optional modules to the game, and Warring Colonies, which you can use to pit two colonies against each other in what can be an 11-player game. I played that one once, and it was a bit much, but The Long Night is a great addition to the base game.

Links:

See my photos of Dead of Winter.

Buy Dead of Winter on Amazon.

Listen to "Bringing Dead of Winter to Life" on the Quarter to Three podcast.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Winter Wonder" by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this bonus episode, I share an extended cut of my recent interview with Jonathan Chaffer, designer of the Holiday Hijinks series of 18-card escape room games. Jonathan had a lot to say about the design constraints he faced in creating these games, more than I could fit in last episode's review of the series. If you're interested in tabletop game design, I think you'll find this interesting.

Links:

Back the newest Holiday Hijinks games on Kickstarter.

Order the original Holiday Hijinks games from Game Gamers Guild.

See Jonathan Chaffer's full list of designed games.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

"Open Road," "The Concept," and "Summer in Paradise" by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we put the spotlight on the preschooler with twelve games that are fun to play with a three-year-old! 

I’ve been on a quest to find board games that the three-year-old can play and enjoy and that don’t drive the rest of us crazy. On this episode, I’m going to share an update about that quest and point listeners to a few games that we’ve found work well for our family of five—including the three-year-old.

Episode Resources

Buy Hoot Owl Hoot on Amazon.

Buy Go Go Little Penguin on Amazon.

Buy Cascadia Junior on Amazon.

Buy Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters on Amazon.

Episode 57 - Kariba

Episode 32 - Outfoxed

Episode 24 - Incan Gold

Episode 20 - Sleeping Queens

Episode 5 - Deep Sea Adventure

Episode 4 - Sushi Go!

Episode 3 - Love Letter

<Politics>

For context on my statement in the episode about Dane Chapin, the CEO of Op Games, see this thread on Bluesky and also this press release.

</Politics>

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we save Christmas and a lot of other holidays from potential catastrophe in Holiday Hijinks!

Holiday Hijinks is a line of 18-card holiday-themed escape room games designed and illustrated by Jonathan Chaffer and published by Grand Gamers Guild. Each one offers the cooperative puzzle solving of an escape room in just 18 cards. There are nine games in the series currently, with names like The Cupid Crisis, The Turkey Trial, and The Groundhog Gambit. The newest Holiday Hijinks games -- The Leprechaun Larceny, The New Year Nightmare, and The Krampus Caper -- are now crowdfunding on Kickstarter, along with a collector's box that stores all 12 games.

This episode features an interview with Holiday Hijinks designer and illustrator Jonathan Chaffer. What does it take to pack this much escape room fun in 18 cards? Will the Holiday Hijinks series run out of holidays? Jonathan pulls back the curtain on this clever game series in his interview.

Links:

Back the newest Holiday Hijinks games on Kickstarter.

Order the original Holiday Hijinks games from Game Gamers Guild.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

"Open Road," "The Concept," and "Summer in Paradise" by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we load up our donkey carts with fruit to deliver around the island in Finca!

In Finca, players take on the role of farmers at harvest time on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Move your farmers around the windmill to generate resources, collect colorful chunky fruit tokens, deliver fruit strategically around the island with your donkey cart... That's Finca in a nutshell. It's easy to teach, has beautiful art and components, and ramps up nicely to a very tense ending.

Finca is one of the older games we've covered here on the podcast, having first been published in 2009 in Germany. It had been out of print for a while, but Pandasaurus Games recently issued a new edition with updated art and streamlined rules. In this episode, I talk with Raina Huang, marketing manager at Pandasaurus games, about the new edition.

Links:

See my photos of the original edition of Finca.

Buy the new edition of Finca from Amazon.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Open Road” and "Summer in Paradise" by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Today we have a FIRST PLAY review of Sirens, a 2024 game for two players designed by Art Casey with illustrations by Gabi Naftaly and published by Envy Born Games. In Sirens, players take on the role of the sirens of Greek myths, those creatures whose beautiful singing lured Odysseus’ sailors into the sea and to their doom. In the game, players draft cards to create musical symphonies, with the best symphonies enthralling those hapless sailors.

This episode features an interview with Sirens designer Art Casey (from the floor of Gen Con 2024) and some color commentary with my fascinating wife Emily!

Links:

Buy Sirens on Amazon.

Get notified when the Kickstarter for Kalahari is launched.

Check out some ancient Greek pottery: Example 1, Example 2.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

"Open Road," "Summer in Paradise," and "Sunbeam" by Purple Planet. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too. So here’s a FIRST PLAY review of a new game that I think you might like!

Today we’ll take a look at Tír na nÓg, a 2024 game for designed by Isaac Shalev and Jason Slingerland and published by Grand Gamers Guild. In Tír na nÓg, we journey into a world of Celtic myths and come back with amazing stories. Coincidentally, I recently journeyed into the world of Gen Con, North America’s biggest board game convention, I have come back with amazing stories, one of which is an interview with Isaac Shalev, one of the designers of Tír na nÓg.

Links:

Pre-order Tír na nÓg by September 5, 2024.

See my photos of Tír na nÓg.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Open Road” and “Summer in Paradise” by Purple Planet. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we build the technologies and societies needed to fight climate change in Daybreak!

Daybreak is a 2023 game published by CMYK and designed by Matt Leacock and Matteo Menapace. In this cooperative board game, up to four players take on the role of world powers like the U.S. and China enacting climate action policies. The goal of the game is to cut carbon emissions before the planet gets too hot or too many communities are put into crisis. That sounds like a lot of heavy lifting for a board game until you consider that one of the game’s designers, Matt Leacock, is the designer of the very popular cooperative board game Pandemic, another game that does a lot of heavy lifting.

Earlier this year, I had the chance to interview Daybreak’s other designer, Matteo Menapace, about the design of the game as a learning experience. In my day job, I help faculty and other instructors in higher education develop and refine their teaching skills and as part of that work I produce and host a podcast called Intentional Teaching. That podcast gives me a chance to interview all kinds of educators about the ways they approach their teaching. I couldn’t resist reaching out to Matteo to talk about Daybreak. He and I had a fascinating conversation about learning design in that context, and I share a few clips of that interview in this first-ever crossover between my two podcasts!

Links:

See my photos of Daybreak.

Visit the Daybreak website.

Listen to my full interview with Matteo Menapace.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Open Road,” “Summer in Paradise” by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we celebrate four years (and 50 episodes) of the podcast by recommending my top five games to start your board game collection!

I started First Player Token to provide some advice to people who like playing board games with family and friends but maybe get a little overwhelmed when shopping for board games at Target or Barnes & Noble. In the spirit of welcoming new people into the board game hobby, I have five games to recommend in this episode if you’re just starting your board game collection.

I also have a pretty fun announcement: I’m a YouTuber! And by that I mean that I’ve produced my first how-to-play video. With lots of encouragement from Emily and my friend Jeff and others, I’ve finally tried my hand at taking my board game teaching skills to YouTube. On the First Player Token YouTube channel, you’ll now find “Space Explorers – Your First Play.”

Also, the two-year-old official joins the podcast in this episode, with some audio from his very first family board game experience!

Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Open Road,” “Summer in Paradise,” and “Isola Bella” by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too. So here’s a FIRST PLAY review of a new game that I think you might like!

Today we’ll take a look at Color Field from 25th Century Games. Color Field is a 2024 game designed by Mondo Davis with art by Peach Benitez.

Links:

Buy Color Field on Amazon.

“How Mark Rothko Unlocked the Emotional Power of Colors” by Alina Cohen

Canva’s Color Wheel, where you can make your own tetradic color schemes

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Open Road” and “Sunbeam” by Purple Planet. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we put on our funny Viking hats and go plundering in Raiders of the North Sea!

Raiders of the North Sea is a two to four player game published in 2015 by Garphill Games. It was designed by Shem Phillips with art by Mihajlo Dimitrievski. The game is about building your Viking crew, raiding settlements, and bringing back plunder for your chieftain. Raiders offers an interesting twist on the worker placement genre of games. Each player has precisely one worker—a Viking—that they can send on their turn to some unoccupied location on the board. They activate that location, getting something useful from it, and then—here’s the twist—they choose another location that has a worker, activate that location, and retrieve the worker to use on their next turn.

Place a Viking, do a thing, retrieve a different Viking, do a different thing. This simple mechanic powers a very fun game with the right balance of strategic planning and beating your opponent to the punch.

Links:
See my photos of Raiders of the North Sea.

Buy Raiders of the North Sea on Amazon.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Open Road” by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we board the Jolly Roger and steal from treasure from a Spanish galleon in Tortuga 1667!

In Tortuga 1667, players take on the role of pirates attacking Spanish ships near the island of Tortuga and stealing their gold. Half of the players are secretly working for the British and half for the French. At the start of the game, you know which team you’re on, but no one else does. As you play the game, triggering event cards, attacking the Spanish galleons, brawling on the island of Tortuga, and occasionally committing mutiny, you’ll start to figure out who is on which team. There’s treasure to be had in the game, and at the end of the game (triggered by the arrival of the Spanish armada) the team with the most treasure wins.

Tortuga 1667 has quickly become a favorite at our monthly game nights because of its quality production values, ability to handle high player counts (up to 9!), and the fun that can be had with hidden roles in the game. There can be a lot of chaos in the game, but usually also opportunities to use that chaos to your advantage, which sounds like the pirate’s life to me.

Links:

See my photos of Tortuga 1667.

Buy Tortuga 1667 on Amazon.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Open Road” by Purple Planet. “Pirates!” by Tabletop Audio.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In The Wolves, we build our packs and carve out our territory!

The Wolves is a 2022 game designed by Ashwin Kamath and Clarence Simpson with art by Pauliina Linjama and a quality production from publisher Pandasaurus Games. In The Wolves, between two and five players each controls a pack of wolves vying for territory across a wilderness. This game is richly illustrated with tons of wolf tokens to represent your packs spreading across a semi-randomized map full of different terrain types. It has a unique action selection mechanism that uses those terrain types. I really like this game. I like how clever it can make me feel, I like the liberty it gives me to be as aggressive as I can be, and I like how quickly it escalates.

This episode features a review of The Wolves, as well as the podcast’s first-ever family color commentary segment!

Links:

See my photos of The Wolves.

Buy The Wolves on Amazon.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Open Road” and “Sunbeam” by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we complete our quest to find out which fictional character is the ultimate fighter in our 2025 Unmatched tournament! 

To run the tournament, I identified our 16 most-played Unmatched heroes, then set up some brackets to pit them against each other. A few episodes ago, I reported on the first half of the tournament: the first-round games that whittled our list of heroes to the Elite 8. Today, I’m excited to share the second half of the tournament!

As a reminder, the hero who wins each battle isn’t necessarily the hero who moves on in the tournament. The teenager and I play a game with each pair of heroes, then discuss the game and the heroes and decide which of the two heroes we like playing the most. That’s the hero that moves on to the next round.

Achilles, Little Red, Houdini, Invisible Man, Beowulf, Jekyll & Hyde, Shakespeare, and T-Rex! Who will be the champion?

Episode Resources:

Buy Unmatched sets on Amazon.

Listen to our 2023 review of Unmatched.

Listen to Part 1 of our 2025 Unmatched tournament.

Music:

"Open Road," Purple Planet Music

"Field of Heroes," Tabletop Audio

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we try to save the planet from a relentless alien invasion in Under Falling Skies!

Under Falling Skies is a 2020 board game designed by designed by Tomáš Uhlíř published by Czech Games Edition with art by Petr Boháček and Kwanchai Moriya. It’s a solo game about repelling an alien invasion that clearly takes some inspiration from the film Independence Day and from the classic arcade game Space Invaders, with those alien spaceships descending toward vulnerable cities one row at a time. Under Falling Skies is a fantastic solo game, with beautiful components, decisions that are full of painful trade-offs, and a campaign that will keep you returning to the game again and again.

This episode features a rousing speech, an overview of Under Falling Skies and why it’s so so good, a spoiler-warned set of thoughts on the game’s campaign mode, and a special appearance from the youngest member of the First Player Token crew!

Links:

See my photos of Under Falling Skies.

Read Tomáš Uhlíř’s designer diary for Under Falling Skies.

Buy Under Falling Skies on Amazon.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Open Road: by Purple Planet.

“Space Invaders” by SilvaGunner.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In The Blood of an Englishman, we see if Jack can steal the goose that lays golden eggs from the giant at the top of the beanstalk!

In 2016, Renegade Games published a two-player card game inspired by “Jack and the Beanstalk” called The Blood of an Englishman. One player takes on the role of Jack, attempting to steal the giant’s treasure through a series of quick little moves, and the other player is the giant, trying to stop Jack. The game was designed by Dan Cassar and he said in an interview that he read his young son the story one night, and the kid went around shouting “Fee fi fo fum!” for days. He wanted to capture a bit of that energy in a game, and The Blood of an Englishman is the result. As you’ll hear in this episode, the game had the intended effect in our house!

The Blood of an Englishman is a great introduction to asymmetric games, and it’s one of my favorite two-player games.

Links:

See my photos of The Blood of an Englishman.

Read about linguistic phylogenetic research on fairy tales.

Read Dan Cassar’s designer diary.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Music:

“Open Road” and “The Concept,” https://www.purple-planet.com/.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, I try out a new format by giving very brief reviews of ten games I played at our local board game convention, Tennessee Game Days, earlier this fall!

Tennessee Game Days is an event held each spring and fall here in Nashville, Tennessee, where people come from around the state and the region to spend a few days in hotel convention rooms playing all kinds of board games with friends and strangers. There’s a library of hundreds of board games you can check out and play, along with a play-to-win room and a distributed flea market.

My time at TGD was spent in two different ways: (1) playing games with my adult friends that we can’t find the time to play any other way and (2) bringing my family to the event and letting the kids pick games to check out of the game library to learn and play.  I thought it would be fun to offer some very short reviews of ten games I played at TGD in September, to give you a sense of what my family and friends and I are playing these days!

Links:

Learn more about Tennessee Game Days.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Music:

“Open Road” and “The Concept,” https://www.purple-planet.com/.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we try to figure out if our opponent put the poison in our glass or in his glass in the game In Vino Morte!

In Vino Morte is a 2016 game designed by Chris Anderson with art by Ben Toz and published by Button Shy Games. It’s inspired by that classic scene in The Princess Bride where the Dread Pirate Roberts and the scoundrel Vizzini face off over a couple of glasses of wine, one of which is poisoned. In Vino Morte takes that basic idea and scales it up to a 16-card game for three to nine players. I love In Vino Morte because it’s dead simple, it always leads to lively if nonsensical play, I can teach it in about 30 seconds, it plays in like 5 minutes, and it handles a bunch of players. We do, however, call the game “Grape Juice and Poison” when we play with kids…

In this episode, our viticulture correspondents (ages 9 and 10) review “Grape Juice and Poison” along with another great Button Shy wallet game, The Boy Who Cried Wolf. If you’re looking for a quick-to-teach, quick-to-play, kid-friendly game that’s more social than strategic, either of these games fits the bill.

Order In Vino Morte from Button Shy Games.

Purchase Button Shy print-and-play games on PNP Arcade.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Mastodon.

Music: “Open Road” and “The Concept,” https://www.purple-planet.com/. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too!

That leads me to this bonus episode you’re listening to right now. Instead of a scripted and highly edited review of a family favorite game, I present to you my loosely organized thoughts about a FIRST PLAY of a new board game.

Today, we’ll take a look at After Us from Pandasaurus Games. It’s a 2023 game designed by Florian Sirieix with art by Vincent Dutrait.

See my photo of After Us.

Order After Us from Pandasaurus Games.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Mastodon.

Music: “Open Road” and “The Concept,” https://www.purple-planet.com/.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

 In this episode, we see what happens when heroes from stories and legends battle it out in Unmatched!

Unmatched is actually a series of games from Restoration Games. That company specializes in taking older games and redesigning them for a modern audience. They have “restored” games like Downforce, Fireball Island, Thunder Road, and Dark Tower. Unmatched is based on a more recent game, Star Wars: Epic Duels, from 2002, with the redesign done by Rob Daviau and Justin D. Jacobson. In both games, two players each take control of a different hero, and each hero has its own unique deck of cards for attack, defense, and special abilities. You place your hero figures on a board showing a battlefield, then take turns moving around the battlefield and playing cards from your hand to attack your opponent.

In this episode, the 12-year-old and I discuss Unmatched: Cobble & Fog, a set that includes four heroes: Sherlock Holmes, the Invisible Man, Dracula, and Jekyll & Hyde. Each hero has a different set of cards to play, and pretty much every card has some special ability on it, all thematically linked to the heroes. For instance, the Invisible Man is all about the hit and run, doing a little damage and then fading into the mist to avoid getting hit himself. Or take Sherlock Holmes, many of whose cards involve either looking at the opponent’s cards or getting bonuses if his player can guess what the opponent is playing. One thing I love about Unmatched is how different each hero plays, yet how well balanced they all are.

Come for the one-on-one Victorian-era combat, stay for the 12-year-old’s reaction to seeing the Unmatched Jurassic Park set with a giant t-rex!

Buy Unmatched: Cobble & Fog on Amazon.

Explore the fan-created heroes on Unmatched Maker.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Mastodon.

Music: “Open Road” and “The Concept,” https://www.purple-planet.com/. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

 Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too!

That leads me to this bonus episode you’re listening to right now. Instead of a scripted and highly edited review of a family favorite game, I present to you my loosely organized thoughts about a FIRST PLAY of a new board game.

Today, we’ll take a look at Blazon from 25th Century Games. It’s a 2023 game designed by Dave Conklin with art by Ian O’Toole.

Order Blazon from 25th Century Games.

Read this interview with Blazon designer Dave Conklin.

See Blazon reviewed in a Dutch heraldry periodical.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Mastodon.

Music: “Open Road,” https://www.purple-planet.com/. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

 In this episode, we battle for the honor of hosting the king in our chateaus in Royal Visit!

Royal Visit is a 2021 game designed by Reiner Knizia with art by Karl James Mountford and published by Iello Games. It’s a two-player game, with players occupying opposite ends of a valley hoping to attract the visiting king to their magnificent chateaus. The art and production in this game really is magnificent, with chunky wooden figures, a cloth game board that rolls up in the box, and lively colorful character illustrations. This isn’t just a pretty game, however. The designer, Dr. Reiner Knizia, is an incredibly prolific designer, with more than 700 board and card games to his name, and he knows how to put together a game. This is one of the best two-player games I’ve played.

The long narrow game board has 17 spaces on it, with the two spaces on either end representing the chateau of each player. The five wooden figures represent the king’s court—there’s the king, two guards, a wizard, and a jester. They start off on the five spaces in the middle of the board, and players take turns drawing and playing cards to move these figures in different ways. The goal is to get the king to your chateau, and it’s not as easy as that sounds. I gave the game to the 9-year-old for Christmas last year, and she can’t get enough of it. It’s our favorite game to play together.

See my photos of Royal Visit.

Buy Royal Visit on Amazon.

Learn about the games that Royal Visit was based on.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Mastodon.

Music: “Open Road” and “The Concept,” https://www.purple-planet.com/. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we become Scottish chieftains expanding our lands in… Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King!

The Isle of Skye is one of the large islands off the northwest coast of Scotland, famous for its stunningly beautiful landscape and as the home to the Scottish clans of MacLeod and MacDonald. This mountainous land suitable for fishing and farming is the inspiration for the 2015 board game Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King designed by Alexander Pfister and Andreas Pelikan currently published by Lookout Games. In the game, two to five players take on the role of rival Scottish chieftains trying to claim the best lands for their clans.

A friend of mine describes Isle of Skye as “Carcassonne meets Tunica.” It features the same kind of tile laying fun that the classic game Carcassonne features, as well as a tile buying market that often feels like you’re gambling on your clan’s future! According to my Board Game Stats app, it’s my fourth most played game, and it’s the game I’ve played in the most different locations. That’s because I love to introduce it to new players, and I’ve done that at game nights and family gatherings for years. I’m very excited to finally review Isle of Skye here on the podcast (with a little help from the 12-year-old).

See my photos of Isle of Skye.

Buy Isle of Skye on Amazon.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Music: “Open Road” and “Romance of the Isles,” https://www.purple-planet.com/.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too!

That leads me to this bonus episode you’re listening to right now. Instead of a scripted and highly edited review of a family favorite game, I present to you my loosely organized thoughts about a FIRST PLAY of a new board game.

Today, we’ll take a look at the game Kohaku from 25th Century Games, a 2020 game designed by Danny Devine with art also by Danny Devine!

Order Kohaku on Amazon.

Download a 3d-printed insert for Kohaku.

See that 3d-printed insert in action.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayrtoken on Twitter.

Music: “Open Road” and “The Concept,” https://www.purple-planet.com/. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we travel back to ancient Egypt, build some pyramids, and compete to be the pharaoh’s favorite architect in Imhotep. 

Imhotep was said to be the architect of the step pyramid in Djoser, rising 200 feet tall, the earliest colossal stone building in Egypt. Imhotep is also a 2016 game for two to four players designed by Phil Walker-Harding and published by KOSMOS, in which players step into the sandals of the original Imhotep to build pyramids and obelisks and other great monuments. 

Episode Links:

See if you can find a secondhand copy of Imhotep on the BGG GeekMarket.

Read designer Phil Walker-Harding's introduction to Imhotep.

Music:

"Open Road" by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

 We reviewed the game Mysterium in our last episode, and Emily and I had a great time recording her “color commentary” about the game. Mysterium is all pictures and no words, and my artist wife had a lot to say about the game! I only used a few minutes of our conversation in the episode, so I thought I would share an extended cut here as a bonus episode. We talk about color and art and game design and more!

Buy Mysterium on Amazon.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Music: “Sunbeam,” https://www.purple-planet.com/. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

 In this episode, we work together to solve a murder in the game with no words… Mysterium!

Mysterium is the English name for a 2013 Polish game called Tajemnicze Domostwo designed by Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko. It’s a cooperative game where two to seven players work together to solve the mystery of a murder in about 45 to 60 minutes. Like the classic game Clue, you’re trying to figure out who, where, and what—who is the murderer, where did it happen, and with what weapon. But unlike Clue, there’s no deduction involved; in Mysterium, you’re trying to interpret dreams to point you to the culprit. Those dreams take the form of a stack of oversized cards, each depicting some fantastical or surreal scene. Each round, the ghost player draws a hand of seven of these dream cards and selects the ones that will point the other players to the elements of the crime. This is why I could play the original Polish version of this game. The game has no words!

This episode features a review of Mysterium by our supernatural correspondent (age 11) and some color commentary on the game from my wife the artist! Listen here or search for “First Player Token” in your podcast app.

Artists for the original Polish version of the game: Mateusz Bielski, Igor Burlakov, Mariusz Gandzel, Oleksandr Nevskiy, Oleg Sidorenko, and Karolina Węcka

Mysterium rules options:

Polish rules (translated to English)
Ukranian rules (translated to English)
North American rules (in English)

And the usual links…

See my photos of Mysteri

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. That means I usually review older games, but I like to play new games, too!

That leads me to this bonus episode you’re listening to right now. Instead of a scripted and highly edited review of a family favorite game, I present to you my loosely organized thoughts about a FIRST PLAY of a new board game.

Today, we’ll take a look at the new game Power Plants from Kids Table Board Gaming, a 2022 game designed by Adam Daulton with art by Apolline Etienne.

Pre-order the regular edition of Power Plants from KTBG.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayrtoken on Twitter.

Music: “Open Road,” https://www.purple-planet.com/.  

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

 In this episode, we take a look a game that you’ll want to know about if you’re tired of playing tic-tac-toe… Gobblet Gobblers!

Gobblet Gobblers is a 2003 game published by Blue Orange Games, and it turns tic-tac-toe into a genuinely fun game. In the box, you’ll find four long wood pieces that you fit together like a tic-tac-toe board, along with twelve player pieces, each of which has a goofy smile and a little feather on top of its head. I guess they’re meant to be turkeys? Gobble gobble, and all that. The player pieces come in small, medium, and large sizes, and they can stack on top of each other, a bit like Russian nesting dolls.

Each player takes six player pieces, two small, two medium, and two large. It’s a Blue Orange game, so one player gets all blue pieces and one player gets all orange pieces. Then you take turns placing those pieces on the tic-tac-toe board, trying to get three-in-a-row for the win. Here’s the twist: Instead of placing your piece in an empty square, you stack your piece on top of a smaller piece that’s already on the board! This turns tic-tac-toe on its head and makes the game way more interesting, while being just as accessible to little kids.

Check out this episode for more on Gobblet Gobblers, as well as another spin on traditional tic-tac-toe: Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe! Listen here or search for “First Player Token” on your favorite podcast app!

Buy Gobblet Gobblers on Amazon.

Learn how to play Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe, by Ben Orlin.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayrtoken on Twitter.

Music: “Open Road,” https://www.purple-planet.com/. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

 In this episode, we work together to catch a sneaky, pot-pie-stealing fox in the cooperative kids game Outfoxed!

Outfoxed is, I’m pretty sure, the only board game where players take on the role of detective chickens. You see, Mrs. Plumpert’s prize pot pie has been snatched by a sneaky fox, and it’s up to a plucky group of detective chickens (or is that chicken detectives?) to figure out which fox is the culprit before he or she scampers off with the pot pie.

Outfoxed is a charming cooperative game perfect for ages 4 to 8 and the adults in their life. You roll dice, you move your detective hats, you find clues… it’s all accessible and colorful and perfectly family friendly. It’s definitely a kids game, but adults and older siblings who like spending time with their littles will find Outfoxed just complex enough to be engaging.

Since my kids have outgrown Outfoxed, I asked my friend Sara to talk with her daughter, age five, about the game. What Sara sent me was the audio from perhaps the most adorable play session ever!

Listen here or search for “First Player Token” on your favorite podcast app!

Buy Outfoxed on Amazon.

See my photos of Outfoxed.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayrtoken on Twitter.

Music: “Open Road” and “The Concept,” https://www.purple-planet.com/. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

 In this episode, we build cities and farms and roads in the modern classic, Carcassonne!

Carcassonne is a tile-laying game. Players take turns drawing square tiles and adding them to a common medieval landscape. On your turn, you draw a tile and place it somewhere on the landscape, making sure that the sides of the new tile match the sides of any adjacent tiles… fields to fields, roads to roads, cities to cities. Eventually you’ll have a sprawling countryside, full of farms and roads and walled cities.

Carcassonne has sold more than 12 million copies around the world, and it’s been many people’s entry into the world of modern board games. It’s also a great game for families, since it’s easy to learn, doesn’t require any reading, handles at least five players, and has enough depth to keep adults interested.

This episode features a special guest interview with my friend Andy and his son, both of whom are fans of Carcassonne. And I finally get around to introducing the term “meeple” on the podcast!

Listen here or search for “First Player Token” on your favorite podcast app!

Buy Carcassonne on Amazon.

See my photos of Carcassonne.

Listen to my Carcassonne Vibes playlist on Spotify.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayrtoken on Twitter.

Music: “Open Road” and “The Concept,” https://www.purple-planet.com/. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Usually when I review and recommend a board game here on the podcast, I’ve played that game at least ten times. That way I know the game well and I know it has some staying power. But recently, the 11-year-old has been on a kick to play new games, that is, games he’s never played before. That makes it hard to play a game repeatedly with him, but it does mean I’m getting to try out the new games I buy a lot faster.

That leads me to this bonus episode you’re listening to right now. Instead of a scripted and highly edited review of a family favorite game, I present to you my loosely organized thoughts about a FIRST PLAY of a new board game. Today, we’ll take a look at the new game Gartenbau from 25th Century Games designed by David Abelson and Alex Johns.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayrtoken on Twitter.

Music: “Open Road,” https://www.purple-planet.com/. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

 In this episode, we try to avoid a pandemic like it’s the 14th century by escaping the city on an apple cart in Bristol 1350!

Bristol 1350 is a lively game for up to nine players about escaping the Black Death in Bristol, England, in the 14th century. Publishing a game about escaping a pandemic during a pandemic is something of a bold move, but it’s exactly what board game publisher Facade Games did in 2021. In this episode, we review Bristol 1350 and recommend it, at least for those of you who are okay with the theme.

This episode also features a very special guest, Travis Hancock, who designed and published Bristol 1350 with his wife Holly Hancock. Travis and Holly are the two-person team behind Facade Games and all its games. Travis has some fun behind-the-scenes stories to share, as well as a pretty substantial tease about their next game, coming to Kickstarter in January 2023!

You can listen here or search for “First Player Token” in your podcast app.

Order Bristol 1350 from Facade Games.

See my photos of Bristol 1350.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayrtoken on Twitter.

Music: “Open Road” and “Summer in Paradise,” https://www.purple-planet.com/. 

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we’re going back to the space race with the upcoming new expansion, Space Explorers: Age of Ambition!

Back in Episode 19, I reviewed a game called Space Explorers published by 25th Century Games. I interviewed Chad Elkins, the one-man show behind 25th Century Games, and he gave me my first podcast exclusive: 25th Century had an expansion in the works for Space Explorers! Space Explorers: Age of Ambition is that expansion, and it’s now available on Gamefound for pre-order. Chad kindly sent me an advance copy so I could preview the expansion here on the pod.

In Space Explorers, players take on the roles of heads of space research centers, recruiting a variety of experts to build and launch satellites and spaceships, hoping to have the most impressive set of projects and specialists by the end of the game. Age of Ambition continues the base game’s stylish 1960s Life magazine vibe with illustrations of space program leaders, new missions from Japan and France, and crises that set back your exploration. There’s an Apollo 13 or For All Mankind look and feel to the game. Age of Ambition features seven different modules, any of which can be added to the base game to give the game a new feel. Some of the modules just tweak the game a little, while others change the game mechanics significantly.

In this episode, I share my thoughts on the Age of Ambition expansion after a few plays. Also, my amazing wife Emily is back with some color commentary on Space Explorers. You can listen here or search for “First Player Token” in your podcast app!

Pre-order Space Explorers: Age of Ambition on Gamefound.

See my photos of Space Explorers: Age of Ambition.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayrtoken on Twitter.

Music: “Open Road” and “Sunbeam,” https://www.purple-planet.com/.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we have a very special guest joining us to review Takenoko, a game that teaches you what to do in the unlikely event someone gives you a panda.

Takenoko is a 2011 game designed by Antoine Bauza and published by Bombyx Studios. In the game, players work together to grow a bamboo garden and send a friendly panda around that garden eating bamboo. Each player has a number of secret goals, however. They use these goals to score points by building the garden in certain ways or having the panda eat certain kinds of bamboo. The game’s aesthetics are both colorful and relaxing, and the components are charming, with little panda and gardener figures along with wooden bamboo pieces you can stack on top of each other.

Our special guest for this episode is Jared Richardson, co-host of Level With Us, a podcast where Jared and his brother Marcus have a cozy video game discussion every week. Jared doesn’t just play video games, however, he plays a lot of board games, too. In fact, we connected when he found the First Player Token podcast. Takenoko is one of Jared’s favorite games, and we have a fun discussion about the game on this episode. In fact, we borrow a few segments from Level With Us, including Star Pieces, Quick Jabs, and Who’s the Fake Fan.

For more of Jared Richardson, you can listen to Level With Us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Be sure to follow them on Bluesky, too, @levelwithus.

Buy Takenoko on Amazon.

See my photos of Takenoko.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayrtoken on Twitter.

Music: “Open Road” and “Summer in Paradise,” https://www.purple-planet.com/.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we make some movies while accusing our friends and coworkers of being communists in Hollywood 1947.

Hollywood 1947 is the latest entry in the Dark Cities line from Façade Games publisher and designer Travis Hancock and artist Sarah Keele. It takes the Red Scare’s Hollywood blacklist and turns it into a lively and thematic game that’s hit our gaming table many times. 

The game is a particular favorite of our twelve-year-old, which might surprise you unless you know she’s planning to be a lawyer when she grows up! We will hear from her in the episode for her thoughts on the game. 

Episode Links:

Buy Hollywood 1947 on Amazon.

Listen to my interview with Travis Hancock about Bristol 1350.

Music:

"Open Road," "Summer in Paradise" by Purple Planet.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we review Incan Gold, a game that will have you pressing your luck to recover lost treasure!

Incan Gold is a 2005 game designed by Alan R. Moon (Ticket to Ride) and Burno Faidutti. In the game, between 3 and 8 players take on the role of treasure hunters exploring the ruins of an ancient Incan temple looking for turquoise, obsidian, and gold. This adventuring is dangerous work since the temple is full of hazards: giant spiders, poisonous snakes, creepy mummies, rock slides, and fire traps. Over five rounds, players send their adventurers into the temple to see how much treasure they can pick up before they fall prey to one of these hazards.

There’s a stack of 30 quest cards, half of which are hazards cards and half of which are treasure cards. The game consists of flipping over those quest cards, one at a time, for treasure or a hazard. Between revealing each card from the quest deck, all the players secretly decide if they want to press on into the temple or head back out to their campsite. Players who choose to leave keep any treasure they’ve collected this round, stashing it under their tent for final scoring. Players who choose to press on then anxiously await the next card in the quest deck. Is it more treasure, now split among a smaller crew of adventurers? Or is it a second copy of a hazard that’s already been played, in which case, like I said, the players are doomed.

This episode features our cultural heritage correspondents, ages 10 and 11, who have some thoughts about why Incan Gold is such a great family game.

Listen here or search for “First Player Token” on your favorite podcast app!

Buy Incan Gold on Amazon.

“The Incan Gold Experiment” on the GameTek podcast by Geoff Engelstein.

Music: “Open Road” and “Soda Pop,” https://www.purple-planet.com/.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.

Text us your thoughts about this episode.

In this episode, we take a look at one of the best two-player games around, Patchwork, a game about quilting!

Patchwork is a colorful 2014 game designed by Uwe Rosenberg with art by Klemens Franz that takes the notion of patches on a quilt and turns it into an elegantly designed game for exactly two players. In Patchwork, players take on the role of quilters, selecting and adding Tetris-style patches from a common pool onto their quilts. Each patch has a cost in time and in buttons, the currency of the game. When players take a patch, they pay the required number of buttons and move along a time tracker the required number of spaces. At the end of the game, you get one point for each button you have and lose two points for each empty square on your quilt, so you need to generate buttons while covering your quilt.

Patchwork is easy to teach and easy to learn. I played recently with my 8-year-old niece. She picked up the game in no time, lost her first game, and immediately said, “Let’s play again!” Patchwork is also a fantastic date night game for couples because it’s low conflict and it’s easy to talk while playing it.

See my photos of Patchwork.

Buy Patchwork on Amazon.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Join the First Player Token Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Instagram.

Follow @firstplayrtoken on Twitter.

Music: “Open Road,” https://www.purple-planet.com/.

Podcast Links:

Order a First Player Token coffee mug.

Visit the First Player Token website.

Join the FPT Facebook group.

Follow @firstplayertoken on Bluesky.

Join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord.