Which Game First: A Board Game Podcast

About Which Game First: A Board Game Podcast

Exploring the Hilariously Huge World of Board Games

Publisher

Which Game First

Category

comedy · leisure · leisure

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 Jan 2019

Latest episode

25 May 2026

Latest episodes

5 of 240 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   25 May 2026

   254: Bites | Euphoria | Ship of Treasures

   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 (https://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.

2. 

   13 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT

   252: Up or Down | Popcorn | L.L.A.M.A.

   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 elevate our spirits and press all the buttons at once in Up or Down?Next: We navigate sticky floors and lobby doors in PopcornAnd lastly: We shed our cards faster than our fur in L.L.A.M.A. Up or Down? Designed by: Michael Kiesling, Wolfgang KramerPublished by: ABACUSSPIELE and Capstone Games (2024)Players: 2 – 6Ages: 8 & upPlaying time: 30 minutes In Up or Down?, you build ascending and descending rows of cards, trying to place as many cards of the same color in a row as possible To set up, shuffle the deck, deal each player a hand of three cards, reveal six cards and place them in a ring from low to high, then split the deck in half and place these piles in the center of the ring, one face up and the other face down. The deck contains cards numbered 1-126, although you adjust the deck based on the number of players. On a turn, place a card from your hand between the surrounding numbers in the ring, e.g., 37 between 34 and 52, then you take one of the cards surrounding your just-placed card and add it to your display, either starting a new row or adding to an existing row. (If your card is lower than the lowest number or higher than the highest, place it between the lowest and highest card, then add one of those cards to your display.) You can have up to three rows in your display. When you place a second card in a row, you must decide whether the cards in that row will be placed in ascending order or descending, and you stack the cards accordingly. If you cannot or do not want to place a card in a row — following the ascending or descending order you set up — take all the cards in a row of your choice, flip them face down into a personal discard pile, then start a new row with your current card. To end your turn, draw a card from either pile inside the ring. Once all the cards in the game have been played, score your rows. For each row, multiply the number of cards in that row by the number of cards in the most common color in that row. For each card in your discard pile, score 1 point. Whoever has the most points wins. Popcorn Designed by: Victor SaumontPublished by: IELLO (2025)Players: 2 – 4Ages: 10 & upPlaying time: 60 minutes In Popcorn, each player manages their own movie theater and tries to show the best combination of movies in order to attract guests to their seats. The game plays out over nine rounds, and in each round you may acquire a new movie, build or upgrade your theater, and use advertising to attract new guests — then it’s showtime, with you drawing guests at random from your bag to see who has shown up. Place guests in the right seats to activate special powers; match them with the right movies, and you get a movie bonus as well, thanks to their enthusiasm for your good taste. After watching films in your theater, guests might be spirited away to other theaters thanks to ads presented by those theater owners – but you’ll probably do the same to them, too. The bonuses from a movie get worse the longer it runs, so be sure to bring in fresh films to keep guests on the edge of your seats. After all, happy guests can help your theater win awards in town; more importantly, they can keep the “popcorn” piling up in your coffers, and whichever theater owner fills their popcorn box the best wins. L.L.A.M.A.

3. 

   16 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT

   251: Origin Story | Sanctuary | Hammer Time

   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.

Inside a recent episode

252: Up or Down | Popcorn | L.L.A.M.A.

Published 13 Apr 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Yes? Please explain how the advertising tokens worked in this game. Don't ask me this. I apologize. I have no idea. I still don't know. Yeah, I don't know either. What the advertising tokens allow you to do is take people that prefer that kind of movie and put it into your bag. From other theaters, from other players. From other people's theaters, specifically in their exit room. So if Evan has a green meeple who loves sci-fi movies, I can know, you know what, I'll be screening a sci-fi movie, so I advertise for green people. I pick up one of Evan Green Meeple and stick it in my bag. He doesn't need him anyway. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

83,469

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.6 / 5

33 ratings

Spotify

4.6 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 73 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

95

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

51

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