First Turn Tabletop

This is the end. But don't worry, the words of Charles Schulz : "It is already tomorrow in Australia." This is the final episode of the podcast. Kait, bP, Eric and Kiwi gather for a "Series in Review" episode in the style of our "Year in Review" but we also talk about our favorite parts of the last 249 episodes. We appreciate everyone that has tuned in and listened for the last 5 years. We started this so that we could play games together and we're going to keep doing that, just not recording it.  And with that, feel free to like and/or review. You can still leave comments on Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast and we still have our email which will be the best way to reach us. No need to subscribe anymore, but I'm not your boss, so do what you want. But more importantly ... play more games!

In our penultimate episode, we're playing the current #1 game on BoardGameGeek Brass: Birmingham. Designed by Martin Wallace and published by Roxley in 2018.  Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

It's hard to believe that we've been doing this podcast for 5 years. That means it's a deep dive episode. We're hoping into the way way back machine (for us) and bringing back the first game that really brought us into the board game hobby: Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery. It was designed by Aaron Dill and Sean Sweigart and published in 2012 by Gale Force Nine. A small note ... we've decided to bring our podcast to a conclusion. We'll have two more episodes after this one, and we will close with episode 250. Thanks for all those who have listened and downloaded over the years and we hope that you'll stay with us as we publish our last few episodes. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

There's nothing more cozy than a little cooperative city planning. Eric and Kait are playing Mythwind this week. It was published in 2023 by Open Owl Studios and designed by Nathan Lige and Brendan McCaskell. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!  

What's better than being your own boss? Being your own boss in an incredibly dangerous endeavor! We're just a normal group of fledgling heroes trying to make our way in the world but it's not free so first we have to build some capital. This week, we're playing Freelancers: A Crossroads Game by Donald Shults and published in 2023 by Plaid Hat Games. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

What's the best part before taking a trip? Planning the trip obviously. You need spread sheets and brochures/websites, a good concept of time management and a reasonable expectation of your groups capabilities. Paxton, Kiwi, and bP put their skills to the test as we play Josh Wood's Let's Go! To Japan published in 2024 by AEG. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

It's natural for humans to be lazy and subjugate animals to do their work for them. But what if those animals were mythical ... and if they were dragons? Well, of course we would. It's either that or be dragon food. This week we're playing Flamecraft, designed by Manny Vega and published by Cardboard Alchemy in 2022. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

... On my own!!!! Just kidding, we're not going to relive a Kiwi solo episode and watch him slowly spiral into madness. No, instead we're all going to a explore and set out on our own Expeditions. A game published in 2023 by Stonemaier Games and designed by Jamey Stegmaier. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

It's an island full of rabbits .. you know so they can pull one out of a hat! Kiwi will see himself out. Coney is our game this week, published in 2024 by Little Rocket Games and designed by Giampaolo Razzino.  Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

We put on our City Planner hats, got our clip boards, and worked together to build a bunch of cities. That's right, you guessed it, we're playing Between Two Cities. Designed by Matthew O'Malley and Ben Rosset, then published by Stonemaier Games in 2015. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

Well ... maybe not two, because all four of our hosts are playing Formosa Tea published by Tasty Minstrel Games in 2019. It was designed by Chu-Lan Kao. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

When did paladins get associated so heavily with tabletop roleplaying games? Why do they have a holy aspect to them? Is there a modern day paladin? We have no idea, and we don't answer any of those questions in this podcast. BUT, we do this week is play Paladins of the West Kingdom by S. J. MacDonald and Shem Philips. It was printed by Garphill Games in 2019. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

The gang is back and it's tournament time again. This week, we're a bunch of cats and we're pushing each other off a bed, as cats do. That's right, it's a boop. tournament! The game was published in 2022 by Smirk and Laughter Games. It was designed by Scotty Brady. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

Nope, not cotton. But we are playing Tapestry. Stonemaier Games published this in 2019 and it was designed by Jamey Stegmaier.  While not announced during the episode, we are going to bringing this podcast to a close on our 5th anniversary. We will continue our regular weekly publishing until that time. We appreciate each and everyone of you that has listened over the years and we hope you'll stick with us for these last 3 months. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

Humans are gone and the Bees have grown to human sized but they're still bees. But now they are SPACE BEES!!!! We're playing Apiary this week. It was designed by Connie Vogelmann and published in 2023 by Stonemaier Games. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

It was a chilly and windy day on the beaches of Kitty Hawk, NC when the Wright brothers took to the air it what is generally regarded as the first successful heavier-than-air powered flight. They made four attempts that day, with the last covering 852 feet, before damage put the aircraft out of commission. This week Kiwi, bP, and Paxton race each other in First in Flight and be the first.... in flight. It was designed by Ben Rosset and Matthew O'Malley and was published by Artana in 2023. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

No, we're not summoning Captain Planet. This week there's an opportunity to safe the great outdoors and who doesn't love the outdoors more than Kait and Eric? I mean ... statistically speaking, probably someone? They're bringing Earthborne Rangers to the table. It was published by Earthborne Games in 2023 and designed by Andrew Fischer, Brooks Flugaur-Leavitt, Andrew Navaro, Adam Sadler, and Brady Sadler. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

This week, we continue our gaming over the holidays but shift our focus to Kait and Eric. They're playing Tokaido Duo. The two player version of the popular Tokaido by Antoine Bauza and published in 2022 by Funforge.  Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

Is that not an ear worm or what? Oddly specific, significantly strange, but still a banger. Paxton, bP, and Kiwi breed Fox's this week in Elizabeth Hargrave and Jeff Fraser's The Fox Experiment from Pandasaurus Games, published in 2023. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

It's the holidays and that means more board games! This week we finally got Moonrakers to the table so bP, Kiwi, and special recurring guest host Paxton give it a try. It was published in 2020 by IV Studio and designed by Max Anderson, Zac Dixon, and Austin Harrison. Will our space pirates pirate enough? Who is going to captain this motely crew of ne'er-do-wells? Tune in and find out! Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

It's a new year and a new season. This week, Kiwi takes the solo game 20 Strong from Chip Theory Games and gives it a try. It was designed by Josh Carlson and published in 2023.  Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

It's our annual year end redemption episode. This time we hopped in our way way back mission and grabbed Villainous back off the virtual shelf and roped Kait into playing it this time. Come see if time and a fourth player have changed our minds. The game was designed by Prospero Hall and published in 2018 by Ravensburger.  Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

Our four cohosts come together at the end of the year to discuss our highlights (and some lowlights) of our gaming this year. Everyone blacks out while Kiwi talks statistics as we wrap up our 5th season of the show. Come join us and take a listen! Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

"Tea is amazing. I probably prepare it wrong, but I find my way delicious and I won't be stopped!" -Kiwi This week, Kiwi and bP are playing Elevenses. Designed by David Harding, it was originally published in 2013 by Grail Games, but we're playing the updated version published in 2023. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games! 

While normally we would be welcoming to all, and Kiwi certainly welcomes our new robot overlords, this episode is for non-Robots only. And we have a little test to prove it ... our western most group of hosts are bring Turing Machine to the table this week. It was designed by Fabien Gridel and Yoann Levet, and published in 2022 by Le Scorpion Masque.  Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

How does Kiwi get bP to play wargames? But tricking her into playing games that are war themed but don't play like wargames (or vice versa, non-war themes with common wargame mechanics). Well, he's done it again this week. They bring the two player game General Orders: World War II to the table. It was published in 2023 by Osprey Games and designed by Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson.  Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

Don't worry, there's no $10 sprites here only a few gamers playing Sea Salt & Paper from Pandasaurus Games. It was designed by Bruno Cathala and Théo Rivière and was published in 2022. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

After a short career in the major leagues pitching for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and pitching a no hitter in 1948, he became a radio broadcaster and eventually the PA announcer for the Baltimore Orioles from 1969 until his death in 1997. He would give his famous phrase whenever a fan would catch a foul ball ... "Give that Fan ... A contract" ... if they dropped it however, he would state "Give that Fan ... an error". This week, Eric and Kiwi are playing Bat Flip, published in 2022 by Scorelander Games and designed by Scott Courlander. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

Clocking in at 80 Roman miles, or 73 modern miles, Emperor Hadrian of Rome built a wall to separate the Roman province of Britannia from Celtic tribes to the north. The area had no natural boundaries otherwise. Started in 122 CE, it took 6 years to finish and involved three roman legions. Today it is a British cultural icon and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In this episode we play Hadrian's Wall, designed by Bobby Hill and published in 2021 by Garphill Games. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

We head to the Cheeseries of France this week and collect animals, harvest their milk, and brew? up some cheese. Craft up some cheese? Mold it up? Who knows. We're playing Fromage, publishing in 2024 by Road to Infamy Games and designed by Matthew O'Malley and Ben Rosset. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

If Jeff Spicoli played board games, he'd certainly play this one. We hit the beach and paddle out this week to play The Perfect Wave. It was designed by Jason Mowery and Chase Williams. Published by The Op in 2023. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

If only we had Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer to introduce us, how great would that be? Also, A Knight's Tale? If you haven't seen it you really should, it's quote entertaining. Anyway, bP and Kiwi play Blazon by David Conklin and published by 25th Century Games in 2023. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

This week, we're trying out the voxel art inspire Cubirds from AEG. It was designed by Stefan Alexander and published in 2018. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

Not all of it ... but Mozart. That's a Kiwi original, you can keep it. Have that ... cherish it forever! This week, we're playing Lacrimosa by Gerard Ascensi and Ferran Renalias. It was published in 2022 by Devir. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

Sometimes it can be really hard to come up with something snarky or 'funny' to type at this point when it's a game that doesn't have a theme. I can tell you what the theme isn't … and that's Tetris, no matter how closely it resembles Tetris, it is not Tetris. This week, Paxton joins us again as we play Number Drop, published in 2021 by AEG and designed by Florian Sirieix and Benoit Turpin. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

1 out of 1 Kiwis agree, that Breakfast food is the best food. He'll be taking no questions at this time, thanks for enjoying this TED talk. This week we're playing Waffle Time. It was designed by Maxime Demeyere and published in 2023 by AEG. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

With Rock & Roll!!!!! Or tiles .... probably just tiles. This week, we're sans Kait as she galivants across the globe, so the other three are playing Shake That City, published in 2023 by AEG and designed by Mads Fløe and Kåre Torndahl Kjær. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!  

With our GenCon recap episodes all wrapped up, we have a few episodes that we recording during the weeks leading up to the convention. In this one, Eric and Kiwi race around the world as birds in Odin's Ravens. This is a game by Thorsten Gimmler. We played the 2nd edition published by Osprey Games in 2015.  Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

In our series covering GenCon 2023, we turn to Stephanie, Ernesto, and Alexei and we find out what they did and what they thought. It's their first time attending GenCon so tune in and find out what they thought! Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

This week, we have part 2 of our GenCon series. This time we're covering the second half of the convention on Saturday and Sunday. We'll have one more part after this, covering the first time experiences of the other hosts: Ernesto, Stephanie, and Alexei. After that we'll be back to our regular format. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

We're back from GenCon, we've had a few days to recovered and then we headed back into the studio to discuss what we did, the games we played, and all things GenCon. In this first part we talk about our arrival into Indianapolis and what we did and played on Thursday and Friday.  Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

This was played a month prior to GenCon, but this is publishing the week after GenCon. If previous years are any indication our group of gamers had a great time and they are already looking forward to GenCon 2024. For those that were there, we hope you are recovering well. For those that couldn't make it, we hope you had a great time doing whatever you were doing anyway! In this episode, Eric and some locals bring Beast to the table. Published in 2023 by Studio Midhall, it was designed by Aron Midhall, Elon Midhall, and Assar Pettersson. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

Kiwi's dream job is to just walk around in the forest and count trees, somewhere where you can lose count, start over, and no one is worried about it. There's a lot of trees out there, some body has to count them. In the meantime, tune in to Eric and Kait playing Forests of Pangaia, published in 2022 by Pangaia Games and designed by Thomas Franken.  Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

You ever wake up in the morning as an Arch Mage and decide, today is the day I get into real estate? And then you realize you need a lot more help and you need to hire people? It happens more times than it should. So to live that dream, just one more time Kiwi, Paxton, and bP are playing Lizard Wizard from Forbidden Games, designed by Glenn Drover and published in 2021. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

I'm here to talk about a serious problem, TRIBES of wild Kiwi roaming the country side! This week, Paxton is back with bP and Kiwi to play Kiwi Chow Down from Detestable Games. It was designed by Pepe Macba and published in 2023. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

When bP was asked about an episode title, she was clearly focused on penguins: Purple Penguins, Penguin Pals, Purple Penguin Pals ... yeah, we don't know either. Then Paxton just said there's nothing funnier than watching penguins walk at 5x speed. Basically they weren't help at all. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

"It doesn't take a lot of elephants to have a scary amount of elephant on the battlefield." This week, Eric and Kiwi bring Commands & Colors: Ancients to the table and recreate the first battle of the Bagradas River between Rome and Carthage. The game was published by GMT Games in 2006 and designed by Richard Borg. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

It's another double game episodes with bP and Kiwi. This time around we're playing Timeline by Frederic Henry and published in 2012 by Asmodee. We follow that up with Trailblazers published in 2023 by Bitewing Games and designed by Ryan Courtney.  Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

This week, Eric, Kiwi, and Alexei got the opportunity to learn Exit Vector from Vector Tridens LLC set to go to Kickstarter in mid-2023. The designers Jerick Black, Marc Daigler, and Matt Davis joined us to teach us the game and then run us through a scenario. The game can be played stand alone or added as a module to an ongoing RPG campaign. Find out how it goes! Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

When I was. A young man. My father. Took me into the city. To see Kiwi and bP play two games this week. An episode harkening back to the double game episodes that we used to publish many moons ago. They are playing Pixel Tactics Deluxe by D. Brad Talon Jr and published in 2015 by Level 99 Games and Parade which was designed by Naoki Homma and published by ZMan Games in 2007. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!

Because it's DULL, you twit, it'll hurt more! This is it! We made it! This is our 200th episode! Only 88 shows in US Prime Time television have made it to 200+. We're in prestigious company. Only 436 more to pass Gunsmoke and be number 2 on the list. This week we delve into hot topics, like who played the best Robin Hood as we get into our deep dive of The Sherriff of Nottingham designed by Sergio Halaban and Andre Zatz, originally published in 2014 and now published by Asmodee. Post your comments to Twitter/Instagram @FirstTurnCast or email us at firstturntabletop@gmail.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe! Until next week, play more games!