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I met Dylan Kistler when I was working at Vanderbilt University and he was an undergraduate student there. Given our shared interests in games and education, we crossed paths several times, and we've stayed in touch since we both moved on from Vanderbilt.

Dylan has launched a game publishing company, Kistler Games, that specializes in games that "empower players of diverse abilities, ages, and gaming experience to play together." Dylan reached out after my recent episode on gaming with a three-year-old, and I was excited to have him on the show.

In this extra-long episode of the podcast, Dylan and I first discuss some of those games I play with the now-four-year-old and why they work well with players of different ages. Then we discuss the kinds of games that Kistler Games will be publishing. What does it look like to create games where people of different abilities—perhaps even radically different cognitive abilities—can play together? Dylan draws on his background in neuroscience and special education and his internship at Leder Games, the publisher of Root, to help us imagine what’s possible.

Episode Resources

Kistler Games

Kistler Games on Instagram

"Learning at Play" recaps and blog posts

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.

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In this episode, we learn how three is the magic number in Trio!

Trio is a card game designed by Kaya Miyano and published by Happy Camper Games. It handles six players, it comes in a super portable small box, it plays in like 15 or 20 minutes, and it's easy to teach. As a result, it's now one of my go-to games to bring to family gatherings.

I have thoughts about Trio, and so do the 12-year-old and 4-year-old!

Episode Links

Buy Trio on Amazon.

Read more about Happy Camper Games.

Listen to our reviews of Sushi Go!, Forbidden Island, Sleeping Queens (featuring game developer Jason Schneider), and Outfoxed.

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.

On this episode of the First Player Token podcast, we time travel back a decade and take a look at our most played games of 2016! Which of these favorites from ten years ago still get played? Which ones should I dust off and bring to game night for the first time in forever?

Music:

"Open Road" and "Summer of 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 grab our press passes and hustle to meet our newspaper’s printing deadline in Fit to Print!

In Fit to Print, a 2023 game designed by Peter McPherson with art by Ian O’Toole and published by Flatout Games, players take on the role of reporters and editors at the various newspapers in Thistleville, one of those charming woodland towns with adorable anthropomorphic animals. The game is played over three rounds—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—with each round seeing players racing the clock to collect stories, photos, and ads and laying them out on their newspaper front pages to score the most points. I’m burying the lede here because Fit to Print’s most notable aspect is that most of the game is played in real-time with players playing simultaneously while racing a timer!

Listen as our 12-year-old media correspondent and I review this delightfully stressful game.

Episode Links:

Buy Fit to Print on Amazon.

Read more about Fit to Print on its Kickstarter page.

Visit designer Peter McPherson's website to learn about his other games.

Music:

"Open Road," "Soda Pop," and "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.

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 sometimes, I try a game that's new to me and it really grabs me. So here’s a FIRST PLAY review of an older game that I think you might like!

Today we’ll take a look at Flipships, a 2017 cooperative dexterity game for 2to 4 players designed by Kane Klenko with art by Kwanchai Moriya published by Renegade Games.

Episode Links:

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

Read about Dread, the horror RBG that uses Jenga blocks.

Episode 12: ICECOOL

Episode 45: Under Falling Skies

Music:

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

"Starforged: Fray" 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 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, 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

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.

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.