iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Derek Bruff

Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

We have an exceptional podcast episode this month! I talk with Dylan Kistler of Kistler Games about designing games for players of diverse ages and abilities. It's a deep dive into board game design that's fun and fascinating. firstplayertoken.buzzsprout.com/2292265/epis...

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Taught SETI to an old friend last night, and he loved it! And I hit my best score yet, 232. Oh, and the Arkhos aliens were lots of fun.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

For Pete’s sake! The one episode they just made was amazing. Just do more of that! Sheesh.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Trying to get controllers to pair with my Steam Deck just makes me want to play board games. It shouldn’t be this hard. Nintendo figured this out with cables in the 80s.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Ever since I did that episode about the games of 2016, I’ve been wanting to teach the kids Istanbul. Tonight, it’s happening!

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Reposted by Derek Bruff

Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

We're out with a review of Trio from @happycampergames.bsky.social on the podcast today! Come for the deceptively simple card game, stay for the lively commentary from the 12-year-old and the 4-year-old! He's big enough for an actual interview now! www.buzzsprout.com/2292265/epis...

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

It's the first of the month! That means a new podcast episode. This month the 12yo and the 4you and I review Trio from @happycampergames.bsky.social. It's just 36 cards! It plays in 15 minutes! And we have a surprisingly amount to say about it! Listen here: www.buzzsprout.com/2292265/epis...

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

My August stats are not exciting, so here’s the year this far. I might have you all beat on weight range!

BG Stats 2026

Plays: 153
H-index: 5
Games: 74
New: 17
Players: 45
Locations: 12
Hours: 102
Days: 91

Sleeping Queens: 13
Trio: 13
SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: 10
Wingspan: 7
Unmatched Game System: 5
Cascadia Junior: 5
Sushi Go Party!: 4
Duel for Cardia: 4
Apiary: 3

161 artists:
Vincent Dutrait: 6%
Beth Sobel: 5%
Franz Vohwinkel: 5%
Kwanchai Moriya: 4%
Ana Maria Martinez Jaramillo: 2%.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Did the 4yo pick Santorini to play this afternoon? Yes, yes he did.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I've been plugging away at Against the Storm when I have time. Last night, I beat the second seal (the lead one), but not after the Fishman Soothsayer did a number of my village. While working on it, I got +150 to hostility for every active scout--and I had a bunch! I hit hostility level 19. 😬

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Y’all, I played Splendor tonight. First time in 7 years! It’s still a quality game. (And I won against two newbies.)

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I did not seal the deal. The 15yo and I both had fantastic plays for the final combat—and tied. No points for us, and the nephew played an endgame Intrigue card for two points, and the win. This game, man.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Teaching the nephew Dune: Imperium. Hoping to clobber him but haven’t sealed the deal yet.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

New episode! Sit with me in front of my board game shelves as I walk down memory lane and revisit my most played games of 2016. Which games are still hitting the table? Which ones should I dust off and bring to game night again? www.buzzsprout.com/2292265/epis...

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Teaching the 15yo Dune: Imperium. It’s my first time with the robot player and he is a jerk. But the teenager is really digging the game. We’ve played so much Clank over the years… this is like graduating middle school and going to high school. (Which is what he did this summer.)

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Four-player Wingspan Pocket with two players who haven’t played much Wingspan and tend to wander off when it’s not their turn, after a two-hour family bike ride… lots of fun, but not a short game. But, yeah, shorter than Wingspan.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

The 4yo figured out how to add this week! His preschool teachers have been showing the class finger addition, and it clicked for him. So we broke out Sleeping Queens last night, where knowing 3+5=8 is part of the game. I’m really proud of him.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Four-hand SETI last night, first time with the Space Agencies expansion. The organizations we played were great fun, and only having four rounds was plenty of time to get stuff done. We landed on almost all the moons. And we had a tie for the win at 213 points!

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Treasure Island again tonight with the kids. Such a fun and very different game.

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Reposted by Derek Bruff

Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Hey, it's my 75th episode! This month on the podcast, the 12-year-old media correspondent and I review Fit to Print, a delightfully stressful real-time game about putting together newspapers in a charming woodland town. firstplayertoken.buzzsprout.com/2292265/epis...

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Walked into an ice cream shop in a small town south of Birmingham and saw a shelf of games—with Carcassone: The Castle! That was unexpected. The other games are Apples to Apples and Monopoly and the like.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

It was a two-games-in-the-mail day yesterday! My copy of the second printing of Burn the Fort came in, a game I ordered two years ago when I just missed buying a copy at GenCon. And I picked up a secondhand copy of Dune: Imperium. The nephew (a huge Clank! fan) is going to love that one.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Taught SETI to the nephew and played with him and the 15yo. They rocked it, finding all kinds of scoring dynamics. I had my worst game yet—just 120 points to the nephew’s 181. I’d like to think that I used all my brainpower making sure the kids followed the rules. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

I invited five friends over on July 10th to play SETI, hoping at least two of them could make it to have a proper game. All five can come! We’re gonna break out two copies and have two tables of SETI at the same time!

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Very fun game of Raiders of the North Sea last night! Five players with the Hall of Heroes expansion, which I’ll never play without now. Just two points separated first place from third place! So tight.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Did I just spend an hour alphabetizing my Wingspan cards? Yes, yes I did.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Gaming with cousins wrapped up with three great games: Fort, since the nephew asked for a deck builder he hadn’t played; Fit to Print, which handles six players beautifully; and Raider of the North Sea, which sings with the Hall of Heroes expansion. Excellent games all around!

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

With the nieces in town, I’m also experiencing Paper Source for maybe the first time. The stationary I expected, the cozy games by familiar designers I did not!

Tussie Mussie, boxed edition, by Elizabeth Hargrave

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

The niblings are in town, so the games are on! Props to the 15yo for a tiebreaker win in Clank in Space and a decisive victory in Catan. The niece took the win in Sheriff of Nottingham, and we all lost (rather dramatically) in Dead of Winter. Oh, and a couple of games of Trio with the 4yo!

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

It’s board gaming weekend and the nephew picked Catan. We’re an hour into the game and have rolled exactly one 8. Send help.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

I'm just now posting about Monday's new podcast episode. It's a first play episode and a bit of a deep cut. I had the chance to play Flipships (2017) recently with my nephew, and it was quite fun for a dexterity game! Anyone remember Flipships? www.buzzsprout.com/2292265/epis...

buzzsprout.com

74. Flipships (First Play) - First Player Token, a short board game review show

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...

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Last week, the 4yo and I got the Little Kitty back to her apartment in the Big City. This week we tried out A Short Hike, and I realized what a debt Little Kitty, Big City has to that earlier game. Both are just the right speed for the boy and me to play together, taking turns “driving.”

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Reposted by Derek Bruff

Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

It’s been a slow month for board games, but last night I got to play for the first time Wonderland’s War. I had heard that this game can be a ton of fun, and I’m happy to report that it was!

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

It’s been a slow month for board games, but last night I got to play for the first time Wonderland’s War. I had heard that this game can be a ton of fun, and I’m happy to report that it was!

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

I found this in my “on this day” photo folder. I guess I played a game of Settlers 12 years ago today!

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

We might be turning into a proper Steam family. The 4yo and I have been playing Big City Little Kitty all week—it’s adorable and just his speed—and I’ve got hooked on Against the Storm. Like I needed another hobby.

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Thanks to our gaming weekend, April was a very good month for games! Trio and Heat were new-to-us family games, and they both lived up to the hype. For quick reviews of the heavier games we played at our cabin in the woods, check out the latest podcast episode: www.buzzsprout.com/2292265/epis....

BG Stats Apr 2026

Plays: 21
H-index: 2
Games: 14
New: 5
Players: 11
Locations: 2
Hours: 15
Days: 13

Trio: 6
SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: 2
Heat: Pedal to the Metal: 2
The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship: 1
Arcs: 1
Dune: Imperium: 1
Apiary: 1
Quantum: 1
Club Spooky: 1

18 designers:
(Uncredited): 7%
Alex Hague: 7%
Asger Aleksandrov Granerud: 7%
Bruno Cathala: 7%
Cole Wehrle: 7%.

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Reposted by Derek Bruff

Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Today on the podcast, I recap last weekend’s game cabin in the woods experience! We played six very good games, and I share some after-action reports from each of them. SETI, Dune: Imperium, Arcs, and more! www.buzzsprout.com/2292265/epis...

buzzsprout.com

73. Game Cabin in the Woods - First Player Token, a short board game review show

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 Leba...

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

buzzsprout.com

73. Game Cabin in the Woods - First Player Token, a short board game review show

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

First game of our weekend of games at a cabin in the woods: SETI! Such a great game. It took like 4 hours but so satisfying. Might even play it again this weekend.

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