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Derek Bruff

@firstplayertoken.bsky.social
502 followers 292 following 1.2K posts

Host of First Player Token, a short podcast for folks who enjoy playing board games with family and friends, linktr.ee/firstplayertoken

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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 6h
I was excited to get Keep the Faith to the table last night with Emily and some good friends. We told the 500-year story of a religion of travelers and their dachshunds. “Good wheels, strong legs!” was their mantra, but they couldn’t servive our AI-led future.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
We played Wingspan last night for the first time since I returned from my birdwatching trip to Costa Rica. I only played one bird from the new Americas expansion, but it was one I saw in CR: a Blue-black Grassquit! And I even saw it do its mating dance / hop. #Wingspan #birding
Wingspan on the table and the Blue-black Grassquit card in handThe Blue-black Grassquit I saw in Sarapiqui, Costa Rica. I actually spotted this guy before my guide did.
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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 · 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 · 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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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
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 · 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 · 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
This just in!
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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
The 15yo got the well deserved win playing as Long John Silver! He played a very bold bluff early in the game that sent us all on a wild goose chase. He’s a pirate, that one.
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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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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 · 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 · 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 · 19/06/2026
All the Wingspan cards! Base set plus all expansions (with fan art versions where available) plus the fan-designed packs. So many birds
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I’m so proud
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I wasn’t expecting this, but I’ll take it! cc @2muchenthusiasm.bsky.social
Your Burn the Fort order has shipped
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
A good sign
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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 High Tide by Marceline Leiman
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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 · 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 · 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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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Here’s another shot of the Fate of the Fellowship game. This arrangement—Frodo and Sam and Gollum surrounded by Nazgûl—was pretty typical the whole game! Also props to autocorrect for getting Nazgûl right.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Our penultimate game of the weekend was an epic play of The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship. I spent the whole game thinking we were doomed, but thanks to Gollum’s guiding, we escaped Sauron’s eye long enough to destroy the One Ring! With just 1 hope remaining.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
And game #5 is Quantum! I’ve played this space combat game so many times on Board Games Arena. This was my first time playing a physical copy. And with the community-made alternative rules and cards, which are very well balanced. I pulled off a win, but just barely.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Game #4: Arcs! This was a brain burner, but I was very glad to tackle it again. I had only played once before, two years ago. It is so alien from other games. It took a few chapters to get the flow of it, but I managed to break my second-place streak and pull off a win!
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Third game of the weekend: Space Bees! I mean Apiary. Maybe my most played game of this weight. I got to teach it to two friends last night. I like how you’ve got to figure out your own path to points. Also, I’m 3 for 3 for coming in second place this weekend.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Second game of the weekend was Dune Imperium. Only my second play ever! I love how well the deck building and worker placement and combat system all work together. I don’t want to wait 2.5 years before playing this again. Also, like with SETI, I came in second.
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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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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Okay, so maybe I found a racing game I like. The 15yo got Heat: Pedal to the Metal for his birthday and we played our first game tonight. The racing mechanics actually made sense to me, and I think we all had fun. Looking forward to trying other tracks and upgrades and such.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Today on the podcast, we're putting the First Play in First Player Token! We took a spin with Club Spooky by @connor.alwaysawake.games and loved the silly spooky vibe! Listen to our one-play review here: www.buzzsprout.com/2292265/epis.... Warning: Cute kids on audio!
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Also on the table last night was Tortuga 1667, with bizarrely speedy play, a win for the British, and no hope for the Spanish player. Plus I taught Nidavellir and forgot to mention that your coins are worth points until the penultimate rounds. Oops.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
I pulled off a win in Challengers (Beach Cup) for the first time in a long while. Props to my MVPs: the three Gingerbread Men I pulled! And a deck full of 4s.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Club Spooky by @connor.alwaysawake.games is adorable! And a darn fine game, at least after a first play. Players bid on ghosts and ghouls to join their clique with VIPs offering different ways to score and randos not doing much. All very speedy and whimsical. Really glad I backed this one.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
We played another game of Flipships while visiting our Texas family. This was a lot of fun and I’m kinda surprised it didn’t get more love when it came out in 2017.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
One of the kid’s favorite parts of the board game experience is punching out a new game. Listen to the new podcast to hear about this and some of our favorite games to play with the three-year-old!
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
February was a light month for gaming as expected given its day count. But I had good range.
BG Stats 4 x 4.
Play count:
3: Sleeping Queens;
2: Wingspan;
2: Sushi Go!;
1: SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence;
1: Clank! In! Space!;
1: Bristol 1350;
1: Deep Sea Adventure;
1: Unmatched Game System;
1: Xenon Profiteer;
1: Tussie Mussie;
1: Tic Tac Trek;
1: Duel for Cardia.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Game night! Everyone made it out in Clank in Space, but in Bristol 1350, no one did! Also, the always thematic Xenon Profiteer!
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
My most played games of 2015! Dead of Winter was the game that got me back into the hobby, after a few years off. Splendor was the game that I could take just about anywhere and play with just about anyone. It was how I introduced others to the hobby. Mysterium worked well for that, too.
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Derek Bruff @firstplayertoken.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
This is what the end of a game of Wingspan looks like when your wife plays the chiffchaff as her first bird. 27 tucked cards!
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