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 sharpen our pencils to fluff pillows, await guests in High Season: Grand Hotel Roll & WriteNext: We gather Materia and feed our familiars to become masters of magic in SpellBookAnd lastly: We’re fancy French rail barons trading our way to the top in Paris Connection



High Season: Grand Hotel Roll & Write



Designed by: Virginio Gigli, Ryan Hendrickson, Simone LucianiPublished by: Lookout Games (2023)Players: 2 – 4Ages: 12 & upPlaying time: ~ 45 minutes



In High Season: Grand Hotel Roll & Write, you prepare rooms, accommodate guests, make personnel decisions, and court the favor of the emperor, all while managing your money and trying to avoid loans.



Each player has a hotel board and staff board. At the start of a round, roll dice based on the number of players, then place them on the six spaces (numbered 1-6) on the action board. On a turn, draft one of the dice, then use the associated according to its strength, which is based on the number of dice on that space when you remove it. The actions allow you to:



Prepare as many rooms for guests as the strength of the action, paying the cost for each. Occupy a prepared room by paying the cost minus the action’s strength; gain the depicted one-time bonus when doing so. Advance on the emperor track equal to the action’s strength; gain the listed bonuses as you reach them, with a point bonus for reaching the end of the track first. Earn Krone, the game’s currency, equal to the action’s strength. Hire a staff member on your board, paying their cost minus the action’s strength. Two staff members give you a permanent bonus, two grant a one-time effect, and two provide bonus points during scoring.



If you are the first player to occupy one of the eight rows or seven columns, you earn bonus points that are unavailable to anyone else who occupies this row or column later. When you occupy all the rooms in a contiguous color group on your board, you gain an immediate bonus of points (for a blue group), krone (red), or steps on the emperor’s track (yellow).



The bonuses and effects of the staff differ on each board, so you need to figure out how to take advantage of the opportunities available through them in combination with your particular arrangement of hotel rooms and the dice available each round.



After seven rounds, players tally their points – don’t forget to subtract points for debt – the winner is the player with the most points, and win the High Season, while all other players must answer the emperor for committing high treason.



SpellBook



Designed by: Phil Walker-HardingPublished by: Space Cowboys (2023)Players: 1 – 4Ages: 12 & upPlaying time: ~ 45 minutes



Spellbook is a set collection and engine-building game, where players are each trying to become the greatest wizard of the Annual Grand Rite. Players are gathering bits of raw magic, called Materia, to feed their pet familiars and to learn spells. 



Each player starts with 7 blank spell books – all players will play with the same 7 books, and will learn the same sets of spells. Each book has its own color: red,  purple, green, black, white, blue, and yellow.  The Materia players are gathering also come in these 7 colors.



From a community set of Materia, players will either collect Materia by drawing from the ...