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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 this week: We slice and dice so the recipes come out nice in Diced Veggies
Next up: We create rings of humongous fungus among us in Gnome Hollow
And lastly: We share our deepest thoughts one card at a time in The Ungame
Diced Veggies
Designed by: Josh Cappel, Jory Cappel, Rowan Cappel
Published by: KTBG (2023)
Players: 2 – 4
Ages: 6 & up
Playing time: 30 minutes
In Diced Veggies, players take on the role of chefs, using a unique cleaver tool to “cut” groups of vegetable dice from a central block, adhering to specific cutting rules (like a maximum total pip value of 10). With their collected dice, players then attempt to “cook” recipes by matching the required ingredients and can further enhance their score by playing “Hype” cards or using a Chef token to modify a die. The game continues with players cutting, cooking, and drawing new cards until one player has completed a set number of recipes, after which final scores are tallied to determine the winner.
A clever cleaver is all you need to whip up delicious recipes in this dice-slicing game for up to four chefs!
Gnome Hollow
Designed by: Ammon Anderson
Published by: The Op Games
Players: 2 – 4
Ages: 12 & up
Playing time: 45+ minutes
In Gnome Hollow, players take turns placing hexagonal tiles to expand a shared garden, aiming to complete “mushroom rings” of various sizes. Completing a ring grants mushrooms and allows players to unlock bonuses on their personal player boards. After placing tiles, players move one of their gnomes to perform an action, such as collecting flowers, activating signposts for special effects, or selling collected mushrooms for valuable treasures. The game ends when a certain number of flowers are collected, ring markers are used, or the tile bag runs out, with the player having the most points from treasures, unique flowers, and moved ring markers winning.
Gnome Hollow is a spatial, tile-placement, worker-placement game in which you grow a tabletop garden of mushrooms and flowers. Every piece is a hand-painted watercolor that captures the whimsical feel of gnomes and nature. Turns are deceptively simple: Players place tiles into the garden, and move a gnome to take a single action on their turn. Come to Gnome Hollow and experience a peaceful garden, the thrill of competing to harvest buckets of mushrooms, and the reward of gathering in all your shiny treasures!
The Ungame: Christian Version
Designed by: Rhea Zakich
Published by: The Ungame Co. (1975)
Players: 2 – 6
Ages: (not listed)
Playing time: Suggested 60+ minutes
This is a Christian version of the original Ungame. This set has cards that are specifically oriented to the self-expression of faith and beliefs centered around Christianity. There are two decks in the game and in this set there are over 140 topics that are covered.
The first deck contains lighthearted topics that are great for casual get-togethers. The second deck contains more serious topics and should be used after a group has become familiar with sharing through the first deck.
The Ungame is a non-competitive board game designed to foster communication and understanding. Players move around a loop-shaped board by rolling a die, landing on spaces that instruct them to draw a card. These cards prompt players to answer personal questions, share thoughts, or make comments, ranging from lighthearted to serious topics. The core rule is that only the active player speaks during their turn, encouraging others to practice active listening. The game has no winner or loser and typically ends when players decide they’ve had enough time for sharing.
The game’s aim is to spend quality time together, improve listening, promote fairness, and experience freedom expressing oneself.