Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | More
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 are “going on an adventure” roll and write style in The Hobbit: There and Back Again
Next: We program our tanks and let them loose in the arena in BOOM! Patrol
And lastly: We amp up our game, that’s watt we’re here for in VOLT
The Hobbit: There and Back Again
Designed by: Reiner Knizia
Published by: Office Dog / Asmodee (2025)
Players: 1 – 4
Ages: 10 & up
Playing time: 30 minutes
The Hobbit: There & Back Again is a competitive adventure game in which players draft dice to make pathways, collect resources, and perform actions that help them to reach their chapter goal.
Each of the players has their own adventure board book open to the same chapter of the game, and they play in turn order starting with the shortest player. That player rolls all of the dice, then selects one, then the next player selects one, and so on until all dice have been chosen, at which point the next player rolls all the dice once again.
With your chosen dice, you use a dry-erase pen to mark the current chapter of your book, drafting a path to evade trolls, battle goblins, solve riddles, and pen the best conclusion to each chapter. The game takes players through the eight most iconic challenges faced by Bilbo and the Dwarves in The Hobbit, such as overcoming trolls, goblins, wargs, and giant spiders; reclaiming the treasure of the dwarves; and defeating the dragon Smaug. In the end, you want to complete the most rewarding journey to The Lonely Mountain.
The Hobbit: There & Back Again includes a solo mode, as well as a way to increase the game’s difficulty, whether for some players to balance different skill levels or for everyone to increase the challenge.
BOOM! Patrol
Designed by: Nicole Amato, Anthony Amato
Published by: Smirk & Dagger Games (2025)
Players: 2 – 4
Ages: 10 & up
Playing time: 40 – 60 minutes
Hello and welcome to the BOOMburg Battle Arena where the most celebrated tank crews have assembled for an all-out battle for gold & glory. So get ready to crush buildings, grab those power-ups and make things go BOOM!
Choose your celebrity tank Captain, like Jonesy Ninelives of Crew Tomcat or Rosie Rhino of the Charging Armored – then outsmart, outmaneuver, and outblast your rivals in the ultimate arena battle.
BOOM Patrol is a competitive tank battle game that plays like a mash-up of Mario Kart and Battlebots. Whether you Medal – or get blown into next week comes down to your strategic and tactical decisions. All in a game that cares more about fun than precision. ‘Cause if it looks close enough, it’s close enough to crush with 30 tons of treads and armor!
Featuring an intuitive and innovative movement system, programmed command cards, asymmetric tank captain abilities, and videogame-like logic, this is just a blast to play. And with the toy-etic cardboard tanks, you will find yourself making tank noises as they rumble across the arena and turn their turrets with a “TINK, TINK, TINK,” before firing.
VOLT
Designed by: Emerson Matsuuchi
Published by: HeidelBÄR Games (2018)
Players: 2 – 4
Ages: 10 & up
Playing time: 30 – 45 minutes
In VOLT, each player takes the role of an operator controlling one robot to challenge other players. By “programming” three steps ahead, players try to anticipate the moves of other robots, aim to destroy them, or try to control spaces in the arena that get them victory points. VOLT includes an easy-to-begin training guide but still leaves experienced players with plenty of different modules to make their robot battles even more exciting and merciless.
Plan your next steps ahead by quickly grabbing a starting number in order for your robot to run or shoot at just the right moment later on. Push the other robots into pits or shoot them away with your lasers to gain victory points. Sounds simple – it is simple, well, at least the rules. But destroying the others without taking damage yourself is quite the hefty challenge. Fortunately, destroyed robots don’t have to wait long for their next foray into the ring. They reboot in the next round.
VOLT is a completely revised and extended edition of Emerson Matsuuchi’s game VOLT: Robot Battle Arena that also includes AI rules for a game with 2-3 players and a Championship mode.