Ted Allspach's Start Player

The fun way to decide who should start your next game.

Start Player is not a game. It’s a tool. A utility. Dare I say, an activity! It’s fun!

Never again will you need to wonder who should go first in your next game. Now you have Start Player! (Start Player also comes in handy for determining who should pick up that check at dinner.)

Now it’s available on your favorite iOS device!

Card Start

Determine the Start Player using all sorts of different criteria, from number of pockets to who’s bathed most recently.

Don’t like the criteria you’ve been given? Hit that Start button (or just give your device a good shake) and get another.

Does it apply to more than one player around your table? Use the tie breaker needle to narrow it down.

Spin Start

Choose your Start Player by spinning the big colorful wheel of fortune! The app will do all the work for you. It’s the perfect solution for lazy people everywhere!

Dial in the correct number of players and spin that wheel!

List Start

In a hurry? This is the fastest way to rank your players. All the players get put in a nice simple randomly ordered list.

Choose the proper number of players and press Start! In a second everybody will be put in their place. That’ll show ’em!

Finger Start

It’s just like Russian Roulette without all that pesky blood!

Have everybody who is playing touch one of the pretty little meeples.* Then press Start to get things started. Watch the pretty lights. Hear the pretty sounds. Soon the circle will tell you who the Start Player is.

Start Player is based on a pack of cards with the same name created by Ted Alspach and featuring the characters from his award-winning Board2Pieces web comic. 

©2025 – Steve Blanding