Preparación
No setup is required. Simply gather all four dice (one white, three colored) and roll them all at once to begin determining the start player.
2014
Puesto n.º 14530 en BGG
Start Player Express
2–99 jugadores
1 min
A partir de 8 años
1.1/5 de complejidad
5.5/10 de valoración
Acerca de este juego
Game description from the publisher: We've done the research, and we've determined that more than 36 million additional games could be played each year if it took less time to choose a start player. That's almost 2.5 million extra games every day. Back in 2006, Ted Alspach provided a solution to this problem with a simple card game called Start Player. Just turn over a card, and you'll know who the start player is. That was a wonderful solution...for 2006. But we're clearly living in the future now, and there's no time for getting out the box, shuffling cards, and finally turning a card over. It's time for something better, faster, and a whole lot more technologically advanced. It's time for Start Player Express. Start Player Express consists of four custom dice. There's no shuffling, there's a whole lot less reading, and there's no messing with a box. (You're not a Neanderthal, are you?) Just roll the dice and BOOM! You know who goes first.
Qué sensaciones ofrece
Dice Rolling
Comic Book / Strip
Dice
Party Game
Boardgaming
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Inteligencia del juego
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Flujo del turno
There are no turns. All four dice are rolled simultaneously by any player. The white die is read first to identify the active colored die and the qualifier (e.g., "Fewest" in red). The two non-active colored dice are ignored entirely. The active colored die's face reveals a category. All players compare themselves against that category under the stated qualifier, and the winner becomes the start player for the main game.
Puntuación y victoria
The player who best satisfies the qualifier + category combination (e.g., has the fewest buttons) is declared the start player for the main game. There are no points — this is a single-roll determination. Fuentes de puntuación: Fewest/Most of a counted category (buttons, games, keys, pets, pockets, siblings), Lowest/Highest of a numbered category (address, age, GPA, height, phone number, ZIP code), Smallest/Largest of a size-based category (car, ears, hands, nose, phone, shoes)
Fuente: Rulebook
Reglas que debes conocer
Las reglas más útiles para jugar bien la primera partida.
General
Roll all four dice simultaneously to determine the start player.
To use Start Player Express, all four dice are rolled at once by any participating player. No special order or setup is required before rolling.
General
The white die determines which colored die is active and the qualifier to apply.
After rolling, read the white die first. Its face displays both a qualifier word (e.g., 'Fewest') and a color (e.g., red). This tells you which one of the three colored dice to use — the die that matches the color shown on the white die. The qualifier word (Most/Fewest, Highest/Lowest, or Largest/Smallest) also comes from the white die and is applied to the category shown on the selected colored die.
Restriction
The two colored dice not selected by the white die are completely ignored.
Once the white die has identified the active colored die by color, the remaining two colored dice play no role in determining the start player. Their faces are irrelevant for that roll and should be disregarded entirely.
General
The qualifier from the white die and the category from the active colored die together determine who goes first.
Combine the qualifier shown on the white die (e.g., 'Fewest') with the category shown on the active colored die (e.g., 'buttons'). Whichever player best satisfies that combination — for example, the player with the fewest buttons on their clothing — becomes the start player for the main game.
General
Categories on the colored dice have defined intents but may be freely interpreted or redefined by players.
Each face on the colored dice corresponds to a category with a standard intent: BUTTONS = number of buttons on clothing; GAMES = number of games owned; KEYS = number of keys on the player's person; PETS = number of pets owned; POCKETS = number of pockets; SIBLINGS = number of siblings; ADDRESS = street address number; AGE = player's age; GPA = Games Played Average (games played per week on average); HEIGHT = player's height; PHONE # = phone number including area code; ZIP CODE = ZIP/postal code where the player lives; CAR = size of player's car; EARS = size of player's ears; HANDS = size of player's hands; NOSE = size of player's nose; PHONE = size of player's phone; SHOES = size of player's shoes. Players are encouraged to interpret or redefine these categories as they see fit.
Special
In the event of a tie, the tied player physically closest to where the arrow on the white die is pointing goes first.
If two or more players are tied under the active category and qualifier, the tiebreaker is determined by the arrow on the white die. Among the tied players, whichever one is physically closest to the direction the arrow is pointing wins the tie and goes first.
Special
If only some players qualify for a category, the group may re-roll or exclude non-qualifying players.
If a rolled category only applies to some players (for example, only one player is wearing shoes when 'shoes' appears on the active colored die), the group has two options: (1) roll all four dice again to get a new category, or (2) exclude the non-qualifying players from eligibility and determine the start player only from among those who do qualify.
Informe estratégico
No Strategy Applicable
Start Player Express is a pure luck and observation game with no decisions to make. The outcome is entirely determined by the dice roll and objective real-world facts about the players. There is no hand management, resource allocation, or meaningful player choice. The only 'skill' involved is quickly and honestly evaluating the rolled category among all players.
Speed of Resolution
Because the white die does all the selection work and the other two colored dice are ignored, resolution is nearly instantaneous after a single roll. Players should focus immediately on the white die to identify the qualifier and active color, then read only that one colored die — this is what makes the game 'super-fast'.
Handling Edge Cases Quickly
For ambiguous or inapplicable categories, the group can either re-roll or redefine the category per the rules. Agreeing in advance to always re-roll (rather than redefine) or vice versa can speed up resolution when edge cases arise.
Preguntas frecuentes y casos límite
Two players both have exactly 3 buttons. How is the tiebreaker resolved?
Look at the arrow on the white die. Among the two tied players, whoever is physically seated or standing closest to the direction the arrow is pointing goes first. No re-roll is needed for ties.
The active category is 'shoes' (Smallest shoes) but nobody is wearing shoes. What happens?
This falls under the partial/no qualification rule. The group should re-roll all four dice to generate a new category, since no players qualify at all.
The active category is 'shoes' but only one player is wearing shoes. Do they automatically go first?
Not automatically. The group chooses: either re-roll all four dice for a new category, or exclude non-shoe-wearing players and declare the sole qualifying player the start player.
Can we use the results of all three colored dice somehow?
No. Only the one colored die whose color matches what the white die shows is used. The other two colored dice are completely ignored for that roll.
We don't know anyone's GPA (Games Played Average). Can we change what GPA means?
Yes. The rulebook explicitly encourages players to interpret or redefine any category as they see fit. The group can agree on an alternative meaning for GPA or any other category that is unclear or inapplicable.
