Who Goes First App: Decide the First Player Fairly

Q: Is there a who goes first generator that gives the full turn order?

In Random, use Bingo with Max numbers: set to the number of players. Number the players round the table; the order the balls come out is the turn order, with no repeats.

A game night rule such as "the youngest starts" often means the same person starts every week. A phone in the middle of the table settles it instead. Here are four methods, from fastest to most complete.

Two players: the coin

Open Coin toss, let one player call heads or tails out loud, then tap the coin or Generate. It is a straight 50/50 with a flip animation. Call it before the tap, not after.

Three to six players: one die each

Open Dice on the Home tab. It starts with 6 dice.
Tap the minus button until there is one die per player. The dice sit in rows of three, so with 4 players you get three on top and one below.
Agree which die is whose, in reading order, going clockwise from the person on the left of whoever holds the phone.
Tap Generate. The highest face starts.

One limitation: ties. The app rolls all dice together and has no "reroll only the tied ones" button, so a tie means rolling everything again. It happens more often than people think:

Chance one player gets a clear highest die (computed for six-sided dice)
Players	Clear winner on the first roll	Tie for highest, roll again
2	83.33%	16.67%
3	76.39%	23.61%
4	69.44%	30.56%

With 4 players, roughly one roll in three ends in a tie. That is still quicker than any other method once the dice are set up, and the setup stays in place for the next game.

Any group: rock paper scissors

Rock Paper Scissors shows up to 4 hands. With 3 hands, 66.67% of throws have a clear result (two symbols on the table); 11.11% are all the same and 22.22% are all three different, and both of those mean throw again. The app does not say who won, so it is slower than dice for the same job. It works well with kids, who like reading the hands.

When the whole turn order matters

Some games care about second and third seat too: who picks a starting spot second, who gets the extra resource. For that, number the players 1 upward round the table, open Bingo, type the number of players next to Max numbers: , and tap Generate once per player. The order the balls come out is the turn order.

With 4 players there are 24 possible orders and each comes out with the same chance, 4.17%. Nobody is drawn twice, and the board under the big number shows the order in which they were called, so you can check it later. One catch: Restart and Yes put the drum back to 75, so 4 needs typing again before the first tap. Forget that and the draw is for seat 63.

A List with the players' names also works for picking just the first player: open it and tap Generate. It shows one name at a time and a drawn name can be drawn again, so it is no good for a full order.

Limits before you install

Dice are six-sided only, and the app does not add totals or mark the highest die. You read the faces.
There is no spinning-wheel or finger-on-the-screen chooser.
Results are not saved anywhere, apart from the bingo board.
The app itself costs nothing; ads run until you pay for Remove Ads, which does exactly that and nothing more.

Questions and answers

How do you decide who goes first in a board game?

Check the rulebook first; many name a first-player rule. If yours does not, a random draw is the fairest: one die each with the highest starting, or a coin for two players. Re-roll ties.

Is there a who goes first generator that gives the full turn order?

In Random, use Bingo with Max numbers: set to the number of players. Number the players round the table; the order the balls come out is the turn order, with no repeats.

Who goes first with dice when two players tie?

Only the tied players should roll again, but the app rolls every die on screen at once. Either reduce the dice to the tied players and roll, or roll everything and read only their dice.

Is the dice roll in the app fair?

Each die is drawn from 1 to 6 with equal chance using the iPhone's system random generator, so a 6 comes up 16.67% of the time, like a good physical die. The coin, dice and bingo all work offline.

Who goes first? Four neutral ways to pick the first player on an iPhone