The problem of first player advantage is more design-relevant than most players acknowledge. In a tight economic game, the player who moves first gains access to first-choice resources, first-choice locations, and first-choice card drafts throughout a game. Cumulative first-player advantage can determine game outcomes independently of skill.

Games that address this well: Catan rotates first player and the placement order reverses on second setup round. Stone Age uses a rotating first player with end-of-round starvation as a catch-up. Spirit Island does not have a first player — spirits choose power cards simultaneously and action phases are resolved together.

Games that handle first player advantage poorly tend to produce games where the player in seat one wins statistically more often than seat positions in the middle of the turn order. If you see this pattern in a game you love, it is worth researching whether the community has house rules that address it.