Who goes first?
From the source rules

Who goes first in Machi Koro?

IDW / Pandasaurus English rulebook, 2014

Machi Koro original English IDW and Pandasaurus blue box, showing the illustrated city and mountain without anniversary branding

The rulebook only says to determine a starting player; it gives no method, so choose one however your group likes.

Rule details

Players take turns in clockwise order.

At the start of the game each player rolls a single die on their turn.

Source & edition

  • Machi Koro: English rulebookIDW Games / Pandasaurus Games · Game Setup, final sentence; Game Flow · Checked 2026-09-25Printed page references: unnumberedCited PDF pages: 4

Image: © Grounding Inc. / IDW Games / Pandasaurus Games; original cover illustration credited to Noboru Hotta · Love Board Games, clean product-box image

If your rules call for a random choice, use the player picker.

If there’s a tie

The rulebook doesn’t say. If you need a tie-break, pick a player at random.

More starting rules

Browse available game rules

Free game-night tools: score keeper · turn timer · dice roller · all tools

Embed this answer on your site

Copy this HTML into a blog post, forum or game café page. It’s plain text with a link back to this rule, so it works almost anywhere. More embed options

Found a different instruction in your edition? Send a correction with the game, edition, and source.