Tabletop Mechanics -- Worker Placement

• Standard Worker Placement - Players select actions, in turn order, by placing a worker from their supply on a building associated with a specific action and then execute that action immediately.

  • The round ends when all workers have been placed, at which point they return to their owners’ pools and a new round begins.
  • Turn order is typically set by placing a worker on a building that grants turn order priority.
  • Increasing the number of actions that may be taken in a turn is themed as getting new workers, which is an action tied to a building.
  • Maintenance costs are represented as feeding or paying for your workers.

• Workers of Differing Types - Workers can differ in abilities, or can be upgraded and downgraded, or are valid for placement in different areas and buildings.

• Acquiring and Losing Workers - Workers beyond the original complement may be acquired in some manner, either temporarily or permanently. Workers may also be lost as the game progresses.

  • These new workers represent substantial growth in a player’s overall action budget, and as such, acquiring more workers is often a dominant strategy.
    • This can be offset by upkeep costs or by requiring players to rehire the workers from a pool.
  • Other games actively encourage sacrificing workers for a benefit

• Workers as Dice - Workers are represented by dice whose pip values impact play

  • This approach leads to some analysis paralysis because of the large number of combinations that are possible
  • The manner in which the dice change values over the course of the game can vary.

• Adding and Blocking Buildings \

  • Buildings, and their corresponding actions, may be added to the pool of actions players may select from.
  • Buildings may also be occupied to prevent or hinder players from accessing those actions.
    • Worker placement is a kind of action drafting, and drafting denotes a dwindling set of possible choices. Thus, players can block other players from a building.
    • Bumping, allows an occupied building to be reused, but the worker currently occupying the building is removed, and the owner gains some kind of bonus.

• Single Workers - Players control only a Single primary Worker and cannot acquire more workers.

  • Can be similar too Rondel or Time track games
  • Blocking is still a part of these games.

• Building Actions and Rewards - Buildings can offer varying rewards to different players, based on ownership and turn order, or they may be upgraded to increase their rewards to all players.\

  • One way buildings can vary in rewards is through improvements of different kinds
  • Buildings and spaces may also increase in value over time until a player selects them.
  • Conversely, buildings may become deactivated or hindered.

• Turn Order and Resolution Order - Worker placement is ultimately a drafting mechanism, and the order by which actions are selected and resolved is an opportunity for design variations.

  • See turn order and resolution mechanisms as well.
  • One approach is to have a building grant turn order priority. This gives strong left-to-right binding as players are advantaged or disadvantaged due to turn order.
  • Another approach is to use auctions to determine turn order.
  • One design consideration is to determine when worker actions get placed versus when they get resolved.
  • Another consideration is when workers return to the pool.
    • Spending a turn to retrieve workers introduces blocking.

Links §

• Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design - An Encyclopedia of Mechanisms by Engelstein and Shalev