Top 10 Worker Placement Games - The Genre For All Gamers
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
- Top 10 Worker Placement Games
Worker Placement games are a dime a dozen, but unlike Roll & Writes, there's a ton of really good ones, so ranking only 10 of them was hard to say the very least..............and I mean the very least, this was tough!
Oh and if you don't get the "elephant in the room" joke I recorded this a week ago and things have happened since then. But still I ain't heard anyone mention any bad things on the "game" itself as it's pretty much all "preview videos" for it so the original recording still stands.
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Who Am I?
One single batchelor from the UK talking about his passion for board games and the people who play them! I support small content creators, board game cafes and go against the status quo when it comes to the board game industry. I give my honest opinions without bias towards any publishers or designers and will not hold back if I don't like a game.
The Broken Meeple is a variety channel that hosts all kinds of board game content from reviews to Top 10 lists to playthroughs to live stream collaborations with special guests (predominantly small channels who deserve more exposure).
I look forward to engaging with you, the community on my live streams or in the comments on my videos!
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
03:03 - #10
05:42 - #9
08:55 - #8
11:25 - #7
14:04 - #6
16:49 - KIENDA PROMO
17:49 - #5
20:06 - #4
23:13 - #3
26:31 - #2
29:20 - #1
32:54 - Honorable Mentions
#brokenmeeple #workerplacement #thinkerthemer #viticultureworld #topten #boardgames #boardgame #lukehector #supportsmallcreators #tabletop #tabletopgames #bgg #boardgamer #boardgamereview
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Well done. I’m amazed at the little vídeo clips you use to humorously emphasize your points. Keep that up. It’s different than any other game channels I watch, and I like it. I’ve played only 2 on your list. I look forward to playing the rest…hopefully soon.
Thank you so much! It ups my editing time considerably compared to those who just switch the camera on and talk with no editing needed but I wouldn't stop it because as you say, it makes the channel unique. 😊
@@TheBrokenMeeple I also love the video clips, please keep them coming
@@markusbiewer2756 ha ha thanks, those clips I'll always use, it helps me to be unique in this industry
Congrats on the new sponsorship. I haven't played Fields of Arles, but A Feast for Odin is one of my favorites. I've played 7 of your 10 and agree with you on all of them. Prêt À Porter, Shakespeare w//Backstage expansion, and Yokohama are all fantastic and are games I could slip into my top 10.
Cool, thanks!
What a great list! I totally agree with "Lost Ruins of Arnak" and I would really like to try "Architects" I love "Raiders" though glad it got a mention 😊
Please do! :D
Love the energy 😆 Great list! A few of my favourites made it on your list too (Viticulture, Arnak, Fields of Arle, Kanban). Cheers!
Awesome! Thank you!
Love the video as always. The Pursuit of Happiness and Whistle Mountain are excellent picks. I purchased both a while ago because of you. They also are on my top 10. I am curious about your thoughts on Argent the Consortium? It is so good, so chaotic (since you can wound/bump and banish opponents' workers), and so much fun. Also, what about The Colonists? It's on the gray line of worker placement and something else, but it truly is epic, even as a solo. Thank you for this list. I'll have to check out a couple of those.
Glad to hear you enjoyed them! The Colonists I don't think is WP.........or is it? I forget. My problems with it were the crazy length and the annoying storage mechanic.
Arnak rules! Amazon Mexico finally got the expansion, which I ordered instantly, of course.
Great video content, Luke!! Love the picks as well, as many of your choices are my favorites as well (#10, #7, #3, #2). Well done, Luke!!
Awesome! Thank you!
Sorry was late with the timestamps!!! Now uploaded!! Also to those who disliked the video, you dishonor your cow.
I quote every single word you say on Anachrony. That game is thematically outstanding and mechanically awesome.
I love Architects as well and yes, it’s so fluid and so quick to play turns that it’s amazing.
And I so need to try Terramara and Fields of Arle.
Great list overall 👍 And great video as always Luke 😊
Thank you! Appreciate it as always!
Wife favs:
Ruins of Arnak.
Last night on Earth (is this wp? Heh)
My favs:
Orleans
Caverna
Can't see how Last Night is WP?
Your energy and enthusiasm are appreciated. I’ll look into Terramara. I hadn’t heard of it.
Thank you!!
Some great games on the list, want to try Anachrony so much, but not sure how well it plays a two player.
I think this genre is so crowded, perhaps two top 10 worker placement lists could of been done, one for pure worker placement and one for hybrid worker placement.
Otherwise great production Luke.👍
Thanks!! The production of these takes a while, but how else can I stand out? I think combining works, but you can do a 20-11 and still get 10 great games. I'm not sure if I know 10 great dice placement games.
Great list!
So of this list I only own Lost Ruins, and from previous recommendations Automania and Lords of Waterdeep.
My question for you is how language independent are some of these games, or at least are cards public, because for some of them my only option is German copy, and it might intimidate other non- German speaking people from group?
Architects is pretty language independent - nothing of importance is in words. Whistle Mountain has very little text, but you have to have that German rulebook. I think Terramara is all iconography also.
Great Top 10! I really love "Fields of Arle". Here in Germany you can collect so called "Reiseplättchen ("Traveltiles" in English) which were distributed by the publisher to different cities around Germany. The purpose is to collect them - you can`t buy them anywhere or order them. You have to visit a Game shop in the City which has a "Reiseplättchen" and get them there for free. But only one! Totally crazy in a positive way. Last year I was in the North of Germany and "Arle" has it`s own "Reiseplättchen". BUT: Arle is such a tiny town so there is no game store. You have to travel to "Großheide" - the next "bigger" village near to Arle and collect the tile there. At the town hall! I sent them an Email if there was a tile available and it is always fun to collect one of those. My wife says I´m totally crazy - but whenever we are in a town with a "Reiseplättchen" I have to collect one. "Arle" is my holy grail for sure.
Cool video, lots of greats in there. I pulled the trigger on getting Anachrony recently, due in a large way to your videos, it's amazing.
But...comment requested - comment delivered haha
I do like Lost Ruins of Arnak a lot, but Dune Imperium is a top 10 for me. The interaction is just so much more satisfying. I'd suggest absolutely play Ix, but in addition play with two common house rules:
1) Use the new Control the Spice card per the "Epic rules", but without the rest of the epic rules. This let's you trash cards from the start of the game.
2) Use a die to randomly discard a card in the card row at the end of every round as is in the solo rules
This I feel brings in a necessary amount of enjoyment on the deck building side of D:I that in addition to the Ix improvements move it well into a best of all time game.
Dune suffered from having a deck with a lot of bad cards in it and I wanted more of the deck building than the WP. It's also incredibly long for a 10VP race game, it should be a 60 min affair not 2 hours plus.
Great list really, nothing I can argue with although I've not tried them all! The Pursuit of Happiness, Kanban EV, Viticulture etc...
I would probably include in my top 10 Beyond the Sun which I find both straight forward to teach and smooth to play, and also Circadians First Lights, which is just the exact contrary, but still amazing!
Champions of Midgard with the Valhalla expansion is such a great experience. Making dead warriors into currency rebalances the whole thing to encourage risky strategies, and it's just a lot of fun.
Certainly need to give it a go.
I am sick about Dune:Imperium and Lost Ruins of Arnak comparisions too, even both are mainly worker placement/deckbuilding game.
Different games, Lost Ruins of Arnak is almost non interactive game between players, more puzzle game, solitaire game with stronger theme and many possibilities for scoring, while Dune:Imperium is more strategic game with high interaction between players, very tight game, you can say even more like race. For me is much more interesting than Arnak, that's all I can say ;).
Now You can easily tell what is my number one worker placement game 😁.
Its a good game.i have played it for all april since i purchased it.Still my favorite is Lords of Waterdeep
Well if they're not different takes on the same base concept, then what's the purpose of comparing them? :)
Funny how DI is even more like a race, seeing how Arnak is a racing game in disguise
@@revimfadli4666 the first time I played arnak, the teacher did not mention how important the track was...i did not win lol
@@TheHEAVYDAN yeah the board and them make the exploration look like the biggest deal, yet it's just the "fuel" for the point-loaded racetrack
10. Lords of water deep
9. Champions of midgard
8. Carcassonne
7. treasure mountain
6. imaginarium (I think this counts)
5. Galaxy hunters
4. Smallworld
3. Dogs of war
2. Above and below
1. Treasure mountain
What's Treasure Mountain as you mentioned it twice 😁
Hello, Love your videos. How does Terramara scale with 2 players. Would you recommend it as we only play with 2
It's best with 4 honestly - you use a neutral player and some spaces get blocked off, but it's not the smoothest setup and having 4 eliminates it entirely.
I’m scheduled to play Whistle Mountain on Monday and can’t wait! It seems like such a well-done game and I expect to really enjoy it.
Arnak w/ the leaders expansion may just be my fav game. Absolutely fantastic.
I absolutely love Lost Ruins of Arnak. I just got the expansion but haven't played it yet. Keen to try Viticulture at some point.
The expansion for Arnak is incredible, definitely improves the game and I already thought the game was fantastic. Viticulture was a disappointment for me. I had super high expectations given all the hype around it and it’s a good game. Just isn’t the incredible experience I expected. Maybe its just not for me.
My top 5.
Dune Imperium
Coloma
Lords of Waterdeep (w/exp)
Lost Ruins of Arnak
Outlive
(Haven't play Viticulture. Is in my wish list).
And I'm learning Golem. I'm excited about it. The theme and mechanics excite me.
Great video
Golem is a cool game, wouldn't call it worker placement though.
Probably the genre I have overrepresented in my collection and yet I don't want to get rid of them.
Mostly because I still categorise them differently (sandbox/tight/co-op).
But it's very hard for a new game to be considered as a purchase because of this (Darwin's journey is coming one day).
I enjoy the classics: viticulture, everdell, agricola, Arnak, Feast for Odin, Raiders Of Scythia and for co-op Robinson Crusoe is great.
Great list.
Argent the Consortium has become a favourite worker placement in recent months.
Yes! I just can't convince anyone to play it due to its complexity so it's just relegated to the solo fan variant
Solo... Oooh OK is it any good?
Oh that's a shame. I really like it. Managed to pick up everything Argent for a reasonable price.
I thought it might be on your list Luke as I think I first heard of it from yourself.
Just too many good games, it would be 20-11.
@@TheBrokenMeeple its not bad. It has a win condition which is always a plus but it mostly just blocks spaces and collects influence. It uses dice to randomize things. Gets Argent to the table at least
Really fine list, great work Luke 👍🏻
Kanban is a heavy game, so not for everyone. But great game 🙂
Thanks! 👍
Completely agree with Architects. Love that game. But one of my all time favorite worker placement games that is not on your list is Champions of Midgard. I would love to get your thoughts on that?
That's tricky. I was only meh on the game when I played it ages ago in its base form. Thought it was too swingy. But I've not played it with expansions yet and I would like to try it in that way.
great list, which arouses my interest in Anachrony once again (hard to find the German version). :-)
Arnak is in my Top10 of all time, but I probably wouldnt put it in my Top10 worker placement games.
the reason:
you do about 4-10 actions a turn and only 2 (rarely more) really come from actually worker placement.
the rest is free actions.
while the matching of the symbol of the movement (card+location) is kind of an innovation, the worker placement itself is quite basic.
if you can count the creation of new spots (as in caylus, lords of Waterdeep...) to the evaluation of the worker placement is, of course, arguable.
I would argue that the worker placement proportion in Dune is (much) higher as apprix. 80% of the effects come from worker placement spots, while the effects of revealed cards (which you do in one go and at the end of the turn as last/one action), mostly just influences the conflict and let's you buy one card.
in the end, I would put none of both games in my top 10 worker placement games, even though they are both in my top10 of all time
Great list Luke!
Thank you!
Great video. As a kiwi, I have been wondering which Garphil Game I should get first and maybe I should get Architects, I have tossing up between Architects and Raiders. That said, sorry for being 'that guy' but I am sick of the comparison between Arnak and Dune, all it does is stop people from purchasing one of the other. In my opinion they are different games. I love both and both will stay in my collection. Lost ruins of arnak, has far better art work, great components, and is a nice non-combat yet monster hunting vibe, at the same time, it kind of just ends after 5 rounds but those 5 rounds get better and better each round. Dune Imperium is a combat race to the top with intrigue. I love your work, single bachelor from the UK.
I agree that the comparison is bonkers, but I do like trolling people who keep making it! 😂
Well done i noticed Artipia games mention you in their Friday weekly news update. They need to hurry up and get a game shipped out to you so you can do another video. Would love to see you playing with all the expansions. Your guide has been brilliant but to see this game in action with all expansion playing with other people would be perfection. So far they is only a 4 player youtube video for this game by BoardGameGeek which is playing on the standard board game, no expansions. The next time you play this game with your friends just sneak a camera in and press record LMAO...
Ha ha, yeah a friend told me about the update, I'm going to highlight it on the podcast today. Wasn't expecting it at all.
They will send me the expansion and big box once they start fulfilling, it's just a case of waiting. Sadly group playthroughs I just don't have the setup for, but maybe I can try again for a solo run.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Excellent i look forward to watching your podcast. Yeah another solo game with all expansion would be Gold when you have a partner like i do who won't play the bloody game with me all you have is these youtube videos. I've watched you r last solo game like 3 times already so an updated one even before the big box would be brilliant.
I'm on your side with the Arnak vs. Imperium Debate.
I can recommend Pan Am (nice bidding system), Goetia (changing worker placement options and abilities), Dwarf (you need to plan how and when to end the game) and 1923 Cotton Club (thematic and cool event system). On your list are many cool games too!
Thanks for the tips!
Yes, Pan Am is a surprisingly good game, with interesting mechanisms. Going to look into the other three you mention
@@hairygnome1787Goetia is sitting on my shelf of opportunity. Have you played it much?
It's funny, a lot of the time you and I tend to have very opposing opinions on games, but I actually agree with you on the whole Dune Imperium vs Lost Ruins of Arnak. Like I enjoy Dune Imperium, but Arnak is just way more of my jam. I enjoy the discovery aspect of it, the going up the temple, the artifact cards. Plus yeah, it's way prettier, lol.
Everyone has to agree on something 😁
Nice! Recently got Anachrony so I really need to try that! Really want to get Kanban EV
You should! Especially as you're delving into a lot of heavier stuff lately.
My personal fave: Feast for Odin. You’ve peaked my interest with Whistle Mountain though…how is the solo on that one?
It's fine but it's a PNP mode, it doesn't come with it.
What you think of the expansions for Persuit for happines?
All fun but Community is my favourite. Don't throw all in at once though.
I own most of these and have played all of them. Terramara is on my "sell" pile. Maybe I should re-check it again with four players?
Great list. Maybe squeeze in Tzolkin and Obsession to the list. Drop out Fields - I don't solo game and ... well I can't think of any other game to drop from this list - so let's make it Top11 instead. :D
Terramara isn't for everyone but I love games with a twist.
So have you checked out Terramara again? Did you change your mind? Or is your copy still on the sell pile?
I think worker placement is still a quite clearly defined mechanism. Place a limited token (meeple, cube, dice whatever) on a space to execute the action? Action selection is clearly different, It's exactly the same, just without a token that gets placed. I consider Marco Polo & Viticulture both worker placement games.
A great list but to highlight my favorite in the genre : Barrage. Not solo and it's on the longer side but the tension is fantastic.
Thanks for sharing! Though Barrage drove me mad and in a bad way :P
Love Arnak, I wonder where Dwellings of Eldervale falls on your list. I’m a big fan of worker placement.
Dwellings is falling a bit for me - it's a fair mission to get to the table and the lack of a strong theme hurts it. It's still fun and a decent game but I've had much desire to unpack it .
Yes and also Argent the Consortium, Gugong (although since you didnt count dice placement then maybe card placement is also excluded from this list), Trickerion, Dungeon Petz, Last Will, Dominant species Marine, Yedo deluxe.
Card placement is fine, Underwater Cities just wasn't Top 10. And I was only meh on Gugong.
Nice list Luke
Glad you think so!
I was trying to explain worker placement to the guys(and gals) at work who like to take the mickey when i get games delivered there,i call them
The Monopolists because they have never moved on.....I will encourage them to watch this as i like the enthusiasm and game visuals are vital
to those trying to comprehend a life after Monopoly.
I have anachrony. But i cant shake the feeling that the evacuation criteria makes you do that every time. Then if you have abit of time you do some extra stuff. I really love the mechanics and ideas but i feel like the game tells me: build that becasue this gives you most points. Am i missing something. I really like sandbox design
Certainly you don't want to ignore it but you don't have to go crazy for it. You can get the minimum requirement just to get the base points and not suffer the - 3 without too much effort. But yes I agree it does partially gear you that way.
@@TheBrokenMeeple iv played the game about 3-4 times. Do you think its to early to buy fractures of time? Also thanks for anwsering you are awesome
What do you think,is it worth to buy Viticulture without Tuscany?Will Viticulture be boring without expansion in future?
Thanks 🙏
I think Viticulture suffers greatly without Tuscany.
Dude!! Whistle Mountain higher than Arnak and even on Top 1 ?!? That is definitely not something I saw coming! I’m very surprised!! Arnak was one spot higher in your top100 :)
Question: how often do you actually play whistle mountain compared to Arnak? How is it with new players?
It varies from moment to moment. 😎
1. Trickerion
2. On Mars
3. Bus
4. Agricola
5. Dungeon Petz
6. Anachrony
7. Tzolk'in
8. Targi
I honestly haven't played enough of these games...
I almost got Argent played last night. it's currently the game I'm pushing for most regularly to get to the table. It could definitely make it on this list...
(If we count Kanban/The Gallerist then those are on my list as well)
I need to get Dungeon Petz out again! Been so long!
Solid list.
I found Whistle Mountain and while interesting I was so so on it. There's a lot to choose from and I agree there are so many good ones to choose from. Great Western Trail would make my own like along with Coffee Traders while I see the value of pulling out dice, Teotihuacan would still be on my list as the Dice are in fact, workers. Great list!
I would disagree on the Teo dice being workers. You don't place them anywhere, you move on a rondel essentially.
Also how is GWT worker placement?
@@TheBrokenMeeple I think of both games as being a little worker placement but they are really action selection. I cede my point. 😶
I also enjoy Lost Ruins of Arnak and Architects (although my favourite Garphill game is Raiders of the North Sea with the Hall of Heroes expansion) but my number one worker placement game is Rajas of the Ganges (technically dice placement I suppose but let’s not get picky). Just as an aside, you might want to have another think about when and how you are conveying to your audience the message from your sponsor, as in my opinion you come across as a bit of a secondhand car salesman (which isn’t a good look even for secondhand car salesmen) or one of these clowns flogging stuff on TV. I realise you need to include it but perhaps be more subtle? Most people these days have enough advertising thrown in their face on a daily basis. Good list though. What’s the next genre?
Genre wise IF i can think of 10 - i could do Dice Placements - but the Patreons do want to see me do an "Everyone Else Is Wrong" list.
I like Architects, but it seems broken to me. Just keep putting works on a spot, until someone bumps you. Sooner or later someone is forced to stop them from getting so many resources. That person is aways playing from behind. I was tempted to house rule that if you have more than 5 workers on a spot and they go to prison, you would loose one from the game.
@@TheBrokenMeeple both of those sound interesting.
Hi Luke enjoyed this top 10
#10 Energy Empire is a great game totally agree with you on this one
#6 Anachrony is a fantastic game,
not played the rest!
Not played any of those, not even any of 4-1? You have some homework ;-)
@@TheBrokenMeeple Yeah maybe play some of them at the UKGE
Whistle Mountain is on my shelf of shame. I definitely have to get it played soon now.
What a great list of games!! 🤩
Glad you think so! Even though you're a little biased ;-)
Hello ! How is possible that you ranked Arnak and not Dune?!? Lol well done ! I've both, but prefer Arnak better also. But I would play them any time ! :) Cheers
Dune is ok, but the problems with its deck building element hurt it a lot.
Nice list! But you're not allowed to go off season in Fields of Arle solo!
True true, solo you can't.
1. Dominant Species
2. Agricola
3. Empires: Age of Discovery
4. Tzolk'in
5. Bruxelles: 1893
6. Vinhos
7. Caylus
8. Keyflower
9. Bus
10. Lewis & Clark
Apart from the first three, the order doesn't really matter :D
I prefer Dom: Marine overall - but the card mechanic needs some tweaking.
This is an excellent list. 👏 👏
I couldn't agree more with your #4-1. 😁
I wish there were more WP games with player-customised action spots (perhaps with ownership and variable supply-demand). Have you played Little Town? If yes, how would you compare it to Whistle Mountain?
I have not, no.
@@TheBrokenMeeple guess you'll like it, it's got the "building worker spaces together" aspect where owners get paid for providing valuable services/actions
wow you previewed Will Smith after "KEEP MY WIFE NAME OUT OF YOUR F***ING MOUTH" vERY rISKY HAHAHAHA. I always comment once I see my fav game pursuit of happiness on your list. Was a little upset its been pushed to 9th but ill take it on the list than not at all. Good stuff
Ha ha I have no issue with his hand slap incident, its being played up far too much and cancel culture has already taken over.
wow... what a list... anyhow
these worker placement games are better:
caylus (1303), champions of midgard, stone age, lord of waterdeep, demon worker, outlive, crown of emara, manhattan project, bruxelles 1983, nippon...
Midgard I want to try with the expansions and Lords would be an 20-11 - nooooooooo noooooo not Bruxelles!
I prefer Dune: Imperium over Arnak though both are fantastic. D:I leans into the deck-building a bit more. The one you failed to mention that would be on my list is Tzolk'in, which is still one of the best worker placement games ever, particularly with the expansion.
Same here. Sadly Luke lives in that delusional existence where Arnak is his favorite.
I to prefer DI over Arnak, but my daughter likes Arnak more as its less direct combat and more explorative so that gets to the table more. But i feel they are different games.
Ha ha delusional eh? And I actually feel DI does worse on the deck building than Arnak. Hear me out. In Dune you barely have any way to trash cards in your deck reliably or quickly. Meaning that the trash tactic doesn't work at all. The cards are also mostly garbage apart from a few choice "must buy" cards (worm riders much?) so the display frequently gets clogged up with all these 1-3 cost cards that barely do anything. DI also should be at least an hour shorter for what it is.
@@TheBrokenMeeple D:I has a space on the board to trash cards. Arnak might, or might not. Also, in Arnak the majority of your trashing will be removing fear cards, basically just removing negative points, not making interesting deck-thinning decisions.
Did you say in another video why you weren't including dice worker placement? A worker is a worker whether it is a cube, meeple, or die (provided it provides the "worker" function.
And while I really like Arnak, I do think Dune is the better designed game. Add expansions in and both games get elevated but Dune still keeps the lead.
I think I would have had Underwater Cities, Yedo, and Trickerion in my top 10, and possibly On Mars. Anachrony and Kanban EV are solidly in that list already.
Does the expansion replace half of the cards in Dune to balance the deck out or allow more opportunities to trash cards, as that's iffy design from the base game.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I don't think this is an issue. I can count on one hand the cards that I think are bad in the base deck, and those are still situational depending on which house you are. There would be a lot more outcry if this was an actual problem with the game. You are allowed to like Arnak more, we all like different games.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I've played a few games Dune:Imperium and it was never a big issue for me I've almost haven't noticed it ;)
Read through most of the comments and am surprised majority appear to support Arnak over Dune. I generally shy from conflict driven games though I do fairly well in them given that I’m mostly a euro and engine building type and conflict detracts me. Still, Arnak, after just 2 plays, I kinda felt it’s a little boring and I have the expedition leaders expansion. Didn’t really improve that much for me. Game feels samey with how I’ll play although variable player powers did improve that little for me.
So what made Dune Imperium stand out was simple, the tightness of the game. That race to 10 points where you'll always be in the game and even without expansion, Dune beats out Arnak easily even with leaders. I find myself applying differing strategies when I play Dune. I've played a few different styles already. Tried deck trimming with Bene, went conflict with Heighliner, played intrigue cards heavy, played cards drawing heavy, even went for high persuasion to buy out the spice will flow. they're all playable!
Finally, Rise of Ix in itself is also a much better expansion, so before the expansions, I can see why some might prefer Arnak although not for me. After the expansions, it's not even close at all anymore. Ix removed the less usable spaces and replaced them with 2 awesome group of actions. The freight shipping lines are so good. The tech tiles that gives more asymmetric player powers also fits into my engine building appetite. As for the game going too long, it does have a good build up and the game feels different late game compared as you play on. Arnak, instead, does not have that powering up feel at all.
All said, Arnak isn't even close if you're a true euro gamer. Feels too one-dimensional and believe me, I'm that type of player that tries them all, tech tracks, heavy on buying cards, both items and artifacts, exploration and monsters. Still always felt boring. My wife does like Arnak much more as in her own words, it's a simple game, she doesn't have to re-visit the rules as the game doesn't vary. What made it good for her was what made it sub-par for me.
Dunes major problem besides how bad it looks is the card deck. Half of it is full of garbage cards that you would never buy or severely underwhelming. So the display clogs up with low cost cards that aren't worth bulking your deck for, especially when there is woefully few ways to trash cards. One Bene space with a cost to it is not sufficient. In Arnak I have multiple chances to fine tune my deck.
Now if the expansion replace/fixed that deck then great. But deck building is better for me than worker placement.
Dune could also do with being a lot shorter for the amount you do. Two plus hours is more than it should be for only 10 victory points. Especially when conflict beats out the other methods.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Fair points. Truth be told, I'm not into deck-building as much as worker placement. So I'm more forgiving than you are about the trashy cards available. Haha, when I have shitty cards, I just find ways to draw more. As for game time, it's not something that bothers me really. I'm sure you've played TI4 and I've been in a game where we finished a superb game in 3hrs 6-players when we set aside 6-8hrs of game time. That is to say that my game group is ready for long games, but we tend to finish in pretty decent times.
All said, I fully agree with the points you raised. That just goes to show the 2 games aren't that similar and both games have their place with different gamers for differing likes. If I can intro you into a special game in my heart, do check out Path of Light and Shadow. I know that game isn't that widely available but it is actually my favourite deck builder in that it has a cool Promoting mechanism. Hope you have a chance to try that. That game is actually in my top 5 games of all time.
It goes without saying that any worker placement top 10 missing a place, if only out of respect, to the OG this is Caylus is simply wrong. But I think we can forgive you that.😁
But I have to admit to a little surprise that Pret a Porter didn't feature. Curious whether it was a close contender for you given how much you liked it previously? I purchased it a while back based on your review and am very glad I did, it's an excellent and unique game.
Not a fan of Caylus, I can just about deal with the 1303 reprint. :P
Pret a Porter has gone down for me a bit, but it would still be a Top 20 I suspect.
@@TheBrokenMeeple
I was just kidding, I know Caylus is far from your cup of tea. Good luck with the spiders!
Barrage didn't make this list but it's a good one! Also Lorenzo il magifico!
Oh hell no!! 🤮 They didn't make the list for good reason 😅
Arnak is just great!
My favourite placement is whaling with the Viking worker.
Actually, no. I forgot about drawing up your hand limit at the post office in Everdell.
My top 5:
1) Everdell (although the WP part is only 50% of the game),
2) Lords of Waterdeep,
3) Orleans (yes, I consider this worker placement too - you place (limited supply) of tokens (chips) to do an action,
4) Arnak,
5) Alien Frontiers. ...
I dislike the (traditional) WP games like Agricola, Viticulture, Stone Age but also, yes, Architects of the WK and Raiders ot NS (better than architects in my book though) etc. They lean so much on It, it just becomes boring and static. I guess, LoWD is the exception for me somehow. Curious about Whistle Mountain (don't own It yet) and ME Energy empire (own It, haven't played It yet).
Orleans I'd put into bag building and leave it there really. Otherwise does that make War Chest a worker placement?
@@TheBrokenMeeple I haven't played war chest, but you refer to the part where you put down your units on the board? That doesn't trigger an action? Right? So I don't feel that Is the same. In orleans 50+% of the game is how to place your chips. To me that's enough to consider It a WP game. Not excluding the fact It's also a bag builder. Comparing It with War chest Is more like comparing It with Quacks. You do draw tokens, you also place them, but It doesn't trigger an action when placed.
I haven't played Dune: Imperium, but I love me some Arnak. I've been told that the luck factor is huge in Dune: Imperium. Kinda like in Arnak. But I'm not really interested in the theme of Dune. Even though it's climbing the ranks, I pretty much don't care.
Anyways, worker placement quickly became my favorite mechanism.
By virtue of the points track vs. turn timer, to me Arnak feels more like a puzzle and Dune feels more like a race. I think D:I is worth playing if you can find someone with a copy but it "scratches a different itch" than LRoA. The mechanisms are similar but the way they come together feels very different.
@@jokerES2 very different games indeed. I understand why they’re compared so frequently but they are totally different experiences. Both games are in my top 10 of all time.
I have not played a single game on this list. Arnak will be the first, I recently purchased it.
Honorable mention: Rüdiger Dorn's Steam Time. ;)
STEEEAAAMMMMM!
I love (In no order):
Champions of Midgard
Lords of Waterdeep
Lost Ruins of Arnak (but my game group don’t :( )
Architects of the West Kingdom
Raiders of the North Sea
Paladins of the West Kingdom
Stone Age
Targi
Dune Imperium
I need to play Midgard with those expansions!
@@TheBrokenMeeple the Valhalla expansion in particular is great. It can make you want your warriors to die in battle. The other expansion just adds a bit more of the same and an extra player (which didn’t seem to ruin the game the one time I played with five players).
Have you played Paladins? If so why do you prefer Architects?
Because Paladins quickly got repetitive each game. Spamming two actions to death in a bone dry setting didn't justify its rules overhead and game length
I own Terramara, but my one play of it left me underwhelmed. Maybe I should give it another chance.
It's not for everyone, so I wouldn't be feel too bad about it!
thx bosss
Here are my picks:
(1) Lost Ruins of Arnak
(2) Everdell
(3) Francis Drake
(4) DinoGenics
(5) Raiders of the North Sea (with expansions)
(6) Reavers of Midgard
(7) Carnegie
(8) Architects of the West Kingdom
(9) Russian Railroads
(10) The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire
Would like to try DinoGenics, but is Francis Drake worker placement?
I’m a little addicted to semantics and linguistics myself and I’m always curious to read debates around meaning. Anyways. The best definition I have for Worker Placement is this:
“A game in which a token or piece from a pool, individual or shared, after placed in a region of a board or card provides a benefit, a detriment or a resource. The number of game pieces or tokens may be limited or diminished by an action and access to the spot on the board or card, or the benefit/detriment/resource it provides, may be restricted by the same action.”
Anyone here can opine on or improve my definition?
Can be even more streamlined I think: "Place a limited token (meeple, cube, dice whatever) on a space to execute the action?" ... sure, there's variants in what the action does or how the token placement works (limited space or not), but the actual mechanic is put something on a space to do or get something.
I'm enjoying my Architects big box, but I find you can't store it on it's side
That's fine, I don't store Raiders on its side either.
viticulture with tuscany, lost ruins of arnak, honey buzz, architects, viscounts,
Just call worker placement “action drafting” instead, and it clears everything up.
lol
Whistle Mountain is not the first game in which you can design your own worker placement spot. Have you tried Century 1+3? You need to design the engine that converts gems, by yourself and with limited turns.
1+3? That's completely new to me.
@@TheBrokenMeeple That is Century Spice Road + Century New World. You design your personal worker placement spots with the cards from Spice Road. I play the Golem edition. The combination of Spice Road and New World exceeds any of its constituents.
Ark Nova is basically TfM which is a reskin of Agricola, so it would definitely qualify as a WP game 😂😂😂
My new #1 :D
Again! Whistle Mountain. yes!!!!
It isn’t a true description of pursuit of happiness if Luke doesn’t mention you can grow a bonsai tree. 🤣
Ha ha I don't know why that project sticks in my mind so......
@@TheBrokenMeeple I look forward to giving it a whirl when the Kickstarter eventually arrives 😅
I would add Yokohama, Lancaster and Keyflower.
Keyflower is more a bidding game, you bid with the meeples themselves as currency. Yoko is ok, but way too long and Lancaster I was meh on.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I agree that Yokohama is too long, but I recently played a 3 player game and it's so good. Glad to have gotten it to the table, but there are other worker placement games I would play before it (Arnak, Energy Empire, West Kingdom games).
Everyone is raving about Viticulture and I am keen to try it, but... i dont think it's worth the investment. It has come to the second edition, and ppl still say you need Tuscany. And you would also throw in other expansions to make it great. Sorry, but a great game should stand on its own.
You don't need the small box one I mentioned that's just me, but yes you do NEED Tuscany
Caylus 1303 is a great game, way better than the poor (imo) Lost Ruins Of Arnak. Impossible for me to do a top 10 since I did not try them all - I tried about 13.
I did try 1303 despite hating the original - it was certainly better, but not enough to wow me.
Try Tzolkin.
Played it before, it's ok, but very AP inducing with the wheels.
Rajas of the ganges is a top game at home
It's gone down a bit for me, doesn't hit the table as much as it used to so I eventually sold it on.
Lost Ruins of Arnak is very uninteresting to me, while Dune Imperium is really great. The top game for me on this list is Anachrony. Fields of Arle is really good, the others are uninteresting to me
Dune Imperium needs a whole new deck of cards.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Can you specify what's your issue with it? I played it only once, like it a lot, but that one play is certainly not enough to get a deeper understanding of the game. Cheers!
The pillars of the earth
Anachrony is clearly your favorite and it's at 6 on your list! Don't lie to yourself 😈.
Ha ha, you can't make me! :P
Great list. Here's mine for fun.
🥇Anachrony
🥈Barrage
🥉Lost ruins of arnak
Empires of the north
Dune imperium
Targi
Lorenzo il magnifico
Everdell
Marco polo 2
Tidal blades
Thanks for sharing! But ewwwww.....Lorenzo :P
@@TheBrokenMeeple it's like wingspan but with more interaction and ugly.
Dune > Arnak !
No timestamps. I'm out.
Oh did I forget those? I'll put those in today.
whistle is boring...
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!