Order: Zee,Sam,Tom 10. Mangrovia,Pillars of the Earth,Automania 9. Looking For Trobils,Pret a Porter,Anachrony 8. Lewis & Clark,Otys,Charterstone 7. Charterstone,Pie Town,Raiders of the North Sea 6. Viticulture Essential Edition,The Mannhatan Project 2,Empires: Age of Discovery 5. Pillars of the Earth,Caverna,Caverna 4. Demon Worker,Roar: King of the Pride,Carson City 3. The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire,Scythe,Champions of Midgard 2. Automania,Stone Age,A Feast for Odin 1. Targi,Champions of Midgard ,Viticulture Essential Edition
I always find Zee's tastes in games so left field, which is great for going against the grain and showing us more to the already popular games. Abstract-y games are more his style. So I can understand that. -the step outside-the-box kind of game.
Fantastic video . I have just gotten into worker placement. For the longest time I avoided it, thinking it was just that dry, boring old-school euro type game. But Lords of waterdeep on the iPad changed everything for me! Just have to say all you guys can be funny, but no one touches the master Mr. Healy. So hilarious. ‘Information free’ had me chuckling, and then his ongoing reaction during Zee’s description of the Demon Worker game, I was laughing out loud for a full minute!
Lewis & Clark is underrated. It's brilliant. And it may look slow if you see it as a racing game, but you should see that track as what it really is: a points track. I love how strategic it is and it has just the exact amount of interaction.
Yeah I don't know why the pacing of it concerns them. It really speeds up at the end, too, and a lot of the time the person who thinks they'll win by crossing first, actually gets passed on the final turn.
Love the game but I don't get to play it enough and so when we do it takes time for people to get their head back into it. Definitely would speed up and benefit from more frequent playing I think.
It is my favourite game of all time and I cant figure out why its not as popular. Its a smorgasboard of deck building, resource management and worker placement. I love it.
@@BuckishDweeb I think they have pacing problems because they use the WP mechanic too much! It's on the wrong list here. L&C engines run faster w/out Indians.
I love Champions of Midgard, but unlike Tom, I still have kept Lords of Waterdeep. I still think it's a great game, especially with the Scoundrels of Skullport expansion. I love the ebb and flow of the corruption tokens through the rounds. So much fun. CoM has dice and LoWD has skulls. Golden!
Sorry Sam, Scythe is not a worker placement game. It's action selection. You don't place workers to do things. You choose an action to move the workers. You choose an action to have workers produce.
Sam doesn’t need another shirt. What he needs is two hats, one that reads ‘Tom is wrong’, the other ‘Zee is wrong’. That way he can put them on at a moment’s notice and alternate them quickly.
Viticulture can feel a little slow if you play without the mamas and papas from Tuscany (included in Viticulture: Essential Edition). You should never play without the mamas and papas.
I've only played it once, and I believe we played just the base game. I thought it was ok, but didn't really get the hype around it, and never really felt any need to ever play it again. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. It's just sort of meh
You should give it another go if it was the first edition you played. The second edition is a huge improvement over the first edition. Essential Edition improves a little upon the second edition.
Happy to see Tom still gives Age Of Empires III some love. It was one of my first board game purchases thanks in no small part to a Tom Vassel BGG WRITTEN review (remember those?). Still one of my all time favorite games.
Thx I still enjoy these longer Top 10 lists with the three of you. Always entertaining. I might not agree to all of your choices and arguments but - hey! That's part of the fun watching this. Automania is definitely in my Top 10 worker placement games and my family enjoys it a lot as well. Same for Stone Age. Also still a Hit in my family.
The discussion on Targi's Theme made me think you should do a "Top 10 Games that got the theme wrong" list but the one caveat is that you must come up with what the "Correct" theme for the mechanisms would be. I think this would be super interesting to hear.
Concerning Pret-a-Porter, Ignacy Trzewiczek mentioned in February that he was working on the updated version of it and he considers it one of the big projects of this year for Portal Games.
My favorite 'nice' worker placement game is Manhattan Project: Energy Empire' and my top 'mean' worker placement game is 'Argent: the Consortium' . MP: EE probably needs an official expansion to compete with the amount of replay value in Argent but I really enjoy both games. There are almost too many games in the genre. Someone who loves Agricola might have a hard time buying Caverna. Someone who has Sons of Anarchy might have a hard time buying Carson City. Someone who has Argent might have a hard time buying Dominant Species. I feel like we're at the point where we need comparison videos more than we need reviews.
1. Champions of Midgard 2. Lords of Waterdeep 3. Anachrony 4. Carson City 5. Coal Baron 6. Alien Frontiers 7. Kingsport Festival 8. Stoneage 9. Viticulture 10. Empires Age of Discovery
yeah i don't think i would call it worker placement either. It's such a unique game unto itself. that doesn't make it a bad game by any stretch. It's also a super heavy game which turns a lot of players off.
This! I played it a while back and immediately knew I had to get it. It is pretty hard to track down where I live, but just the other day I stumbled upon one copy of the newest edition by complete accident. And that one does look much, much nicer than the first edition. The art on the cards in the earlier on especially is off-putting. I hope to convince some friends to try it out this weekend.
I'm actually so curious as to what Tom could possibly be thinking to argue that Caylus isn't a worker placement game. The game is literally entirely about placing workers haha
Great list... I don't tend to like Worker Placement games. But Champions is my favorite right now... mainly cause you don't get just points, or chips, or counters... you get freaking dice... and you battle with those freaking dice... against freaking monsters... through a freaking sea... freaking... epic 😁
3 Top Ten ideas: - « Push your luck » games - Good looking games (easier to attract non gamers) - Bring on camping or trip games (easy to carry, to setup and don’t need a huge table) You guys are AWESOME!!! Keep up the good work **please like this comment if you think the ideas are good so Tom will see it 😃**
Jamey Stegmaier did his top worker placement games last week and said that Scythe isn't a worker placement game. Can't get more definitive than the designer saying it's not
I missed Euphoria, but that maybe was eliminated by the "no dice placement" rule. Also Crisis, the economic worker placement engine builder from Greece.
First, as others have said, Scythe isn't a worker placement game. My top 10 Worker Placement Games: 10. Stone Age 9. Shakespeare 8. Kanban: Automotive Revolution 7. New Bedford 6. Charterstone 5. Lords of Waterdeep 4. Caverna: The Cave Farmers 3. Rajas of the Ganges 2. Viticulture Essential Edition 1. The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire
My top ten: 10. Lorenzo il Magnifico 9. Rajas of the Ganges 8. Stone Age 7. The Voyages of Marco Polo 6. Energy Empire 5. Viticulture 4. A Feast for Odin 3. The Gallerist 2. Anachrony 1.Champions of Midgard I still need to try Agricola, Caverna, Tzolk'in, Troyes, Le Havre, Vinhos, Kanban, Madeira, Keyflower, Raiders of the North Sea, and Carson City. I think all of those have the potential to break into my top 10. Games that I'm looking forward to and have either preordered or kickstarted that could also make it into my top ten are: Neta-Tanka (the linked action bonuses look really fun), Calimala, Targi, Rurik: Dawn of Kiev, Escape Plan, Snowdonia, Trickerion, Tales of the Northlands, Gugon, Crisis, Architects of the West, Edge of Darkness, Robin Hood and the Merry Men, and Dice Hospital... typing it all out like that makes me think I'm kickstarting too many games...
Jamey himself doesn't consider Scythe a Worker Placement game lol. Serious lack of Vital Lecerda on this list. Vinhos, The Gallerist...two of the best in the genre.
Trey Chambers I mean, in the sense of take a worker, then place it to take an action. Yes it's only one worker but the actions are the complex part..., and the penalty still exists for using a spot someone occupies just like a traditional WP game.If Charterstone is, I would definitely consider Vinhos it may be basic in that mechanism and complex in the others (in Charterstone and euphoria for that matter you can just bump workers in your way creating a slight benefit for who was at the spot first just like Vinhos)...but it wouldn't function without placing a worker. To me that is as worker placement as it gets. Vinhos is an amazing standout game in the genre. P.S. I see you Harvest.
Im only gunna argue this one point FOR Scythe being a worker placement game. You only really get your 3 starting positions as "free" spaces to produce from, but later on in the game you gotta fight for your territory to place your workers on.
"Do you think Caylus is looked at as a worker placement game?" You know how in the early days, first-person-shooters were "Doom clones"? Go look at threads from 2006-2007 on BGG and count the number of people calling Pillars of the Earth a "copy of Caylus", "Caylus light" etc. (... also, one of them is Tom) :P
For what its worth my group loves Argent, sadly we find it hard to get to the table due to the time it takes to play. I really like the theme and love the unique workers in it. The biggest con for me with Argent is there are so many other games we also love that take 2-3 hours to play that its tough choice. The games that take ~1 hour gets played the most with us. Sam might like Argent since he doesn't mind longer games and he seems to want more player interaction in his games.
Recently, there was a ship that went off course and was lost in the fog off the coast of North Wales. Ship to shore called for all lighthouses to be lit. Things seemed grim until they brought in Sam Healey and he was able to guide them safely home with the top of his head
Scythe instead of Caylus or LaHarve, two of the icons of the genre. As many have said at no point are workers competing for spaces on a board, thus Scythe just doesn't have the mechanic.
I don’t think Scythe is a worker placement game. It is more of an action selection / area control game? Yes you have workers that you place on the board but they only gather resources of you choose that action. Otherwise they don’t do anything and just control the area.
Viticulture essential edition is great... But, with the exception of Zee's #1 and #8 (Targi and Lewis & Clark), I think I have little in common with these guys. For example, I prefer Agricola so much over Caverna (really dislike that lack of tension, that sandboxy felling). Also, I cannot imagine a Top 10 WP games without Tzolk'in, Russian Railroads, Troyes or Caylus.
I've let the labels in BGG let me form my top 10 too much. BGG says La Granja is Worker Placement and that is dubious. Placing 'workers' in the marketplace is not quite what you call the worker placement mechanic. So, you have a fair point.
You instantly got my attention when you included one of my favorites, Bruxelles, in your list. Viticulture is going to be getting a look, but now I have a handful to check out as well. Thanks for the viewer input.
Considering Zee's distaste for the the genre and Sam's confusion (Scythe?? Roar??), this would have been a great opportunity for Mandi and Suzanne to be in the planel... It would also be great if Jason did a quick top 10 on the genre...
My list 10: Iki 9: Lancaster 8: Pret-a-Porter 7: Dungeon Petz 6: Snowdonia 5: A Feast for Odin 4: Tzolkin 3: Caylus 2: Fields of Arle 1: Agricola Honorable Mentions: Bora Bora, Shakespeare, Keyper, Fresco, Pillars of The Earth, and Stone Age.
I wish you guys in the comments would give these guys a break sometimes, its games THEY like not what we like. If they had a top ten and they were all the games I liked I would be disappointing as I would have no new games to add to the "to play" list.
Right? Based on how the comments always go, their lists should all be the top ten games of whatever category they're doing according to BGG. That already exists, I don't need them just reading it to me.
You're crazy Sam, Scythe is NOT a worker placement game. You have your own personal board of which on your turn is action selection via the pawn you place it at and the action(s) you perform from the top and/or bottom of that panel, and no one else fights you for that same spot for the action selection. Sorry man, but Scythe is not worker placement.
To be fair, and I don't consider Scythe worker placement either, but I think the part about Scythe that Sam considered worker placement is not the action selection but the moving on the board part and through activating your workers get something (most of the time ressources) in return. I don't necessarily agree with that, but I can see where he is coming from.
Are there enough to really make this it's own category and still come up with 3 unique top ten lists? Doesn't seem like it. I'm disappointed that they (Tom) excluded those.
There are so many good WP-games. I think they are not always the same. Next to the straight WP there are some many Variants how to use the mechanism like in the following games: Worker with special abilities, with different strength, dice placement, bidding with workers, placing and taking workers can vary very much. I like all the aspects the workers can be used. Egizia Lords of Waterdeep with Exoansions Vitticulture Lancaster Age of Empire III Tzolkin Agricola Alien Frontiers Troyes Belfort Lorenzo Il Magnifico La Granja Spyrium Luna Bruxelles 1893 Nusfjord Ground Floor Keyflower
Sorry Sam. Scythe is not a worker placement game. It is an action selection game. You place your workers on the board by selecting an action on your player board.
Nice variety in the lists. A good mix between games I know about and ones I don't. (Though I hated Stone Age when I played it and didn't care for Viticulture). I enjoy all three Manhattan Projects though, and I would put them in the following order: Manhattan Project 1, Energy Empire, and MP 2. There are similarities between MP 1 and 2, but they play very differently. The focus is very different. And yes, the player interactivity is different. I like both games for different reasons, but I still prefer the original.
I’m really surprised nobody mentioned the underrated Chimera Station. A very innovative twist on worker placement which lets you build your workers over the course of the game. The pieces may look toy-ish, but the gameplay is deep and interesting.
Lords of Waterdeep, Fresco, Stone Age, Walnut Grove, and Agricola are ones I love to play, Caverna and Pursuit of Happiness might make it onto the list if I get a chance to play them.
Love Automania. Glad to see it show up on two lists as it is a very undertated game. Scythe is not a worker placement game and doesn't even contain it as a mechanism. Carson City is also one of my favorites. For games not on anyone's list I would add Lancaster and Coal Baron.
1- Anachrony 2- Near and Far 3- Tzolkin 4 -Trickerion 5 - Alchemist 6 - Outlive 7- Stone Age 8- Rajas of the Ganges 9- Gallerist 10- Lorenzo il Magnifico Scythe would have been here but i dont consider it worker placement
Sohail Sadaqat Thank you! Now here's a real list I can get behing. Very disappointed there was no Vital Lacerda games (ex Gallerist) or others on any of their lists. Also Mindclash games are killing it with awesome worker placements. Anachrony is definitely one of the best IMO, at least Tom mentioned it... And no mention of Trickerion?? Man. Tzolkin too!
I'm not sure Alchemists qualifies as worker placement - I think it's more in the action selection category. You're not blocking anyone when you place your action cubes, nor are you making the action more expensive for them.
Mine would be: WP focused games: 1. Tzolk'in 2. Agricola 3. Russian Railroads 4. Caylus 5. The Voyages of Marco Polo Games with a WP element: 1. Troyes 2. Keyflower 3. Le Havre 4. Mombasa 5. Tribune Also enjoy a lot: -Targi -Lewis & Clark -Dungeon Petz
Are you dense? Nobody else can put their worker on your board. You only have one "Worker". Just because it is a pawn doesnt mean it is a worker. The only thing you can not do is use the same spot as last turn, unless you are russian. There is absolutely nothing worker placement about that.
Its action selection on your own private board. You are not placing workers to gain anything, you are activating pseudo workers on the board via the production action.
Loved the video as always guys! Targi's second edition or reprint has not been released yet, supposedly October release? Any word on your end? Highly looking forward to this for the wife and I!
Everyone's said it already, and while Scythe isn't worker placement, Sam's comment does make me wonder if there are worker placement games where your workers actually are able to stay on the board and move around, and are only returned when opponents bump them off? It could be interesting to have a game where it's not just the spot you take, but the path you plan around it, and also have the ability to camp a worker on a space until someone boots you out (either giving you a benefit, or costing them).
Jason Tripp I'm with you on this one. I did not enjoy this game at all. It's boring with very view choices as the game goes along, mirroring Tom's complaints.
Thank you Sam for correcting Eric's foolish choice. Stone Age is a great game! I also like the luck factor in the game, I think it adds just the right amount of excitement. To date I have not played Glen Drover's Essential Age of Viticulture, Age of Discovering Tuscany, but I look forward to it?
Order: Zee,Sam,Tom
10. Mangrovia,Pillars of the Earth,Automania
9. Looking For Trobils,Pret a Porter,Anachrony
8. Lewis & Clark,Otys,Charterstone
7. Charterstone,Pie Town,Raiders of the North Sea
6. Viticulture Essential Edition,The Mannhatan Project 2,Empires: Age of Discovery
5. Pillars of the Earth,Caverna,Caverna
4. Demon Worker,Roar: King of the Pride,Carson City
3. The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire,Scythe,Champions of Midgard
2. Automania,Stone Age,A Feast for Odin
1. Targi,Champions of Midgard ,Viticulture Essential Edition
Awesome guys! I've been waiting for this updated list. Thank you so much for posting this, Tom, Sam, and Zee!!!
I always find Zee's tastes in games so left field, which is great for going against the grain and showing us more to the already popular games.
Abstract-y games are more his style. So I can understand that. -the step outside-the-box kind of game.
Fantastic video . I have just gotten into worker placement. For the longest time I avoided it, thinking it was just that dry, boring old-school euro type game. But Lords of waterdeep on the iPad changed everything for me!
Just have to say all you guys can be funny, but no one touches the master Mr. Healy. So hilarious. ‘Information free’ had me chuckling, and then his ongoing reaction during Zee’s description of the Demon Worker game, I was laughing out loud for a full minute!
Lewis & Clark is underrated. It's brilliant. And it may look slow if you see it as a racing game, but you should see that track as what it really is: a points track. I love how strategic it is and it has just the exact amount of interaction.
Yeah I don't know why the pacing of it concerns them. It really speeds up at the end, too, and a lot of the time the person who thinks they'll win by crossing first, actually gets passed on the final turn.
Love the game but I don't get to play it enough and so when we do it takes time for people to get their head back into it. Definitely would speed up and benefit from more frequent playing I think.
It is my favourite game of all time and I cant figure out why its not as popular. Its a smorgasboard of deck building, resource management and worker placement. I love it.
@@BuckishDweeb I think they have pacing problems because they use the WP mechanic too much! It's on the wrong list here. L&C engines run faster w/out Indians.
It is a good game. The resource types and applications are interesting. The historical character cards with differing abilities are intriguing.
I love Champions of Midgard, but unlike Tom, I still have kept Lords of Waterdeep. I still think it's a great game, especially with the Scoundrels of Skullport expansion. I love the ebb and flow of the corruption tokens through the rounds. So much fun. CoM has dice and LoWD has skulls. Golden!
Those are 2 of my familys favourite games! :-)
yes I have both. no idea why one would replace the other. both are great (with their expansions)
Sorry Sam, Scythe is not a worker placement game. It's action selection. You don't place workers to do things. You choose an action to move the workers. You choose an action to have workers produce.
Jerry Hsu Bingo...
yep. not a worker placement. Action selection (with your side board) at best.
Totally agree
I was gonna type this out. Didn’t have to!
It's safe to label Scythe as an engine building game. Damn, even James Stegmayer label it this way
Sam doesn’t need another shirt. What he needs is two hats, one that reads ‘Tom is wrong’, the other ‘Zee is wrong’. That way he can put them on at a moment’s notice and alternate them quickly.
I highly agree with Zee on MP: Energy Empire! It is an amazingly streamlined and fun worker placement game! The best of the series too!!
Viticulture can feel a little slow if you play without the mamas and papas from Tuscany (included in Viticulture: Essential Edition). You should never play without the mamas and papas.
Yeah they help a lot.
And add a couple of specialist workers from Tuscany for some spice.
Tor Iver Wilhelmsen those don’t come in essential edition.
I've only played it once, and I believe we played just the base game. I thought it was ok, but didn't really get the hype around it, and never really felt any need to ever play it again. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. It's just sort of meh
You should give it another go if it was the first edition you played. The second edition is a huge improvement over the first edition. Essential Edition improves a little upon the second edition.
Picked up Targi yesterday for $18/CAD because it was Zee's #1. Played it once and loved it! Fantastic game!
Scythe is a great game, so great that it deserves a place on all lists, including party and trivia.
Happy to see Tom still gives Age Of Empires III some love. It was one of my first board game purchases thanks in no small part to a Tom Vassel BGG WRITTEN review (remember those?). Still one of my all time favorite games.
Thx I still enjoy these longer Top 10 lists with the three of you. Always entertaining. I might not agree to all of your choices and arguments but - hey! That's part of the fun watching this. Automania is definitely in my Top 10 worker placement games and my family enjoys it a lot as well. Same for Stone Age. Also still a Hit in my family.
The discussion on Targi's Theme made me think you should do a "Top 10 Games that got the theme wrong" list but the one caveat is that you must come up with what the "Correct" theme for the mechanisms would be. I think this would be super interesting to hear.
Concerning Pret-a-Porter, Ignacy Trzewiczek mentioned in February that he was working on the updated version of it and he considers it one of the big projects of this year for Portal Games.
Tom's face at 22:08 as he wonders what alien life-form has taken over Sam's body! :D
How can I add 1,000 likes to your post...
It is the same one where he counters his argument FOR Pie Town when he missed the same thing in Epic Card Game. SAME ARGUMENT..
Hilarious. Thanks for pointing this out!
I wonder if Architects of the West Kingdom would be on this list...
Love watching you guys! Another fab video. Thank you!
1. Anachrony
2. Fields of Arle
3. Lords of the Waterdeep
4. Agricola
5. Sycthe
6. Champions of Midgard
7. Alien Frontiers
Always love the top 10s!!
My favorite 'nice' worker placement game is Manhattan Project: Energy Empire' and my top 'mean' worker placement game is 'Argent: the Consortium' . MP: EE probably needs an official expansion to compete with the amount of replay value in Argent but I really enjoy both games.
There are almost too many games in the genre. Someone who loves Agricola might have a hard time buying Caverna. Someone who has Sons of Anarchy might have a hard time buying Carson City. Someone who has Argent might have a hard time buying Dominant Species. I feel like we're at the point where we need comparison videos more than we need reviews.
MP Energy Empire is doing an expansion this fall. :)
Argent is one of my top 5 WP for sure, variability x infinity. I would not compare it to Dominant Species at all though....
What a great list! And I´m so happy to see Targi on #1, it´s a fantastic game!
1. Champions of Midgard
2. Lords of Waterdeep
3. Anachrony
4. Carson City
5. Coal Baron
6. Alien Frontiers
7. Kingsport Festival
8. Stoneage
9. Viticulture
10. Empires Age of Discovery
I haven't seen anyone mention Dominant Species. It's kind of ugly but I really enjoy it's complexity.
thebrendan03- it is my #1 game of all time. However many consider it action selection instead
yeah i don't think i would call it worker placement either. It's such a unique game unto itself. that doesn't make it a bad game by any stretch. It's also a super heavy game which turns a lot of players off.
It's beautiful.
You cant find that heavy and excellent games in any dice tower top 10s
This! I played it a while back and immediately knew I had to get it. It is pretty hard to track down where I live, but just the other day I stumbled upon one copy of the newest edition by complete accident. And that one does look much, much nicer than the first edition. The art on the cards in the earlier on especially is off-putting. I hope to convince some friends to try it out this weekend.
I feel like dice placement games should have been ok since there isn't enough of them yet to get their own list.
I'm actually so curious as to what Tom could possibly be thinking to argue that Caylus isn't a worker placement game. The game is literally entirely about placing workers haha
I'm with you, Zee. I can't get Lewis and Clark to the table enough. I was flabbergasted when I first played it.
Great list... I don't tend to like Worker Placement games. But Champions is my favorite right now... mainly cause you don't get just points, or chips, or counters... you get freaking dice... and you battle with those freaking dice... against freaking monsters... through a freaking sea... freaking... epic 😁
One of the reasons Automania is getting no love in the US is you can’t get the damn thing anywhere. Without paying an arm and a leg.
3 Top Ten ideas:
- « Push your luck » games
- Good looking games (easier to attract non gamers)
- Bring on camping or trip games (easy to carry, to setup and don’t need a huge table)
You guys are AWESOME!!!
Keep up the good work
**please like this comment if you think the ideas are good so Tom will see it 😃**
Scythe is definitely is not a worker placement game.
Jeff Connell totally agree, it's more of an action selection game
Area control/Action selection
Jamey Stegmaier did his top worker placement games last week and said that Scythe isn't a worker placement game. Can't get more definitive than the designer saying it's not
Wouldn't be a top ten if Sam didn't sneak something in that doesn't fit. :]
AbsurdNerd so true
Yes!! Another top ten. And a great topic at that 🤗 whoop whoop
I love Sam's reaction when Zee mentions Demon Worker's theme!
Scythe? Really??? How?
Played A Feast for Odin again yesterday and had a lot of fun exploring new strategies with it! It's really super deep.
So excited for this, 🍿 is ready!
Hope the next list is top 10 worker dice placement games!
Zee I'm with you. Not only is L&C a great game but I like it a lot more than Discoveries.
Matthew Sanchez Lewis n Clark is awesome for sure. I regret selling it :(
Funny. I sold it too. And then I reacquired it a year later.
Matthew Sanchez It’s definitely on my re-purchase at some point down the line list lol
I missed Euphoria, but that maybe was eliminated by the "no dice placement" rule. Also Crisis, the economic worker placement engine builder from Greece.
First, as others have said, Scythe isn't a worker placement game. My top 10 Worker Placement Games:
10. Stone Age
9. Shakespeare
8. Kanban: Automotive Revolution
7. New Bedford
6. Charterstone
5. Lords of Waterdeep
4. Caverna: The Cave Farmers
3. Rajas of the Ganges
2. Viticulture Essential Edition
1. The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire
My top 10
10- Agricola
9- Orleans
8- Le Havre
7- Kanban
6- Trickerion
5- Madeira
4- Vinhos
3- Lignum
2- Three Kingdoms Redux
1- Dominant Species
My top ten:
10. Lorenzo il Magnifico
9. Rajas of the Ganges
8. Stone Age
7. The Voyages of Marco Polo
6. Energy Empire
5. Viticulture
4. A Feast for Odin
3. The Gallerist
2. Anachrony
1.Champions of Midgard
I still need to try Agricola, Caverna, Tzolk'in, Troyes, Le Havre, Vinhos, Kanban, Madeira, Keyflower, Raiders of the North Sea, and Carson City. I think all of those have the potential to break into my top 10.
Games that I'm looking forward to and have either preordered or kickstarted that could also make it into my top ten are: Neta-Tanka (the linked action bonuses look really fun), Calimala, Targi, Rurik: Dawn of Kiev, Escape Plan, Snowdonia, Trickerion, Tales of the Northlands, Gugon, Crisis, Architects of the West, Edge of Darkness, Robin Hood and the Merry Men, and Dice Hospital... typing it all out like that makes me think I'm kickstarting too many games...
Architects of the West Kingdom mind you ;)
That is the one.
Jamey himself doesn't consider Scythe a Worker Placement game lol.
Serious lack of Vital Lecerda on this list. Vinhos, The Gallerist...two of the best in the genre.
Casey Pierson They 90% of the time don't like Heavy euros
Vinhos is a worker placement game...how? I can take literally any action I want, I just have to pay you a coin if I do the one you're on.
And The Gallerist is more of a rondel game.
Jamey is wrong, Sam is right. Nothing to see here folks.
Trey Chambers I mean, in the sense of take a worker, then place it to take an action. Yes it's only one worker but the actions are the complex part..., and the penalty still exists for using a spot someone occupies just like a traditional WP game.If Charterstone is, I would definitely consider Vinhos it may be basic in that mechanism and complex in the others (in Charterstone and euphoria for that matter you can just bump workers in your way creating a slight benefit for who was at the spot first just like Vinhos)...but it wouldn't function without placing a worker. To me that is as worker placement as it gets. Vinhos is an amazing standout game in the genre.
P.S. I see you Harvest.
Im only gunna argue this one point FOR Scythe being a worker placement game. You only really get your 3 starting positions as "free" spaces to produce from, but later on in the game you gotta fight for your territory to place your workers on.
"Do you think Caylus is looked at as a worker placement game?"
You know how in the early days, first-person-shooters were "Doom clones"? Go look at threads from 2006-2007 on BGG and count the number of people calling Pillars of the Earth a "copy of Caylus", "Caylus light" etc.
(... also, one of them is Tom) :P
#1 worker placement for me is far and away argent the consortium. Definitely a game that deserves more love even if it is a bit specialized.
I’m with Zee on Mangrovia - it’s a very underrated game
Sam should try Argent: the Consortium. He might like it, it's heavier and has more direct player interaction than most worker placement.
For what its worth my group loves Argent, sadly we find it hard to get to the table due to the time it takes to play. I really like the theme and love the unique workers in it. The biggest con for me with Argent is there are so many other games we also love that take 2-3 hours to play that its tough choice. The games that take ~1 hour gets played the most with us. Sam might like Argent since he doesn't mind longer games and he seems to want more player interaction in his games.
Are you guys going to come out with a top 10 dice placement games list this year as well? I'm guessing Voyages of Marco Polo will be on that list.
I don't think they would have enough to do 10. But it is definitely unique to be its own category.
Euphoria! I'm obsessed with that game right now. And Rajas of the Ganges! This genre really has some stars.
Recently, there was a ship that went off course and was lost in the fog off the coast of North Wales. Ship to shore called for all lighthouses to be lit. Things seemed grim until they brought in Sam Healey and he was able to guide them safely home with the top of his head
paintmylittleworld hahahahahaha 😂
Scythe instead of Caylus or LaHarve, two of the icons of the genre. As many have said at no point are workers competing for spaces on a board, thus Scythe just doesn't have the mechanic.
I thought maybe Eric Lang's The Godfather would've been on one of these lists. Nice mix of worker placement and area control.
David Seidner, agreed, my wife and I are hooked on The Godfather. Not overly complex but a great, engaging and fun game. Good call.
Best game of 2017 for me.
Godfather is soooo good.
Godfather is brilliant. I wish it got an expansion with an extra player and more special character cards.
I don’t think Scythe is a worker placement game. It is more of an action selection / area control game? Yes you have workers that you place on the board but they only gather resources of you choose that action. Otherwise they don’t do anything and just control the area.
Harbour is such a fun Worker Placement game. I'm surprised it hasn't appeared on more lists.
Some great games there guys.Two that I played this year that are well worth playing IMO ,Are Chimera Station And Belfort
I liked Belfort. Idk why it got little respect.
1. Stone Age
2. The River
...
They're all I have. Champions of Midgard looks awesome.
Viticulture essential edition is great... But, with the exception of Zee's #1 and #8 (Targi and Lewis & Clark), I think I have little in common with these guys.
For example, I prefer Agricola so much over Caverna (really dislike that lack of tension, that sandboxy felling).
Also, I cannot imagine a Top 10 WP games without Tzolk'in, Russian Railroads, Troyes or Caylus.
1 Dominant Species (2012)
2 Keyflower (2013)
3 La Granja (2015)
4 Bruxelles 1893 (2013)
5 Viticulture Essential Edition (2015)
6 Russian Railroads (2013)
7 Anachrony (2017)
8 The Pillars of the Earth (2006)
9 Agricola (2008)
10 Trickerion: Dahlgaard's Gifts (2015)
Vincent van Beelen I can’t even think of what would resemble worker placemnt in La Granja?
I've let the labels in BGG let me form my top 10 too much. BGG says La Granja is Worker Placement and that is dubious. Placing 'workers' in the marketplace is not quite what you call the worker placement mechanic. So, you have a fair point.
Well it IS a great game in any case :D
You instantly got my attention when you included one of my favorites, Bruxelles, in your list. Viticulture is going to be getting a look, but now I have a handful to check out as well. Thanks for the viewer input.
But Dahlgaard's Gifts is not out yet
Argent: The Consortium and Trickerion are my top two and probably will never leave those spots.
I kept hearing it in my mind as Manhattan Project: 2 Minutes to Midnight and was thinking man that's a very specific theme! Lol
Considering Zee's distaste for the the genre and Sam's confusion (Scythe?? Roar??), this would have been a great opportunity for Mandi and Suzanne to be in the planel... It would also be great if Jason did a quick top 10 on the genre...
Agreed, I really did not think this was a good list from the big WP pool of games out there.
Except that Mandi lives in Canada and Suzanne on the other side of the country.
1) They were all together at GenCon so hopefully they recorded something... 2) Internet video
Yeah, there's always a Gen Con live show... usually featuring music :)
My list 10: Iki
9: Lancaster
8: Pret-a-Porter
7: Dungeon Petz
6: Snowdonia
5: A Feast for Odin
4: Tzolkin
3: Caylus
2: Fields of Arle
1: Agricola
Honorable Mentions: Bora Bora, Shakespeare, Keyper, Fresco, Pillars of The Earth, and Stone Age.
I wish you guys in the comments would give these guys a break sometimes, its games THEY like not what we like. If they had a top ten and they were all the games I liked I would be disappointing as I would have no new games to add to the "to play" list.
Right? Based on how the comments always go, their lists should all be the top ten games of whatever category they're doing according to BGG. That already exists, I don't need them just reading it to me.
Carson City + Time Travel = Back to the Future III
My wife and I really like Prodigals Club, excellent worker placement game to try if you have never played and a great theme!
i love that the background picture of Targi is a situation that would never happen while playing Targi (workers on face down cards)
You're crazy Sam, Scythe is NOT a worker placement game. You have your own personal board of which on your turn is action selection via the pawn you place it at and the action(s) you perform from the top and/or bottom of that panel, and no one else fights you for that same spot for the action selection. Sorry man, but Scythe is not worker placement.
Jacob Cadena you know Sam doesn't care about guidelines. He just does what he wants and speaks his illusions into existence. Like a Boss lol
To be fair, and I don't consider Scythe worker placement either, but I think the part about Scythe that Sam considered worker placement is not the action selection but the moving on the board part and through activating your workers get something (most of the time ressources) in return. I don't necessarily agree with that, but I can see where he is coming from.
Except for the part where you place workers on the map bunch of duches XD
It's about the mechanism, not about "workers" being on a board. Also *douches.
Well the mechanism we talk about is : placing workers on the map. XD
Tom's list is great. I'd add in Trickerion and maybe Dinosaur Island (love the theme). Does Francis Drake count as WP?
It almost feels like a rondel mixed with worker placement to me.
1 - Dominant Species
2 - Fresco
3 - Lorenzo il Magnifico (not a dice game for me)
4 - Rokoko
5 - Viticulture
6 - Caverna
7 - Tzolk'In
8 - Caylus
9 - Trajan
10 - Navegador
11 - Vanuatu
12 - Egizia
Anachrony is my new No. 1 Worker Placement. Especially with the Exosuit expansion. Its so good.
automania deserves so much more love! i think it's the silly art.
Really happy I got the last copy of Automania from my FLGS. Tom and Zee are right, it's a wonderful game that deserves more attention.
I just purchased Viticulture (I haven't played it yet), Agricola (It's Okay), and Dinogenics with the expansion (Which I LOVE!).
Can't believe Chimera Station wasn't mentioned since Tom seemed so elated by it. Same goes for Dino Island
Chimera Station was in the running! I love Dino Island, but the worker placement part is very minor to me, compared to the rest of the game.
Really hope we're going to get the Targi reprint soon and I'm also hoping for the expansion to get released in English alongside it.
I would very much look forward to you three doing a top 10 dice worker placement list 😀🎲🎲🎲
Ummm is there enough to warrant a list?
Are there enough to really make this it's own category and still come up with 3 unique top ten lists? Doesn't seem like it. I'm disappointed that they (Tom) excluded those.
It's funny that Zee jokes about the expansion for Feast for Odin because the expansion actually DOES add more actions spaces like 20% more haha.
There are so many good WP-games. I think they are not always the same. Next to the straight WP there are some many Variants how to use the mechanism like in the following games: Worker with special abilities, with different strength, dice placement, bidding with workers, placing and taking workers can vary very much. I like all the aspects the workers can be used.
Egizia
Lords of Waterdeep with Exoansions
Vitticulture
Lancaster
Age of Empire III
Tzolkin
Agricola
Alien Frontiers
Troyes
Belfort
Lorenzo Il Magnifico
La Granja
Spyrium
Luna
Bruxelles 1893
Nusfjord
Ground Floor
Keyflower
Roar is area control in a similar vein to Risk. It is by no means a worker placement game. Also Scythe.
Pret-a-Porter is the only game I approve of on these lists, and kudos to Sam for including it.
You don't approve A Feast for Oden??
Sorry Sam. Scythe is not a worker placement game. It is an action selection game. You place your workers on the board by selecting an action on your player board.
It seems Vincent Dutrait was mentioned more than most of the designers on this list. I think it's time for a Vincent Dutrait Top 10 List
Nice variety in the lists. A good mix between games I know about and ones I don't. (Though I hated Stone Age when I played it and didn't care for Viticulture). I enjoy all three Manhattan Projects though, and I would put them in the following order: Manhattan Project 1, Energy Empire, and MP 2.
There are similarities between MP 1 and 2, but they play very differently. The focus is very different. And yes, the player interactivity is different. I like both games for different reasons, but I still prefer the original.
Sam is Right about Pillars of the Earth. Awesome game. Total classic.
Caylus is definitely the quintessential worker placement game. And it's magnificent.
I’m really surprised nobody mentioned the underrated Chimera Station. A very innovative twist on worker placement which lets you build your workers over the course of the game. The pieces may look toy-ish, but the gameplay is deep and interesting.
Given the way Tom's talked about it in past, it's probably somewhere in his top 30 WP games.
Lords of Waterdeep, Fresco, Stone Age, Walnut Grove, and Agricola are ones I love to play, Caverna and Pursuit of Happiness might make it onto the list if I get a chance to play them.
Agricola Family Edition is my #1, Pursuit of Happiness is my #6 & Lords of Waterdeep my #7.
How is Fresco worker placement instead of action selection?
Love Automania. Glad to see it show up on two lists as it is a very undertated game.
Scythe is not a worker placement game and doesn't even contain it as a mechanism.
Carson City is also one of my favorites.
For games not on anyone's list I would add Lancaster and Coal Baron.
55:00 and that expansion is miserably hard to find!! right up there with the expansion for Adventure land. simply don't exist anymore
1- Anachrony
2- Near and Far
3- Tzolkin
4 -Trickerion
5 - Alchemist
6 - Outlive
7- Stone Age
8- Rajas of the Ganges
9- Gallerist
10- Lorenzo il Magnifico
Scythe would have been here but i dont consider it worker placement
Sohail Sadaqat Thank you! Now here's a real list I can get behing. Very disappointed there was no Vital Lacerda games (ex Gallerist) or others on any of their lists. Also Mindclash games are killing it with awesome worker placements. Anachrony is definitely one of the best IMO, at least Tom mentioned it... And no mention of Trickerion?? Man. Tzolkin too!
Rajas is soooo good, I have 6 on your list and enjoy them all, still need to play Tzolkin and Lorenzo. Gallerist doesnt interest me unfortunately.
I like your top 10 better than theirs
I'm not sure Alchemists qualifies as worker placement - I think it's more in the action selection category. You're not blocking anyone when you place your action cubes, nor are you making the action more expensive for them.
Love Rajas of the Ganges!
Answer @Zee Garcia about work placement games: you didn’t play any of mine. They are not repetitive. :)
I'm surprised Dinosaur Island didn't make Tom's list. He rates it higher than Anachrony on BGG
I just wish there were more comments about Scythe not being a worker placement game...
Mine would be:
WP focused games:
1. Tzolk'in
2. Agricola
3. Russian Railroads
4. Caylus
5. The Voyages of Marco Polo
Games with a WP element:
1. Troyes
2. Keyflower
3. Le Havre
4. Mombasa
5. Tribune
Also enjoy a lot:
-Targi
-Lewis & Clark
-Dungeon Petz
How is Scythe worker placement...?
koffiegast Because you have workers and you place them into your board
Are you dense? Nobody else can put their worker on your board. You only have one "Worker". Just because it is a pawn doesnt mean it is a worker. The only thing you can not do is use the same spot as last turn, unless you are russian. There is absolutely nothing worker placement about that.
Its action selection on your own private board. You are not placing workers to gain anything, you are activating pseudo workers on the board via the production action.
...it was a joke guys
Consider it a lesson learned: people can not read your mind nor your sarcasm through the internet.
Loved the video as always guys! Targi's second edition or reprint has not been released yet, supposedly October release? Any word on your end? Highly looking forward to this for the wife and I!
Everyone's said it already, and while Scythe isn't worker placement, Sam's comment does make me wonder if there are worker placement games where your workers actually are able to stay on the board and move around, and are only returned when opponents bump them off? It could be interesting to have a game where it's not just the spot you take, but the path you plan around it, and also have the ability to camp a worker on a space until someone boots you out (either giving you a benefit, or costing them).
Tzolk'in and Dungeon Petz!
Although since I haven't played a single one mentioned on the video, my expertise could be questioned.
Haha!
Sam! You’re my favorite, but pie town is lie town!
Love this mechanic and loved this video...only thing lacking was Sam getting a pie in the face at the end 😉
Jason Tripp I must be in the minority of people who severely dislike this game. Must be better with kids.
Also it's dice placement which was forbidden by Tom. So Sam got 2 false ones in ;)
Jason Tripp I'm with you on this one. I did not enjoy this game at all. It's boring with very view choices as the game goes along, mirroring Tom's complaints.
Thank you Sam for correcting Eric's foolish choice. Stone Age is a great game! I also like the luck factor in the game, I think it adds just the right amount of excitement. To date I have not played Glen Drover's Essential Age of Viticulture, Age of Discovering Tuscany, but I look forward to it?