1. Exploration: There's just something about pushing into the unknown, never knowing quite what you'll come across that'll always very addictive for me. 2. Fluctuating Market: Being able to time the markets, always that delicious question of 'should I sell or wait one more turn in case it goes up...' 3. Levelling Up: That feeling as you suddenly gain new abilities is awesome. 4. Roleplaying/Storytelling: Added immersion, what's not to love. The difference between something very dry and something amazing. 5. Drafting: The exquisite agony of choosing between what's good for you and not passing your opponent something amazing just adds to any game with this mechanism. 6. Legacy: It's sometimes tough knowing you can't experience every choice in these games but it also gives decision-making a gravity knowing that the world is changed and there's no going back. 7. Dice Rolling/Luck: I'm a roleplayer of old, I love dice-chucking. I also like a luck element in games so that it's not the same people winning every time. Share the love! 8. Resource Management: Feed the machine, make the stuff, win with the stuff. Simple but still always fulfilling. 9. Positive Player Interaction: I prefer 'do I do this thing that will give others a benefit as well' to 'who do I hurt'. Takes away the nastiness. 10. Polyominoes: Tetris is a classic for a reason. Our minds like sticking shapes together. 11. Area Control: I'm an old wargamer. Stuff on a big map smashing into each other floats my boat. 12. Rondel: It's monopoly without monopoly. Some great variations on the theme.
So happy you brought up Shards of Infinity! I received it as a Secret Santa gift, and my partner and I have played it many times and even bought an expansion. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I do!
@@jameystegmaier I'm a big fan of the "closed-circuit" deckbuilder concept! I wish I could keep up with games like MTG, but I've found the sheer number of choices and options to be incredibly overwhelming and disheartening. The fact that someone can just have a rare card that does crazy effects kind of kills it for me, because it just feels like the winner is often who has the most money to spend on it. But I truly love how deckbuilder board games like Shards can start everyone out on a level playing field, because there is a guaranteed amount/type of options every time. It hits that satisfying balance, and still manages to keep things feeling new enough that I don't just put it back on the shelf to collect dust like I've unfortunately done with some other titles.
One of my favorite games of all time is Race for the Galaxy, and it uses two of these mechanics - simultaneous actions and engine building. Love that game!
Many many thanks for your videos! Most times I leave with inspiration for a game or the seed of a solution to a design problem which is so much fun. Love the discovery involved in game design.
Thank you for sharing your insights. And thank you for Scythe! I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I’ve had with that game. I must have introduced it to some 30-40 people by now, and many continue playing it. I’ve bought all the extensions, and enjoy them too.
1. Engine Building: The sense of progression brings me back time and time again, and I want this feeling of progression to be in most games I play 2. Negotiation: My first exposure to modern board gaming was Cosmic Encounter, and it’s still at the top of my list. I like player interactions, and watching my friends wheel and deal is really fun, and it has created moments that transcend the initial game-night. 3. Worker placement: I think that limiting actions you can take to how many workers you have, and waiting to see what other players select, further limiting your actions is a really fun way to learn how to plan ahead, but also be ready to change plans, should that action you want get taken. 4. Co-Op: I like the feeling of accomplishment that comes with completing a joint objective together, I also like failing that together, because it invigorates people to try different things. 5. Deck/Bag Building: Akin to engine building I like starting out with limited resources and then getting excited to pull out more powerful cards/chits, and figuring out how to use them effectively. I also like this because unlike a pre-built deck game. You gain knowledge of what your opponent/teammate is doing while you are building up yours, and so while you still might be surprised by what they pull out, you already knew it was coming.
I also really do love worker placement, is one of my favorite mechanisms as well. I really love how Dinosaur Island puts different parts and different kinds of worker placement throughout the different phases, I think it's really good. There's also a brazilian worker placement game that's called Rock n Roll Manager that I really love, it's one of my favorites!
Lords of Waterdeep has some mechanics that are different enough from other worker placement games, and the whole game feels unique and really great : - new action space you can build and get rewards when other players use them ! I love that part and every game has differents buildings and is unique for that reason - waterdeep harbor where you can play a (usually) weak action but you play again at the end of the round - intrigue cards are really game changing; without them, the game would be really different - quests : some gives you lots of points, some gives you points and an immediate effect, some gives you points and a permanent effect; you can have a small engine with a combo of Plot quests - the expansion is a must have, I never play without it; new action spaces, resources you need to place on the board, the corruption which is a short term benefit but can be really punishing at the end This game has a lot of interaction between its systems and it works really well. I love it
i dont know the specific names of mechanisms but i love exploration games. ones where you build or uncover the board as you play, like mansions of madness and betrayal. also games that involve roleplaying or storybuilding, like call of cthulu.
Love this list. Assumed WP would be number one. Rightfully so! Shem is so good with this. That Raiders digital version is spot on. Also love polyomino games. Barenpark being my favorite example, but can’t go wrong with Cartographers. My favorite mechanism that wasn’t mentioned is Variable Player Powers. Like in Spirit Island or Scythe.
Of the ones you mentioned engine building is my favorite. One you didn’t mention would be Hidden information/locations. Escape from aliens in outer space is an example, hunting the humans/avoiding the aliens while calling out sectors is very tense. Maybe battleship is a more basic/simple version of it. Love it!
My top 4: 1. Engine building 2. Worker placement 3. Deck building 4. Tableu building Any examples of games that has all or some of the above named mechanisms is appreciated!
I love Worker Placement and One-Way Paths (Rondels). Have you tried Viscounts of the West Kingdom yet? It is phenomenal and combines several of these mechanisms into one game, and it does it without feeling like there's too much. It has the rondel board, it has elements of worker placement with your Viscount, it has deck building in which townsfolk you hire to make your deck more suited to your actions, and it has a tableau which gives you certain rewards and makes your actions better.
Thanks for sharing. As a newbie I have not played a lot of game you mentioned, would be happy to know the difference between Engine Building/Tableu Building and deck building.
My top 5 would be as follows: 1. Engine Building (Wingspan, Res Arcana, Scythe, Century Spice Road) 2. Drafting (Hadara, Azul, Sagrada) 3. Multi-Use/Multi-Purpose Cards (51st State Master Set, Reef, Marvel Champions, Skytear) 4. Positive Player Interaction (Wingspan, Scythe) 5. Simultaneous Actions (Quacks, 7 Wonders)
Great video Mr. Stegmaier! I'm pretty sure if you try to put all the game mechanisms together, you end up with something similar to Cones of Dunshire. My top mechanics would be: Drafting - Card or tile, I love drafting games like Isle of Cats, Bunny Kingdom, Seven Wonders, this is definitely a mechanism that gets me excited. Tile Placement - I love the feeling of creating something, and getting to look at what I've made at the end. Whether it's my kingdom, my city, my castle, it's always a lot of fun. Games like Castles or Palace of Mad King Ludwig, Isle of Skye, Suburbia, Queendomino, Micropolis. Deck Building - I know some reviewers seem to be sick of deck building, but I really enjoy it. Dominion is still one of my all time favorite games. I prefer deck builders where you usually gain at least one card a turn though. It feels less exciting to me when you end up gaining a few cards over the course of the game. I also enjoy dice and bag building games, it's just a fun way to feel like you're setting yourself up for better turns in the future in my opinion. Engine Building - Another mechanic that is quick to get me interested in a game, my go to engine builder right now is Wingspan. Scythe is fantastic, Everdell, Dominations, Seasons, Dice Forge. It's in a lot of my top games of all time. Positive Player Interaction - This is something I actually learned I enjoy from watching your videos and playing your games, especially once I started playing with gamers who get confrontational. It's nice to have a game where your move does something good for you, and also for your opponents. Again Wingspan comes to mind, I'm a big fan of the cards that gives everyone a food, or lets everyone draw a card, something small that feels like something nice happened when it's not your turn. It also never feels like I gave my opponent the game because I gave them something too advantageous. I don't think this is a mechanic, but I'm also a sucker for miniatures games. I love moving a mini around the board that represents my character in a game. Games that come to mind are Lords of Hellas, Nemesis, Tainted Grail, Gloomhaven, we just played a few games of Tidal Blades and my favorite part of the game by far was the amazing minis. I also took up painting minis as a hobby last year, and now I have a partner painting with me and we search out games with great minis as we get hours of enjoyment out of painting them as well. Look forward to next weeks video!
I believe the Knizia game you are referring to is Royal Visit, which is a re-skin of Times Square from around 15 years ago. I have not heard if any development work is being done to it, other than the setting. I understand the aesthetic change though, as I am not sure how interested the market would be in a game with characters named Saucy Sue, Handsome Hal, Dancing Deb, and Champagne Charlie in it.
Allow me to phrase my six favorite board/card game mechanics thusly: 1. Subtle/advanced DEDUCTION (you could also call it inference) 2. DECIPHERING (clues, codes, ciphers, riddles, texts, visuals) 3. Deep-level LOGIC (often includes a predictive dimension) 4. DECEPTION (sometimes takes the form of a traitor) 5. HIDDEN MOVEMENT (adds an air of mystery) 6. SUSPENSE (i.e. specific design features or rules that exist intentionally to intensify this feeling)
I like so many mechanisms - but detail my top 4 below - 1. Auction / Bidding Serengeti (= Don); High Society; Medici; Ra; Modern Art. 2. Area Enclosure (following Grid Movement & Reduction) Terra Nova; Hey That's My Fish; Zertz; Dvonn; Clans. 3. Push / Press Your Luck Incan Gold; Dead Man's Draw; Circus Flohcati; Double or Nothing; Can't Stop; Deep Sea Adventure. 4. Contract / Mission Prizes King Arthur (Card Game); Age of War (Dice Game); Sharp Shooters.
If I was to go by my most recent pubmeeple ranking of my games, it seems my most go-to mechanism/feature in games is travel/exploration, which is funny because I haven't really consciously sought out games with that aspect. But like in Marco Polo 1 & 2, as well as Newton I am always really drawn to the travel strategy, of moving around the map, triggering bonuses, etc. Also in my top 10 is Maracaibo which is based around you traveling around this map and triggering its locations. Engine Building is definitely also a favourite of mine, Terra Mystica as you've already noted is my favourite game of all time and the engine building parts of it is definitely part of the reason, though funnily enough it's not a description I've used for the game (though I absolutely agree it's a fitting one). I love Russian Railroads as well, but it doesn't really feel like an engine builder for me. It has the ramp-up effect like an engine building, but whereas like in Terra Mystica where what you build affects your income which in turn allows you to build more next round, the ramp up effect in Russian Railroads is more the accumulative point scoring at the end of each round, but all the work you do to further this is done on the same worker placement area which remains mostly the same throughout. I think better examples of engine building than Russian Railroads would be Terraforming Mars, where you are continually improving your production, economy and taking advantage of the accumulation of tags you have put out to get better benefits from future card plays. And a more recent one, which is really racing up my ranks; It's a Wonderful World, where you go from producing like 3-4 resources to dozens upon dozens in just four rounds. I also really love deckbuilding, my personal go-to will always be Star Realms, I love the cards aren't pre-determined, like the first couple of deckbuilders I was introduced to (which actually put me off the mechanism until I played Star Realms), that it forces you to play around what's available rather than mapping out some optimal strategy from the beginning. It keeps things fresh. Bag building is also a lot of fun, I know a lot of people would put Orleans or Quacks as their favourite there, but I feel in both those games you get too dependent on the luck of the draw, like you can put really good stuff in there, but because everything goes back into the bag between rounds, you could get really unlucky and never draw it (Orleans can mitigate a little with you thinning out your bag, which is why I still hold onto my copy, whereas I ended up selling my copy of Quacks after just a few plays), my favourite bag builder so far is Altiplano, because of that simple change of having that discard box and not refilling your bag until you have drawn what's in it. It gives you more predictability, so you can better plan your turns, and I much prefer that. Worker Placement is as you say a classic category, and probably one of the more features mechanism in my collection, I'm always intrigued to see new takes on it. I agree with all your examples here, I would also include Dice Placement as part of it, as there are some really interesting uses for dice within the worker placement realm, like Marco Polo 1 & 2 or Bora Bora, where for instance high value dice lead to stronger actions/allow you more options, but lower value dice are cheaper and/or easier to put out.
I think that Lords of Waterdeep's is somewhat innovative in terms of worker placement with the re-assignment you can do after using Waterdeep harbor. I really like the mechanism where you get a bonus turn, but it is effectively last so you are usually quite limited.
I commented on another of your videos recently to report we were going to be playing Scythe for the first time soon. We've now played twice and are really loving it! Already have the Rise of Fenris campaign stars in my eyes for the future. I'm a little new to the lingo, but would Scythe be an example of an "Action Selection" mechanism? If so, I'll probably have to go with that and worker placement as my favorites. I love the sense of freedom that comes along with both. Some games I find too restrictive, but games like Scythe, Concordia, and Architects of the West Kingdom let you feel like you're doing something positive every turn. I really like that feeling.
I wonder if a simultaneous cooperative game would be an enjoyable or stressful experience? There would be a significant learning curve as the players would need to delegate tasks, to not be stumbling over one another. I'm not a fan of hourglasses in games because they usually hold no real value unless done right. Adding a time restraint on player collaboration would however be interesting. I would break it down so there is a lengthy rush-hour phase followed by a brief collaborative/reassessment phase. I'm not sure if a game of these two mechanisms exists, but if it does it would be great to get my hands on it and try to make a variant. Your video highlighted those two for me and now I'm hooked on the idea. What I just described is a job, I'm aware, but it's the principle of us enjoying hard meaningful work. I believe there would be a lot of potential for the merging of these mechanisms.
Definitely! There are quite a few cooperative games with simultaneous phases, including The Reckoners, Magic Maze, and Spirit Island. They discuss this on the Coop Cast from time to time: soundcloud.com/onestopcoopshop
Thanks for the games, definitely going to be looking into all of them. I've been designing for 4 years now with great dedication. Around when I started designing, I remember playing scythe with my friends. Hearing about the Kickstarter had a great influence on me trying to make a career off of designing. Now I'm in college and my professor is comparing me to working at a senior level. Although I still feel heavily inexperienced. I've tried writing down my subconscious design methods so I can teach my friends an intuitive engagement with designing. Due to covid, I'm taking a gap year and would like to reassess which college I attend or what I will research. Game design is my minor although I want it to be my major. I was restrained by in-state tuition and couldn't get a better college for design. I've seen your video about designing from a young age, do you feel that prepared you for who you are now, or was there schooling you went through? I want to just jump into the industry but I know I need to build a resume, when did you feel the confidence to put your work out there?
@@Andrew-qg9ni Thanks for your question! I think it was slightly helpful that I was designing from a young age, but I wasn't really going through the full design process. Only a small part of my job at this point is game design, and my experiences and careers before running Stonemaier Games were integral in giving me a foundation of core skills like customer service, project management, and fundraising. As for confidence, at some point I just decided I wanted to take the leap, so I sat down to design Viticulture with the intent of putting it on Kickstarter. I did that while having a full-time job.
I would love to see more "I split, you choose" games. It is a great mechanic that when done well can be great fun, I just don't see it very often. Skyward I think is the only one with this mechanism I have played.
Big fan of RoboRally! That's the only one I've played of the genre, I'll have to try the others. The only other game I've played like that was actually a robot programming mini-game within the mid-90s edutainment PC release JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade. It came out just two years after RoboRally, so I think that's likely where the influence came from :)
Some great “old” games have started a new life after (7 Wonders, Libertalia, Castles of Mad King Ludwig…). Jamey, did you play Spyrium (2013)? Nowadays its visual design looks outdated. But mechanically it’s a wonderful game. It’s available on BGA. A player puts a meeple between several cards. You want to have neighbor meeples to earn more money. At the same time you don’t want to have neighbors to buy or to activate a card. When you choose where to put your meeple, you are planning the second path, if someone will buy the card you want before your turn. As usual I don’t like games with a big player interaction. But Spyrium is an exception. I would like to see this mechanism in new games or a modernized reprint of Spyrium.
Looking at this list, I think you'd really enjoy Steam Works. It's got worker placement: you build devices to get things, these devices are worker spots. it's got engine building - sort of: the devices you build can become better and better, so they are sort of an engine. It has positive player interaction, everyone can use the devices that are build by any player, if you do, the player who build it gets something. Personally, I don't think I really mind which mechanics are used, but I tend to stay away from "push your luck", I don't mind a bit of luck, I don't mind randomness, but I do want to be able to call my win my own, or in case someone else wins, call it their win, rather than them simply having had more luck than I did. That said, I do very much enjoy if a mechanic is added in an elegant way that also adds clarity to the game. The way Engine building in Terra Mystica, Scythe and Tapestry does for example, by removing things you're revealing what you will get and generally speaking worker placement also does this since it's clear that if a worker is on a space, it's taken.
I got a tug of war summoners game I'm making. I'm using d&d models and it's really engaging from what my brother and friends tell me. I just need some blind testers haha
My picks from your categories (made before you reveal your examples and picks): Simultaneous actions - Orleans Interdependent economies - Raiders of the North Sea (specifically, I love how the workers circulate among the players) Positive player interaction - Concordia (though it takes some work - the Prefect action) Cooperation - Captain Sonar (I do like true co-ops, but this team v. team game does cooperation as good as any true co-op) One way action selection tracks - Kraftwagen Push your luck - Can't Stop (I don't think I really like this mechanism much, at least when it's a core mechanism) Engine building - Scythe (This is a huge one for me - so many of my favorite games fall into this category) Polyominoes - Tapestry (I know that's a stretch, but outside of one play of Scarabya, I've somehow not played games in this category - and I think I would like them - unless Castles of Mad King Ludwig counts - edit: oh Blokus, that's pretty good too) Deck building/bag building - Orleans (I can't wait to try Viscounts of the West Kingdom, though) Tug of War - Shadows Over Camelot (one of the mini-games works this way) I Something You Choose - Castles of Mad King Ludwig (I would say the Master Builder role is I price you choose) Worker placement - The Voyages of Marco Polo (I'm deciding Paladins of the West Kingdom isn't exactly WP) Other mechanisms - Variable starting conditions (Teotihuacan, Viticulture w/ mamas, papas), Tableau building (Terraforming Mars), Asymmetric powers (Scythe, Marco Polo), Modular board (Yokohama, Istanbul, Forbidden Desert), Tile placement (Castles of Burgundy), Mancala/Rondel (Teotihuacan, Trajan, Crusaders), Incentivization (Century: Spice Road, Castles of Mad King Ludwig).
Hidden roll- I love hidden roll games. Shaman is great as it combines trick taking and a little tug of war. My favorite hidden roll game is mantis falls. It's a new one where you are a witness to a crime but the mob is after you. There is one or two other witnesses traveling with you however one of them or maybe you could be the hit man trying to silence the witnesses. There is a requirement to work together for a bit to stay alive but eventually if there is a murder in the group you will know. Take that- I love take that in games probably more than most. I enjoy the tug of war of game play balance. Sometimes king making can make a take that game a bit one sided but with the right group it can be a lot of fun. Frontline no commrads is an excellent deck builder with drafting and programming that is brutal in the take that space. One of the best and most balanced take that games I've played is brutal kingdoms. 3-4 players and 4 rounds. Points based on playing the right cards to get to choose the scoring marker at the end of each round and ending the game with the most markers from cards played.
A good topic would be best minis game. Love my Star Trek Catan and Ascendancy. Have added his rules to include the ship minis from Exodus: proximal centauri. XLNT!!! In my unbiased opinion of course.
Hey man, you seem super knowledgeable about tabletop games. I am working on a card game in its early stages and I want to keep the idea secret so far as it’s very unique, but if you would be interesting in exchanging emails and giving me some advice / knowledge let me know!
That's exciting! I'm not available for private advice, but you're always welcome in the comments here. Here are a bunch of resources I've compiled that should help: stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter/how-to-design-a-tabletop-game/
Viticulture uses a lot of different worker-placement mechanisms. Obviously I'm quite partial to it, and I would recommend Viticulture to anyone who enjoys worker placement. As for comparison to Raiders of the North Sea, Architects of the West Kingdom, Tzolk’in, and Lords of Waterdeep, it pretty much only shares the core placement mechanism with them (place worker to gain a benefit).
You've got a good voice and good delivery. Your background is cluttered and distracting and I'd love to see you set yourself and your camera in better places. Also have to disagree w you about cooperative games: I don't think they're a mechanism, I think they're a genre. I love them, I just can't call them a mechanism.
Jamey, I tought you might enjoy this video essay about an apparent broken mechanism in basketball: th-cam.com/video/Yw22uDHy8-Q/w-d-xo.html Perhaps could inspire you for a future Top 10: "My 10 Favorite Mechanisms That Feel Broken".
@@jameystegmaier Pass-around-the-table, I find it gives a nice amount of player interaction in euro games with little conflict otherwise. For favorite, while I love the drafting in Inis I will have to go with Bunny Kingdom.
It may not be my number 1, but it is definitely one if my favorites. I guess I like both types, as both 7 Wonders and Azul are among my favorite games.
The passion in this is amazing.
How am I just discovering this. This channel is gold, thank you for condensing so much experience and knowledge into a quick video.
Thanks Jackson! I appreciate your comments today.
1. Exploration: There's just something about pushing into the unknown, never knowing quite what you'll come across that'll always very addictive for me.
2. Fluctuating Market: Being able to time the markets, always that delicious question of 'should I sell or wait one more turn in case it goes up...'
3. Levelling Up: That feeling as you suddenly gain new abilities is awesome.
4. Roleplaying/Storytelling: Added immersion, what's not to love. The difference between something very dry and something amazing.
5. Drafting: The exquisite agony of choosing between what's good for you and not passing your opponent something amazing just adds to any game with this mechanism.
6. Legacy: It's sometimes tough knowing you can't experience every choice in these games but it also gives decision-making a gravity knowing that the world is changed and there's no going back.
7. Dice Rolling/Luck: I'm a roleplayer of old, I love dice-chucking. I also like a luck element in games so that it's not the same people winning every time. Share the love!
8. Resource Management: Feed the machine, make the stuff, win with the stuff. Simple but still always fulfilling.
9. Positive Player Interaction: I prefer 'do I do this thing that will give others a benefit as well' to 'who do I hurt'. Takes away the nastiness.
10. Polyominoes: Tetris is a classic for a reason. Our minds like sticking shapes together.
11. Area Control: I'm an old wargamer. Stuff on a big map smashing into each other floats my boat.
12. Rondel: It's monopoly without monopoly. Some great variations on the theme.
Could you please give some of your favorite games examples for each (see mine as well) - thanks.
So happy you brought up Shards of Infinity! I received it as a Secret Santa gift, and my partner and I have played it many times and even bought an expansion. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I do!
Thanks for trying Shards, Devin! I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I do.
@@jameystegmaier I'm a big fan of the "closed-circuit" deckbuilder concept! I wish I could keep up with games like MTG, but I've found the sheer number of choices and options to be incredibly overwhelming and disheartening. The fact that someone can just have a rare card that does crazy effects kind of kills it for me, because it just feels like the winner is often who has the most money to spend on it. But I truly love how deckbuilder board games like Shards can start everyone out on a level playing field, because there is a guaranteed amount/type of options every time. It hits that satisfying balance, and still manages to keep things feeling new enough that I don't just put it back on the shelf to collect dust like I've unfortunately done with some other titles.
Fantastic video and very positive attitude, thanks for it!
Nations the dice version moves along well as a dice builder.
One of my favorite games of all time is Race for the Galaxy, and it uses two of these mechanics - simultaneous actions and engine building. Love that game!
Many many thanks for your videos! Most times I leave with inspiration for a game or the seed of a solution to a design problem which is so much fun. Love the discovery involved in game design.
Thanks Jeremy! That's exactly what I'm hoping for when I film these. :)
Thank you for sharing your insights.
And thank you for Scythe! I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I’ve had with that game. I must have introduced it to some 30-40 people by now, and many continue playing it. I’ve bought all the extensions, and enjoy them too.
Thank you so much for sharing Scythe with so many other people!
1. Engine Building: The sense of progression brings me back time and time again, and I want this feeling of progression to be in most games I play
2. Negotiation: My first exposure to modern board gaming was Cosmic Encounter, and it’s still at the top of my list. I like player interactions, and watching my friends wheel and deal is really fun, and it has created moments that transcend the initial game-night.
3. Worker placement: I think that limiting actions you can take to how many workers you have, and waiting to see what other players select, further limiting your actions is a really fun way to learn how to plan ahead, but also be ready to change plans, should that action you want get taken.
4. Co-Op: I like the feeling of accomplishment that comes with completing a joint objective together, I also like failing that together, because it invigorates people to try different things.
5. Deck/Bag Building: Akin to engine building I like starting out with limited resources and then getting excited to pull out more powerful cards/chits, and figuring out how to use them effectively. I also like this because unlike a pre-built deck game. You gain knowledge of what your opponent/teammate is doing while you are building up yours, and so while you still might be surprised by what they pull out, you already knew it was coming.
Game examples, please.
Great list!
I also really do love worker placement, is one of my favorite mechanisms as well. I really love how Dinosaur Island puts different parts and different kinds of worker placement throughout the different phases, I think it's really good. There's also a brazilian worker placement game that's called Rock n Roll Manager that I really love, it's one of my favorites!
Worker placement is my #1, with engine-building right behind. Love your choices.
Lords of Waterdeep has some mechanics that are different enough from other worker placement games, and the whole game feels unique and really great :
- new action space you can build and get rewards when other players use them ! I love that part and every game has differents buildings and is unique for that reason
- waterdeep harbor where you can play a (usually) weak action but you play again at the end of the round
- intrigue cards are really game changing; without them, the game would be really different
- quests : some gives you lots of points, some gives you points and an immediate effect, some gives you points and a permanent effect; you can have a small engine with a combo of Plot quests
- the expansion is a must have, I never play without it; new action spaces, resources you need to place on the board, the corruption which is a short term benefit but can be really punishing at the end
This game has a lot of interaction between its systems and it works really well. I love it
i dont know the specific names of mechanisms but i love exploration games. ones where you build or uncover the board as you play, like mansions of madness and betrayal. also games that involve roleplaying or storybuilding, like call of cthulu.
I'm a fan of that type of exploration too!
This was really helpful and great tips/suggestions for a table top game designer!
Love this list. Assumed WP would be number one. Rightfully so! Shem is so good with this. That Raiders digital version is spot on.
Also love polyomino games. Barenpark being my favorite example, but can’t go wrong with Cartographers.
My favorite mechanism that wasn’t mentioned is Variable Player Powers. Like in Spirit Island or Scythe.
Of the ones you mentioned engine building is my favorite. One you didn’t mention would be Hidden information/locations. Escape from aliens in outer space is an example, hunting the humans/avoiding the aliens while calling out sectors is very tense. Maybe battleship is a more basic/simple version of it. Love it!
My top 4:
1. Engine building
2. Worker placement
3. Deck building
4. Tableu building
Any examples of games that has all or some of the above named mechanisms is appreciated!
Empires of the North
Viscounts of the West Kingdom
@@jakep9215 I have both architects and paladins. Love them both. Might get viscounts later as well. Thanks!
I love Worker Placement and One-Way Paths (Rondels). Have you tried Viscounts of the West Kingdom yet? It is phenomenal and combines several of these mechanisms into one game, and it does it without feeling like there's too much. It has the rondel board, it has elements of worker placement with your Viscount, it has deck building in which townsfolk you hire to make your deck more suited to your actions, and it has a tableau which gives you certain rewards and makes your actions better.
You know, I hadn't thought about one-way paths as rondels, but they totally are! :) I haven't played Viscounts yet, but I want to.
Thanks for sharing. As a newbie I have not played a lot of game you mentioned, would be happy to know the difference between Engine Building/Tableu Building and deck building.
My top 5 would be as follows:
1. Engine Building (Wingspan, Res Arcana, Scythe, Century Spice Road)
2. Drafting (Hadara, Azul, Sagrada)
3. Multi-Use/Multi-Purpose Cards (51st State Master Set, Reef, Marvel Champions, Skytear)
4. Positive Player Interaction (Wingspan, Scythe)
5. Simultaneous Actions (Quacks, 7 Wonders)
I'd love to see what your desk looked like before and after you passed all those games around!
Great video Mr. Stegmaier! I'm pretty sure if you try to put all the game mechanisms together, you end up with something similar to Cones of Dunshire.
My top mechanics would be:
Drafting - Card or tile, I love drafting games like Isle of Cats, Bunny Kingdom, Seven Wonders, this is definitely a mechanism that gets me excited.
Tile Placement - I love the feeling of creating something, and getting to look at what I've made at the end. Whether it's my kingdom, my city, my castle, it's always a lot of fun. Games like Castles or Palace of Mad King Ludwig, Isle of Skye, Suburbia, Queendomino, Micropolis.
Deck Building - I know some reviewers seem to be sick of deck building, but I really enjoy it. Dominion is still one of my all time favorite games. I prefer deck builders where you usually gain at least one card a turn though. It feels less exciting to me when you end up gaining a few cards over the course of the game. I also enjoy dice and bag building games, it's just a fun way to feel like you're setting yourself up for better turns in the future in my opinion.
Engine Building - Another mechanic that is quick to get me interested in a game, my go to engine builder right now is Wingspan. Scythe is fantastic, Everdell, Dominations, Seasons, Dice Forge. It's in a lot of my top games of all time.
Positive Player Interaction - This is something I actually learned I enjoy from watching your videos and playing your games, especially once I started playing with gamers who get confrontational. It's nice to have a game where your move does something good for you, and also for your opponents. Again Wingspan comes to mind, I'm a big fan of the cards that gives everyone a food, or lets everyone draw a card, something small that feels like something nice happened when it's not your turn. It also never feels like I gave my opponent the game because I gave them something too advantageous.
I don't think this is a mechanic, but I'm also a sucker for miniatures games. I love moving a mini around the board that represents my character in a game. Games that come to mind are Lords of Hellas, Nemesis, Tainted Grail, Gloomhaven, we just played a few games of Tidal Blades and my favorite part of the game by far was the amazing minis. I also took up painting minis as a hobby last year, and now I have a partner painting with me and we search out games with great minis as we get hours of enjoyment out of painting them as well.
Look forward to next weeks video!
Your choices are great! I thought split/choose would be your #1, but worker placement makes total sense!
Anything deck building and I am THERE!
Great video
I believe the Knizia game you are referring to is Royal Visit, which is a re-skin of Times Square from around 15 years ago. I have not heard if any development work is being done to it, other than the setting. I understand the aesthetic change though, as I am not sure how interested the market would be in a game with characters named Saucy Sue, Handsome Hal, Dancing Deb, and Champagne Charlie in it.
Allow me to phrase my six favorite board/card game mechanics thusly:
1. Subtle/advanced DEDUCTION (you could also call it inference)
2. DECIPHERING (clues, codes, ciphers, riddles, texts, visuals)
3. Deep-level LOGIC (often includes a predictive dimension)
4. DECEPTION (sometimes takes the form of a traitor)
5. HIDDEN MOVEMENT (adds an air of mystery)
6. SUSPENSE (i.e. specific design features or rules that exist intentionally to intensify this feeling)
I like so many mechanisms - but detail my top 4 below -
1. Auction / Bidding
Serengeti (= Don); High Society; Medici; Ra; Modern Art.
2. Area Enclosure (following Grid Movement & Reduction)
Terra Nova; Hey That's My Fish; Zertz; Dvonn; Clans.
3. Push / Press Your Luck
Incan Gold; Dead Man's Draw; Circus Flohcati; Double or Nothing; Can't Stop; Deep Sea Adventure.
4. Contract / Mission Prizes
King Arthur (Card Game); Age of War (Dice Game); Sharp Shooters.
Thanks for sharing! I really like a lot of games on this list, and I see a few I need to try.
If I was to go by my most recent pubmeeple ranking of my games, it seems my most go-to mechanism/feature in games is travel/exploration, which is funny because I haven't really consciously sought out games with that aspect. But like in Marco Polo 1 & 2, as well as Newton I am always really drawn to the travel strategy, of moving around the map, triggering bonuses, etc. Also in my top 10 is Maracaibo which is based around you traveling around this map and triggering its locations.
Engine Building is definitely also a favourite of mine, Terra Mystica as you've already noted is my favourite game of all time and the engine building parts of it is definitely part of the reason, though funnily enough it's not a description I've used for the game (though I absolutely agree it's a fitting one). I love Russian Railroads as well, but it doesn't really feel like an engine builder for me. It has the ramp-up effect like an engine building, but whereas like in Terra Mystica where what you build affects your income which in turn allows you to build more next round, the ramp up effect in Russian Railroads is more the accumulative point scoring at the end of each round, but all the work you do to further this is done on the same worker placement area which remains mostly the same throughout. I think better examples of engine building than Russian Railroads would be Terraforming Mars, where you are continually improving your production, economy and taking advantage of the accumulation of tags you have put out to get better benefits from future card plays. And a more recent one, which is really racing up my ranks; It's a Wonderful World, where you go from producing like 3-4 resources to dozens upon dozens in just four rounds.
I also really love deckbuilding, my personal go-to will always be Star Realms, I love the cards aren't pre-determined, like the first couple of deckbuilders I was introduced to (which actually put me off the mechanism until I played Star Realms), that it forces you to play around what's available rather than mapping out some optimal strategy from the beginning. It keeps things fresh. Bag building is also a lot of fun, I know a lot of people would put Orleans or Quacks as their favourite there, but I feel in both those games you get too dependent on the luck of the draw, like you can put really good stuff in there, but because everything goes back into the bag between rounds, you could get really unlucky and never draw it (Orleans can mitigate a little with you thinning out your bag, which is why I still hold onto my copy, whereas I ended up selling my copy of Quacks after just a few plays), my favourite bag builder so far is Altiplano, because of that simple change of having that discard box and not refilling your bag until you have drawn what's in it. It gives you more predictability, so you can better plan your turns, and I much prefer that.
Worker Placement is as you say a classic category, and probably one of the more features mechanism in my collection, I'm always intrigued to see new takes on it. I agree with all your examples here, I would also include Dice Placement as part of it, as there are some really interesting uses for dice within the worker placement realm, like Marco Polo 1 & 2 or Bora Bora, where for instance high value dice lead to stronger actions/allow you more options, but lower value dice are cheaper and/or easier to put out.
I'm trying to make a game and i am using 12, 10, 7, and 4. Great video btw
I think that Lords of Waterdeep's is somewhat innovative in terms of worker placement with the re-assignment you can do after using Waterdeep harbor. I really like the mechanism where you get a bonus turn, but it is effectively last so you are usually quite limited.
Good point! Russian Railroads does that too.
Time Optimization games, such as pendulum, are unique compared to the rest of the board game world and I love the concept of the mechanic.
I commented on another of your videos recently to report we were going to be playing Scythe for the first time soon. We've now played twice and are really loving it! Already have the Rise of Fenris campaign stars in my eyes for the future.
I'm a little new to the lingo, but would Scythe be an example of an "Action Selection" mechanism? If so, I'll probably have to go with that and worker placement as my favorites. I love the sense of freedom that comes along with both. Some games I find too restrictive, but games like Scythe, Concordia, and Architects of the West Kingdom let you feel like you're doing something positive every turn. I really like that feeling.
Thanks Brendan! I'm glad you're enjoying Scythe so far. :) Scythe does indeed feature a specific type of action selection.
I wonder if a simultaneous cooperative game would be an enjoyable or stressful experience? There would be a significant learning curve as the players would need to delegate tasks, to not be stumbling over one another. I'm not a fan of hourglasses in games because they usually hold no real value unless done right. Adding a time restraint on player collaboration would however be interesting. I would break it down so there is a lengthy rush-hour phase followed by a brief collaborative/reassessment phase. I'm not sure if a game of these two mechanisms exists, but if it does it would be great to get my hands on it and try to make a variant. Your video highlighted those two for me and now I'm hooked on the idea. What I just described is a job, I'm aware, but it's the principle of us enjoying hard meaningful work. I believe there would be a lot of potential for the merging of these mechanisms.
Definitely! There are quite a few cooperative games with simultaneous phases, including The Reckoners, Magic Maze, and Spirit Island. They discuss this on the Coop Cast from time to time: soundcloud.com/onestopcoopshop
Thanks for the games, definitely going to be looking into all of them. I've been designing for 4 years now with great dedication. Around when I started designing, I remember playing scythe with my friends. Hearing about the Kickstarter had a great influence on me trying to make a career off of designing. Now I'm in college and my professor is comparing me to working at a senior level. Although I still feel heavily inexperienced. I've tried writing down my subconscious design methods so I can teach my friends an intuitive engagement with designing. Due to covid, I'm taking a gap year and would like to reassess which college I attend or what I will research. Game design is my minor although I want it to be my major. I was restrained by in-state tuition and couldn't get a better college for design. I've seen your video about designing from a young age, do you feel that prepared you for who you are now, or was there schooling you went through? I want to just jump into the industry but I know I need to build a resume, when did you feel the confidence to put your work out there?
@@Andrew-qg9ni Thanks for your question! I think it was slightly helpful that I was designing from a young age, but I wasn't really going through the full design process. Only a small part of my job at this point is game design, and my experiences and careers before running Stonemaier Games were integral in giving me a foundation of core skills like customer service, project management, and fundraising. As for confidence, at some point I just decided I wanted to take the leap, so I sat down to design Viticulture with the intent of putting it on Kickstarter. I did that while having a full-time job.
I would love to see more "I split, you choose" games. It is a great mechanic that when done well can be great fun, I just don't see it very often. Skyward I think is the only one with this mechanism I have played.
Here are some other games in that genre: th-cam.com/video/PqyT7jhCO3s/w-d-xo.html
Pillars of the Earth has a novel(Ken Follet) turn order mechanism. Best in any worker placement game.
Love auction games and deck building
Programmed Movement. Examples: RoboRally, Colt Express, and my favorite Mechs vs Minions.
Big fan of RoboRally! That's the only one I've played of the genre, I'll have to try the others. The only other game I've played like that was actually a robot programming mini-game within the mid-90s edutainment PC release JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade. It came out just two years after RoboRally, so I think that's likely where the influence came from :)
My favourite is trick-taking, if the name didn't give it away haha.
Favourites: Chronicle, The Crew, Nokosu Dice, and American Bookshop.
I like trick taking too, especially of a quirky nature - have you tried Voodoo Prince or Sticheln ? - both very clever !
Some great “old” games have started a new life after (7 Wonders, Libertalia, Castles of Mad King Ludwig…).
Jamey, did you play Spyrium (2013)?
Nowadays its visual design looks outdated. But mechanically it’s a wonderful game. It’s available on BGA.
A player puts a meeple between several cards. You want to have neighbor meeples to earn more money. At the same time you don’t want to have neighbors to buy or to activate a card. When you choose where to put your meeple, you are planning the second path, if someone will buy the card you want before your turn. As usual I don’t like games with a big player interaction. But Spyrium is an exception.
I would like to see this mechanism in new games or a modernized reprint of Spyrium.
I did play Spyrium once a long time ago, so my memory of it is very foggy. :)
Looking at this list, I think you'd really enjoy Steam Works. It's got worker placement: you build devices to get things, these devices are worker spots. it's got engine building - sort of: the devices you build can become better and better, so they are sort of an engine. It has positive player interaction, everyone can use the devices that are build by any player, if you do, the player who build it gets something.
Personally, I don't think I really mind which mechanics are used, but I tend to stay away from "push your luck", I don't mind a bit of luck, I don't mind randomness, but I do want to be able to call my win my own, or in case someone else wins, call it their win, rather than them simply having had more luck than I did.
That said, I do very much enjoy if a mechanic is added in an elegant way that also adds clarity to the game. The way Engine building in Terra Mystica, Scythe and Tapestry does for example, by removing things you're revealing what you will get and generally speaking worker placement also does this since it's clear that if a worker is on a space, it's taken.
I got a tug of war summoners game I'm making. I'm using d&d models and it's really engaging from what my brother and friends tell me. I just need some blind testers haha
My picks from your categories (made before you reveal your examples and picks):
Simultaneous actions - Orleans
Interdependent economies - Raiders of the North Sea (specifically, I love how the workers circulate among the players)
Positive player interaction - Concordia (though it takes some work - the Prefect action)
Cooperation - Captain Sonar (I do like true co-ops, but this team v. team game does cooperation as good as any true co-op)
One way action selection tracks - Kraftwagen
Push your luck - Can't Stop (I don't think I really like this mechanism much, at least when it's a core mechanism)
Engine building - Scythe (This is a huge one for me - so many of my favorite games fall into this category)
Polyominoes - Tapestry (I know that's a stretch, but outside of one play of Scarabya, I've somehow not played games in this category - and I think I would like them - unless Castles of Mad King Ludwig counts - edit: oh Blokus, that's pretty good too)
Deck building/bag building - Orleans (I can't wait to try Viscounts of the West Kingdom, though)
Tug of War - Shadows Over Camelot (one of the mini-games works this way)
I Something You Choose - Castles of Mad King Ludwig (I would say the Master Builder role is I price you choose)
Worker placement - The Voyages of Marco Polo (I'm deciding Paladins of the West Kingdom isn't exactly WP)
Other mechanisms - Variable starting conditions (Teotihuacan, Viticulture w/ mamas, papas), Tableau building (Terraforming Mars), Asymmetric powers (Scythe, Marco Polo), Modular board (Yokohama, Istanbul, Forbidden Desert), Tile placement (Castles of Burgundy), Mancala/Rondel (Teotihuacan, Trajan, Crusaders), Incentivization (Century: Spice Road, Castles of Mad King Ludwig).
Thanks for sharing, Steven! These are great picks! I like the addition of the "incentivization" mechanism.
as for tug-of-war, you have to try Sun Tzu! it's a brilliant game
Hidden roll- I love hidden roll games. Shaman is great as it combines trick taking and a little tug of war. My favorite hidden roll game is mantis falls. It's a new one where you are a witness to a crime but the mob is after you. There is one or two other witnesses traveling with you however one of them or maybe you could be the hit man trying to silence the witnesses. There is a requirement to work together for a bit to stay alive but eventually if there is a murder in the group you will know.
Take that- I love take that in games probably more than most. I enjoy the tug of war of game play balance. Sometimes king making can make a take that game a bit one sided but with the right group it can be a lot of fun. Frontline no commrads is an excellent deck builder with drafting and programming that is brutal in the take that space. One of the best and most balanced take that games I've played is brutal kingdoms. 3-4 players and 4 rounds. Points based on playing the right cards to get to choose the scoring marker at the end of each round and ending the game with the most markers from cards played.
Root is actually my favourite positive player interaction especially the riverfolk and vagabond coalition
A good topic would be best minis game. Love my Star Trek Catan and Ascendancy. Have added his rules to include the ship minis from Exodus: proximal centauri. XLNT!!! In my unbiased opinion of course.
Just curious: How would you classify a minis game? Is any game with plastic miniatures eligible?
Hey man, you seem super knowledgeable about tabletop games. I am working on a card game in its early stages and I want to keep the idea secret so far as it’s very unique, but if you would be interesting in exchanging emails and giving me some advice / knowledge let me know!
That's exciting! I'm not available for private advice, but you're always welcome in the comments here. Here are a bunch of resources I've compiled that should help: stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter/how-to-design-a-tabletop-game/
When it comes to worker placement, how does the top games mentioned compares to Viticulture.
Viticulture uses a lot of different worker-placement mechanisms. Obviously I'm quite partial to it, and I would recommend Viticulture to anyone who enjoys worker placement. As for comparison to Raiders of the North Sea, Architects of the West Kingdom, Tzolk’in, and Lords of Waterdeep, it pretty much only shares the core placement mechanism with them (place worker to gain a benefit).
Caper Europe is an awesome tug of war game, 100% recommend
Thanks! Here's my video about it: th-cam.com/video/v-vQIjL4yNI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=stD6ykPFpweIcH2H
Do you think is it possible to have a Tug of War mechanic on a game for more than 2 players?
It's tough but possible. See my video (or any video) on Dogs of War.
@@jameystegmaier wow hehe that’s great. It looks like you made a video to answer my question but before i ask 🤯
Thank you 😊
Top 12? Is that even legal?
Great, great video! And yes, Lords of Waterdeep is great, but the best Worker Placement game is obviously Viticulture. ;)
You've got a good voice and good delivery. Your background is cluttered and distracting and I'd love to see you set yourself and your camera in better places. Also have to disagree w you about cooperative games: I don't think they're a mechanism, I think they're a genre. I love them, I just can't call them a mechanism.
Jamey, I tought you might enjoy this video essay about an apparent broken mechanism in basketball: th-cam.com/video/Yw22uDHy8-Q/w-d-xo.html
Perhaps could inspire you for a future Top 10: "My 10 Favorite Mechanisms That Feel Broken".
Thanks for thinking of me! I'll check it out.
No Dogs of War for tug of war? Took it from a primarily 2-player mechanic to a 5-player slugfest with negotiations and diplomacy.
Indeed, it's a great game! I have a video about it.
Just counting em down to I-Split-You-Choose...
Jamey picks Isle of Cats… given he’s a cat person, this is not shocking to me at all. 🐱😅💛
I think games with asymmetry very fun
“Putting a worker down.” 😞 --😜
Cool
For me drafting is nr. 1
Pass-around-the-table drafting or draft-from-the-middle drafting? I like both, but not quite top 12. What's your favorite drafting game?
@@jameystegmaier Pass-around-the-table, I find it gives a nice amount of player interaction in euro games with little conflict otherwise. For favorite, while I love the drafting in Inis I will have to go with Bunny Kingdom.
It may not be my number 1, but it is definitely one if my favorites. I guess I like both types, as both 7 Wonders and Azul are among my favorite games.
This guy plays a lot of games
Indeed, this guy likes to play games. :)