Worker Placement Games

Worker placement games are some of the most popular out there. In these games, players take control of a number of workers which are placed on action spaces to perform any of a range of actions.

Typically, once a worker is in an action spot, it prevents others from using it, which gives the mechanic a really competitive edge.

Worker Placement Variations

Some games offer slightly different takes on the mechanic. Some games have the player pay to use an action space with the price increasing for the second and subsequent workers. Others have a bidding-type mechanic. And some have workers bumped and even upgraded when another player wants to use the action space.

It is quite common for the worker placement mechanic to be combined with one or more other mechanics, such as dice drafting, to give extra depth and variance to the gameplay.

Early Worker Placement

Some of the first worker placement games were:

Keydom
Bus
Way Out West

Highly Regarded Titles

While some of the most popular and highly ranked are:

Dune: Imperium
A Feast For Odin
Lost Ruins Of Arnak
Everdell
Barrage

Easiest Worker Placement Titles

And some of the easiest worker placements include:

The Towers Of Arkhanos
Tokaido
Fabled Fruit
Mint Works
Little Town

But, if you enjoy or can live with the Dungeons & Dragons theme, Lords of Waterdeep is an excellent entry point to this mechanic. It is competitive, easy to learn, and was the first worker placement that many people tried.

Worker Placement Pitfalls

While these games are popular among gamers, they can be formulaic. Rounds essentially become players taking the same set of actions. And games that are specifically and solely made up of this mechanic can be a little simple. There also seems to be a common theme of worker placement games based around medieval European farming.