How to design a WORKER PLACEMENT board game

Worker Placement is one of the BIG mechanisms. It has a wide appeal - and it’s adaptable to many different themes and genres. Worker placement games can be simple, or they can be incredibly complex. And they’re everywhere. A lot of gamers LOVE worker placement games. In this video I highlight ten or so design choices which you might want to consider when designing your own worker placement game. Even better, look at what has been done before, find a gap, subvert a mechanism, and create something totally new. This video is sponsored by Launch Tabletop. If you would like to create a single copy of your prototype board game, or anything up to 1000 copies, then visit www.launchtabletop.com and start prototyping! 0:00 Introduction 1:28 Sponsor 2:33 Definition of mechanism 3:28 History of mechanism 5:54 Appeal of mechanism 8:54 Scarcity of rewards 9:45 Accumulation spaces 10:10 Timing of rewards 11:42 The provost 12:40 Tracks 14:38 Turn order 15:46 Variable setup 16:38 Asymmetric powers 16:55 Build action spaces 19:00 Neutral workers 19:31 Specialised workers 21:42 Dice workers 22:10 Gain new workers 22:32 Feed workers 23:04 Events 25:32 Bring workers home 27:57 Action blocking 31:55 Checklist for designers