Worker Placement
Worker management is one of the most used mechanics in board games, especially the ones that are declared as euro-games. Players choose one of the actions available to them on their turn and move one of their workers, usually represented as meeples, to the space that represents the action. This allows for a good amount of strategic and tactical planning since the number of actions is limited and a player can prevent other players from getting the action they need.
As we said in one of the previous issues, modern board games mix different mechanics and worker placement is no exception. Last year's excellent Scythe has a player action selection that is somewhat modified worker placement mechanic, but players cannot affect each other selection. The City of Kings, an RPG-ish cooperative game that is currently on Kickstarter is also using modified worker placement.
Few of the best worker placement games are Agricola, Caverna, Robinson Crusoe, Le Havre, Tzolk'in, Caylus...
Alex Harkey and David Satterfield from Games Precipice have a good overview of worker placement mechanic with samples. Also check out Sam Healey's Top 10 Worker Placement Games, GoPlayListen's Top 10: The Best Worker Placement Games and Geek and Sundry's article.
News
What's Next April 17th through April 30th 2017 - New Releases
Man vs. Meeple shares their highlight for the weeks of April 17th through April 30th, 2017.
Upcoming Games from WizKids, Rio Grande Games, and more!
Convention season is coming and so of course the game announcements are going to start ramping up. We have five new announcements in this article to go through so lets get cracking.
Board Game and Tabletop News – April 19th 2017
Chris Bryan shares the latest board game news. Port Royal, Caverna, Ticket to Ride: Germany, Crystal Clans, Gloomhaven...
Top 10 Antipicated Board Games for 2017 with the Game Boy Geek
My top 10 board games that I am anticipating for 2017. After going to the GAMA Trade show, 50% of this list I learned about while there.
Articles and Videos
SU&SD Present: Board Gaming's Golden Age (2017 update!)
Quintin Smith, editor of Shut Up & Sit Down talks about the golden age of board gaming.
Declined: Why I Don't Back Games On Kickstarter
This is the third, and final post in a series about Kickstarter and it’s impact on board gaming. If you missed either of the previous posts, I highly recommend that you check them out. Especially the second in the series since it covers the other side of the Backing issue.
Top 10 Great Games with Terrible Themes
Join Tom, Sam, and Zee as they discuss games they really like packaged within themes they HATE!
Fairway Thoughts: Why I’m So Over Digital Board Games
There’s no shortage of digital editions of board games. Almost every popular board game has a mobile version readily available. After returning from a long Australian vacation, Fairway is taking a break from them.
Top 6 Eurogames with Dice
We’ve all felt it, holding a fistful of dice, seeing the possibilities across the board, prepared to conquer our opponents. This feeling of hope, endless possibility, unlimited power reaches a tipping point as we blow on the dice for good luck, get a tingle in our spine, and feel the electricity.
Board game Top 10: Tile-laying games
Tile-laying games are great for game evangelists: many have simple rules so are family, new gamer, and child-friendly. We all know the concept from Dominoes, and it's amazing how little you have to add to that simple premise to make a truly great game.
Crowdfunding
Brass ~ An Industrial Revolution by Gavan Brown of Roxley Games
The famous industrial revolution strategy boardgame by Martin Wallace and a finely brewed sequel, Brass: Birmingham
Tesla vs. Edison: Duel by Artana LLC
Tesla and Edison duel to control the electric industry! A 2-player card game with technology, projects, stocks, and PR in under 30 min!
King's Champion by Talon Strikes Studios
An exciting, hybrid Euro-style game of medieval jousting, with worker placement, resource management mechanics & innovative combat.
HANNIBAL & HAMILCAR by PHALANX
20th Anniversary Edition of award-winning 2-player game by legendary Mark Simonitch. Two games on epic struggle of Rome and Carthage.
Shadowrift: Skittering Darkness by Shadowrift by Jeremy Anderson
In this terrifying expansion to Shadowrift, heroes must rise to defend New Haven from new horrors threatening the town from the dark...
Bridges to Nowhere by Doomsday Robots
Strategically draft cards and build your custom bridge to win a lucrative contract in this light, but deep, micro-game for 1-4 players.
Reviews and Playthroughs
Voyages of Marco Polo (Inside the Box - Ep. 26)
After being whisked away to 13th century Venice, the ITB crew must retrace the steps of famed explorer Marco Polo and embark on a voyage across the orient.
The Oracle of Delphi Review
So you come before the Oracle of Delphi to discover your fate? Well come close and peer through the swirling ethers. I see a grand voyage across the Aegean, a quest to complete the 12 tasks of almighty Zeus.
Shadowscape Review
Marco reviews Shadowscape, a game set in the Mistfall universe. Shadowscape is a mini dungeon crawl played on a modular board of rooms filled with monsters, treasures, and traps.
#102 – BrilliAnts
In BrilliAnts, you command a colony of various ants seeking to make their fortunes in what is likely either a forest or someone’s yard. You do this by taking on objectives, gathering resources, avoiding predators, and digging holes.
Yamatai Review - The Kitchen Sink
Efka reviews Yamatai, a board game about honor, boats and skittles.
Buzzworthiness: Tomb Trader
Today, we’re going to take a look at a quick set-collection negotiation game called Tomb Trader. It is a recently released game by designer Asher Stuhlman that was published by Level 99 Games.
Week in Review - April 17, 2017
A short summary of reviews for the past week from The Dice Tower and friends.
Influencers
Rob Daviau
Rob is the author of the most innovative and influential board game mechanic in the last few years - Legacy mechanic. Just check out the #1 game on BGG currently, Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, which he coauthored with Matt Leacock. A lot of new games is and will be using Legacy, like Gloomhaven - check its 2nd printing Kicstarter, Charterstone and Centauri Saga: Abandoned expansion that's also on Kickstarter at the moment.
Other notable games by Rob are Risk Legacy, SeaFall, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Heroscape Master Set: Rise of the Valkyrie and of course, the upcoming Pandemic Legacy: Season 2.
To learn more about him, check out the GoPlayListen's interview and Ding and Dent interview. Also, find him on BGG, Twitter and his website.
That's it for this week. I hope you have enjoyed reading this issue. Please share with your friends, subscribe if you have not already and follow BGW on Twitter and Facebook.
Thanks for reading and until next week,
Miro
Intro image for Stone Age was taken from Flickr image by yoppi.