The Tao of Gaming

I figure we've got a fair number of worker placement games to look at: Caylus, Manga Carta, Pillars of the Earth, Stone Age and Agricola. This doesn't count some minor games that also use the mechanism, and I've got a vague feeling I'm missing one or two big games I've played.

In any case, while I like the mechanism I've been pondering what makes it work and what makes it dangerous. Vague thoughts at this stage.

1. Each player should have an equal number of workers, or each placement should have a cost. All the games get this right, to a certain extent. Extra actions are powerful. In fact, all of the games suffer slightly from a "one true path" in that getting the resources to support extra workers is the primary key to victory (money in Caylus, family growth in Agricola, etc)
2. Player order should be tightly constrained. Caylus does this best; Agricola's "around from the start player" is mildly unsatisfying. Pillars random order makes the game unpalatable, even with decreasing costs for going later. The heart of worker placement games are competition in the action-selection, so players should have choice. (Pillars is the "Roll and Move" of worker placement games). [Incidentally, we just saw the Agricola card that lets someone buy the start player each round (the "taste tester", I think). Powerful, but didn't win so I'm reserving judgement].
3. The best games manage the number of available places well. Caylus & CMC have the number grow (as players get more money to buy extra workers) and then shrink. Agricola uses the variable setup to add spaces appropriate for the number of players, then adds the one space per round (which roughly covers the offspring). Stone Age is the weakest in this regard.
4. So far, all of the games seem to have a variety of resources that are all required to do various things. Just happen stance, or required? Is it possible to build a good worker placement game with a single resource (like, money?) I don't think so. Is it possible to build one with two resources? Perhaps. This says less about worker placement games than my like of complex economic systems.
5. Are games worse if multiple workers can go in one space? I'm not sure. Stone Age is an outlier because it treats people as variable group sizes, and has size limits on most spaces. I'm tempted to say that multiples can work, assuming the limit is relatively small or costs escalate with each additional worker (an idea that has not been tried yet).

What else have I missed?

Continuing on what I've missed ....

I did miss Leonardo da Vinci. I don't consider Aladdin's Dragons to be a worker placement, but more like an auction game. It does have a "walk the path" element of Caylus, but auctions happen in an order in most games. It's a judgment call; but the correct one. I don't remember much about Bus or Keydom, and haven't played Tribune or AoE III.

Adding to my rules, I'll pull:

1. Worker placement games are fixed fun. Too many people makes it chaotic and goes against the planning element. [Thanks to Frunk].

2. Actions should be atomic. If you place a worker it may be a good or bad move, but it shouldn't strongly depend on future elements. [Based on Joe's criticism of Caylus].

Chris's point about Randomness (in Pillars vs Stone Age) and the appeal of the system are well taken, but randomness should always be interesting. Similarly, Joe's comment about Frustration. Games shouldn't be frustrating, even if you lose. Agricola nails this for most people. Everyone is trying to optimize their farm, and may not notice if they win or lose. For me (and not Joe and Chris), Pillars is intensely frustrating due to lack of control. The spots I need disappear according to a random scheme, not player order. I can't feel good if I got them by drawing first (or in the middle after the first few people pass).

Agricola's truly dizzying array of scoring means that you can always be doing something. Is the feeling of accomplishment based on reality or illusion? Either way, it's worth noting for any serious critic. I have lost exactly one game here in San Antonio (having played 7 or 8) and everyone is still clamoring to get this to the table.

I'm off to have dinner and stare at the butterfly invasion that started earlier today. More thoughts later, perhaps.