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What are the best worker placement boardgames?

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Sep 3, 2018

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7 Games Considered

Best worker placement boardgames	Price	# Players	Play Time
-- Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island	$49.50	1 to 4	60 - 120 Minutes
-- Agricola	49.00	1-5 (Newer edition -up to 4, All Creatures Big & Small - 2)	30-150 minutes
-- Vinhos: Deluxe Edition	$79.99	1-4	60-135 minutes
-- Le Havre	$70.00	1-5	30-150 minutes
-- Caverna: The Cave Farmers	$81.00	-	-

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island

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Top Pro

Gameplay mechanics combine with theme for a deeply immersive experience

Whether trying to outrun a volcano, defeat tribes of cannibals, or removing a curse from the island; each scenario requires you to play the game subtly different in a way that makes the theme come alive. For example, while fleeing from the volcano players are highly encouraged to use the exploration icon to uncover more and more tiles to stay ahead of the encroaching lava, while in a different scenario gathering wood becomes the priority and players shift to using the resource gathering option more often. This leads to each scenario feeling unique and really drawing players into each one of them. See More

Top Con

Complex

While the rules aren’t necessarily difficult, there are a lot of things you must remember and keep track of when playing Robinson Crusoe. You must essentially memorize what areas provide what type of resources, what are the conditions of getting resources or creating stuff, how to resolve specific plays, how dice and event cards work, etc. While you’re struggling to survive you must constantly remind yourself of the main objective that you must achieve to win. There’s a lot of thinking about what the least worst move out of the bunch is. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Multiple scenarios and variable set-up lead to great replayability

With 6 scenarios included in the base game (more in expansions), and each scenario having a variable setup that can lead to very different gameplay experiences, Robinson Crusoe is a game that you will keep coming back to time and time again. Every game will be completely different, not only because you can pick a different class and different strategy, but also because of the many variables and randomness of the game. See More

Top Con

Quarterbacking issue

Robinson Crusoe is a prime example of a game that suffers from the alpha-gamer issue. Each round begins with players talking to each other and deciding what they’re going to do, and it’s easy for the experienced gamer to dictate what everyone must do because this is a game that has a pretty steep learning curve. See More

Top Pro

Fully cooperative gameplay

With the game being hard enough on its own, working together with other players feels like a welcome relief from the normally competitive nature of board games. See More

Top Con

Many small components

There are a lot of tiny wooden cubes and tokens in Robinson Crusoe, and this can lead to multiple problems. Firstly, if you accidentally happen to drop something, then it might be difficult to find if it rolls in a corner or a less visible place. Secondly, the gameboard is very vulnerable to movement, so you might displace some valuable information, for example, the cube tracking your current health points. Lastly, the number of components lead to a long setup / takedown time. See More

Top Pro

Stacks well with player count

The game has a specific set of rules depending on the number of players, so it doesn’t feel better or worse when played solo or in a 4-player group. See More

Top Pro

Good aesthetics

The visual look of Robinson Crusoe is very appealing and adds a lot to the thematic immersion. It follows a 17th century shipwreck theme like the popular novel and includes tribal marks, old maps, the look of aged parchment, etc. See More

Top Pro

Quality components

All the components featured in Robinson Crusoe should easily hold up to a lot of plays. From the smaller wooden bits and pieces to the heavy dice and durable cardstock cards, all the components are top-notch and don’t feel cheap. See More

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Agricola

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Easy to explain, but very difficult to master

The basic premise in Agricola is simple: players take one of their two starting people and, in turn order, use it to select an action. Once an action is selected, it can not be chosen by other players. After everyone has placed their first worker players place their second, again in turn order, followed by 3rd, 4th, and 5th, if applicable. However, the difficulty in Agricola comes from the relatively limited number of action slots available and the sheer number of things players are trying to accomplish over the 14 rounds of the game. See More

Top Con

Can be a very punishing game for new players

Even players who love Agricola regularly joke that its name should be Misery Farm. This is because everything that you fail to do will cost you points, yet it is very difficult to do some of everything. This means that new players have a very low chance of beating someone experienced since they won't fully now what to expect as the game goes on and how to plan for it. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Has expansions that can add more depth and variety to the game

Players can purchase the expansion, Farmers on the Moor, to add more gameplay options and strategic depth or they can purchase additional card packs to add variety to the minor improvement and occupation decks. This helps keep the game from getting stale and encourages multiple plays to try and experience everything this game has to offer. See More

Top Pro

High player interaction for this type of game

The very limited number of actions available to take each round, combined with most resources only being available at 1 or 2 spots means that players are regularly interfering with eachother's plans and constantly being forced to reevaluate their strategy after an opponent blocks them. This leads to high amounts of player interaction and keep you very engaged in the game instead of focusing solely on your player board. See More

Vinhos: Deluxe Edition

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The limited number of turns lead to very tense and engaging gameplay

Since the game plays out over the course of only 6 years with players receiving only 2 actions per year, actions are very limited over-all. This gives additional weight and meaning to every decision in the game as players try to optimize their estates and balance short-term rewards with long-term goals. See More

Top Con

High cost might be a problem for some

Although justified by the impressive quality of the components and the game itself, it is still a relatively expensive game and may not fit in everyone's budget. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Incredible component quality

For the deluxe edition of this game Eagle-Griffon games hired famous boardgame artist Ian O'Toole to do all new art for both the box and the player boards, resulting in one of the most beautiful games of 2016. They also went above and beyond with the physical components, opting for thick, high-quality cardboard for most of the pieces and chunky wooden bits for everything else. See More

Top Con

Not well suited for new board gamers

Vinhos is a very heavy euro-style boardgame and as such has many complicated and interacting parts that might be too much for a new boardgamer to handle. Since there is almost no randomness in the game, the winner is usually the player who played best or knows the game best, which means that a single mistake can make it very hard to win. See More

Top Pro

Two games in one

In addition to the original 2010 edition of the game, the deluxe edition features a new, streamlined and updated, set of rules that help make the game much more accessible to players who are new to heavy euro-style games. See More

Le Havre

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Highly replayable

The variability in setup of this game means that almost no 2 games will ever be exactly alike, especially when you add in the unpredictable human element, allowing this game to constantly feel fresh no matter how many times it is played. See More

Top Con

Can take a long time to play

Although the core gameplay is simple, there are a lot of tough decisions that can slow players down and lead to long games. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Gameplay scales well over multiple player counts

The fixed number of turns per round combined with the variable feeding requirements based on player number allows this game to play interesting from a one player solo game all the way up to a full five player game. See More

Caverna: The Cave Farmers

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Very deep strategic opportunities

With all of the available action spaces and 48 unique rooms you can build in your cave, the many options for developing your strategy and trying to score points allows for a wide variety of effective strategies and encourge long term strategic planning. See More

Top Con

Too many actions can cause players to have analysis paralysis

Caverna features a large central board that can contain up to 27 spots to place your dwarves and take an action and with so many choices available some players might end up taking a long time to decide between them. See More

Top Pro

Basic gameplay is simple at it's core

On a players turn they take one of their dwarves and place it on an available action space to take that action, then play moves to the next player in turn order. This makes the main gameplay very simple to explain. See More

Top Con

Higher player counts can lead to long games

The official play time is listed as 30 min / player, but can run even longer if you play with 5 or more players. See More

Top Pro

Fantastic components

From the thick player boards and cave tiles to the over 300 chunky, wooden resources, all of Caverna's resources are top-notch. See More

Top Con

A bunch of components make the game a bit fiddly

With over 300+ wooden resources, 60+ acrylic nuggers, and 400+ cardboard pieces Caverna has a lot of pieces to manage as you play the game and as a result it can be a troublesome to manage all of those over the course of a game. See More

Lords of Waterdeep

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Mint Works

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Solo variant allows players to practice and play the game on their own

Whether you are trying to learn the rules to the game or honing your strategies while waiting for a friend at the bar, Mint Works has the ability to be played solo, including 4 different 'AI' players that focus on different tactics and strategies to give each play a different feel from the last. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Short, yet rewarding gameplay

Each game of Mint Works typically plays out in 10-20 minutes, but that time is filled with decisions about where to best place your mints in order to gain the most points and maximize your productivity for that round, leading to very rewarding games. See More

Top Pro

Small size of the game makes it very portable

As the name suggests, Mint Works was designed to fit inside a standard mint tin, making it easy to slip into your pocket or purse for gaming on the go. See More

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