I love how quick and smooth turns feel in this game. I do like the complexity in Architects of the West Kingdom enough to like that one better, but this is a good quick and simple worker placement game.
I played this the other day for the first time in over a year and my daughter and I both kept saying, "Why don't we play this more often?" I play with Hall of Heroes expansion but not Fields of Fame. HoH adds just enough complexity to really make this game sing without too much bloat. Can't recommend this game highly enough. A pure worker placement joy with multiple paths to victory. By the way, my daughter smoked us in a three-player game. A bit of revenge for my beating her by a point in City of Iron earlier in the evening.
So, both raiders and Architects have interesting takes on worker placement. Any other games take that genre and mess with its fundamentals in an interesting way?
3 Minute Board Games For some reason I thought you already did this game before. Weird. In any case, Manhattan Project, Everdell, and the upcoming Dwellings of Eldervale all have a “take your workers back as your action.” In the case of the last one, you can place your (non dead) workers on your tableau during that phase which can make it more powerful than worker placement actions by themselves. In the case of the first and third, I believe Luke Laurie stumbled upon the idea because he disliked “rounds” and “first player” action spots, the reason this twist on worker placement is interesting is the same as why the place a worker-take a worker is compelling in Raiders: it staggers when and how worker placement spaces free up which adds another strategic layer to the genre. If you look at the new “fractures of time” expansion in Anachrony, you can see the same mechanic at work, by changing the board dynamic as to how a worker spot opens, you add a lot to the game. … Another interesting worker mechanic variation is having a path to the spot or a worker placement that requires board movement. The most innovative in that area is probably Istanbul, but you already covered that recently in your review of Yokohama, so I’ll just leave it at that.
I thought of Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia when I played Architects for the first time. Dice as workers, spaces are available for everyone (just "bump" their or your dice), no rounds. Three Kingdoms Redux is a complex game that looks like a worker placement game heavily influenced by Agricola. The twist is that all workers have individual stats and placing workers feels more like an auction to be able to do the action during the resolution phase (being first in a space does not automatically mean that you have claimed that action).
Check out Way of the Panda for a very different way worker placement is done. Not only do your previous choices in the round limit your next potential actions but taking the same action again lets you build up action points to spend for the next round. That game is a sincere blast. My only complaint is that CMON bloated the entry point by making it full of plastic minis when it could have been done at a more normal $50-60 MSRP and it would have gotten more traction in the marketplace. Definitely worth picking up at a discount, however.
Next up is Neta-Tanka which is a pretty standard worker-placement game except for the innovation of adding link bonuses for claiming two spots next to each other. There are also spots on the board where your workers are forced next round to go gathering for the good of the tribe. Neta-Tanka is a fabulously tight WP game at four players.
Lastly, there is Gugong. Gugong uses an innovative card system to decide 1) what action you will take and 2) how many workers will you place/spend to upgrade that action for more benefit now. Very tight worker management game that plays similar to Trajan but without the mancala angle. Highly recommended as well. Tight and quick.
Language dependency meter - should you pick a copy in another language? 1.5/5p Icon/colour/number dependent, text dependent, reading dependent - 1p Minimal private information / Minimal verbal communication - 0p Available rule book in different languages - 1p Zero cultural/political aggression - 0.5p Multiple modern mechanisms - (-1)p Find a copy in a language that your group speaks fluently.
The game also ends when the last Valkyrie token is claimed. The worker placement mechanic can really sing, but because the location of workers is constantly changing, you can't really plan when it's not your turn - if players aren't confident thinking on their feet then play can slow down a fair bit. Raiders feels like a primer for the much more complex Architects and Paladins - I'd love to know if this was planned on purpose!
It definitely wasn't planed as a primer as this designed a long time ago by just Shem and Paladins was a co design off of the success of Architects of West Kingdom
I love how quick and smooth turns feel in this game. I do like the complexity in Architects of the West Kingdom enough to like that one better, but this is a good quick and simple worker placement game.
I played this the other day for the first time in over a year and my daughter and I both kept saying, "Why don't we play this more often?" I play with Hall of Heroes expansion but not Fields of Fame. HoH adds just enough complexity to really make this game sing without too much bloat. Can't recommend this game highly enough. A pure worker placement joy with multiple paths to victory. By the way, my daughter smoked us in a three-player game. A bit of revenge for my beating her by a point in City of Iron earlier in the evening.
Do the expansions fit in the main box? I heard the base game is already tight on the box.
The lyric paraphrasing got a chuckle
That Led Zeppelin phrase! 😍
Own this and dont regret the purchase. Last play was a month ago. I didn't focus on the raiding, but the valkyrie track and almost won.
Kia ora brooooo
Kia Ora Dwaine.
So, both raiders and Architects have interesting takes on worker placement. Any other games take that genre and mess with its fundamentals in an interesting way?
3 Minute Board Games For some reason I thought you already did this game before. Weird.
In any case, Manhattan Project, Everdell, and the upcoming Dwellings of Eldervale all have a “take your workers back as your action.” In the case of the last one, you can place your (non dead) workers on your tableau during that phase which can make it more powerful than worker placement actions by themselves. In the case of the first and third, I believe Luke Laurie stumbled upon the idea because he disliked “rounds” and “first player” action spots,
the reason this twist on worker placement is interesting is the same as why the place a worker-take a worker is compelling in Raiders: it staggers when and how worker placement spaces free up which adds another strategic layer to the genre.
If you look at the new “fractures of time” expansion in Anachrony, you can see the same mechanic at work, by changing the board dynamic as to how a worker spot opens, you add a lot to the game.
…
Another interesting worker mechanic variation is having a path to the spot or a worker placement that requires board movement. The most innovative in that area is probably Istanbul, but you already covered that recently in your review of Yokohama, so I’ll just leave it at that.
I thought of Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia when I played Architects for the first time. Dice as workers, spaces are available for everyone (just "bump" their or your dice), no rounds.
Three Kingdoms Redux is a complex game that looks like a worker placement game heavily influenced by Agricola. The twist is that all workers have individual stats and placing workers feels more like an auction to be able to do the action during the resolution phase (being first in a space does not automatically mean that you have claimed that action).
Check out Way of the Panda for a very different way worker placement is done. Not only do your previous choices in the round limit your next potential actions but taking the same action again lets you build up action points to spend for the next round.
That game is a sincere blast. My only complaint is that CMON bloated the entry point by making it full of plastic minis when it could have been done at a more normal $50-60 MSRP and it would have gotten more traction in the marketplace. Definitely worth picking up at a discount, however.
Next up is Neta-Tanka which is a pretty standard worker-placement game except for the innovation of adding link bonuses for claiming two spots next to each other. There are also spots on the board where your workers are forced next round to go gathering for the good of the tribe. Neta-Tanka is a fabulously tight WP game at four players.
Lastly, there is Gugong. Gugong uses an innovative card system to decide 1) what action you will take and 2) how many workers will you place/spend to upgrade that action for more benefit now. Very tight worker management game that plays similar to Trajan but without the mancala angle. Highly recommended as well. Tight and quick.
Language dependency meter - should you pick a copy in another language? 1.5/5p
Icon/colour/number dependent, text dependent, reading dependent - 1p
Minimal private information / Minimal verbal communication - 0p
Available rule book in different languages - 1p
Zero cultural/political aggression - 0.5p
Multiple modern mechanisms - (-1)p
Find a copy in a language that your group speaks fluently.
awesome intro
Thank you
The game also ends when the last Valkyrie token is claimed.
The worker placement mechanic can really sing, but because the location of workers is constantly changing, you can't really plan when it's not your turn - if players aren't confident thinking on their feet then play can slow down a fair bit.
Raiders feels like a primer for the much more complex Architects and Paladins - I'd love to know if this was planned on purpose!
Nope, it wasn't planned on purpose, just an evolution of the designers thinking over time.
PS. I always forget the Valkyrie rule as i hyper focus on aiming to get as many of the fortress raids as possible.
It definitely wasn't planed as a primer as this designed a long time ago by just Shem and Paladins was a co design off of the success of Architects of West Kingdom
Always . . . so good :P
Thank you for the information bro
Thank you for your information bro...
thank you for sharing bro!
Nice game biglang nagustohan ng pamangkin ko
I wonder how this compares to Champions of Midgard: there's Worker placement and vikings too.
Not sure, not played Midgard
nice bro
Immigrant song