My husband and I really enjoy the action selection system in Raiders of the North Sea/Raiders of Scythia. You always have one meeple in your possession, and you can only place it on an action where that color of meeple is accepted and you can pay the appropriate resources to take the action. Then you choose a meeple from a different location from the ones on the board (3, I believe) and take that action as well, thus gaining a new meeple for your next turn. Your choices are limited for both actions, and various things can influence your choices, such as what color meeple you have currently for the first action and what color you want for the second action (for your next turn), what resources you have for the first action and what actions you want to do for both actions. We love this system, and that's why these games consistently stay at the top of our lists.
I agree, it's a really cool system. Shem always seems to innovate with worker placement in interesting ways, include my favorite game of his, Architects of the West Kingdom.
@@jameystegmaier Agreed. I deleted a comment on Architects. You and Shem really seems dialed in on game design on player action an limited down time, that I really appreciate as a player.
@@jameystegmaier and I just watched their playthrough of the forthcoming Wayfarers of the South Tigris and it looks like they've come up with yet another intriguing variation. The workers are shared workers (ala Raiders) and the action spaces are associated with cards. This means: 1) if someone gains the card, they also gain that worker, and 2) if the card row moves because someone took a different card, the action space blocked by the worker also changes. The worker actions are also constrained in various ways by dice rolls. It looks really fun.
Trajan has one of the most interesting action selection mechanisms I have played recently. It uses mancala like system where you have 6 spots corresponding to different actions on the main board. You can select any one location, pick up all the tokens there and continuing clockwise droping off one in each spot as you pass. The action you take is the one where you finish. Sounds simple but there are also colours of the tokens that you are trying to line up for bonuses, and trying to leave yourself with the ability to take the action you want to next time... While also worrying about what actions your opponents are taking on the board
When I think action selection, I think Puerto Rico. Action selection is the main focus of the entire game and the agonizing decisions about what to pick (and not to pick) are what make the game great!
I really like the shared action track in Ankh. I currently reincorporated it into a homebrew Kaiju game. I also like the action system in Lords of Hellas where any player can end the round and refresh all players previously chosen actions.
This was very informative and you had very good break downs for all the different types of action selection mechanics it Is one my favorite things to brainstorm, I do not have much experience with checklists other than the game Nemesis but it was a small list I feel helps a lot and it still had the flexibility of playing your character cards instead Thanks for the video as always it’s always great information
I'm not sure this qualifies as an 'action selection system' - but Puerto Rico's system of players taking turns choosing what everyone has to do is very elegant.
Civilization: A New Dawn has a really cool action selection system as well, where actions become more powerful over time and then reset when you use them. Highly recommend trying that out. The rulebook could use a few improvements to make teaching it a bit easier, but overall, it's a great game and I absolutely love the action system.
@@jameystegmaier I haven't had a chance to play it so far but I just keep hear amazing things so I think I'll have to give it a go. Thanks for the recommendation!
I am with you on Ark Nova. So lovely. Two others I like are Dwellings of Eldervale and Earth, the recently funded Kickstarter game about all things plants. Dwellings give you an action when you place your worker (or warrior, Wizard, or dragon) based on the tile you go to. When you chose to bring your workers back in the regroup phase, you get to take actions by placing workers on the cards in your tableau, taking what is usually a dull, “end of round” phase into something you may look forward to. In Earth, you select one of four actions on your turn. All other players take similar but lesser actions based on the active player’s choice. Additionally, the actions each trigger a different tableau card color associated with that action that all players activate. There is practically no down time. Played it with 5 and the game just moves in a good way.
Rurik: Dawn of Kiev has one of favorite action selection system, called auction programming. During the Planning phase, player place advisors on the action selection board, jostling for the more powerful versions of the actions and trying make sure their turns flow in an effective manner. Advisors with higher numbers take the more power action spots but resolve later, while advisors with low numbers usually get less powerful actions, but resolve first. It’s a very elegant system that gives a lot of crunchy decision-making before actions even take place.
Booklakes action selection system is like a mix of Puerto Rico and Civilization New Dawn (also Ark Nova). When a public action tile is selected it gets placed down at the bottom and pushes up the rest of the tiles (in one go, quicker than the card system). If anyone else want to select that action next they will get minus points (so best to wait). Each row where you select the title from also advances your boat down the river a number of spaces. The first part of the Action title is only done by you, and the second part is done simultaneously by all players. Boonlake looks like a heavy game but it feels more like the weight of Viticulture with 2 or 3 modules from Tuscany. I enjoy the game. It's worth a try.
@@jameystegmaier Page 4 of the rulebook might have your favorite rule ever! It says that other players may perform the right side while the active player is still performing their left-side action (except Cattle breeding) :). No, after writing that I think for it to be your favorite it would have to say something like the next player in turn-order may perform their action during the current player's action. If I ever find a game like that I will let you know. :)
I’m currently working on improving my action checklist. Players will have 5 choices and can only choose 3 actions each round. Once players have locked in their choices, the round leader will read an event card that would modify, for better or worse, one of the aspects of one action. Similar to the event mechanic in Pillars of the Earth. All interactions are with units and resources and buildings on the board as players can choose between 1. Movement & Discovering new tiles of the board 2. Exploring a newly discovered tile 3. Producing resources at built facilities. 4 Developing facilities, units and infrastructure 5. Exporting your goods for profit. The current plan is to move through each found in phases starting with the round leader, and working down the actions. Hopefully keeping everyone involved throughout the round. Any thoughts anyone? -Thanks
Honestly neither Libertalia nor Keyforge has action selections on it x) Also I LOVE the action selection system in Scythe is truly brilliant and engaging
I agree. FYI: there is lots of simultaneous play in Boonlake. The rulebook says actions are taken simultaneous by all players when a tile is selected (but only the active player does the left part, while all the other do the right part at the same time), and the interim scoring is also simultaneous. If you forget this the game can take too long.
Rising Sun has a very good action selection system. Basically the player whose turn it draws 3 action tiles at random, then selects one action for that round, which every player must take. The player that selects the action (and their ally) get a small bonus relating to the action played. There are only 2 of each action every season.
I think Spirit Island has a similar card system, right? And I think both games also have this distinction between slow and fast actions (that's what it's called in Spirit Island and in Gloomhaven it's the initiative number).
Honey Buzz is def a favorite of mine. I love it and the action selection along with the tile laying makes it an all time favorite game. I really need to try ark nova...only hear wonderful things from it.
I was very impressed by the clever handling of turn order (initiative) and top/bottom action choices in Gloomhaven. Being able to alter your initial plan when your turn actually comes up is super cool. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on other Action Queue games like Dominant Species in which your action choice is also your turn order choice. Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest, London, and Root are on my "Want to Play" list, but alas haven't had the chance yet.
I was fascinated by what you said about Taikkado and Hanamikoji. I definitely want to check those out now. The one way action system sounds intriguing but I haven't gotten to play yet. I also really appreciate Concordia's simple actions that are not available again until you pick them back up. You mentioned Villanous having some player interaction in the action selection. It made me think of Rising Sun and its action selection system. How you select one of four actions (could be repeat) - out of five possible. But you will also know most of the actions that will be available to the next player. That could be good or bad depending on your alliance since the alliances have such an impact on how good an action is for you.
Mage Knight is great for this. Choose the basic action on the top half of the card, or an overpowered version on the bottom which costs you rare resources. Combine that with a full hand of cards each turn that do different things!
I enjoy Worker Placement with Bumping (Euphoria, Charterstone, Century: A New World). It's a really interesting "penalty" for using a space an opponent has just used, but some of these games (Euphoria, Charterstone) let you bump your own workers, which is a fun way to extend your turn. You mentioned Orleans - not sure what that mechanism is, but I really enjoy it in that game and Paladins of the West Kingdom. My #1 action selection mechanism is probably mancala - I love they way it is implemented in Trajan and Crusaders: They Will Be Done. (
One great action selection system I think you missed is the one used in Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition (and Race for the Galaxy). Each player has a hand of 5 action cards and secretly chooses one, then all reveal. Each player gets to do all the selected actions, but if you had chosen that action you get a small benefit during that action phase. It works pretty well because you need to think about what other players may pick. Like say there are two things I'd like to do, and I think my opponent will likely select one so I should play the other. Or also think how players may benefit from your own chose. It makes a great decision to ponder.
Well I think it's an interesting system I think I could have been significantly better and played a more variable player count if they modified it slightly. If instead each player chose one action to take and the only copied the neighbors action then it could have easily accommodated more players and you'd actually have to pay more attention to the players directly next to you to know what they're likely to do to try and piggyback off that. It's for this reason and the more narrow player count that I haven't bought the game for myself
I love the action selection system in Honga. There’s a round tile you place into one of the 4 board spots, and also orient the tile toward resources you prefer. Also like the simple system in “Passing through Petra.” You select by moving your pawn in 1 of 4 cardinal directions inside a subdivided square. If your pawn gets into a corner, then you’ve limited yourself to 2 possible actions on your next turn.
I was going to mention Honga too. I wish I enjoyed the rest of the game more, but I do think that action selection system is innovative. I think that idea could be used again either on a shared central board (like Honga) or a player board.
Also, you should check Praga Caput Regni. It's a pretty heavy euro, but the most interesting part for mi its the action selection, it consists of a wheel that holds tiles. Every tile has two actions, but once you pick a tile you will do the action and then you would place it at the beginning of the wheel, pushing all the other tiles further. The tiles at the beginning ( the ones that have been played recently) will cost you money, but the further the tiles get, the better because they will give you bonuses. Also, you combine this with a personal board where you can improve the actions so the game gets more and more interesting when it comes to picking tiles!
Thanks for a good video! Do you have any examples of action checklist games? I have tried to look up the mechanic but haven't found any good sources about it 😊
Any game with "action points" has an action checklist; here's a list from BGG: boardgamegeek.com/search/boardgame?sort=rank&advsearch=1&q=&include%5Bdesignerid%5D=&include%5Bpublisherid%5D=&geekitemname=&range%5Byearpublished%5D%5Bmin%5D=&range%5Byearpublished%5D%5Bmax%5D=&range%5Bminage%5D%5Bmax%5D=&range%5Bnumvoters%5D%5Bmin%5D=&range%5Bnumweights%5D%5Bmin%5D=&range%5Bminplayers%5D%5Bmax%5D=&range%5Bmaxplayers%5D%5Bmin%5D=&range%5Bleastplaytime%5D%5Bmin%5D=&range%5Bplaytime%5D%5Bmax%5D=&floatrange%5Bavgrating%5D%5Bmin%5D=&floatrange%5Bavgrating%5D%5Bmax%5D=&floatrange%5Bavgweight%5D%5Bmin%5D=&floatrange%5Bavgweight%5D%5Bmax%5D=&colfiltertype=&searchuser=jameystegmaier&playerrangetype=normal&propertyids%5B0%5D=2001&B1=Submit
I just played Ark Nova & really enjoyed the game (in particular the action selection system). Concordia is one of my favorite games & I'm using a very similar action selection system in the game I'm designing.
Witchstone has an interesting system where each player has double hex tiles with each pair of actions, and you place these tiles on the player board next to tiles of the same action and you get to take each action as many times as it is shown next to the tile you just placed
Thank you for your videos, Jamey! I have only recently stumbled upon your channel and have a lot of back catalogue to watch, I guess. :D Anyway, I actually don't mind the action list provided by games like Pandemic (Legacy). I still find it very immersive to decide what to do in which situation, but I do get where you are coming from. For me, two systems are missing, although they are partly similar to some you mentioned. The first one would be El Grande, where players decide by picking a numbered card from their hand on who has first choice of 5 (?) semi-random action cards available to all. This is a very competetive one. I also like the Gloomhaven system a lot. Playing those two cards (which also decides initiative) and then using one top and one bottom action is a really nice way of using your deck of cards. Being able to rethink my decision which card to choose the top from and which the bottom makes it even more flexible depending on the situation. :)
Another great video Jamey. I’ve gotta give ark nova and honey buzz a shot someday. Hanamikoji is another I’d like to get to the table. One of my favorite simultaneous action selection games is Race for the Galaxy. Puerto Rico is another I enjoyed utilizing that mechanic. It I really cool seeing how some games integrate the action selection right into the game interface like Wingspan or Ark Nova, and I too am interested to see different twists on this mechanic.
I've really liked the action selection system in Meadow. Primarily you're just drafting cards, but having numbered tiles that allow you to take cards 1-4 deep in each row/column and also having four additional actions associated with each creates a great decision space for a fairly lightweight game.
I wouldn't equate the use of coins in Clans of Caledonia to action points--because of how the game is structured, I feel like I'm buying from an array of choices presented to me as part of the UI. Also, importantly, I didn't say that I'm against action points--I said I'm against action checklists that aren't integrated into the UI. A lot of these games use some form of action points (isn't that essentially what a worker is in a worker-placement game), but they do so in a way that is integrated into the game, not left off to the side as a menu of options to remember and reference.
@@jameystegmaier My apologies, I conflated your dislike of an action checklist with Tom Vasel’s dislike of action points. It totally makes sense that you appreciate how well integrated action selection is into the game. That’s why Clans method is such a favorite of yours, I see.
Jamey, great content as always. Thank you for engaging so meaningfully with your audience. This topic is timely for me - I’m designing a civ/engine building game mechanically inspired by Scythe, Kemet, Wingspan, Terra Mystica, and Concordia. I’ve been thinking about action systems, especially action repeatability, options, and visual design. On the action repeatability front, I considered using unlimited repeatability (e.g. Terraforming Mars standard projects), unlimited repeatability but with variable costs/benefits (e.g. Ark Nova and Crusaders: Thy Will be Done, which also elegantly alters action incentives), and limited repeatability (e.g. worker placement games like Lords of Waterdeep, action retrieval games like Concordia, deckbuilding games like Star Realms, and drafting games like 7 Wonders). I chose limited repeatability. Each turn, players place a worker on one of their player mat’s 12 action spaces. Most actions cannot be repeated until a player places their eighth and final worker, which automatically retrieves all workers and frees all action spaces. Players can upgrade their empire by shrinking their worker pool, increasing flexibility and letting them more frequently take their best actions. Thematically, this is workers becoming more efficient. I was wondering if you’ve seen games with this mechanism. I’d love to check them out. It’s almost a hybrid of Concordia’s action retrieval system and Scythe’s no consecutive actions rule. In another action, players can place their player markers on an influence track. After each age, these markers are divided among the remaining players. In future actions, these remaining players can place their “borrowed” markers as part of their action, giving the lending player (and potentially themselves) a benefit. Thematically, this is spreading culture adopted from another civilization. Alternatively, the borrowing player can hold onto the marker, though this gives the lending player VP at the end of the game. This mechanism creates juicy decisions for both the borrowing and lending players. Likewise, I’m wondering if you know of games with similar mechanisms (maybe they would work with a parasite/host theme?) Finally, it was fascinating to learn about the evolution of Wingspan’s action selection system. I’d love an even deeper look into how Stonemaier games have evolved during playtesting - what changed and why. Thanks again for being so willing to share with the community!
Thanks for sharing, Nikhil! I can't think of a game that uses the mechanism you described (though it's slightly in the spirit of trashing cards in a deckbuilding game, increasing your chances of drawing your best cards. As for the borrowing mechanism, I also can't think of a game that has you gaining (and using) other players' markers. Have you read the design diaries for our games on the Stonemaier Games website? They delve deep into the design process for most of our games/expansions.
@@jameystegmaier Thanks for replying! I thought I expressed my thanks in an earlier reply but it seems to have not gone through. Great point about the first mechanism I described resembling trashing in a deck builder. Can't believe I hadn't made that connection before. Also thanks for pointing out the designer diaries. They're really interesting. My top 3 takeaways so far: #3 (from Wingspan's): A good litmus test question for me as I design my engine building game is, to quote Elizabeth, "[Are] your turns at the end of the game...very similar to your turns at the beginning of the game"? #2 (from Tapestry): I love the change from 8 tracks down to 4. Really streamlines the decision-making process. It also helps facilitate the 4-page rulebook. As someone who tends to over-complicate, it's a great case study for me to keep in mind. #1 (from Wingspan): I'm really interested in how the classic Stonemaier one-turn-after-another (without rounds) structure wasn't working well for Wingspan and adding 4 rounds improved the user experience. I generally agree with you that rounds (or phases) can break up the flow of the game, cause player disengagement, and/or constrain player agency. But I think the 4-round structure works really well for Wingspan. End-of-round goals provide a nice medium-term goal and simple heuristic to nudge decision-making, while not having the incentive be so large that it forces all players to pursue the same path. You've spoken about games in which phases/flow breakup doesn't substantially diminish the game experience (A Feast for Odin) or in some cases can even improve the game (Edge of Darkness). Would love to learn even more from you in the future regarding under what conditions (or what are examples of games in which) you feel a turn structure besides seamless one-turn-after-another can enhance a game. Thanks as always!
@@nikhilparasher1963 Thanks! While I don't have a video about games with rounds, I do have a video you might find interesting about roundless games: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ekgQ2MLQJZQ.html
@@jameystegmaier Another great video. Thanks again. Great insights about how games like Concordia and Architects of the West Kingdom organically integrate actions often allocated to round upkeep (e.g. income in Concordia and worker retrieval in Architects). My game will likely have rounds ("ages"); as a designer, I want control over when particular cards appear because it's important to me that the game is as much an homage to history as it is a civilization building game. I think that's a fine choice as long as I realize it is indeed a choice, not a default I must subscribe to like many other civ games (Tapestry being one of many fantastic exceptions).
Hey Jamey, have you played Bus? I really like the action selection system in that game. Especially how the actions get weaker if you select it after other players, order of action resolution and the end game is triggered by action tokens being exhausted.
That's worker-placement, so it's covered on the list (I used Viticulture as a representative example of most things about worker placement I really enjoy).
