Top 10 Worker Placement Games 

Order: Zee,Sam,Tom 10. Mangrovia,Pillars of the Earth,Automania 9. Looking For Trobils,Pret a Porter,Anachrony 8. Lewis & Clark,Otys,Charterstone 7. Charterstone,Pie Town,Raiders of the North Sea 6. Viticulture Essential Edition,The Mannhatan Project 2,Empires: Age of Discovery 5. Pillars of the Earth,Caverna,Caverna 4. Demon Worker,Roar: King of the Pride,Carson City 3. The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire,Scythe,Champions of Midgard 2. Automania,Stone Age,A Feast for Odin 1. Targi,Champions of Midgard ,Viticulture Essential Edition

I always find Zee's tastes in games so left field, which is great for going against the grain and showing us more to the already popular games. Abstract-y games are more his style. So I can understand that. -the step outside-the-box kind of game.

Awesome guys! I've been waiting for this updated list. Thank you so much for posting this, Tom, Sam, and Zee!!!

Sam doesn’t need another shirt. What he needs is two hats, one that reads ‘Tom is wrong’, the other ‘Zee is wrong’. That way he can put them on at a moment’s notice and alternate them quickly.

I love Champions of Midgard, but unlike Tom, I still have kept Lords of Waterdeep. I still think it's a great game, especially with the Scoundrels of Skullport expansion. I love the ebb and flow of the corruption tokens through the rounds. So much fun. CoM has dice and LoWD has skulls. Golden!

I highly agree with Zee on MP: Energy Empire! It is an amazingly streamlined and fun worker placement game! The best of the series too!!

Lewis & Clark is underrated. It's brilliant. And it may look slow if you see it as a racing game, but you should see that track as what it really is: a points track. I love how strategic it is and it has just the exact amount of interaction.

Fantastic video . I have just gotten into worker placement. For the longest time I avoided it, thinking it was just that dry, boring old-school euro type game. But Lords of waterdeep on the iPad changed everything for me! Just have to say all you guys can be funny, but no one touches the master Mr. Healy. So hilarious. ‘Information free’ had me chuckling, and then his ongoing reaction during Zee’s description of the Demon Worker game, I was laughing out loud for a full minute!

Picked up Targi yesterday for $18/CAD because it was Zee's #1. Played it once and loved it! Fantastic game!

Happy to see Tom still gives Age Of Empires III some love. It was one of my first board game purchases thanks in no small part to a Tom Vassel BGG WRITTEN review (remember those?). Still one of my all time favorite games.

Love watching you guys! Another fab video. Thank you!

Thx I still enjoy these longer Top 10 lists with the three of you. Always entertaining. I might not agree to all of your choices and arguments but - hey! That's part of the fun watching this. Automania is definitely in my Top 10 worker placement games and my family enjoys it a lot as well. Same for Stone Age. Also still a Hit in my family.

Concerning Pret-a-Porter, Ignacy Trzewiczek mentioned in February that he was working on the updated version of it and he considers it one of the big projects of this year for Portal Games.

One of the reasons Automania is getting no love in the US is you can’t get the damn thing anywhere. Without paying an arm and a leg.

What a great list! And I´m so happy to see Targi on #1, it´s a fantastic game!

Scythe is a great game, so great that it deserves a place on all lists, including party and trivia.

Great list... I don't tend to like Worker Placement games. But Champions is my favorite right now... mainly cause you don't get just points, or chips, or counters... you get freaking dice... and you battle with those freaking dice... against freaking monsters... through a freaking sea... freaking... epic 😁

Always love the top 10s!!

I wonder if Architects of the West Kingdom would be on this list...

The discussion on Targi's Theme made me think you should do a "Top 10 Games that got the theme wrong" list but the one caveat is that you must come up with what the "Correct" theme for the mechanisms would be. I think this would be super interesting to hear.

Sorry Sam, Scythe is not a worker placement game. It's action selection. You don't place workers to do things. You choose an action to move the workers. You choose an action to have workers produce.

Tom's face at 22:08 as he wonders what alien life-form has taken over Sam's body! :D

I'm with you, Zee. I can't get Lewis and Clark to the table enough. I was flabbergasted when I first played it.

I missed Euphoria, but that maybe was eliminated by the "no dice placement" rule. Also Crisis, the economic worker placement engine builder from Greece.

My favorite 'nice' worker placement game is Manhattan Project: Energy Empire' and my top 'mean' worker placement game is 'Argent: the Consortium' . MP: EE probably needs an official expansion to compete with the amount of replay value in Argent but I really enjoy both games. There are almost too many games in the genre. Someone who loves Agricola might have a hard time buying Caverna. Someone who has Sons of Anarchy might have a hard time buying Carson City. Someone who has Argent might have a hard time buying Dominant Species. I feel like we're at the point where we need comparison videos more than we need reviews.

1. Anachrony 2. Fields of Arle 3. Lords of the Waterdeep 4. Agricola 5. Sycthe 6. Champions of Midgard 7. Alien Frontiers

Played A Feast for Odin again yesterday and had a lot of fun exploring new strategies with it! It's really super deep.

Loved the video as always guys! Targi's second edition or reprint has not been released yet, supposedly October release? Any word on your end? Highly looking forward to this for the wife and I!

3 Top Ten ideas: - « Push your luck » games - Good looking games (easier to attract non gamers) - Bring on camping or trip games (easy to carry, to setup and don’t need a huge table) You guys are AWESOME!!! Keep up the good work **please like this comment if you think the ideas are good so Tom will see it 😃**

1. Champions of Midgard 2. Lords of Waterdeep 3. Anachrony 4. Carson City 5. Coal Baron 6. Alien Frontiers 7. Kingsport Festival 8. Stoneage 9. Viticulture 10. Empires Age of Discovery

I love Sam's reaction when Zee mentions Demon Worker's theme!

I'm actually so curious as to what Tom could possibly be thinking to argue that Caylus isn't a worker placement game. The game is literally entirely about placing workers haha

Viticulture can feel a little slow if you play without the mamas and papas from Tuscany (included in Viticulture: Essential Edition). You should never play without the mamas and papas.

Some great games there guys.Two that I played this year that are well worth playing IMO ,Are Chimera Station And Belfort

So excited for this, 🍿 is ready!

Yes!! Another top ten. And a great topic at that 🤗 whoop whoop

I feel like dice placement games should have been ok since there isn't enough of them yet to get their own list.

I kept hearing it in my mind as Manhattan Project: 2 Minutes to Midnight and was thinking man that's a very specific theme! Lol

@thedicetower where can I find your final version of charterstone? I'm interested to see how you use the recharge kit

"Do you think Caylus is looked at as a worker placement game?" You know how in the early days, first-person-shooters were "Doom clones"? Go look at threads from 2006-2007 on BGG and count the number of people calling Pillars of the Earth a "copy of Caylus", "Caylus light" etc. (... also, one of them is Tom) :P

Nice variety in the lists. A good mix between games I know about and ones I don't. (Though I hated Stone Age when I played it and didn't care for Viticulture). I enjoy all three Manhattan Projects though, and I would put them in the following order: Manhattan Project 1, Energy Empire, and MP 2. There are similarities between MP 1 and 2, but they play very differently. The focus is very different. And yes, the player interactivity is different. I like both games for different reasons, but I still prefer the original.

First, as others have said, Scythe isn't a worker placement game. My top 10 Worker Placement Games: 10. Stone Age 9. Shakespeare 8. Kanban: Automotive Revolution 7. New Bedford 6. Charterstone 5. Lords of Waterdeep 4. Caverna: The Cave Farmers 3. Rajas of the Ganges 2. Viticulture Essential Edition 1. The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire

Viticulture essential edition is great... But, with the exception of Zee's #1 and #8 (Targi and Lewis & Clark), I think I have little in common with these guys. For example, I prefer Agricola so much over Caverna (really dislike that lack of tension, that sandboxy felling). Also, I cannot imagine a Top 10 WP games without Tzolk'in, Russian Railroads, Troyes or Caylus.

Sam should try Argent: the Consortium. He might like it, it's heavier and has more direct player interaction than most worker placement.

My wife and I really like Prodigals Club, excellent worker placement game to try if you have never played and a great theme!

My Top 10 would be ... Great list btw Dice Tower Crew it's for sure one of my favorite mechanics in games 1. A Feast For Odin 2. Orleans with or without the expansions 3. Viticulture Essential Edition 4. Stone Age 5. Lewis & Clark 6. Caverna 7. Fresco 8. Village 9. Pillars of the Earth 10. Anachrony Now with that said there are many I haven't played that I believe would knock some of these off my list such as Empires: Age of Discovery, Raiders of the North Sea etc.

#1 worker placement for me is far and away argent the consortium. Definitely a game that deserves more love even if it is a bit specialized.

Zee's No. 1 FTW! I love Targi. I managed to get my hands on the expansion... in German. Still have to incorporate it but I'm looking forward to it.

Are you guys going to come out with a top 10 dice placement games list this year as well? I'm guessing Voyages of Marco Polo will be on that list.

55:00 and that expansion is miserably hard to find!! right up there with the expansion for Adventure land. simply don't exist anymore

I’m with Zee on Mangrovia - it’s a very underrated game

My favorites not mentioned here are: Tzolk'in and Tribune: Primus inter Pares. Also really like Fields of Arle, just haven't played it enough yet.

Lords of Waterdeep, Fresco, Stone Age, Walnut Grove, and Agricola are ones I love to play, Caverna and Pursuit of Happiness might make it onto the list if I get a chance to play them.

1. Stone Age 2. The River ... They're all I have. Champions of Midgard looks awesome.

Scythe instead of Caylus or LaHarve, two of the icons of the genre. As many have said at no point are workers competing for spaces on a board, thus Scythe just doesn't have the mechanic.

I haven't seen anyone mention Dominant Species. It's kind of ugly but I really enjoy it's complexity.

Tom's list is great. I'd add in Trickerion and maybe Dinosaur Island (love the theme). Does Francis Drake count as WP?

My top ten: 10. Lorenzo il Magnifico 9. Rajas of the Ganges 8. Stone Age 7. The Voyages of Marco Polo 6. Energy Empire 5. Viticulture 4. A Feast for Odin 3. The Gallerist 2. Anachrony 1.Champions of Midgard I still need to try Agricola, Caverna, Tzolk'in, Troyes, Le Havre, Vinhos, Kanban, Madeira, Keyflower, Raiders of the North Sea, and Carson City. I think all of those have the potential to break into my top 10. Games that I'm looking forward to and have either preordered or kickstarted that could also make it into my top ten are: Neta-Tanka (the linked action bonuses look really fun), Calimala, Targi, Rurik: Dawn of Kiev, Escape Plan, Snowdonia, Trickerion, Tales of the Northlands, Gugon, Crisis, Architects of the West, Edge of Darkness, Robin Hood and the Merry Men, and Dice Hospital... typing it all out like that makes me think I'm kickstarting too many games...

My top 10 10- Agricola 9- Orleans 8- Le Havre 7- Kanban 6- Trickerion 5- Madeira 4- Vinhos 3- Lignum 2- Three Kingdoms Redux 1- Dominant Species

Really hope we're going to get the Targi reprint soon and I'm also hoping for the expansion to get released in English alongside it.

Argent: The Consortium and Trickerion are my top two and probably will never leave those spots.

I would very much look forward to you three doing a top 10 dice worker placement list 😀🎲🎲🎲

Im only gunna argue this one point FOR Scythe being a worker placement game. You only really get your 3 starting positions as "free" spaces to produce from, but later on in the game you gotta fight for your territory to place your workers on.

Roar is area control in a similar vein to Risk. It is by no means a worker placement game. Also Scythe.

Really happy I got the last copy of Automania from my FLGS. Tom and Zee are right, it's a wonderful game that deserves more attention.

i love that the background picture of Targi is a situation that would never happen while playing Targi (workers on face down cards)

I thought maybe Eric Lang's The Godfather would've been on one of these lists. Nice mix of worker placement and area control.

Would Pursuit of Happiness make it into your top 20 (Sam, Zee or Tom)? I played it recently and really enjoyed it. Wondered where it fell for you guys.

Tom, would you consider sharing your custom built Charterstone board in a video? I want to do the same thing but I would hate to make a bad board.

Scythe? Really??? How?

I like Myrmes a lot, the ant theme is special and the game play is very thematical. Did you ever played it?

I really enjoy "Lewis & Clark". Very good game! Good choice Zee! Age of Empires is also a darn good game, Tom! And "Pillars of the Earth" is definitely a good game!

automania deserves so much more love! i think it's the silly art.

Thank you Sam for correcting Eric's foolish choice. Stone Age is a great game! I also like the luck factor in the game, I think it adds just the right amount of excitement. To date I have not played Glen Drover's Essential Age of Viticulture, Age of Discovering Tuscany, but I look forward to it?

There are so many good WP-games. I think they are not always the same. Next to the straight WP there are some many Variants how to use the mechanism like in the following games: Worker with special abilities, with different strength, dice placement, bidding with workers, placing and taking workers can vary very much. I like all the aspects the workers can be used. Egizia Lords of Waterdeep with Exoansions Vitticulture Lancaster Age of Empire III Tzolkin Agricola Alien Frontiers Troyes Belfort Lorenzo Il Magnifico La Granja Spyrium Luna Bruxelles 1893 Nusfjord Ground Floor Keyflower

Jamey himself doesn't consider Scythe a Worker Placement game lol. Serious lack of Vital Lecerda on this list. Vinhos, The Gallerist...two of the best in the genre.

Harbour is such a fun Worker Placement game. I'm surprised it hasn't appeared on more lists.

Anachrony is my new No. 1 Worker Placement. Especially with the Exosuit expansion. Its so good.

Tzolk'in and Dungeon Petz! Although since I haven't played a single one mentioned on the video, my expertise could be questioned.

Looking forward to Yedo Deluxe Edition soon. I think that game was sadly passed over in a crowded year

Pret-a-Porter is the only game I approve of on these lists, and kudos to Sam for including it.

I just purchased Viticulture (I haven't played it yet), Agricola (It's Okay), and Dinogenics with the expansion (Which I LOVE!).

Recently, there was a ship that went off course and was lost in the fog off the coast of North Wales. Ship to shore called for all lighthouses to be lit. Things seemed grim until they brought in Sam Healey and he was able to guide them safely home with the top of his head

Scythe is definitely is not a worker placement game.

Considering Zee's distaste for the the genre and Sam's confusion (Scythe?? Roar??), this would have been a great opportunity for Mandi and Suzanne to be in the planel... It would also be great if Jason did a quick top 10 on the genre...

It's funny that Zee jokes about the expansion for Feast for Odin because the expansion actually DOES add more actions spaces like 20% more haha.

Scythe, Otys, and Roar. All good games that I would definitely not call worker placement. But then again, there was recently a huge debate on a FB group I'm a part of about whether Carcassonne is a worker placement game. This mechanism seems to be one of the most subjectively defined.

From Sam's description of Otys, it sounds like it's basically a jacked up version of Deep Sea Adventure, by Oink Games.

Dominant Species would be my favorite by far.

Carson City + Time Travel = Back to the Future III

Chimera Station, Shakespeare, Tzolk'in, Lords of Waterdeep (with the expansion)... You know nothing Jon Snow! 😂😂😂

Sam is Right about Pillars of the Earth. Awesome game. Total classic.

Damn 4 of my top 5 not on any of these lists. Tribune, kingsburg, the ancient world, and Lancaster deserve respect!

Wow cant believe how much I align with sam (sorry, sam!) Stone is great, although the infuriating die rolls have been replaced by Sailing Towards Osiris for me. And Minutes to Midnight is crazy heavy. You gotta commit to the epic length and one or two strategies to win it.

LOL Sams face at 47.00 is priceless.

Nice lists, guys. Tzolk'in only one that I'm really missing. I know Tom thinks it's just ok. 1. Tzolk'in 2. A feast for Odin 3. Viticulture 4. Targi 5. Lancaster 6. Age of discovery 7. Caverna 8. Raiders of the North Sea 9. Alchemists 10. Champions of Midgard

For this list I would lean toward Sam's, although I enjoy basic Catan. His choices seem accessible to all types of gamers.

earned an upvote for "almost information free as well" glorious

Targi and Stone Age are top 10 games for me. My next purchase is definitely Automania. Champions of Midgard looks very interesting.

What's the game in the video's preview image? I don't recall them showing and naming it during the episode.