Over at the League of Gamemakers blog site, I've posted part 1 of my piece "How to Design a Worker Placement Game." The pice features insights from successful designers such as Jamey Stegmaier of Viticulture, Euphoria, and Tuscany fame, and Brandon Tibbetts the designer of The Manhattan Project.
How to design a worker placement game: Part 1
Fri, 04/18/2014 - 21:12
Fri, 04/18/2014 - 21:38
#1
Having seen this link in about 6 places today...
... I *guess* I'll get back to working on my long-dormant WP game!
Thanks for doing the write-up; I needed some motivation
:)
Sat, 04/19/2014 - 22:24
#2
Agricola Report
Through a roundabout way, I uncovered a workshop report/debriefing of Agricola authored by Uwe Rosenberg himself. It is absolutely fascinating. I would consider it well worth reading not just by fans of the game itself, but also those who want to consider self-publishing, designing, and finding artists for their own games.
It also offers some strategy and suggestions for novices and beginners to Agricola...Serving as a roundabout way to provide suggestions to designers on the first few moves available to players.
http://www.cliquenabend.de/artikel/611000-Agricola-Wie-es-zu-dem-Spiel-k...
Sun, 04/20/2014 - 11:30
#4
Your How-To Article
Ugh...And where are my manners?!?! LukeLaurie, I'm definitely coming back to your article on worker placement. Someone else posted a link to the random board game generator, and it spit out some intriguing combinations, one of which mentioned worker placement. I'd like to have a serious go at it.
Your emphasis on research as a first step is commendable. I'd say the more folks go into research, the clearer their own ideas end up in their head, helping them develop additional mechanics and maintain clarity of vision when the playtesting slog comes along. Researching also serves as a way to come up with a list of possible innovations for their own game concept.
Very nice work! I apologize for not mentioning it before. :)
Sun, 04/20/2014 - 16:24
#5
Thank you!
I really appreciate the positive remarks on the article. I hope Part 2 doesn't disappoint anyone!
Wow - that link on Agricola is like an entire college seminar! Tons to learn from here. I'll have to include a link to this somewhere on my blog! Thank you