edit: I forgot the turn structure. And the part where you put your dudes on the very very different, scarce actions that they’re going to make later on. I was wrong on calling this game not worker placement. Blargh, too much shellfish for lunch.

Not even. Stop me if you don’t want to have this conversation. Also, I understand things are not crispyly defined so this is my 2c.

What makes a worker placement? How are they different from, say, area control? You allocate people to places, right?

Yes. But. In worker placement the placement has qualitative differences. As in, making kids is different from building an oven in a way that is different to the difference between sending people to the Caribbean and sending them to Newfoundland.

Also. Worker placements often have exclusive worker allocation to a place. Often have board cleanup. Often there’s a round robin allocation. Note: I’m not mentioning economics because it is incidental to the form: worker placements are often economic games but they need not be.

Also: compare and contrast Caylus and Antike. Would Antike be a worker placement if you could deploy stuff everywhere?

Also: why Puerto Rico turn structure is different from its worker allocation and how.

Also: why the hell I don’t play Caylus often enough? The answer is Concordia (not a worker placement game either). So good.