11 of my Favourite Board Game Mechanisms (+ some Favourite Games for Each!)

[@AllYouCanBoard]

What is your favourite board game mechanic? And what's your favourite game that uses it?

[@scottmcfarlane7524]

Deck building no question

[@calebbarton5697]

Worker placement, action selection/follow and deck building. If two of those can be combined, IM SOLD!

[@AllYouCanBoard]

Awesome! So are games like Lost Ruins of Arnak and Dune: Imperium ideal games for you?

[@AllYouCanBoard]

Nice! What's your favourite deck builder?

[@calebbarton5697]

@@AllYouCanBoard I like both of those a lot. Clank if probably one of my favorite deck builders because of the board interaction, and Scythe/Empires of the Void are top choices for action selection!

[@tanjab.1444]

Dice Rolling / Placement: Rajas of the Ganges (BGG 147) - Do you know this great game? And there is a demanding Roll & Write, too: Rajas of the Ganges / The Dice Charmers. We love both!!!

[@AllYouCanBoard]

I've heard of it but never played it! I will add it to the list!

[@caseys.7804]

Those are amazing games, and the board game is absolutely gorgeous! I have both and play the board game at least once a week. I take Dice Charmers when I travel.

[@ClaeFace]

I’d love to see you guys go through each of your collections!

[@AllYouCanBoard]

I think we likely will at some point!

[@DeyaViews]

I love love LOVE Area Majority/Area Control games. Kemet, Cyclades, Blood Rage, Rising Sun, Ankh (I also LOVE minis), Tigris & Euphrates, Yellow & Yangtze, Samurai, Babylonia, Blue Lagoon (I also LOVE tile placement games), Twilight Imperium, Root, Eclipse, Small World, Smash Up, Dune (I also LOVE variable player powers), Spirit Island (I also LOVE coop games), Hansa Teutonica... that genre just encompasses so many things I love. It often has high player interaction, which is a big bonus for me. Also with high player interaction... Auction games! Modern Art, Ra, Medici, High Society... Reiner Knizia is (was?) a master of very pure auction games. I love it in other games too, but they're usually much less focused on the auction, as with Cyclades or Five Tribes. I also really enjoy Worker Placement games! But I haven't really found any that jump out enough that I feel super passionate about any specific one. I did really enjoy A Feast for Odin for its ton of options, and I really like that these games often have solo play options (thank you to Vital Lacerda especially). I think if I found a Worker Placement game that was high in player interaction (as they're usually pretty low in it), that'd tip me over.

[@tommansfield2378]

Worker placement games are fantastic, everdell is next on my buy list! Really loved this video for inspiration! :)

[@AllYouCanBoard]

Thanks Tom! Everdell is definitely up there with the more approachable worker placement games on the market. In large part because of the theme.

[@rolling.reggie]

Took me a few weeks to watch this whole video lol but glad I finished :) it's so cool how many diff types of games there are in this hobby.

[@fraserskomorowski2311]

Dice Worker placement - Euphoria from Stonemaier Games. Under appreciated game.

[@pnutbutrncrackers]

What are my favorite board game mechanics? Not those most cherished by others, it would seem: 1. Subtle/advanced DEDUCTION (you could also call it inference) 2. DECIPHERING (clues, codes, ciphers, riddles, texts, visuals) 3. Deep-level LOGIC (often includes a predictive dimension) 4. DECEPTION (sometimes takes the form of a traitor) 5. HIDDEN MOVEMENT (adds an air of mystery) 6. SUSPENSE (i.e. specific design features or rules that exist intentionally to intensify this feeling)

[@erickulchycki9531]

Favourite board game mechanics are deck building and worker placement. Makes games like Lost Ruins and Dune: Imperium so much fun for me.

[@kylaulbricht]

I really enjoy worker placement games and am a sucker for dice games so I’m fond of strategic dice placement/manipulation games. I didn’t realize Castle of Burgundy would fall in that category. I’ll have to check it out now. Deck Building is one mechanic I’ve not played very much. Definitely a gap in my collection. Great video!

[@AllYouCanBoard]

That's funny, I also didn't realize Burgundy fell into that category way back before I played it. I feel like sometimes people see the box or theme and assume it's a dry euro or is similar to other games they've seen or played. But it's actually pretty unique (moreso when it first released) and it's just tons of fun!

[@jonathanpickles2946]

Deckbuilding - Great Western Trail, Eminent Domain; "Engine Building" - Gaia Project; Levelling up & tech trees - Gloomhaven, Mistfall et al; Hand Management - Mistfall, Marvel Champs; Worker Placement - Agricola, Barrage; Asymmetry, especially player powers - every wargame ever eg ASL or Root. Buying/selling shares - 1849 et al. Quite a few of those are very broadly getting a bigger & better thing :)

[@AllYouCanBoard]

Very much looking forward to finally trying Root, which it looks like we'll be doing soon! Thanks for sharing your picks!

[@TurtleDude05]

My favorite board game mechanics would probably be as follows. Deck building. - Heart of Crown Deck Construction - L5R, Champions Tile laying - Carcassonne, Tsuro Worker placement - Agricola, Carcassonne

[@AllYouCanBoard]

All awesome picks!

[@draheim90]

I’ve sampled only a small number of games, but I really like the “mechanic” (maybe game type is more accurate?) that I can best describe as putting out increasingly threatening fires en route to some other objective. Maybe they’re better classified as survival or clock-racing games but the two I’m thinking of are Pandemic and Forbidden Island, and I imagine Spirit Island and Robinson Crusoe also fall into this, or a related, category. Unfortunately, my wife has been less impressed with Pandemic and Forbidden Island.

[@AllYouCanBoard]

I know exactly the type of game you mean! Spirit Island has that feeling as well. As does Ghost Stories. If you havent tried those, I'd recommend them!

[@kja1138]

Deck-building: dominion

[@AllYouCanBoard]

Yeah it's still the original and best deck builder for a lot of people. Not me personally, but I completely understand when it's still people's #1.

[@kilinor]

Haven't dived heavily into the Legacy scene, but Betrayal Legacy has had some brilliant moments so far. Also, Raiders of the North Sea has some good Worker Placement and dual use cards...

[@AllYouCanBoard]

I REALLY want to try Betrayal Legacy. Realistically, I'm not sure when I will but I'm so curious.

[@kilinor]

@@AllYouCanBoard the very first scenario delivers in a most satisfying way. If you can get a regular group of 4 others, you end up with a fully playable, customised, unique copy of Betrayal once the Legacy story is done.

[@inwoolee4051]

Hi! Have you tried Circadian's First Light for a dice worker placementgame? Love to hear your thoughts on it! :)

[@AllYouCanBoard]

I haven't! But I'll have to look into trying it, I'm curious now!

[@inwoolee4051]

Let me know if you get a chance. It's from the creators of the West Kingdom series I believe (Paladins, Architects, Raiders...)

[@shortydancer]

Where does dice drafting place on your list?

[@AllYouCanBoard]

I often lump dice drafting, dice manipulation and dice worker placement together. Not saying they should be, but for whatever reason my mind kind of puts them in one category. But either way, I really enjoy them!

[@zmollon]

11? I'm insulted this isn't a ten video top 100 series.