Mecanicas

[Ronaldo C.]

1 - In Action Point (AP) Allowance System games, each player is alloted a certain amount of points per round. These points can be spent on available actions, until the player does not have enough remaining to "purchase" any more actions. This method grants the player greater freedom over how to execute his or her options. Pandemic is an example of a game that uses this mechanic. In Pandemic, players are given 4 action points to be allocated between several actions: Movement, Air Travel, Special Action, and Special Ability.

2 - Pattern Building is a system where players place game components in specific patterns in order to gain specific or variable game results. For example: placing chips on 2, 4, 6, 8 on a board gets the player an action card they can use later in the game.

3 - Worker Placement is More precisely referred to as "action drafting", this mechanic requires players to draft individual actions from a set that is available to all players. In a given round, drafting is done one-at-a-time and in turn order until all players have had a chance to draft individual actions. There is a limit on the number of times a single action may be drafted each round. Once that limit is reached, an action can no longer be taken until a subsequent round or until the action space is no longer occupied by a worker. As such, not all actions can be taken by all players in a given round, and action 'blocking' occurs.

Usually, each player has a limited number of pieces with which to participate in the process. In other words, they "place workers" to show which actions have been drafted by which players. In Agricola, for example, you start with two family members who can be placed on action spaces to collect resources or take certain actions like building fences. When someone places on a given space, that action is no longer available until the next round.

Commonly, the used pieces thematically represent workers of any given trade, though this category of mechanic is not limited to or by this.

Well known examples of Worker Placement include Agricola, Caylus, Stone Age, Pillars of the Earth, Tribune, and Dominant Species. Early design experiments with the mechanic include Way Out West, Bus, and Keydom (though there is some disagreement about this).