Worker Placement Games

A stylized form of Action Drafting, players place tokens, dice, pawns, etc., to trigger an action from a set of actions available to all players, generally one-at-a-time and in turn order. Some games achieve the same effect in reverse: the turn begins with action spaces filled by markers, which are claimed by players for some cost. Each player usually has a limited number of tokens with which to participate in the process, although these may increase as the game progresses. - from Board Game Geek

Sorted by location in the store - Casual Games | Cooperative Games | Heavyweight Games | Middleweight Games | Value Games

—Updated October 25, 2025

Casual Games:

12 Rivers -  2-4 Players
  End Game Bonuses, Set Collection, Multi-use Cards, Open Drafting, Worker Placement, Physical Removal, Hand Management, Fantasy

A Place for All My Books -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Pattern Building, Solo/Solitaire Game, Worker Placement, Puzzle

Age of Galaxy -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Action Points, Economic, Variable Player Powers, Income, Space Exploration, Tech Trees / Tech Tracks, Civilization, Worker Placement, Science Fiction, Turn Order: Stat-Based, Action Drafting

Cellulose: A Plant Cell Biology Game -  1-5 Players
  Set Collection, Tech Trees / Tech Tracks, Educational, Area Majority/Influence, Worker Placement, Environmental

Creature Caravan -  1-4 Players
  Cards, Worker Placement, Fantasy

Critter Kitchen -  1-5 Players
  Staff Pick 2025, Programmed Movement, Variable Player Powers, Worker Placement, Different Worker Types, Contracts, Animals

Cytosis: A Cell Biology Game 2nd Edition -  2-5 Players
  Set Collection, Worker Placement

Dog Park -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Set Collection, Card Games, Worker Placement, Animals

Everdell -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Staff Pick 2025, Staff Pick 2022, Ownership, End Game Bonuses, Staff Pick 2021, Variable Set-up, Set Collection, Variable Player Powers, Income, Drafting, Staff Pick 2023, City Building, Tags, Card Games, Open Drafting, Worker Placement, Base Game, Contracts, Hand Management, Fantasy, Animals

Everdell Farshore -  1-4 Players
  Set Collection, Drafting, City Building, Card Games, Open Drafting, Worker Placement, Hand Management, Fantasy, Animals

Explorers of Navoria -  2-4 Players
  Set Collection, Drafting, Exploration, Worker Placement, Fantasy

Flamecraft -  1-5 Players
  Solo Mode, Staff Pick 2025, End Game Bonuses, Set Collection, City Building, Multi-use Cards, Tags, Card Games, Modular Board, Worker Placement, Base Game, Staff Pick 2024, Contracts, Hand Management, Fantasy, Animals

Fromage -  1-4 Players
  Economic, Worker Placement

General Orders: Sengoku Jidai -  2 Players
  Area Movement, Wargame, Worker Placement

Gnome Hollow -  2-4 Players
  Set Collection, Worker Placement, Tile Placement, Fantasy

Holotype -  2-5 Players
  Worker Placement, Base Game, Staff Pick 2024, Animals

Holotype Alt Art Cover -  2-5 Players
  Worker Placement, Base Game, Staff Pick 2024, Animals

Meadow -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Set Collection, Drafting, Card Games, Worker Placement, Base Game, Hand Management, Animals

Nestlings -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Dice, Set Collection, Worker Placement, Hand Management, Animals

Parks Second Edition -  1-5 Players
  Solo Mode, Economic, End Game Bonuses, Exploration, Worker Placement, Travel, Contracts, Events, Environmental, Animals

Tea Witches -  2-4 Players
  Push Your Luck, Worker Placement, Tile Placement, Fantasy

Wandering Galaxy: A Crossroads Game -  1-6 Players
  Cooperative, Worker Placement, Science Fiction, Miniatures, Hand Management

Winter Rabbit -  2-6 Players
  Worker Placement, Environmental, Farming, Semi-Cooperative, Animals

Staff Picks and Best Sellers

  • This is a fairly simple worker placement game with several strategies available for gaining points. Easy to learn, easy to teach, and fun to play

  • I could write a novel about this game, but the highlights are (1) it's adorable (2) it's beginner friendly (3) it's FUN! - Sheridan

  • Embark on an epic seafaring adventure to explore and build in the rugged country north of Everdell Valley. Study the winds to sail your ship in search of valuable riches, compete for lucrative island locations before high tide rises, and be the first to claim valuable maps that will lead you to troves of treasures.

Cooperative Games:

Endangered -  1-5 Players
  Push Your Luck, Worker Placement

Robinson Crusoe: Collector’s Edition -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Dice, Variable Player Powers, Fighting, Cooperative, Worker Placement, Tile Placement

The Smurfs Hidden Village -  1-5 Players
  Solo Mode, Variable Player Powers, Kids, Deckbuilding, Cooperative, Worker Placement

Heavyweight Games:

Anachrony: Essential Edition -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Dice, Economic, Variable Player Powers, Worker Placement, Science Fiction, Miniatures

Barrage -  1-4 Players
  Ownership, End Game Bonuses, Variable Set-up, Variable Player Powers, Income, Solo/Solitaire Game, Worker Placement, Network and Route Building, Contracts, Turn Order: Stat-Based

Dwellings of Eldervale 2nd Edition -  1-5 Players
  Solo Mode, Economic, Action Retrieval, Variable Player Powers, Fighting, Modular Board, Worker Placement, Dice Rolling, Hand Management, Fantasy

Sankore: The Pride of Mansa Musa -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Economic, City Building, Civilization, Worker Placement

Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon -  1-4 Players
  Variable Set-up, Space Exploration, Worker Placement, Science Fiction, Different Worker Types

  • The game is played in 4-7 turns, depending on the time when the looming cataclysm occurs — unless, of course, it is averted! The elapsed turns are measured on a dynamic timeline. By powering up the Time Rifts, players can reach back to earlier turns to supply their past "self" with resources. Each Path has a vastly different objective that rewards it with a massive amount of victory points when achieved.

Middleweight Games:

A Feast for Odin -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Dice, Economic, Push Your Luck, Worker Placement, Tile Placement, Puzzle

A War of Whispers Collectors Edition -  2-4 Players
  Area Majority/Influence, Wargame, Take That, Worker Placement, Political, Bluffing, Betting, Spies / Secret Agents, Hidden Victory Points, Fantasy

Ahoy -  2-4 Players
  Pirate, Variable Player Powers, Worker Placement, Tile Placement, Fantasy

Andromeda’s Edge -  2-4 Players
  Dice, Fighting, Worker Placement, Base Game, Science Fiction, Hand Management

Apiary -  1-5 Players
  Solo Mode, Cards, Variable Player Powers, Worker Placement, Animals

Beyond the Horizon -  2-4 Players
  Civilization, Worker Placement, Tile Placement

Beyond the Sun -  2-4 Players
  Civilization, Worker Placement, Base Game, Science Fiction

Daitoshi -  1-4 Players
  Worker Placement

Darwin’s Journey -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Set Collection, Worker Placement

Dinosaur Island: Rawr n Write -  1-4 Players
  Dice, Worker Placement, Science Fiction, Draft & Write, Route Building, Animals

Dinosaur World -  2-4 Players
  Dice, Economic, City Building, Worker Placement, Science Fiction, Tile Placement, Animals

Dune Imperium -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Increase Value of Unchosen Resources, Staff Pick 2022, Ownership, Card Play Conflict Resolution, Variable Player Powers, Deckbuilding, Dune, Multi-use Cards, Tags, Force Commitment, Card Games, Open Drafting, Take That, Worker Placement, Political, Base Game, Science Fiction, Turn Order: Progressive, Staff Pick 2024

Inferno -  1-4 Players
  Market, End Game Bonuses, Variable Set-up, Resource Queue, Multi-use Cards, Worker Placement, Loans, Grid Movement, Different Worker Types, Matching, Movement Points

Kinfire Council -  2-6 Players
  Voting, City Building, Worker Placement, Political

Lost Ruins of Arnak -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Cards, End Game Bonuses, Resource to Move, Adventure, Once-Per-Game Abilities, Area Movement, Deckbuilding, Multi-use Cards, Exploration, Open Drafting, Worker Placement, Best Seller, Base Game, Turn Order: Progressive, Delayed Purchase, Track Movement, Contracts, Hand Management, Fantasy

Nova Roma -  1-4 Players
  Economic, City Building, Worker Placement

Pagan: Fate of Roanoke -  2 Players
  Adventure, Deduction, Strategy, Card Games, Worker Placement, Bluffing, Hand Management, Fantasy

Pax Emancipation -  1-3 Players
  Solo Mode, Cards, Dice, Variable Player Powers, Drafting, Cooperative, Worker Placement

Resurgence -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Secret Unit Deployment, End Game Bonuses, Deckbuilding, Strategy, Worker Placement, Science Fiction, Bag-Building

Saltfjord -  1-4 Players
  Dice, End Game Bonuses, Variable Set-up, Set Collection, Variable Player Powers, Income, City Building, Open Drafting, Worker Placement, Nautical, Tile Placement, Farming

Star Wars: Rebellion Board Game -  2-4 Players
  Star Wars, Civil War, Dice, Team Based, Variable Set-up, Card Play Conflict Resolution, Variable Player Powers, Income, Space Exploration, Once-Per-Game Abilities, Area Movement, Hidden Movement, Tags, Area Majority/Influence, Wargame, Take That, Worker Placement, Science Fiction, Delayed Purchase, Miniatures, Contracts, Events, Hand Management

Survival of the Fattest -  1-4 Players
  Set Collection, Variable Player Powers, Deckbuilding, Worker Placement, Hand Management

Trailblazer: The Arizona Trail -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Set Collection, Worker Placement, Animals

Trailblazer: The John Muir Trail -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Set Collection, Worker Placement, Hand Management, Animals

Unconscious Mind -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Set Collection, Drafting, Worker Placement

Whistle Mountain -  2-4 Players
  Variable Player Powers, Worker Placement, Tile Placement

Yokohama -  2-4 Players
  Economic, Set Collection, Worker Placement, Resource Management, Route Building

  • This is a game that has multiple different ways to win. It also adds three types of games seamlessly: Deck-building, Worker Placement and Resource Management. - Nolan

  • Best Seller - Lost Ruins of Arnak combines deck-building and worker placement in a game of exploration, resource management, and discovery. In addition to traditional deck-builder effects, cards can also be used to place workers, and new worker actions become available as players explore the island.

  • Best Seller - Points are gained by building outposts and fortifications, commissioning monks and confronting outsiders. Each round, players will enlist the help of a specific Paladin and gather workers to carry out tasks. As the game progresses, players will slowly increase their faith, strength and influence.

Value Games:

Adulthood -  1-4 Players
  Drafting, Card Games, Worker Placement, Hand Management

Cities -  2-4 Players
  Pattern Building, Variable Set-up, Set Collection, Closed Drafting, City Building, Open Drafting, Worker Placement, Tile Placement, Turn Order: Claim Action, Contracts

Gateway Island -  1-6+ Players
  Solo Mode, Dice, Memory, Set Collection, Deduction, Push Your Luck, Drafting, Cooperative, Player Elimination, Worker Placement, Party Game

General Orders: WW2 -  2 Players
  Worker Placement

Propolis -  1-4 Players
  Market, Medieval, Variable Set-up, Set Collection, Industry/Manufacturing, City Building, Civilization, Area Majority/Influence, Solo/Solitaire Game, Card Games, Modular Board, Worker Placement, Puzzle, Contracts, Fantasy, Animals

Targi -  2 Players
  End Game Bonuses, Set Collection, Drafting, Card Games, Open Drafting, Modular Board, Worker Placement, Base Game, Turn Order: Progressive, Square Grid

The Architects of Amytis -  2 Players
  City Building, Worker Placement, Tile Placement

Tiny Epic Dinosaurs -  1-4 Players
  Solo Mode, Enclosure, Dinosaurs, Worker Placement, Science Fiction, Contracts, Farming, Hidden Victory Points, Fantasy, Animals

Under Falling Skies

Aliens have arrived to conquer Earth. Enemy ships fill the skies. Humanity retreats to underground bunkers located below cities across the globe. Stand against the common threat! Fight the invaders city by city. Build a team from around the globe to save your planet and defeat the aliens!