Action Selection, Worker Placement, and Tempo
Key terms and design dials for allocating limited actions and creating competition in games.
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Questions Covered in This Set
10 cards to master
Action selection system
The mechanics that shape how many things a player may do per turn, which options are available, and whether choosing takes options from opponents.
Contention (in action systems)
The degree to which one player's choice removes or limits options for others; low in open action points, high in worker placement.
Open action points
Each player gets N points per turn to spend freely; no competition for options (e.g., Pandemic's 4 actions, XCOM's 2 per soldier).
Action drafting (menu with limited slots)
Players choose from a shared list where each option holds limited takers — e.g., Puerto Rico role selection: take Builder and no one else can.
Worker placement
Players place a small number of tokens on board spaces, claiming and usually blocking them (Agricola, Stone Age, Lords of Waterdeep); contention is the point.
Simultaneous programming
Everyone secretly commits actions, then all reveal (RoboRally, Race for the Galaxy, 7 Wonders) — hidden contention, like a repeated simultaneous game with mixed strategies.
The 'remove the other players' design test
If the choice is still interesting alone, you have a puzzle; if its value depends on predicting others, you have a game in the game-theoretic sense.
Scarcity ratio
Useful spaces ÷ total workers in play; roughly 1.5–2.5 feels tight but fair, below ~1.2 causes frustrating lockouts.
Soft blocking
Escalating cost or diminishing returns so a later occupant still gets something (1 wood instead of 3), softening hard blocking.
Tempo
How much you accomplish per unit of turn; free engine development gains tempo, while reacting or fixing problems loses it.
