What are Tile Placement Games?

In this Game Corner, I focus on one game mechanic commonly used in board games and then will feature a few of the games that we offer that use that specific set of game characteristics.

First — What is a Game Mechanic? Game Mechanics are the means and methods used to interact with a game. They revolve around actions that players take during their turns. There is usually more than one mechanic used in most games, with some having more impact than others on play as well as the outcome of the game.

The game mechanic I am focusing on here is Tile Placement, which is one of the most commonly used game mechanics. Tile placement is an action that players take that involves placing tiles on a board during their turn in order to accomplish specific goals and/or earn points in a game. One common use of this mechanic is building a town or civilization. Another might be building a leisure area such as a zoo or just laying tiles in patterns in order to earn points based on their arrangement.

If you have played a game using this mechanic and like the tile placement experience, below are a few games which I personally recommend that are currently in stock. If you have not played a game like this and would like to explore this game mechanic, read about the games to see what might appeal to you as your first experience with a tile placement game. I have put these games in order starting with the least challenging to the more difficult. I have also included a level of difficulty reference based on a scale of 1-5. Note that the age recommendations are somewhat flexible and often involve more than just the actual age of a player. Other factors can include the overall level of game experience of potential players as well as their general aptitude for learning new concepts. ~Marsha