Turn Order
Designers, PLEASE take turn order into account in your designs.
I was surprised to find a major turn order problem in a recently (2018) released game that is otherwise well-designed. When I mentioned it to fellow players, those who were in more advantageous positions just didn't see the problem, thinking it would somehow balance out. Of course those who are adversely affected by turn order tend to notice such problems most, but the designer should always prepare for such issues and deal with them.
Unless your game has simultaneous actions, you should carefully playtest to make sure neither the first nor last player has any significant advantage. One good way to make sure is to track scores by player position. I often playtest by myself, playing as each of the players, thus assuring equal skill among all players. I do this repeatedly both for the largest player count, and also for the smallest player count. If the average score for 30+ games is higher for first player or for last, then I know I have to do something about it.
Even if there is not really any turn order advantage, also beware of the PERCEPTION of turn order advantage. If players feel like they have a disadvantage, whether it is true or not, they will not enjoy the game as much as they should have.
First player advantage is more obvious, but also be careful with last player advantage. If the last player can make better decisions based on what others have done, they may have an advantage. Or if final actions are still greatly affecting the scores of others, the last player may have an advantage with the ability to act freely without worry if impact to others.
EQUAL TURNS: Many designers think they've solved balance issues by making sure that all players have an equal number of turns. After game end is triggered, finish out the round so the person who played last in the first round also plays last in this round. But consider the frustration of the player who had no way to be sure whether game end was going to be triggered that round.
Hacienda
This is an old favorite that I still enjoy, but ONLY if playing with a house rule to counteract the disadvantage of the first player. Yes, the first player. I know the first player has a slight advantage at the start, being able to play anywhere on the board without being blocked by others. But the big points come at the end of the first round, and especially at the end of the game. Playing a water tile or hacienda in the right place can make a huge score difference if timed correctly. But you don't want to do it too early; you still want to collect and play cards that will increase the score from that final hacienda or water tile. Yet when the cards start getting low, the first player has no way to know if this is his/her final turn or not. Buy more cards that may turn out to be useless, or buy the hacienda now and probably have useless actions next turn if the game doesn't end this round? Back when winning most important to me, I had declared that I simply would not be first player in this game. But now that I've matured to care more about everyone having fun and feeling like they had a fair chance to win, I simply extend the game one extra round after game end is triggered. This way everyone has 1 final turn to do those important actions that are more about scoring than about prepping for later turns.
SECOND PLAYER ADVANTAGE
So you think you've fixed the start player advantage by adding an action to take the Start Player marker for next round. But if play order simply goes clockwise from the first player, the player to start player's left has an advantage over the player to his/her right. The 2nd player got the advantage for free, and the player to the right will need to waste an action to avoid being stuck last again and again. And as soon as they spend that precious action to get the Start Player marker, it can be taken away again in the next round. Consider the more elegant solutions:
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Actions to become 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc as in Caylus OR
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If no one takes the start player token, it moves to the left of where it was OR
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Same player can never be start player twice in a row as in Tzolk'in
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Clockwise then counterclockwise turns, as in Grand Austria Hotel
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Bid for turn order as in Steam
MOST IMPORTANT IN WORKER PLACEMENT
Whenever there is a limit to spaces where workers can be placed, early turn order is an advantage. If only 1 person can play in an optimal space, going first will give best opportunity to take that great spot. If everyone can play in every space, then the advantage switches to the last player, who can react to the choices made before him.
Asking for Trobils
My first few games of this had only 3 or 4 players, and even as 4th player, I didn't really notice a problem with turn order. But the game goes to 7 players, where it becomes much more noticeable. Easy fix: Give extra starting resources to the people later in the turn order.
Crown of Emara
EVERYTHING in this game is a race to do it first. The first player has choices of absolutely everything. Then second player can choose anything, but if they pick the same thing the first player did, they must pay 1 more resource or get 1 point less than first player did. 3rd player has 2 choices that are lesser than previous players. As 4th player, I started with a plan to do a particular action which was taken by 1 of those 3 players, so I considered my backup choice, which was taken by one of them also. By the time of my first turn, 3 options were already sub-optimal. Other players said "don't worry, you'll be first in a later round". By then time I was first player for a round, the costs which went 1-2-2-3 were all at the 2 level, meaning I didn't get any benefit over the person who went after me. The 4-player game is the worst, because there are 6 rounds, with the first and second player getting to go first and second AGAIN, and third and fourth player going last AGAIN, both at the beginning when trying to establish an engine, and at the end when trying to maximize points. Then to add insult to injury, the special power cards RUN OUT before the third and fourth player can get to them. I had spent several turns building the resources to get either of two different cards that would make a huge difference to my score, only to have them snatched by players with earlier turn order and leaving nothing I could do with those hard-earned resources. The saddest part: the whole frustration could have been avoided simply by moving first player to the right each round, rather than the traditional left. Or at least let later players start with extra resources and/or points.
Vanuatu
Played this once, a long time ago, and it was a miserable experience. I was sitting to the right of the player who knew the game best and taught it, and also started as first player. It became obvious very quickly that first player had many great choices and fifth player had very few. The player to the left of the first player has almost as many choices as first player, so gets a free ride just by where their chair is. By the 3rd round I was feeling the pain, and was told to take the action where you take the first player token. My only opportunity to do this was early in the round before someone else could take it, thus leaving me even fewer good choices for my other actions. And of course the next round, the player to my left took it back. She took it over and over again, which was just her style of playing. But she also got to take a great action each round before taking back the first player token for next round. So simply by sitting to the right of someone who plays that way, I had no chance of winning, and no fun at all.
GAME TIMING
If players are building an engine, then turn order advantage may be more important early in the game while trying to get the engine going than in the later game when using the engine that was previously built.
The other important consideration is the length of the game. Going first in round one of a game that lasts 4 rounds may be a bigger deal than in a game that lasts 12 rounds. But feeling like you have a disadvantage may not be as frustrating in a game that lasts 20 minutes than it is in a game that lasts 2 hours.
Goldbrau
OPTIONS TO DEAL WITH TURN ORDER ISSUES
Depending on the other game mechanics and sometimes the theme, here are some options that may counter turn order issues:
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Advantage to last player and/or disadvantage to first player, as in Power Grid
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Turn order changes based on score, also as in Power Grid
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Action(s) available to affect turn order, as in Agricola
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Extra resources to later players, as in Space Base or Alien Frontiers
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Extra round after game end is triggered, as in the expansion of Eminent Domain
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Bid for turn order
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Turns during the round go clockwise, but start player marker goes counter clockwise next round
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Other ideas?
It was a long time ago, and I don't remember the mechanical details of this game. What I do remember is my emotions around it. I was excited to have bought this game with its unique beer garden theme. But by round 2 it became clear that as last player, I wasn't getting any good choices, and by the time I would finally be start player, it would be too late in the game to have a chance at winning. I hated it so much that I gave away the game at the end of play, and later had to apologize to the other players for my constant whining during the game.