by dkeisen
I think you are undervaluing the innovation in the worker placement mechanic by presenting it as being basically the same as The Manhattan Project.
There are two pieces which are quite interesting, and while both are mentioned in your review, deserve highlighting.
1. The timing aspect. Yes, you either place workers or activate them. But there are significant real decisions about when to do each because the longer a worker sits on the board, the better the activation will be. In Manhattan Project, if I recall, the only real interest in getting your workers back is so you will get them back to be able to use them on a future turn.
2. The turn order aspects. All worker placement games have some sort of exclusive access to an action: that is fundamental in the definition. As it is with Tzolkin too. But you still make available the same class of actions by placing a worker, in fact you make available better versions of them. The unique thing you're claiming revolves around cheaper placement and different timing.
I really enjoyed the gears and thought this very innovative.
Now whether it's a good game or simply a great mechanic surrounded by enough stuff to turn into a game is less clear. I have only played once and thus do not know whether this a great game or if it's the worker placement equivalent of Trajan. Look forward to finding out.