I always count the number of actions a player does in a game I play or design.
The number is so varied that it seems to me like there's no pattern, but maybe there is?
Some examples:
Castles of Burgundy (COB) - 50 actions - 25 rounds, 2 actions each.
Newton - 25 actions (+a few bonus actions) - 5 round, 5 actions each.
Zhanguo - ~25 actions - 36 cards played, about 9-12 not as actions.
Mombasa - <30 actions - I just counted.
Glen More - ~20 actions at most.
Let's put COB to the side for a second, all the other show us that a game should have 20-30. Should is too strong of a word, but maybe the correct one. I believe counting actions is a very powerful tool in the arsenal of the modern game designer. It can assist you in 2 different aspects, the first is being able to approximate the play time and the second is knowing when a game is satisfying.
The play time comment is pretty clear. If you had 20 actions in your game and you expanded it to 25 actions it will be about 25% longer, so if you are trying to fit into a certain play time this is crucial. The satisfaction comment is less clear. If you build a village, you want the city to be of a certain size before it actually feels like a village. You want the players to look at what they have done for the past hour and feel - I did this. I build this village, I made this company the best around, I achieved something. Placing only 5 tiles in Glen More will make it an unsatisfying experience, while 50 tile will make the experience tedious. I think that every game has a sweet spot and it is mostly on the 20-30 action range.
Remember how we left COB aside? Let's put it back in the middle. In COB you have 25 rounds with 2 action every round. To build something in COB you first take it to a "bank" of tiles on your board and only then build it to your map. This makes every 2 "half actions" into 1 tile placement, lowering the actual count back down to 25 (the way I see it).
Do you count yours? It's only me?
Well then start doing it.
Cheers,
Pini!
In the picture, an expert in counting, actions or otherwise.