I’ve been playing a number of solo games lately as my usual group seems to be doomed to never have aligned schedules these days. I’m currently in love with Arkham Horror LCG and the Wingspan Automata, but I also enjoy smaller games like Totem (solo mode) and One Deck Dungeon. What small-medium sized solo games do y’all enjoy?
- I love all the Buttonshy wallet games: Sprawlopolis, Rove, and Food Chain Island in particular are great.
- Maybe a bit on the heavier side, but I currently really enjoy Imperium: Classics/Imperium: Legends. They have a great solo mode and really scratch that deck building itch.
I do like the solo-mode of Everdell. The strategy is a bit different compared to the non-solo version but I kinda prefer it that way
My smallest solos are probably Friday and a few Oniverse titles. I love Aerion and Nautilion the most, out of that series. I do enjoy Wingspan solo, been meaning to unbox the Oceania expansion, which I got because it apparently fixes the final round egg hoarding.
Coffee Roaster is fun and not big, also I’m a sucker for Cascadia - a couple of solo games back to back run to about 30-40 mins. Finally, been getting into Glass Road, which is pretty short.
And I’m a sucker for coffee, so I might have to check that one out. These all sound like good recommendations, thanks!
I do end up loving Friday and it seems like it’s totally under everyone’s radar. It’s not revelutionary or anything, but it’s straight forward fun and for whatever reason I always end up tickled by how the gameplay and theme were integrated.
I am a fan of Cartographers. I printed and laminated some sheets so I can play and just wipe it clean for next time.
Ghost Stories is stellar for solo play, as long as you don’t mind getting dunked on
Lotr LCG is the best solo game along with Mage Knight that I have ever played. It’s a smaller game when on the table, but a massive game in terms of investment (time and money).
I know this is a fairly obvious one, but I’ve really been enjoying vampire survivors this past year, it’s kind of been my go-to whenever I have half an hour free.
Since we are in [email protected] I will ask the question: How would you design Vampire Survivors: The Boardgame?
My take: The one thing I would definitely want to preserve is the massive power escalation, both for the player and the enemies. Perhaps a deckbuilder with upgradeable cards? Like the transform cards in some Ascension sets but more increments. Each turn you’d have to deal with a large number of enemy cards that are arranged in a grid around you. Your cards would give movement, attack and defense. You’d be solving a quick spatial puzzle each turn to get the most out of your hand.
Haha yeah I realized they were talking about board games 5 seconds after I posted, whoops! That’s a tough question, I feel like one of the core mechanics of the game is ducking and weaving around enemies and not being able to attack directly so maybe your goal is to Dodge and weave as close to enemy cards as you can without coming into contact with them and their health drains over time until they’re dead? You could possibly borrow something from tsuro for the evading mechanic
I’d love to see something like this happen.
Vampire Survivors is fantastic. Though I’ve only “beat” a level once so far. I feel like I’m missing something. Happy to see that new update today though.
They update that game so frequently it’s crazy, ive still not managed to 100% it since they just keep adding new stuff, plus it’s getting a tv show in the near future??
For me the main appeal of the game is achievement hunting and just having something that’s somewhat of a challenge but not super difficult.
- My favorite solo game is Sprawlopolis (and its siblings Agropolis and Naturopolis, but OG remains the best). It is just 18 cards and I have played it over and over.
- I enjoy the solo mode of Cascadia quite a bit, especially the various challenges.
- Sagani works very well as a solo puzzle.
- Depending on what qualifies as small, 51st State plays really fast as a solo and I’ve enjoyed all my plays quite a bit. I admit I haven’t even played this multiplayer yet
- Two games that do not themselves qualify as small but have much faster playing solo modes than multiplayer are Ark Nova and Revive. Love both of them.
Just bought Sprawlopolis based on your comment and am really looking forward to playing! It’ll be the first game I bought specifically to play solo.
Hope you are having fun with it :) I never travel without it. Sometimes I play a game with morning coffee or during lunchbreak. Those 18 different goals are enough for endless combinations.
I have recently discovered For Northwood. It’s a solo trick-taking game, it’s super fun and brilliant in its semplicity. As like before The Crew I didn’t think it was possible to create a collaborative briscola, I didn’t think it was possible to create a solo version of this genre of game before this.
If you are into word games, Paperback Adventures is a lot of fun!
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/338468/paperback-adventures
Curious! I’m going to give this one a look
I’ll second cascadia and the button shy games sprawlopolis and ROVE. I’ve also been enjoying the solo hidden movement game black sonata of late, and it’s a wonderful world as a engine/tableau builder
