I need to play Concordia Solitaire again.
As for GMT: I simply decided to 4-hand Cuba Libre it seemed the easier way to play it.
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I hardly solo these days, having a few more games that I can play with the children and more occasions to play games (D&D on Wednesdays, a once a month long session of board games on the Public Library plus a few weekend afternoon/evening sessions with friends) there is not so much of an itch for me to play solo.
I often have a two handed play of a game to refresh my memory for a teach later on in the weekend.
My first solo was long ago with Hero Quest, where I double handed a whole campaign when my elder brother was not around to play, I must have been well into my teens (he’s 12 years older than me). That, Space Crusade and Advanced Hero Quest were my first dabbles, with perhaps the odd chance of a war game my brother made up with the pieces of Escape from Atlantis.
I believe I enjoy solo the most with story telling games, where I can have the time to go over the text. Games like Tales of Arabian Nights, Destinies (with the app) or similar, heavy text ones. I enjoy the stories, the development of the plot (even if random at times, like ToAN) and the decision making/exploring most. But mainly I play them because it is fun, or I am not into a video game or a good book at the time. But rarely they hook me more than a handful of plays.
Best soIo: I have to give credit to Under Falling Skies, I think it is very solid mechanically.
Worse solo: I think the Tiny Epic Games are very badly balanced for solo play, it is too obvious they included that just because. I have played solo both Dinosaurs and Pirates and they sucked.
Fan-made: Definitely Tales of Arabian Nights; I cannot think of any others right now…
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I have played solo, mostly because I have some games that allow it which I know would be hard to get to the table otherwise. Which is how I got into playing solo in the first place.
I know I messed around with some games when I was younger, two handing to be able to play, like when I borrowed Space Hulk from my school gaming club. Didn’t really do it again until, I think, Bauza’s Samurai Spirit, which I tried teaching to my wife and brother-in-law, but it didn’t go over well, so I just soloed a few games and still dig it out now and then (though it has been a while).
Main solo games have been Spirit Island, Arkham Horror the card game, and Marvel Champions, as well as dabbling with Gloomhaven: JotL, Under Fallen Skies, Firefly, Star Wars: Outer Rim, Regicide, Great Western Trail, Resist, and Marquis.
I have also two handed Batman: Gotham City Chronicles, to get a hand on the system and realized it is far too complex for it’s own good. The rules themselves are simple, but they made too many skills characters can have, and so you have terrain difficulties from space to space, hinderance depending on number of enemies which affect actions and movement, menace level which can prevent movement into a space, size limits which determine how many figures can be in a given space, and with skills that can modify each of those for a character. It’s a bunch of overhead for no real gain in fun of gameplay. Plus all the scenarios that come in the box are so tightly balanced that one mistake on the heroes part essentially guarantees they lose the match, and that mistake can even be in the choice of starting characters, which you cannot know until you’ve played that mission a few times.
I know they did develop an official solo mode, based off a fan one, but I haven’t tried it, as just getting out the game is a chore. So I guess this makes it my “worst” solo experience, even though it was two handed and not an official solo variant.
Really enjoy SI, MC, and AH, though usually two-hand those as well, but since they are co-ops, it really doesn’t matter as long as I can keep track of each player separately. Just lots of fun, but time consuming for all of them, so they don’t get played all that often.
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I do sometimes, and I should more often, especially since I’m accumulating a bunch of solo only games (The Lucky Seven, Witchcraft, 20 Strong, Final Girl, several Oniverse titles, Hoplomachus Victorum, etc) and several games that technically support coop but have no real separation of responsibilities that would make me feel like it’s actually coop (Dawn of the Zeds, Nemo’s War, Frostpunk, etc). But there’s a number of things that get in the way for me, like feeling like I tend to miss rules unless I have other people also keeping track of what’s going on, some games feeling too intense and complicated without someone else to plan with (Spirit Island, Mage Knight), and the perennial question of why I wouldn’t just play one of my thousands of videogames instead. There’s no hope of me playing those with other people…oh, and importantly, even 30-60 seconds of load time to get up and running on videogames often puts me off playing them entirely. I don’t think there’s a boardgame in the world that has under a minute setup time and most of them, especially setting up by myself, have far more. One strategy I’ve had in the past was setting up separately, and then leaving the game setup, sometimes across several days during which I might play two or three times. But well, we got cats.
Things I’ve played solo multiple times: Perseverance Episode 1 (2x), like a third of the Chronicles of Drunagor core campaign (w/ expansions), Legends of Galzyr (I think just one session but I did 2-3 months). Final Girl (I’ve tried 2 of the season 1 sets, the Alien set from season 2, and the Birds vignette in a couple different locations including, obviously, on the Konrad). 7th Citadel - 1.5 quests worth.
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I almost always only play solo and have done for the last 20 years or so, on account of there is no one in my immediate circle of friends these days who shows any interest in playing such games. I’ve tried a few introductory and party games with some friends in the last three or four years which went down okay but don’t see those guys any more. For the forseeable future too, I’ll be gaming on my todd. And of late, game nights have been few any far between: I don’t think I’ve played anything since the late Spring.
I like a range of themes, mechanics and genres so it’s easier to say what I don’t enjoy or rarely play solo. My free time is quite limited and often so is my patience, so the sorts that don’t get to the table often are any game involving a lot of setup and teardown, and anything where I have to control too many roles or parts in cooperative games. Most predominant deckbuilders are out because of the hassle of assembling decks to play and then separating afterwards, which has prevented me for buying a few where I know I’d love the theme. Similarly, trying to control six characters solo in say Zombicide iterations is a real chore, although controlling two or three roles in say Pandemic iterations is far more managable. But quicker, more straight-forward worker placement games, semi-coop “puzzlers”, some management sims and solo/small team adventuring games work fine. I’ll also be considering dipping my toe into solo RPGing this winter, being curious about Ironsworn: Starforged and getting to try Legacy of Dragonholt too.
My favourite solo has to be Maquis by some distance. Really strong and engaging theme for me, worker placement, good variety of missions of various difficulties and quick to setup/teardown. I was enjoying Arcadia Quest early in the year and have the Beyond The Grave expansion to try out this winter. Other recent favourites are Great Western Trail, Pandemic Iberia / Fall of Rome, Flash Point, Nusfjord, Viticulture Essential Edition and Architects of the West Kingdom, plus - when I have time to set them up - Concordia: Solitaria, Firefly, Fortune and Glory and Eleven.
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No I don’t solo play, unless, as mentioned by others, you include playing apps (of which I don’t play many). I play boardgames to engage with others. I do have a few games like Sprawlopolis that I keep in my bag for occasional play if I’m on a train or perhaps waiting for someone but generally if I’ve got time to waste on my own, I’ll read a book.
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I thought some more about this and would like to note: for many modern “multiplayer solitaire” games with low interaction if they have a solo-mode I often prefer that. I tend to get impatient over having to wait for others to finish taking their turns. I’d rather play actually interactive games when I have people who want to play a game with me.
Maybe I can take that as a measure of interactiveness 
Do I prefer playing this alone? → low interaction
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For me when I’m doing something hobby-ish alone it’s either a little software project, miniature painting or reading. Miniature painting is a bit connected to gaming so that’s the itch scratch thing. That and I really dislike solo board gaming. Without other humans it feels too nakedly mechanical. I fond playing online even makes it feel too mechanical even. Async gaming really gives you time to do calculations without feeling bad and that is enough even to make me feel a bit icky about it all. Remove the immediacy of human interaction and I cease to be engaged. So different mediums are better for alone tome for me.
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My thought process most of the time:
“I could play a game. But then there are all those books to read…”
“So I could read a book. But then there are all those games to play…”
Too often it ends with
“I’ll just watch something on telly instead.”
But I’m making a conscious effort not to do that, because books and games are so much more rewarding and fulfilling.
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There are a lot of good shows on streaming television, though. The trap is in watching bad television just because it’s easier. Though there are a lot of bad books too (and bad games).
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Oh, absolutely. And really good television (or film) is a thoroughly rewarding experience.
But still, very little tv is as fulfilling as a good book.
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Nanny troubles this week so I’m late to reply. Going back a bit, this is my basic rubric for the perfect solo mode (in order):
- Must simulate the real game experience*
- Must eliminate any decisions on the bots behalf
- Must minimize administration and bookkeeping
The * is because sometimes a game makes a different but excellent experience, and I of course won’t complain. But generally I’ll make sacrifices lower down to accommodate the higher up.
This segues into me needing to be the contrarian… I did not care for Concordia Solitaria. It’s an exemplar of an archetype I don’t like. Namely, where the bots actions are tied to, but different from, your own actions. Solitaria does great at my 2 and 3 but it botches number 1.
Hoping not to spoil it for anyone, but basically Solitaria only buys cards when you architect, so you set your strategy around minimizing a few, super efficient architect actions and deny it any scoring opportunity. At higher difficulty you really have to lean into this exploit. I didn’t have to study the cards and think it through, this was just apparent about 1/3 through my first run. Maybe I’m just unlucky to have seen it.
Generally, whenever bot actions are tied to your actions, you end up playing different games. And it either invites an easy exploit, when things are deterministic, or invites unfair frustration, when things are random and the bot has access to things that the game denied you (or vice versa).
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Less solo gaming now that my daughter is getting old enough to play a lot of different games, and actively asks to do so. One of the major drivers for solo gaming was lack of other players, so it’s a natural decline.
I still however solo game things that won’t have any attraction to my family, like wargames. The ones I own tend to be a bit sprawling and lengthy to play, so don’t get broken out that often.
There’s also things like solo journalling games and dungeon crawls, not quite boardgaming, but adjacent in my mind. They can get slotted into gaps like a lunch break without too much issue, and can be a good way to encourage me to stop working through a break and get away from a screen.
Solo games I’ve particularly joined - Space Hulk: Death Angel and Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game. Both have similar mechanics, although I’d say Space Hulk has the advantage in being quicker to set up and tear down. Pandemic: Fall of Rome has an enjoyable solo mode, game length is just about right for a shortish session.
The Peloponnesian War is an interesting solo wargame that has you flip sides as you play, a mechanic that I hadn’t seen before which makes for a very interesting solo game. Storm Above the Reich creates interesting narrative campaigns.
There’s probably more, but those are the first that come to mind, which is often telling in itself.
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Just a few fan contributed modes here. Of course, near any game has a file for a solo mode these days, but who knows who did it. Many are bad. (I once tried one for Village, made by someone with “solo game mode” or some such in their bgg handle who had claimed to have made dozens of solos. It was so bad I played it twice, sure the fault was mine.)
Famous ones are Jump Drive, Great Western Trail, and Grand Austria Hotel which were later released as official expansions. You can still get the originals free if you want.
- Mottainai - First some naval gazing. This is mine. It’s good. Someone made professional looking player aids for it, so at least one person likes it.
- Pipeline and prettified - Ryan Courtney endorsed.
- Curious Cargo - Official but unpublished, prolly because CC didn’t sell. The first post asks you to go to discord for the file, but 80% down the page is a link to google drive with the same resources.
- Brass Birm - And I’ve heard it’s been adapted for Lanc as well, didn’t search out the alternate files.
- Forest Shuffle - There’s two up and I don’t know which one. But I’ve heard from all directions that “forest shuffle already has a really good solo mode.”
- Pulsar 2849 - This one was ok. I think there’s two up, a very smooth one that cheats, and a more complicated one that doesn’t. Pick your poison.
Anything else I tried didn’t survive onto my games table so must have been poor.
I generally print, cut, and sleeve the paper to give it a little structure and assist with shuffling. Gets it done.
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Alright, here’s my tiering. Tiers are unordered. Happy to expound on any of these if someone is curious.
S-tier: My favorites... anyone know what the S is for?
- Jump Drive
- Ginkgopolis
- Kanban EV
- Fields of Arle
- Nations
A-tier: These can evoke the same elation and engagement as a real game night
- Gaia Project
- Spirit Island
- Pipeline
- Great Western Trail
- Troyes
- Dune: Imperium (contrary to others, I really felt the bot nailed the feel of a human opponent)
- Neom
- Search for Planet X
- Habitats
- La Granja
B-tier: These are good. In the rotation of games I like to solo
- Barrage
- Feast for Odin
- Paladins of the West Kingdom
- Hallertau
- Carson City
- Mottainai
- Race for the Galaxy (though with the app and BGA, I rarely resort to this anymore)
- Everdell
- Burgle Bros
- Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest
- Furnace
- Cascadia
- Sprawlopolis
- Trailblazers
- Chomp
- Flipships
- Ark Nova
C-tier: It's fine. I can play these when I want to play *this game*, but there's nothing special about the solo experience
- Evacuation
- Viscounts of the West Kingdom
- Architects of the West Kingdom
- Clans of Caledonia
- Pulsar 2849
- Age of Galaxy
- Rococo
- Gugong
- 51st State
- Mind MGMT
- Nusfjord
- Tiny Epic Dinosaurs
- Tiny Epic Galaxies
- Flamecraft
- Fantastic Factories
- Tiny Towns
- New York Zoo
- Long Shot: The Dice Game
- Flamme Rouge
- Food Chain Island
D-tier: These didn't work. Preferably never again.
- Pax Pamir 2e (complex and exploitable)
- Concordia (exploitable, felt I was playing the bot more than the game)
- Red Cathedral (playing the bot rather than the game)
- Empyreal (too many player decisions)
- Pandemic
- Star Realms
- Bullet♥
- Caesar! (Turczi flowchart + exploitable)
- Blitzkrieg! (Didn’t even play after reading the subjective flowcharts)
- Mint Works (blaaaand)
- Village (fan mode)
- Glass Road
Then it appears I have 37 more solo modes I haven’t tried yet… looking at the list, many of those are intentionally fallow (e.g. Agricola, Harvest ハーベスト) but yeah, there’s some runway.
I tend to prefer an abstracted opponent. I think early bots like Gaia Project, Race for the Galaxy, Nations, Troyes, Ginkgopolis did a good job with this, simulating just the factors that interact with your own efforts and abstracting the rest. True-solo-for-points can work if the puzzle is good enough. I generally feel that the latest trend toward Turczi of flowcharts and priority lists is usually unnecessary and makes things harder on the player with little benefit. In a highly interactive game, you may still need something like that.
I also prefer a mix of anticipation and uncertainty when it comes to the bot’s actions. A deck is always good, as you have a sense of what they’ve already done and what they might draw. Bots with a specialization (Gaia, RFTG, GWT) also do this well, as you kind of know which action they are more likely to take and which resource they are more likely to grab…but you never know. Fixed actions, like Concordia or Red Cathedral, create a game-within-the-game where you are trying to both play and manage the impact of a known move, and that isn’t a puzzle I’ve enjoyed.
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I play lots of solo, because my friends mostly moved out of London and boardgame meetups tend to favour shorter games.
Going from my bgg collection, I solo:
Cascadia
Chronicles of Crime: 1400
(Going to try Die of the Dead solo now I have the expansion)
Solo teaching myself Earth
Eldritch Horror
Everdell
Tried Friday and hated it
Mid-campaign on Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth is excellent 2-character solo
Lots of Marvel Champions: The Card Game, one of the best 2-character solos around
Nemo’s War (Second Edition) kicks my ass
I did solo Obsession but I dislike the mechanic of not knowing the preference type each round - must look for alternative modes.
PARKS
Pulp Detective
Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
Must do more Star Wars: Outer Rim
Viticulture
Really want to try out Concordia and solo for that would be handy.
Sagrada, Splendor and Elder Sign were all fun on phone apps.
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Cascadia’s lovely.
I’ve never done the Chronicles of Crime solo - I might have to at some point; started it with my daughter ages ago, thought ‘this is great!’ and bought all the boxes, then we’ve never got round to playing it again…
I quite like Friday, but I’m not very good at it.
I sold Nemo’s War on. I liked it, but I didn’t love it (I never beat it).
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I played Nemo’s War on Tabletopia, and enjoyed it, but knew there was no way I wanted to own the physical game. Looked like too much setup, lots of pieces, and you could lose really quickly to bad luck and either reset or put it all away again.
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I did a solo game yesterday. It was of Wild Gardens. I took the gamble that I’ll almost certainly never play it with my partner so it’s okay to play solo. (The other point about playing solo first is that it gives me one whole game to hone ideas which will be a huge advantage versus a new player which is not a great way to make an impression imo).
Anyway I quite enjoyed it. Here are the facets I liked:
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it is a pure solo. No management of fake players. Everything you do will be something you can do in the normal game.
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but wait how does that stop it being multiplayer solitaire in multiplayer? Well there’s gazumping! This is the main competitiveness in the MP game. It’s supposed to be a soft and friendly game so this basically is fine I guess.
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I like the solitaire mode has a kind of narrative structure over and above scoring. You get missions that crop up as you complete things and you’re aiming for a few goals at the start and you get graded on score.
What is a bit irritating
- the rule book is too big for solitaire mode and with no time between turns to read it it is a bit of a pain. I think this irritation will go as I get familiar. Mostly though for learning correcting rules frictions is possibly more annoying in someways (no chatting to see what makes sense, forgetting to check mistakes yourself) but better in others (no embarassing waiting while you flap around and resort to BGG).
Overall I think it was a success though!
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