I enjoy solo games… and I enjoy drafting games. But turning a multiplayer drafting game into a coherent and enjoyable solo drafting game is not a simple proposition. How do you simulate the loss of choices created by the intelligent choices of other players? (Yes, I’ll stipulate that not every human opponent you face is making intelligent choices.)

In this short post, I’ll attempt to highlight a design idea and its variations that has allowed a number of very good multiplayer games to also work quite well as solo game experiences. I’ll be focusing on three excellent recent releases – Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig, Pioneer Rails, and Stonespine Architects – all three from different design teams (Ted Alspach, Jeff Allers & Matthew Dunstan, Jordy Adan) and different publishers (Bezier Games, Dranda Games, Thunderworks Games).

I’m not claiming to make an exhaustive review of the subject – the references I’ll be making to other games are those in my own personal experience.

Pack It Up!

The design idea (or mechanic/mechanism – I am just not interested in that particular niche gamer argument today on which one is “correct”) at the heart of all three solo variants of these games is packets. 

No, not sugar packets or artificial sweetener packets or even packets of various gamer-friendly snacks. (Anyone up for Twizzler Bites or some Red Vines?) Packets of playing cards.

The first time I saw this mechanic was in the city-builder drafting game from 2018, NEOM (which, btw, I highly recommend). The multiplayer game uses a 7 Wonders-style draft of tiles which are then placed onto your individual city board. (To be fair, the first time I saw this style of draft was in Fairy Tale… but 7 Wonders is the game that “put drafting on the map”.)

In order to play NEOM solo, each “age” of tiles (there are three of them) is shuffled and divided into packs. After some slight shifting of tiles to make the early packs larger and the later packs smaller, the solo player picks up each pack in turn and chooses a single tile to place. There are some other small rules changes about purchasing resources and dealing with disaster tiles… but that simple structural choice maintains the drafting feel of the game while limiting your options to keep the task of building an efficient city challenging.

Wonderful Idea

It’s a Wonderful World (2019) is yet another drafting game with its own twists (the production of elements in order to “build” cards into your permanent tableau) that chose to use the packet idea to fuel the solo game. The solo player deals eight “development pools” of five cards each… and then considers each “pool” individually, playing cards as potential constructions or recycling them for resources. The player may also discard two of those cards to draw five more cards from the deck, keeping one of them. After finishing with two “pools” (aka packets), a production phase happens, thus simulating the rhythm of a multiplayer game of It’s A Wonderful World.

Again, the packet design idea helps keep the drafting “feel” of the multiplayer game while offering enough constraints to keep the solo player from cruising to an unearned victory.

Blueprint for Fun

More recently, I’ve seen the packet mechanic used in a variety of  newer games as a key element in their solo mode. 

The flip’n’write re-imagining of Bezier Games’ Castles of Mad King Ludwig is Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig… in which players draft rooms from a random selection of cards to add to their growing castles (drawn onto vellum paper). Many elements of the game are similar to the original tile-based game, including the need to finish rooms (cover all the doors) and the various special powers that are activated when that happens.

In a solo game of Blueprints, the player turns over three cards and chooses one of them to build into his castle. (Yes, it’s a packet – essentially, you get 10 packets of three cards in a solo game.) Cards not used by the solo player are given to the automata opponent and used at the end of the game to calculate the amount(s) of room types or sizes to win the King’s Favor. 

Westward Ho!

Designed by Matthew Dunstan and our own OG friend, Jeff Allers, Pioneer Rails is another flip’n’write that leads to drawing rail tracks across the Wild West. Players must connect, divide, or partially surround hexes with various buildings & items (saloons, cattle, forts, gold, etc.) by wisely choosing the best card for building AND for creating a poker hand. (The deck is A-K-Q-J-10 in the four classic playing cards suits.)

In the multiplayer game, the “dealer” (start player for that turn) flips over three playing cards and chooses one of them to use for themselves. The rest of the players choose one of the two remaining cards to use. In the solo game, the solo player flips a single card and sets it aside – it cannot be used. The next cards flipped constitute the choice for the player on that turn.

The information in the discard pile (what cards I didn’t get to use) can be extremely helpful in making later poker hand & line-building decisions. Again, it’s a “packet” of three cards that you see – but only two that you can use.

Dig! Dig! Dig!

The final recent game is the latest entry in the World of Ulos (aka Roll Player) universe from Thunderworks Games, Stonespine Architects. Here, players are working to build a fantasy dungeon to specification, all the while denying their opponents the needed traps, tunnels, monsters, and treasure they need.

The solo game changes up some of the parameters for scoring and uses an opponent deck to let you know what kinds of dungeon plans he is collecting… but to their credit, the necessary symbology is built unobtrusively into the main deck cards. Once again, the solo player takes a packet of cards, draft one (and place it in their dungeon), keep one (to keep it out of the hands of the “bad guy” and/or be ready to play it next turn), and then add any cards with the matching symbol for your nemesis to his score pile. The remaining cards are discarded and new cards are drawn.

There’s more to the game (how the “bad guy” scarfs up monsters & traps from the market, for example)… but you can easily see how building things you need can conflict with keeping stuff the automata wants from him.

Mini-Reviews for Solo Gamers

Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig

There is no question here that the solo game of Blueprints is better than any solo implementation of Castles of Mad King Ludwig… and it’s a really intriguing game completely separate of your enjoyment (or lack thereof) of the parent game. The sophisticated scoring system (and, thankfully, well-designed scorepad & player aids) mean that a multiplayer game moves at the speed of the most AP-prone player… which is not an issue when you’re playing it solo!

Similar games include House of Cats (by the designer of Caylus, no less!) and Verplant & Zugestellt… but my first choice in this “build your castle/cottage/dream home” writing game is Blueprints. (I will point out the really nice production on this one – even in the retail version: vellum paper, high-end colored pencils labeled with the name of the rooms they’re used on, and high-quality cards.

There’s a full review of Blueprints coming to the OG next week!

Pioneer Rails

You can adjust the difficulty of Pioneer Rails solo play by varying the number of objective cards you force yourself to complete. After a rough first couple of games, I’ve gotten better at figuring out how to prioritize objective cards… and when to give up on them when I’ll waste too much time/energy pursuing them.

This is the most portable of the three games… slip a few player maps into your laptop bag along with a couple of small decks of cards and you’re ready to roll. (Well, ready to lay track.)

Something that’s important to my enjoyment of Pioneer Rails is actually a key to my enjoyment of all of these games – they are not simply abstract exercises in filling in boxes with numbers or symbols. Each of them (and the two games I noted in the opening) involve creating a world/story as you go – a castle fit for a king, a rail network “civilizing” the West, or a fantasy dungeon filled with surprises.

Stonespine Architects

The only one of this trio that doesn’t involve drawing/writing… and yet, still very much a building game. Of the three games, it has the most “overhead” in correctly running and scoring the automata – but compared to games like Dungeon Alliance or Mosaic (both games I love to play solo), it’s comparatively simple.

I’ve been surprised with how well the automata challenges me in this one – and I haven’t even leveled up to the “legendary” solo cards yet.

Interestingly, despite having the largest table footprint for solo play, it’s actually the shortest game (clocking in at about 20-25 minutes). For comparison, Pioneer Rails runs about 30 minutes (longer if I’m trying to math out my final plays) and Blueprints is 45-50 minutes.

Final Thoughts

I heartily recommend any of these games to you as a solo player. They are all part of my game collection and I have no intention of shipping any of them off.

Question: what other drafting games with solo modes are out there? (Asking for a “friend” who might be in the market for more of them… he he he…)

I received a review copy of Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig… and I’m privileged to be friends with both Ted Alspach (designer of Blueprints) and Jeff Allers (designer of Pioneer Rails).