I’ve been writing these solo gaming reports since March of 2020… yes, early on in the pandemic. But my solo gaming started a lot farther back than that.

In junior high & high school (1977-1982), I played a lot of wargames. At different points, I had a subscription to both The General (Avalon Hill’s magazine) and Strategy & Tactics (SPI’s magazine that included a wargame in each issue)…. and, for a short while, Ares (SPI’s magazine that included a sci-fi or fantasy game in each issue). While one of my good friends was happy to play Squad Leader and Panzerblitz and Wooden Ships & Iron Men, most of my wargaming time was spent playing against myself – choosing actions and rolling dice for both sides of the conflict.

There were actual solo games that saw a lot of play during that time as well: Chainsaw Warrior (Games Workshop), Ambush! & Mosby’s Raiders (Victory Games), RAF (West End Games), Voyage of the BSM Pandora (SPI), and B-17 (Avalon Hill). I still own Chainsaw Warrior.

This new era of well-designed automata and solo modes for multiplayer games, coupled with excellent new solo game designs, is actually quite heartening to someone (me!) who finds something really satisfying about physically playing a game: shuffling cards, moving pieces, seeing it all spread out in front of you.

Solo gaming is now a decent-sized chunk of my gaming experiences – while I still play a lot of games with friends and family, 31% of my gaming in the first four months of 2024 was solo. For comparison, the yearly total for 2023 was 20%, 2022 was 22%, 2021 was 33%, 2020 was 19%, and 2019 was 6%. (These numbers are drastically offset by how much Memoir ’44 I’m playing via BoardGameArena right now – 69 games in the last four months!)

So, what follows are my thoughts on the thirty-six (36!) different solo games I’ve played so far in 2024 – ordered by the number of times I’ve played them. (Note: this is not necessarily how much I like a particular game for solo play – for example, I think Nemo’s War is an excellent solo game design but I haven’t played it [yet!] in 2024.)

Nickels

Lost Ruins of Arnak (6 plays – approx. playing time: 45 minutes)

My pick for Kennerspiel in 2021 was this fantastic multiplayer game of adventure… chock full with a myriad of pathways to win. The solo module (included in the base game) works like a charm.

This spring, I’ve been playing The Missing Expedition expansion – which has a solo (or 2 player co-op) campaign that expands the original print’n’play solo campaign to six games. It’s excellent.

Stonespine Architects (6 plays – approx. playing time: 30 minutes)

Your job is to build a dungeon in the and populate it with monsters, traps, treasure, and a sensible network of tunnels. I’m working on a full review of this just-released game.

This is the first of four games in the Roll Player universe that is a part of this list – and I like all of them.

Dune: Imperium (5 plays – approx. playing time: 70 minutes)

I’m not really a Dune fan – oh, yeah, I read the first three novels back in high school (late 70s/early 80s) like every well-behaved sci-fi/fantasy nerd – but it was never a world or story that captured my imagination. And, yes, since I’ve been a gamer for a very long time, I actually owned the AH version of Dune (aka “Cosmic Encounter meets the Spice Worm”).

Fast forward to 2020/21 and all the hype about the upcoming Dune film… and just enough people said nice things about Dune: Imperium to get me to take a chance on it. 

And – wow! – it was worth it. Much like Lost Ruins of Arnak, Dune: Imperium blends deck-building and worker placement to evoke the feel of the novels/film in an incredibly playable format. Particularly for solo players, the solo deck works like a charm – and Dire Wolf also posted a free app to automate the solo process.

The addition of the Rise of Ix expansion just added to the fun – I like the new variety of cards and technologies… and it feels like the AI is even stronger with this mix of choices. The new Immortality expansion added some interesting quirks to the game along with (you guessed it) buffing the AI even more.

I’ve just acquired Dune: Imperium Uprising (1 play – approx. playing time 75 minutes)… which reconfigures your expectations for how the system is going to work (and, though I haven’t tried yet, is compatible with Rise of Ix and Immortality).

Path of Civilization (5 plays – approx. playing time: 45 minutes)

I’m a sucker for civilization building games – and this one has an intriguing mechanic where you continually are getting rid of earlier “technology” cards in order to progress forward. Path of Civilization worked very well both with 2-5 players and and as a solo game. The first time we set up the game was a lot of work – but once you’ve done the work of putting things together in a logical manner, it’s pretty easy to do. The rulebook felt heavier than the rules actually are – the game itself is very straightforward (and interesting) after you’ve learned it. There is a lot of variety in the various challenge and battle cards, as well as the various leaders and wonders that appear.

The solo system is surprisingly effective, esp. once you progress beyond the basic level by increasing the difficulty and/or using the “tougher” side of the five possible opponents.

Terraforming Mars (5 plays – approx. playing time: 75 minutes)

One of my birthday gifts in 2020 was a copy of Terraforming Mars… and I quickly discovered a thriving community of folks on BGG who love this game as a solo exercise. I now own all the expansions… but I think the best solo configuration for me (so far) uses just Prelude. My win rate is about 50%, which seems right for this style of game. (The arrival of the Big Box expansion made it even more enjoyable… there’s just something magical about 3D terrain rising from the Martian surface!)

Four on the Floor (or Table)

The Artemis Project (4 plays – approx. playing time: 35 minutes)

A six round engine builder of settling Europa (the ice moon of Jupiter)… it’s primarily a dice placement game that is reminiscent of Jeff Allers’ Order of the Gilded Compass/Alea iacta est games – only with more random events and sci-fi theme… that received a “glow up” from an expansion & 2nd edition printing that fixed some issues with the original game board & rules. The solo version is solid – with the random events changing the challenge of the game. I’m not sure the expansion is worth the hassle for solo play – but I like what it does with multi-player games.

Let’s Go To Japan (4 plays – approx. playing time: 40 minutes)

The production of the game is top-notch… the artwork is gorgeous… and it has actually has the solo play to match those. It’s “just” a drafting game – but when playing solo, the things you don’t choose are being fed to your opponent, the rival travel agent. I would not be surprised to have 10+ solo plays and 5+ multi-player plays of this by the end of the year. (Dale wrote a really great preview/review of this game that convinced me to back it on Kickstarter.)

Twilight Inscription (4 plays – approx. playing time: 60 minutes)

There are issues with this roll’n’write homage to one of the classic table-eating 4X games (Twilight Imperium)… the four boards (per player!) are awfully busy and sometimes difficult to read, the symbology is easy to obscure with orange chalk pens in the game, and the order of the event cards can sometimes doom your strategic choices. With that said, I’ve actually enjoyed this more as a solo game than as a multi-player.

I’m working to get tokens printed to track the odd symbols which can be used on other boards – that should help alleviate some of the confusion of what you can/cannot still do with symbols you’ve earned.

Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig (3 plays – approx. playing time: 60 minutes)

I’m a big fan of Castles of Mad King Ludwig… but for solo play in that castle-building world, I definitely prefer Blueprints. The challenges are similar to the “parent” game – though the scoring is more complicated. That complication makes the solo version more interesting and enjoyable. (I’m working on a full review of the game for the OG.)

Dead Reckoning (3 plays – approx. playing time: 100 minutes)

For a game with this many interactive elements, Dead Reckoning manages to make the solo mode work and work well. Each time I play, I’m fascinated by the balance between the various victory pathways and the variety in the system.

But as much as I enjoyed the base game solo, I’m infinitely more jazzed about playing it with the Saga and Sea Dog expansions… the addition of a campaign mode for solo play coupled with the constant drip of story elements meant I had a two week Dead Reckoning festival on my gaming table last fall.

This spring, I’m about halfway through the second Saga expansion… and I’m enjoying it just as much.

Lockup: A Roll Player Tale (3 plays – approx. playing time: 50 minutes)

You’d think that a game with bluffing as a primary element wouldn’t work as a solo… and I was just as surprised as you are to find out that was incorrect. While I think Lockup is stronger as a multi-player game, the solo game is enjoyable.

And, as much as I like the base game, I think for gamers the expansion adds another layer that’s worth the extra effort.

Note: second Roll Player universe game.

Minigolf Designer (3 plays – approx. playing time: 35 minutes)

I liked the look of this game – a tile-layer with a strong theme of building a miniature golf course – but once I finally scared up a copy, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the puzzle of the gameplay. In a multiplayer game, tiles are drafted in a similar manner to Kingdomino… while in the solo game, the player picks two tiles and places one of them. Both the solo game and the multiplayer game are fun – they are slightly heavier than Carcassonne with a greater variety of scoring decisions.

There’s now a mini-expansion (Putt of No Return) to the game that adds new tiles, better artwork cards(!), and double layer boards for tracking par… and a second expansion, Minigolf Empire, that adds a campaign element to the game. (I particularly like the news cards from Empire, which can be used when playing non-campaign games as well.)

I wasn’t sure about scoring the solo campaign – but the designer (Alban Nanty) responded on BGG to my questions:

The expected score for a game of Empire extension, is roughly the same as a standard game, i.e. it is expected for good players to score around 18 points for Mr Profeet and around 20 points for Mrs Pressco. Although normally your score for the two clients will increase during the campaign. Therefore, we expect the player’s score to be roughly the same as in a standard game.

I would then recommend to take the target scores table of the solo mode and multiply them by 5, to get a total target score for the campaign.

If you want to know more, I wrote a glowing review of Minigolf Designer back in 2021 for the OG.

Monumental (3 plays – approx. playing time: 60 minutes)

Here’s what I wrote last year in responding to my first couple of plays of the game: “Monumental mixes deck building, tableau manipulation, board play, and combat – and, to my surprise, actually has a really solid solo mode that is easy to execute and leaves the focus of the game on what your civilization is doing rather than running the automata.  However, it’s a pretty substantial set-up time (30 minutes or so, particularly if you’re using some of the expansion content or extra modules)… so you need to be someone (like me!) who enjoys the process of getting the game ready to go.”

I have some more thoughts now with five games under my belt:

• The solo mode really is very good – and highly customizable as you add in the expansions. (Each civilization has its own AI card in the deck… and each warlord has a characteristic – technological, aggressive, architectural, cultural, or economic that trigger some of the AI cards.)
• The expansions add some nice twists – new civilizations and new terrain hexes with special rules – as well as additional cards/tokens for the Hero/Monster modules. The African Empires has the most new stuff in the box – including the Trade system, the Future Era, Unrest cards, The Reserve, and the Natural Wonders & Quest Modules.
• Speaking of the various modules, I have some feelings:
  • Renaissance Era: adds extra time to the game without adding much to the game… only for diehards
  • Monster module: a bit fiddly to set up, but nice way to keep the game from feeling same-y (and also gives you more to do with your explorers)
  • Heroes module: need to try this one again – the heroes in my single game didn’t make much of a difference, but that might be a different story with a larger player count
  • Future Era: a pretty simple system to convert leftover basic resources into points in the final turns of the game – recommended
  • Unrest cards: with great power comes great hassles… cards that clog up your deck & display – necessary to use with a number of the African Empire cards
  • The Reserve: some tokens and civilizations can reserve cards that weren’t in the original development deck… allowing for some interesting tactics
  • Natural Wonders module: essentially pre-placed Wonder(s) that offers extra goodies to whoever controls it/them… another way to vary up board design
  • Quest module: each player has two quests which are worth points (2 each) if they fulfill by the end of the game… helps set some directions in how you are going to play/make decisions
  • Trade system: not only gives your explorers more to do (create trading posts) but also gives you another way to score points and get resources… I like it a lot
• You really need to either (a) have friends who like helping set up the game, or (b) enjoy the zen-like experience of setting up a large game over 30+ minutes. (I fit squarely in the (b) category.) Probably the biggest strike against playing it solo is set-up time.
• I think the miniatures would look really cool – but the board is busy enough without minis and would be really hard to read with the addition of them.
• Overall, I’m glad I have this… but I think my primary plays will be a max of three players, with solo and two player more likely.

Pioneer Rails (3 plays – approx. playing time: 30 minutes)

A clever flip’n’write from OG writer Jeff Allers (and Matthew Dunstan – another designer I quite like) that actually does some nice things both with rail-building and with poker. The solo challenges in this game ramp up well – you can experiment to find the appropriate level of difficulty for you.

Roll Player Adventures (3 plays – approx. playing time: 75 minutes)

Yes, it’s an epic series of D&D-like adventures in a “choose your own story” mode… but there’s more to it than that. The system uses some simple mechanisms to track what you’ve done and how that will affect return visits to the same location. As well, the skill test/combat system involves actual decisions and brain power.

I’d highly recommend it for solo play – or for two player (my son & I started a two player campaign and are enjoying it immensely.)

Waypoints (3 plays – approx. playing time: 25 minutes)

Another very creative roll’n’write game from Postmark Games… this time using topographical maps and a hiking theme. As I’ve done with other games from this company, I’ve laminated my copy of the two Waypoints boards so I can take them whenever I travel. (BTW, the 2nd map – a desert national park – has some unique challenges.)

It Takes Two

Dawn of Ulos (2 plays – approx. playing time: 60 minutes)

Set in the earliest days of the Roll Player universe, this is actually a nicely produced homage to Acquire… albeit one with fantasy theming, special powers, and a workable solo play system.

Final Girl (2 plays – approx. playing time: 40 minutes)

My younger son decided to get himself a solo game back in 2022… and, despite not being a particularly big fan of horror films, went with Final Girl – which takes the base system of Hostage Negotiator and adds layers of variety and theme. He’s a big fan.

I managed a couple of plays of this well-designed solo game… but only one victory. (The Poltergeist caused pretty much every potential victim in the house to turn on me like a caged weasel.)

Unmatched: Tales to Amaze! (2 plays – approx. playing time: 30 minutes)

One of the curses of doing a good bit of playtesting is that sometimes you end up with the earliest versions of a game – and that’s what happened to my son & I with Tales to Amaze. We were frustrated by a number of things in the original prototype.

However, I trusted Restoration Games to do proper development work – and my trust was not disappointed. Tales to Amaze actually takes one of the best skirmish games out there (Unmatched: Battle of Legends) and creates a highly functional and enjoyable cooperative game as players take on Mothman or the Alien Invader along with their cryptid minions. (Do not play Ant Queen as a minion in your first game – trust me on this one.)

And if the gorgeous production & great cooperative game weren’t enough, all four of the player heroes work as competitive heroes against any of the other Unmatched characters.

The solo version is excellent… though it may be slightly easier (especially if you’re using a hero with multiple sidekicks). Multiple folks I know (including me) have taken to playing two heroes vs the game which keeps you from “speeding” to the end by ignoring the minions and simply pounding on the boss.

BTW, I wrote a review of Tales to Amaze for the OG that I’d love for you to read. :-)

One Is the Loneliest Number

Ark Nova (1 play – approx. playing time: 90 minutes)

There’s a reason so many people are nuts about this zoo-building game – it’s really that good. And, as you can probably guess by my number of solo plays last year, Ark Nova is an excellent solo game.

The solo design forces you to win the game (get your Conservation & Appeal markers to cross) before time runs out – so you can set your difficulty by where you start your Appeal marker. 20 was too easy – 10 is a good medium range challenge, and 5 is kicking my butt (but I’m getting closer).

I’ve had great experiences playing this game solo, with 2 players, and with 3 players… and my second solo game with the Marine Worlds expansion was very enjoyable. With the plethora of cards in the base game, it’s always a question if “more stuff” will actually be better for the game… and, to their credit, the Marine Worlds expansion adds interesting decisions without gumming up the works of the original game. I particularly like the improved action card draft, which nudges players in new (and often different) directions.

Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale (1 play – approx. playing time: 30 minutes)

An incredibly pleasant flip’n’write game that works like a charm as a solo game… and will also work well as a “over Facetime/Zoom” game if you use the solo rules for monster attacks. The Skills mini-expansion adds another level of decision-making that works well. I’m glad Cartographers is in my collection… adding a set of colored pencils makes my maps look even better!

I’ll also throw in kind words for the Heroes stand-alone expansion & the six new map packs… they add some variety to the game without overly complicating the system. (The only hassle is how to store the game and the pile of maps in the two small boxes.)

Finally, there’s a great iOS app for Cartographers – which I’ve played a bunch of times this year (but don’t count in my games played list.)

Eleven: Football Manager Board Game (1 play – approx. playing time: 90 minutes)

While there are some tricky parts (understanding how/when to flip jerseys, for example), the game itself works like a charm and is great fun to play, especially if you are (like myself) a fan of Premier League soccer. Match play is important – but Eleven is much bigger than winning matches… it’s actually an economic/management game.

Since the game this re-design was based on (Club Stories) was a solo game, it is not a surprise that this works splendidly for a single player. However, I wouldn’t suggest trying to throw all of the expansions in at one time – that’s my single play for this year (so far) and it was a bit much. (I do plan on mixing the international players into the regular deck for more variety moving forward… but ditching the airline/recruiting mechanic.)

Excavation Earth (1 play – approx. playing time: 90 minutes)

I’m still not sure what to think about Excavation Earth – I like the interlocking mechanics in the game, but sometimes I feel like it’s playing me as much as I’m playing it. My play earlier this spring helped me attitude, though – and not just because I found a cheap copy of the Second Wave expansion. Being able to see everything clearly makes the game much more playable… and enabled me to figure out some of the connection points.

It’s not for everyone – but I’m glad I own it.

Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters (1 play – approx. 15 minutes)

I pulled this Kinderspiel-winning game out to take pictures of it for my top 100 games on my personal blog… and ended up playing a game solo. Gosh, it’s so good.

Great Western Trail: New Zealand (1 play – approx. playing time: 90 minutes)

In what was a common theme for last year, I found another game that I really enjoyed that I was – based on my previous experience – pretty sure I would dislike. (Non-solo games that fit this category included Red Dragon Inn & Zombicide 2nd Edition.)

I avoided playing the original Great Western Trail for a long time – even though I really enjoyed some of Pfister’s designs. My first play was very good – but I just didn’t see who I could get to play it with me.

The new versions being released piqued my interest – but not enough to pull the trigger until GWT: New Zealand… and boy howdy, I’m glad it did. There are a number of changes to the base game – though the basics are still the same. It’s as if they took GWT and the Rails to the North expansion, smushed them together, added some clever twists to “loosen” the game up a bit, and then did a better job with the graphics than the previous versions.

The solo AI is very solid and incredibly easy to administer – though not always easy to beat.

Jump Drive (1 play – approx. playing time: 25 minutes)

Jump Drive is the quickest member of the Race for the Galaxy family of games and certainly the most self-contained… so I was somewhat surprised to hear that designer Tom Lehmann had created an expansion. Thankfully, no games were harmed in the making of this expansion.

Tom managed to add start worlds and goals to Jump Drive (along with a few more cards to make it playable by 5 players)… and in one of the classier moves I’ve seen in a while, brought in the gentleman on BGG (Eric Kaminsky) who’d designed a solo campaign system for the game and used it!

The solo system works brilliantly, btw – so far, I’ve managed to beat the first four campaigns but am stymied by the fifth. (Campaigns consist of 4 games – which explains the longer playing time noted above.)

I reviewed the original game – sans expansion – here on the OG. There’s also an excellent implementation of it on BoardGameArena.

Mice & Mystics (1 play – approx. playing time: 75 minutes)

Yet another nearly untouched used copy for bargain prices meant this thematic adventure game entered my collection. I really enjoyed my single play last year and want to keep my Mice & Mystics campaign going… but I have to be in the right mood for it, so it doesn’t come out as often as it deserves.

Nations: the Dice Game (1 play – approx. playing time: 35 minutes)

I’d rather play this with more players… but the solo game works well. If I didn’t have a number of better options (see above and below), this would hit the solo table more often.

Quadropolis (1 play – approx. playing time: 20 minutes)

I played both this and The Taverns of Tiefenthal (1 play – approx. playing time: 70 minutes) as “two player games” controlling both players to refresh my rules memory. Neither are particularly great solo games.

Small City: Deluxe Edition (1 play – approx. playing time: 70 minutes)

This very pretty reprint is billed as SimCity as a board game – and since I’m a sucker for city-building games, I dove in. It’s surprisingly crunchy – very easy to make a mistake that dooms your game – but shorter than it looks at first glance.

I keep thinking about it and the puzzle of doing it well – which is a good sign. The hardest part is that the rules are counter-intuitive for some buildings, so getting up to speed each time is part of the learning curve.

Finding a good way to store the game (and the expansions) definitely will help getting this to the table. (I found a really well-designed 3D printable insert.)

The Guild of Merchant Explorers (1 play – approx. playing time: 30 minutes)

This extremely clever flip’n’write doesn’t actually contain any writing – instead, you place explorers (cubes) on your map and by completing regions, place village buildings. At the end of each round, all of your explorers are removed from the board, but your villages stay to give you new starting places.

There are four different maps in the original Guild of Merchant Explorers box, with 2 more maps available as an expansion from AEG. It’s been a hit with everyone I’ve taught it to… and I find it relaxing and enjoyable to play as a solo game.

Tucana Builders (1 play – approx. playing time: 30 minutes)

Tucana Builders feels more like Take It Easy crossed with Trails of Tucana… there’s definitely a real push-your-luck element here. The solo requirement of completing 2 randomly determined objectives can vary the difficulty of the game widely – but it’s short enough that I don’t mind.

Undaunted: Normandy (1 play – approx. playing time: 40 minutes)

One of the last Christmas boxes to arrive in 2021 was a copy of Undaunted: Reinforcements… the expansion that offers extra units, new scenarios, 2 vs 2 play, and – most importantly for this recap – solo play. The AI is smart and keeps me on my toes… and while it takes a minute to figure out how to set up and run, it’s worth the time. I’ve been slowly working my way through the Normandy campaign as the Americans and enjoying each time it hits the table. (One of the bonuses of the design: I can flip to the Axis side and play through the campaign again – both come in the Reinforcements box!)

The AI plays “faster” than we have normally played (in other words, it chases objectives and unit elimination pretty hard)… which has forced me to take more chances and ‘fail boldly’ against it. Makes for a very exciting game.

I want desperately to play Undaunted: Stalingrad (released in 2022)… but the lack of a solo option and no consistent opponent may have that one wait a while.

Voidfall (1 play – approx. playing time: 2 hours 30 minutes)

I’m still trying to work on a review for this intricate and amazing game of interstellar conflict & cultural survival… that is shorter than the three rulebooks (yes, three – I kid you not) that come with the game. Normally, I’d balk at a game with a non-random combat system and intertwined mechanisms – but the theme of defeating the Voidborn is so tightly woven into the design & flow of the game that I find myself lost in the world and the puzzle of trying to expand my civilization’s capabilities whilst fending off the encroachment of mind-altering evil. 

The game comes with a myriad of player factions and stunning gorgeous production – as well being fully playable as a solo (the way I have been playing), cooperative, and competitive game.

In Progress

Mr. President: The American Presidency (1 play – approx. playing time: A LOT)

I wrote an extensive first impression/preview of this massive solo game (see the picture above) for the Opinionated Gamers site last fall – it is essentially a solo roleplaying game for political nerds… and I definitely qualify. (I’m currently in the middle of my second game – which is not going nearly as well as the first one. I’ve managed to evade an election scandal but at the cost of my relationship with Congress.)

Pictured:

• top row – Final Girl, Great Western Trail: New Zealand
• bottom row – Mr. President, Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig, Path of Civilization

I received review copies of Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig, Dead Reckoning, and Monumental.