5 Board Games I Prefer Solo
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#boardgames #top5
I love solo gaming! My favorites are Mage Knight, Spirit Island, Robinson Crusoe, Nemo’s War, Black Sonata, Maquise, Too Many Bones and the list goes on and on.
Murph-tastic as always 🙂 Ark Nova is one I possibly prefer solo as it just takes so long to play multiplayer.
I gotta try Wingspan solo, I tend to just go to the app or BGA now if I'm alone. But, I just miss playing it in person. I have been enjoying Marvel Champs the most at solo along with Enchanted Plumes lately.
I have The Networks because you guys keep championing it. I bought it used after one your top 100s. I have yet to play it solo, but you make it sound ALOT of fun 😄
Obsession and Nusfjord, because there isn't really AI upkeep and I can focus on my turns
Awesome list! I just started solo gaming this month – looking forward to adding these to the mix!
No particular order, railroad ink, overboss, viscounts of the west kingdom, New York zoo, horrified
As much as I love the brothers Murph together, but oh boy I wasn't expecting to love them so much separately too! Its a more relaxed a chill vibe. So much fun!
That's a good selection, playing single player games can be good.
I'm designing a solo game right now and you just gave me a lot of insight! Thank you so much, love the energy, love the content!
I've recently gotten into the Legendary Marvel deck building game, that has a great solo mode and tons of expansions. And if Marvel isn't your thing they do different Legendary variants from other IPs, X-files, James Bond and Aliens.
Enjoyed Sleeping Gods solo. Also surprised by the Agricola solo 7 game campaign, was interesting.
I love Ark Nova solo.
Ex Libris! I forgot it could be played solo! Now I’m psyched!
I love playing Arkham Horror lcg solo.
I actually try to minimize playing competitive games like wingspan solo if I know my gaming group likes them. I got hooked on playing both pandemic and evolution solo and eventually got to a point where it was less fun to play with the group because I have played the games so many more times than the rest of the group.
My group doesn’t really play them so I have I’ve really enjoyed BaseBall Highlights 2045 solo and also pursuit of happiness.
My top 5:
1. The 7th Continent
2. Imperium: Classics
3. Welcome to the Moon
4. Too Many Bones
5. Spirit Island
Great selection! I'm happy to hear of games that I haven't played before.
4:52 I totally understand. I am not the fastest either, so you raise a great point. Solo would be the way to go, so you don't get frustrated!
If you like good puzzles, check out Gaia Project for solo play. It is really smooth and has great depth.
10:17 As for myself, I just have not gotten into solo gaming yet.
If I were, Mage Knight would be my game of choice.
What’s on the shirt? Looks cool
This is my first encounter with your channel, and I've subbed and liked. I don't boardgame much anymore, but I was a big wargamer in my heyday (AH, SPI, etc.), and I found that my desire for solo play depended on my mood. Sometimes I wanted the competition, and the tougher the opponent the better. Other times, I wanted to explore a historical alternative, or even just watch the lines ebb and flow with the changing fortunes, and on those days, I would avoid the others in my group. Having the opponent controlling the other side was like having a second conductor in front of the orchestra, he just screwed up everything you were trying to observe. Fun post. In the immortal words of Arnie, "Ahll be bach!"
Despite being in two different gaming groups I still manage to play more games solo than with people – Wingspan would definitely be on my shortlist as well….in fact, because of the Automa Factory I’d say that just about all Stonemaier games could make this list but my clear #1 for this list would have to be Kingdom Rush – one of the ultimate puzzle games!
Well… that no. 1 wasn't a big surprise 😉
Hadrian's Wall is awesome solo!
Ark Nova: ARNO for me.
Thanks for the video, make more solo content.
As for the network I'm curious more, how are the expansions? Is the solo mode in the box?
I love solo playing:
1. Xia: Legends of a Drift System
2. Sentinels of the Multiverse
If you like puzzley games solo, try out Calico. I much prefer Calico solo to multi-player. It’s a bit less random because you know which tile is going away and which tile you’ll have access to the next turn so you can be more strategic with your decisions. It’s also a super simple solo to run (no AI, just get rid of a certain tile). 10 scoring options in the back of the book which gives you objectives you need to beat in order to win (ex. rainbow button, one of each cat, and a score of X). Great game. Very relaxing
Great list. I own Ex Libris, but have never played it. 😮. Here are my favorite.
1. Too many bones
2. Lord of the rings lcg
3. Marvel champions
4. Aeons end
5. Spirit island
The games that I most prefer playing solo are Spirit Island (2 spirits) and Wingspan! SI gives people AP and I just don’t have the patience for that. I feel like I can handle the explorers very well by my own!
Thanks for the video. I have only begun digging into some more complex solo experiences, mainly due to the time involvement factor. But, if you are looking for a couple quick puzzly games, I like Realm of Sand. It is a game that requires efficient use of elements in a tile laying race.
The one I basically have given up on multiplayer, is Village Green. It's great solo if you are wanting a quick, breezy, almost Solitaire like game, but with a much better puzzle. Why I only want to solo this is for the same reasoning as with ExLibris for you. The graphics aren't the best, which make the cards difficult to read. I've had Ex Libris in my grasp a couple of times second hand for cheap, but passed because I had heard about the "broken" graphic design. Urrg….now try finding it. 😅
Great list nick! Appreciate you and Mike so much!
So…if playing with 2 people, do you recommend the Networks or Rival Networks
Great video – great energy. It’s inspiring me to go back and solo play some games I’ve been meaning to.
I fall into the category of people that just can’t enjoy soloing a game. The closest I’ve gotten is sprawlopolis while watching tv or maybe TM app vs ai.
I think when I want to play something solo, I really lean towards rogue like video games: monster train, slay the spire, FTL.
Not a huge solo gamer, but I love the multi-hand solo of Marvel United. It's so easy to set up and play multiple scenarios, and it also gives me that puzzle vibe. I definitely don't prefer it solo, but I don't really prefer any games solo, unless it's supposed to be like Onirim.
I'm a massive solo gamer. I think people who aren't are missing out. If I play twice a month with a group for 6 hours, there are 28 other days each month, hundreds of days a year, where game's I've paid for are sitting around. More publishers are making official solo rules and the BGG community makes (sometimes) variant even better. Get your money's worth from your collections, people!!!
Great vid, you hit it out of the park again! Love your enthusiasm and your explanations. I gotta check out a few of those I don't have. My fav solos are all Uwe – Caverna, Agricola, Fields of Arle, A Feast for Odin.
Fantastic list. I own most of the games on the list (including Turing Machine which I have on preorder). There are a ton of games I prefer solo, and I'd say solo gaming is about 40% of my total gaming. The games I tend to prefer solo games that fall into a 2 main categories:
1. Super long and heavy euros – I prefer these solo because I can take my time and really puzzle it out and not have to worry about keeping others waiting
2. Games with area control or other more interactive elements – I get pretty stressed playing games with area control so I tend to avoid them multiplayer. However, playing them solo I am only competing against the AI (or my own score) so I find myself enjoying them much more.
I enjoyed plenty of solo games of Pandemic during the early months of the COVID pandemic. I think I might prefer the game that way (and best 3-handed).
One of the biggest games I own, I prefer solo: This War of Mine, love the game, love the theme, I enjoy the scavenging and base-building aspects on top of the grim storytelling. Now, I'd love it if this were a genuine multiplayer game, where players each control their own characters, but that's not how this game works. This game lets the player/players control multiple people, but it's a shared decision making process…and really, that mechanic should never be used multi-player. Eliminate the discussion and arguing, play it solo, where YOU make all the decisions for the group of survivors. Yes, any co-op game could honestly be played solo, sure, but most co-op games let players make individual decisions for their character, each with their own hand of cards or resources or player board…none of that is in This War of Mine, where all resources are shared…so it's really a solo game…that CAN be played multiplayer.
(Mik) Mage Knight and Too Many Bones are my go to solo games that I really like. Mage Knight was built for solo play in my opinion and it soars at it. TMB is my jam with a party with four Gearlocs, yes four! It's long, but so much fun for me. 🙂❤❤
I have played Aeons End hundreds of times solo and a handful of times with others.
Marvel Champions for me. It’s got everything I love about the game and takes out my least favorite part (waiting for other people to take their turns).
Spirit Island is my number one solo game. I was also surprised how much more I get into the world of Root when I play solo vs with people. There's a lot of upkeep but strangely don't mind it.
But Networks I really disliked solo. It annoyed me how the number of cards taken changed so much from turn to turn (and seemed to always take SO many cards). I haven't tried it with people to compare, but for some reason its solo mode irked me more than most others. Maybe I should give it another chance(also thought about houseruling it a bit).
I like Awkward Guests solo
Clank! in space has a good app to play solo. It's fun and a quick little series of games ala campaign style.
I prefer Destinies solo. I can take my time exploring the world and I get to see each character's endings.