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Paul Kellett (118 KP) created a post in Solo Gamers

May 9, 2019  
"Wait, you can play boardgames on your own? How does that work? Isn't it dull? and wouldn't you just rather play a video game?"

These are the most common questions I see asked whenever someone says they play solo boardgames and, if you have never experienced modern boardgames with solo rules, then you are quite right to wonder what, why and how. Let me shed some light on this side of our wonderful hobby.

You can never play enough games

Whilst we have a great group to play games on a Tuesday, 3-4 hours a week is not always enough to scratch that itch, especially if you want to play something bigger and more involved.

There are a lot of great games that need a good few hours to really get into and are not really suitable for playing in the pub on a Tuesday. If you can't meet up with anyone on other nights, then being able to play a game solo is a valid option.

Some benefits include:

*Being able to really get into the theme of a game

*Not having to worry about being slow and annoying anyone else

* Being able to play without distraction.

*Getting away from computer screens/technology.

So why play solo?

There are many reasons why people play solo games, from not having the time to get to game nights, needing something to do when the kids are asleep to just wanting to relax.

For me, I work on computers and my eyes are suffering from looking at screens all day so being able to sit down and play a boardgame is a great way to unwind and rest my eyes whilst still keeping my brain active. I can come home from work and play a short game (like Friday, Onirim or Deep Apace D6) for half an hour or more to unwind - much better than just vegging out in front of the TV.

I love deep, thematic games which tell stories. If I get a few hours free on a weekend, I can spend a Sunday afternoon lost in another world, no distractions, no stress, just me enjoying an interesting story. It's like reading a book but you are actually involved in the adventure.

So how does it work? Do you just play both sides against yourself?

No. Well, yes, you could and people do, but there is much more.

The solo gaming community has grown massively over the last few years with the 1 Player Guild on the Boardgame Geek website boasting well over 15,000 members worldwide and games designers are taking note (many of them being actively involved in the solo community themselves).

As such, many games released nowadays will have either variant rules for solo play or whole expansions or sets of cards designed purely for solo play. There are even games designed purely for solo players.

The easiest games to play solo are co-operative games. This type of game has players working together to reach a common goal in order to win the game. With a few exceptions (games with hidden traitor mechanics), all co-op games can be played solo either playing one character or taking control of two or more characters. This can get a bit heavy and confusing having to keep track of multiple characters' cards, skills, and what not, but if you know the rules fairly well, it gets easier. A lot of people do this to learn a game before bringing it to the club to teach to the rest of us.

Some good solo co-op games include:
* Robinson Crusoe
* Gloom of Kilforth
* Space Cadets: Away Missions
* Legends Untold

Then there are the games that have specific components purely for solo play. These will sometimes change the basic rules or add "Automa" or "dummy" players which function as close to a human player as possible. Usually this is a separate deck of cards that give instructions on what the dummy player will do each turn.

Games with Automa cards include:
* Scythe
* Viticulture
* Xia: Legends of a Drift System (The Automa is included in the Embers of a Forsaken Star expansion)

Finally there are the solitaire games, the ones designed from the start to be 1 player only games, these include:
* Friday
* Hostage Negotiator
* Deep Space D6
* Unbroken

A lot of these tend to be smaller, shorter games that are ideal for sticking in your bag and taking with you to play wherever you are. I often play a quick game of Deep Space D6 at lunchtime at work and when I am out working as drum tech for bands, it's cool to be able to fill in the downtime with a game of something.
  
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Wmjp (1 KP) rated MU Legends in Video Games

Feb 17, 2019  
MU Legends
MU Legends
2017 | Massively Multiplayer
Gameplay (7 more)
Side quests and area quests
Auction House
Extra gameplay eg Cards, Pets and more
Item upgrading
Fast loading times
Rift dungeons can be done with parties or solo
Selectable rift difficulties
Not well known (0 more)
RPMMO fantastic game.. Progressing is fun rather than a grind
Absolute gem of a find this was.. I had just lost my battle. Net account and needed a new game to forget the 10+years just lost and this game did just that.. I don't even care about wow anymore ??
  
    Archipelago

    Archipelago

    4.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

    Tabletop Game

    A 2-5 player strategy game (there is a expansion that allows solo play sold separately). Each player...

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Vegas (725 KP) rated the Xbox One version of Red Dead Redemption 2 in Video Games

Jul 7, 2019 (Updated Jul 8, 2019)  
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2
2018 | Action/Adventure
The story (1 more)
The gameplay
Nothing (0 more)
Improvement on the original
The long awaited sequel (prequel) to red dead doesn't disappoint in the solo game, the story is an epic adventure travelling through the open plains to the growing towns and cities, railroads, carriages, and horseback are all ways of getting around the massive map. Build up your camp, help the gang, or rob stores and banks the choice is yours, you can even spend time fishing or hunting...

The cast of characters you meet are diverse, funny, serious, violent or just odd but whoever you meet, you do find yourself caring one way or another about the people in the game you interact with...

I will say I did struggle to get as engaged in the multi player game side of it, but that is just a personal thing as I do prefer solo gaming...

For shear enjoyment aspect and length of game, this is one of the best games of recent times.
  
Arctic Scavengers
Arctic Scavengers
2009 | Bluff, Card Game, Fighting
One of the best parts of the board gaming experience is finding a fun group of people with whom to play! Sometimes, though, coordinating a game night is easier said than done. We all must occasionally forego the group experience and face the world as the Lonely Only. But fear not! The world of solo-play is a vast and exciting realm! What follows is a chronicle of my journey into the solo-playing world – notes on gameplay, mechanics, rules, difficulty, and overall experience with solo variations of commonly multiplayer games! I hope this will provide some insight as you continue to grow your collection, or explore your already owned games!

Welcome to the Ice Age. No, not the animated movie. I’m talking about the real deal. Arctic Scavengers is set in a post-apocalyptic ice age where the cold is deadly and the resources are scarce. Any surviving humans have banded together to form ‘tribes’ that are competing for dominance in this frigid tundra. Can you and your tribe outwit your competitors to become the most powerful group? Or will a bigger and more menacing tribe overpower you and jeopardize your survival?

Disclaimer: The solo variant is only addressed in the Recon Expansion rules. There IS another expansion – HQ – but I have not used that content in my solo plays. This review only encompasses the Base Game and Recon Expansion.

Arctic Scavengers is a deck-building game where players are recruiting mercenaries to their tribes, searching for general resources, and battling other tribes for contested resources. Each turn has two main phases – Resource Gathering and Skirmish. During Resource Gathering, you play cards from your hand to either recruit new mercenaries or search the junkyard for general resources. Any remaining cards in your hand are then used during the Skirmish phase – where the player with the highest ‘fight’ value wins the contested resource for that round. At the end of the game, the player with the biggest tribe wins!

The solo variant has some minor differences, but is played essentially the same way. In a solo game, the contested resource cards are divided into 7 skirmishes to be encountered throughout the game. You can decide when to engage in a skirmish – it is not a requirement to encounter one each turn. After each skirmish, you either win and earn a contested resource, or lose and must permanently discard a card from your losing hand. The game ends when all 7 skirmishes have been encountered. The other difference is that each time you have to re-shuffle your discard pile, you must permanently remove the top card of your new deck from the game. Beyond those changes, the game remains the same. At the end of the game, all cards in your tribe are worth certain numbers of points – the goal is to beat your own personal best score.

In theory, this game sounds super cool! But when I actually got to play it solo, I was seriously underwhelmed. The game feels stagnant in the sense that there is no tension or urgency in your strategy. Since YOU get to decide when to engage in a skirmish, it is possible to just while away the time building up your deck until you have enough cards to beat every skirmish. Yes, you permanently discard a card each time you re-shuffle your discard pile, but if you are able to recruit one or two new cards each turn, it negates the penalty of discarding a card. The ability to choose when to engage in skirmishes is seriously over-powered because there is nothing stopping you from ignoring skirmishes and amassing cards for end-game scoring.

The other grievance I have with the game is regarding the Junkyard – the deck of cards where you ‘search’ for resources. The solo rules do not explicitly address setting up the Junkyard deck at all. So do you use one or not? Not having the Junkyard deck can be a serious hinderance – certain mercenaries cannot be recruited without certain resources. If you DO play with the Junkyard, how many cards do you use? Do you use the corresponding cards from the Base game and BOTH expansions? Only Base game and one expansion? Again, not explicitly addressed. I’ve tried using all of the Junkyard cards and that is difficult – there are just too many cards in that deck. I have gone entire games without coming across a necessary resource just because the size of the deck is too large (and I’m apparently a poor card-shuffler). The simple solution to this ambiguity would have been to just address it in the rulebook. But it’s not there, so I’m left guessing as to how I should set it up every time.

I really like the idea of this game. I really don’t like the solo variant though. Not having forced skirmishes makes the game extremely boring for me – I don’t really need a strategy since I can just recruit cards until I can draw a powerful hand. If there was a timeline for skirmishes – maybe something like “You must encounter one skirmish every other turn” – the game would be vastly different. I would actually need to strategize what cards to recruit and how I should delegate my cards on turns with a skirmish. In most games, I will reach a certain point where I choose to encounter a skirmish (that I know I will lose) just because I am starting to get bored. I appreciate the sentiment of including a solo variant, but this one just does not work.

Arctic Scavengers requires decent strategy and it offers good player interaction in group games. In a solo game, however, it is just imbalanced and boring. This is one solo variant that I would not recommend that you try, unless you are including drastic house rules.

https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/03/06/solo-chronicles-arctic-scavengers/
  
LittleBigPlanet
LittleBigPlanet
2007 | Action/Adventure, Platform
Sandbox creation (2 more)
Interesting world
Stephen Frye Narration
Rubber banding (0 more)
A charming game fun for the whole family.
This game is adorable. Playable solo or with friends this game is a great way to spend some time. You can play the story, investigate levels designed by other players or create your own. The story mode has tons of goodies to collect to enhance the creation part of the game, which is where most of the game truly is.

Playable with 1-4 people either online or in person.



My one issue is the rubberbanding. It makes certain levels difficult to ace if one player accidentally shoots forward murdering the other player because they are too far apart.
  
Killing Floor 2
Killing Floor 2
2017 | Action, Shooter
Fun co-op (3 more)
Nice visuals
Great style
Addicting gameplay
Boss fights feel overly unfair (1 more)
solo players beware
Killing Floor 2 is a lot of mindless fun.I say mindless, but it really does take some strategy to be successful. That’s what makes it the most fun.If you’re thinking of going into this game solo,it’s going to be an uphill battle that will quickly get old
Critic- Drew Leachman
Original Score: 8.5 out of 10

Read Review: http://www.ztgd.com/killing-floor-2/killing-floor-2-xb1-review/
  
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the_mad_meeple (55 KP) rated Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game in Tabletop Games

Feb 25, 2020 (Updated Feb 25, 2020)  
Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game
Orchard: A 9 Card Solitaire Game
2018 | Card Game
Great price (2 more)
Solo play
Pocket sized - great for when on the go.
Possibly difficult to get hold of a copy while kickstarter orders are fulfilled. (0 more)
This is one of my freshly backed kickstarters and I am delighted with it. The simple concept of placing cards and growing apples is brilliant.
While it is possible to play mulitplayer rules, Orchard is played solo with players dividing the deck in to two sets of 9 (each game uses 9 cards). Starting with one card on the table the player draws two cards and chooses one to play, matching the colours on previously laid card. An ingenius mechanic, the choice of where to play your card in order to gain the most points, is challenging and frustrating in equal measure.
Pocket sized and playable in 10 minutes, this is an excellent solo game for anyone in the go. Can't recommend it highly enough at its low cost price.