You all still know Arthifis right? He and I did a fun collab post earlier this week about the art of commenting, and if you missed that one you can find it right here. So why mention him again? Well for starters he is a great guy and if you are not yet following his blog, you should do so immediately. His posts are diverse, often offer some great advice on the art of blogging, and are always a joy to read. And I did already mention he was a great guy right? Anyways a few weeks ago he asked me if I could maybe do a top 10 list for my favorite solo boardgames. Well, how can I say no to a request like that? So Arthifis, this post is for you! I decided to break this one down into two parts, so you all don’t have to scroll for ages or get incredibly bored by it all. I love playing boardgames but I don’t always have people I can play them with. So that’s why I love the fact that there are some really cool games out there that can be played on your own, and be just as much fun as if you are playing with a group.
Now, this list is made up of games that I own myself, but in no way is it near complete. There is a huge range of boardgames out there that I haven’t played yet, and offer some great solo options as well. But, that said, I still hope you will enjoy going through this and find something you might like. If you want to see some of the games I feature in this post in action, you might want to check out the channel the Vitruvian Gamer over on Youtube. It’s hosted by Kurt, truly one of the nicest guys you are ever likely to meet, and he always has amazing playthrough videos amongs other things that are well worth the watch. I have provided a link here if you are interested and want to subscribe to his channel. I’m sure he will appreciate it. So, with all that out of the way, let’s go and start the countdown shall we?
10: Fuse
Not every game needs to be complex or take hours to play. Fuse is a fun dice game, where you literally race against the clock to prevent bombs going of on a spaceship. There is a timer that counts down from the 10 minute mark, and within that time you have to defuse bombs with your dice. Some of these are easy, and some are extremely hard. In the meantime the ship’s A.I. System talks to you (provided by a free App) and becomes ever more crazy when the clock nears the zero mark. It’s just a fun, quick little game that can be learned in minutes. If you want a more indepth look at this, you might want to check out my review for it here.
9. Legacy of Dragonholt
Well, most of you have probably heard of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. The problem with roleplaying games however is that hardly any of them can be played solo. This one though, is totally different. It’s a game that is kind of a choose your own adventure where you are taken on a epic quest throughout a fantasy realm. I haven’t yet had a chance to really dive into this one, but you can expect a review for it somewhere along the way. I love the way it looks, and the game is huge and will take you many days to complete. Also it has a very detailed character creation system, but still offers little to no rules, that are mostly learned by just delving into the game itself.
8. Death Angel: The Space Hulk cardgame
This cardgame based on the popular boardgame of the same name, takes you on journey into the bowels of a derelict spacecraft. You take control of a squad of Terminator Space Marines, that have a mission to carry out. However the ship is infested by the vicious Genestealer aliens, and succes is by no means certain. This game is nailbiting and very tough. Every round you have to make splitsecond decisions where you give orders to your troops. These orders can mean life or dead for your squad. As more Marines are killed off, the game becomes ever more challenging. This is a truly great game, but sadly it’s one that is now out of print. Still the good news is that there are still a few websites that have the game on offer. If you like movies such as Alien, this is one game you might want to check out.
7. Samurai Spirit
This game is so much fun. It places you in the middle of a village that is getting attacked by a series of bandits, and you have to defend it. And by you I mean a bunch of samurai that have mystic powers, and can even transform into animal spirits. It brings back memories of classic Samurai films from Japanese cinema. This is also a game that is very easy to learn and has a lot of replayability in it as well. There are a huge number of different options available to you, and that is what makes this game so much fun to play. It’s another game that I wrote a post on, so if you want some more information for this just click on the link provided right here.
6. Hostage Negotiator
This game is specifically designed to be played solo. And not only that it is one that really has one of the most unique settings ever. If you have seen the film the Negotiator it can almost be said that this is the game version of that film. A really unsteady individual has taken captive a number of people, and it is up to you to talk the guy or girl down. The game pretty much takes you through a conversation with the terrorist, while you try to negotiate with him or her to release the hostages. You can buy cards that offer you more options in such negotiations, and depending on the stress level of the captor, you will have a number of them open to you. This is another nailbiter, where you race against time to save a set number of people. If too many hostages die, it’s game over. There are quite a few expansions available for this game as well, that will pit you against different kinds of kidnappers.
Well…that’s it for part one. Stay tuned for part two next week, where I will be covering some of my alltime favorite games. Thanks for reading and I hope you will all have a great weekend!
Thanks for mentioning me! Really… reeeeaaaally appreciate it! Your list is great so far. Happy to Samurai Spirit there which, I believe, is a game that deserves more love.
Should play Legacy of Dragonholt some time, looks cool.
Thanks again!
(Btw, some interesting change should be coming soon-ish on my channel, might be something you like)
LikeLiked by 1 person
No problem at all. I have not been visiting your channel a lot these past few weeks, so I really hope to do that again at some point in the next two weeks 😊 And you channels is awesome, so it really was pretty much a no brainer to feature it here!
I really have to get into that game myself more too. Haven’t really actually played it yet, just a bit of the rules and the opening segment, but it looks amazing.
Nice, that sounds awesome. Definitely will be on the lookout for that! And of course you are welcome! 😊
LikeLike
Nice list. I should look into buying some solo games. Back in my teens I used to love playing board games, but don’t play much anymore as finding people to play with is tough.
Fuse sounds stressful. I don’t like feeling rushed and would no doubt panic when the AI starts losing the plot. The samurai game sounds like something I would enjoy. Protecting a village from bandits makes me think of the Samurai 7 anime.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yeah, that is exactly one of the reasons I stopped playing too, but these days it seems that a lot of publishers are really making an effort in putting in rules for solo play, and that is awesome.
Lol…Fuse is stressful. There have been times where I was just losing the game because I panicked lol 😂😂 Have to say that that also was part of the fun 😂
Yes, absolutely the samurai game IS fun. It really has simple rules, but is a blast to play. And the setting is of course awesome 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looking forward to part two of this. I love board and card games but suffer from a lack of people to play against. I need to find more games that can be played solo.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pretty much all the games I buy these days I look for solo rules, because exactly as you say, I suffer from a lack of players as well.
The second part of this list, will contain a couple of games that are really atmospheric and have very cool solo elements in them😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Some great picks! Solo games can be a lot of fun.
A couple I’d add to the list, not sure if you’d have them in the second part…
Any co-op game is eminently playable solo and can be a really fun challenge. I’ve played Pandemic, Forbidden Desert and Arkham Horror as a solo player and they all work really well.
Any dungeon crawler with some sort of “automation” on the enemies is great too. Looking years back, Games Workshop’s Advanced Heroquest had full solo rules, and Warhammer Quest can be played with or without a GM. More recently, the Dungeons and Dragons Adventures games work well solo, as does Gloomhaven, since in both those cases the enemies are handled through mechanics and card draws rather than a dedicated GM.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely. Ofcourse the interaction with other players is what makes games the most fun, but still a lot of solo games are almost as much fun to play as the “normal” ones.
You have mentions a couple of great games. I still own Advanced Heroquest, and while I loved it, I also loved the original Space Hulk game that also came with some very good working solorules. That game was so awesome. I have Warhammer Quest too, but simply haven’t yet gotten around to playing it. I’m sure I will at some point.
Both Gloomhaven and the Dungeons and Dragons Adventures games are on my to buy list, but I’ve put a bit of stop on buying games, because I really have way too many I haven’t played yet (that and I am beginning to get space problems 😂😂).
LikeLike
Ya know, I’d actually forgotten that solo board games exist. D’oh!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol, yeah they exist allright, and they are getting better each year 😂😂 (which doesn’t promise much good for my wallet 😂😂).
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL. I’ll be looking forward to part 2. It’s good to know what’s out there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m always so tempted to buy one of the many awesome looking Warhammer 40k card/board games, but then I remember the pile of unplayed card/board games already sitting here, along with a few recent 40k video games I still haven’t played.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, same here! I have actually put a stop to buying new games, pretty much for that same reason😊 (But then I enter my local boardgamestore, and I end up buying new stuff sometimes anyway lol😂😂). But well, trying to avoid it as much as I can these days lol 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Actually I even have a couple more I backed on KickStarter still on their way too. I keep forgetting about those. Maybe I’ll even play them someday!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha…Well, that is the one thing that I luckily haven’t done yet (but also have been tempted quite a few times to do that lol 😂😂).
LikeLike
Forwarding this post to a couple of my big gamer friends.. They will love it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is truly awesome! Thank you so much: I really appreciate that! 😊😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
No problem!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have scrabble, monopoly and trivial pursuit, all from the jurassic era, and they’re in the loft! 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
Well, except for trivial pursuit, I have all of those games a well. True classics and they are always fun to play if you ask me! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Loved trivial pursuit probably because it was the only game I was ever good at!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha…it really is a game that I loved too, never was very good at it (except for the Star Wars trivial pursuit edition 😂😂).
LikeLiked by 1 person
I honestly never really thought about board games being played solo. I had my jaw touching the ground throughout the post since I didn’t think such a thing was even possible hahah It’s like video games but without a screen and a controller! Quite amazing that there are so many and that they actually all sound like fun! Thanks for sharing these, Michel. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, well, all I can say is: you haven’t seen anything yet 😊The really fun ones are coming up in part 2 😊
But yeah, boardgames have come a long way, and more of them are being released every year. With loads of them containing rules for solo play! You are welcome, and thanks always for you comment! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
A nice start to the list! I have zero knowledge in the board game area, so I find your posts showcasing them very interesting. The games always look so nice and fun 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! 😊 I love boardgames (and lately I just don’t play them enough) but it’s interesting to see how they have really changed over the years and are becoming bigger and better every year 😊 The second part will contain even bettter ones! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Man, I’ve had Samurai Spirit stashed under my chair for…two, three years now? Maybe I should actually open it up!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, well that might really be a very good idea 😂😂 It’s such a fun game really. Not overly complicated to learn, but really great to play. So yep, definitely go ahead and open up that box! 😊
LikeLike
I knew it I had to ask you for these games!! I don’t know any of them and from only these 5 I already want to buy 3 LOLOL
Really need to try Legacy of Dragonholt, Samurai Spirit and Hostage Negotiator.
One question though, besides the Hostage Negotiator, are the first 2 fun to play with 2 players instead of solo? Just to see if my boyfriend wanted to enter the game for some unknown reason we can have have fun together xD
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, well, wait till you see the next one: that will feature some of my all time favorite games (not just favorite solo to be clear, but just great all around😊).
Well, Samurai Spirit is certainly a lot of fun to play with others as you it let’s you interact a lot with other players. Legacy of Dragonholt is also fun to play with others, though I have to say it’s not as much fun as Samurai Spirit.
The next top 5 will feature games that are even better with other players 😊😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Can’t wait! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
These do look fun and being in a small town with few gamers I can see the plus of having some of these to play.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s interesting to see the developers of boardgames tend to release more and more of these kind of games with solo rules. So I’m guessing it’s becoming a trend. These are awesome to play though, although part 2 will be featuring even better ones 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
These look like such fun!
LikeLike
Wow, these games sound like so much fun 🙂 Especially Samurai Spirit and Hostage Negotiator 😀 Saving hostage and a village seems so exciting 😀
Can’t wait to read part 2 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are definitely great fun. Samurai Spirit really is one of my favorites. Simply one of those games that you pick up and play every once in a while. And it’s definitely exciting. Part 2 will feature even more exciting games to be sure 😊).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice list. A few of my favorites, if you’re in the market, include Escape: Curse of the Temple, Pandemic, and Elder Sign.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well..(shhh..spoiler alert) But Elder Sign will be featured in part 2 😊😊 Seriously love that game myself as well 😊😊
As for the other two, haven’t played those, but have of course heard of them. Maybe one day! 😊😊
LikeLiked by 1 person