I love Solo board games because you can still get a satisfying narrative experience independent of how creative you feel in the moment. The only problem for me is space. And time haha. I tried to play Mansions of Madness solo while my little one napped and I didn’t even get halfway before I had to clean up. One day though!
Solo board games are so fun! But this is also a great way to highlight the dangers of relying on PDFs for your TTRPGs. This is why I make sure to always have a physical copy of any game I want to play.
I've lost every time I've played this game (solo or not) and I still love it!
I never thought about writing the story or playing with more than 3 characters. I'm looking forward to trying again!
Thanks for the post and let us know if you find any other cool solo board games.
Not much like Arkham at all, but I enjoy playing Wingspan solo, and I also play Magic The Gathering solo using, I believe it was called, Aaron's Solitaire rules? It's pretty easy and fair, too.
I used to play A TON of Elder Sign, affectionately also called ”Cthulhu Yahtzee” back in the days. Similar to Arkham Horror but shorter length and lends itself well to solo play even if it isn’t strictly solo. I think I may have sold it, though.
Arkham is on my wish list! I’m on vacation right now and I brought some solo RPGs, and two solo games, not quite board games per se. The first one is an affordable, literal pocket card game called The Last Lighthouse by Scott Almes. I might post some pics later. Also brought One Deck Dungeon by Asmadi Games. Both solo, both cool games. 😊
Great post. I haven't played a solo boardgame in a while. But I used to play Powergrid solo using the robots expansion. I also enjoyed Race for the Galaxy solo, too.
I came to TTRPG from a few years of playing board games. I think, in the end, my "issue" with a lot of board games is that they were too restrictive. It's hard to find a truly immersive sandbox game where there is actually a narrative and a story.
I picked up the Sjkyim Adventure game in a sale last year, but I haven't ploughed through the rule book yet. That looks like it might scratch the itch.
Yeah, I think there's times I want more structure and less freedom, if that makes sense, so I just have to make certain choices, and see the consequences, see the game change, etc. With TTRPGs, I have to be more creative, I have to interpret Oracles and imagine the situation more. Which I enjoy, but scratches a different itch.
Thanks for post! I love solo boardgames. The Arkham Horror LCG you talked about is fun, but expensive to get into. Then there's Gloomhaven which is probably the gold standard of difficult boardgame hex crawls, but super fun. Personally, I'm a big fan of Everdell which has solo rules and great time if you look resources gathered and tactics. My final recommendation is Final Girl, which a solo-only survival horror board game.
Oh wow, those all sound great! I'm definitely interested in Gloomhaven but its such a big expensive and time-consuming box. I know there's a smaller, shorter version (Frosthaven?) as well. When playing solo, I think I like games that tell a story versus just making moves and solving a puzzle (like forbidden desert). Final girl also looks great!
I love Solo board games because you can still get a satisfying narrative experience independent of how creative you feel in the moment. The only problem for me is space. And time haha. I tried to play Mansions of Madness solo while my little one napped and I didn’t even get halfway before I had to clean up. One day though!
Solo board games are so fun! But this is also a great way to highlight the dangers of relying on PDFs for your TTRPGs. This is why I make sure to always have a physical copy of any game I want to play.
You live in Spain?! We stuck with no power too all day two weeks ago on monday. Was an experience :D
No, Massachusetts, USA. Big storm knocked out power for awhile
Aaah ok, here in spain was like a historical moment. It was the first time energy go out in all country and happend the same day!
I've lost every time I've played this game (solo or not) and I still love it!
I never thought about writing the story or playing with more than 3 characters. I'm looking forward to trying again!
Thanks for the post and let us know if you find any other cool solo board games.
Not much like Arkham at all, but I enjoy playing Wingspan solo, and I also play Magic The Gathering solo using, I believe it was called, Aaron's Solitaire rules? It's pretty easy and fair, too.
I used to play A TON of Elder Sign, affectionately also called ”Cthulhu Yahtzee” back in the days. Similar to Arkham Horror but shorter length and lends itself well to solo play even if it isn’t strictly solo. I think I may have sold it, though.
I remember playing it on my phone because I think they made a mobile game version of it!
Yeah they did, it had slightly different rules compared to the board game, though.
Arkham is on my wish list! I’m on vacation right now and I brought some solo RPGs, and two solo games, not quite board games per se. The first one is an affordable, literal pocket card game called The Last Lighthouse by Scott Almes. I might post some pics later. Also brought One Deck Dungeon by Asmadi Games. Both solo, both cool games. 😊
Great post. I haven't played a solo boardgame in a while. But I used to play Powergrid solo using the robots expansion. I also enjoyed Race for the Galaxy solo, too.
I came to TTRPG from a few years of playing board games. I think, in the end, my "issue" with a lot of board games is that they were too restrictive. It's hard to find a truly immersive sandbox game where there is actually a narrative and a story.
I picked up the Sjkyim Adventure game in a sale last year, but I haven't ploughed through the rule book yet. That looks like it might scratch the itch.
Yeah, I think there's times I want more structure and less freedom, if that makes sense, so I just have to make certain choices, and see the consequences, see the game change, etc. With TTRPGs, I have to be more creative, I have to interpret Oracles and imagine the situation more. Which I enjoy, but scratches a different itch.
Thanks for post! I love solo boardgames. The Arkham Horror LCG you talked about is fun, but expensive to get into. Then there's Gloomhaven which is probably the gold standard of difficult boardgame hex crawls, but super fun. Personally, I'm a big fan of Everdell which has solo rules and great time if you look resources gathered and tactics. My final recommendation is Final Girl, which a solo-only survival horror board game.
Oh wow, those all sound great! I'm definitely interested in Gloomhaven but its such a big expensive and time-consuming box. I know there's a smaller, shorter version (Frosthaven?) as well. When playing solo, I think I like games that tell a story versus just making moves and solving a puzzle (like forbidden desert). Final girl also looks great!
The shorter version is Jaws of the Lion. Frosthaven is another beastie of a game!
ohhhh, right!