OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

[Fardaza]

I started a solo run-through of Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood on October 16 and finished the final encounter yesterday, May 28!

What a great game! I often took a few weeks off between scenarios to give my mind a break, but then I might play 2 or 3 days in a row and knock out 3 scenarios. The game consisted of 21 story sessions (1.5-2.0 hours in length), 21 encounters (2.0-3.5 hours), 1 special bonus encounter, and 3 encounters replayed. That's a lot of gameplay!

I only used the same 4 characters out of 12 to keep my brain from totally frying. I don't know if I'll ever get it out again or not. If an (at this point) unknown local group wants to play the campaign, I'd be up to doing it again. Probably not solo though.

As I'm putting everything back in order and resetting the game, I am realizing how much I never saw! Event cards, injury cards, common items, unique items, allies, abilities, not to mention the 8 characters I never used! There were also many choices I could have made that would have altered the story. The boss encounters stay the same no matter what choices were made, but the story itself would play out differently. The ending was a little bit of a let down, but I still rated it a solid 9 on BGG.

The voice app worked great. I didn't have to skip around reading numbered entries in journals to follow the progressing story. It kept track of all the decisions for me. In most of the story scenarios I didn't even need the time tracker.

It will be nice to have those 2 tables back in my office. I'm not sure what I'm going to dig out next.

[YellowKing]

Congrats! I think I only got through the 5th mission. I really enjoyed it, but the table hogginess + upkeep of four characters ended up just being too much for me solo. Hopefully I'll be able to convince my gaming group to try it once we're done with Frosthaven.

I did finish the Legacy of Yu campaign last night, with a record of 7 games won, 4 games lost. By the last 3 games or so of the campaign, I pretty much had the whole puzzle figured out, though, and it got a bit easy. I really, really enjoyed it, but I think it's a one and done for me after all. I had planned to run a second campaign, but I've got Zomicide: Night of the Living Dead coming in on Friday so I'll probably be messing around with that instead.

[hepcat]

I was just eyeing my copy of Oathsworn thinking I'd take another crack at it. I think I got to the 2nd scenario 3 different times. Once solo and twice with others. I really enjoyed it though. But I have way too many damn games. And I'm trying to finish Tales from the Red Dragon Inn with some Chicago folks first.

My goal this year is to trim down to a hundred or so games that I actually look forward to playing. Oathsworn should make the cut though.

[Fardaza]

Congrats! I think I only got through the 5th mission. I really enjoyed it, but the table hogginess + upkeep of four characters ended up just being too much for me solo. Hopefully I'll be able to convince my gaming group to try it once we're done with Frosthaven.

I played the ranger and warbear as full characters, and the exile and warden as companions. That was right at the edge of my table space and brain power.

[Smoove_B]

Nothing but respect for finishing Oathsworn - or any campaign board game, really. That's an impressive accomplishment. Sadly, I don't think the game is for me so now I need to unload an all-in pledge.

[Skinypupy]

I started a solo run-through of Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood on October 16 and finished the final encounter yesterday, May 28!

Congrats, that's awesome.

[hepcat]

I just won a solo game in Pax Pamir. That is all I'm going to say on the matter and I ask that the press respect my privacy during this time.

[Isgrimnur]

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne would like to know your location

[hepcat]

2nd beer and 2nd game. On deck: Halls of Hegra.

[YellowKing]

I picked up Zombicide: Night of the Living Dead on a GameNerdz daily deal and looking forward to getting that to the table.

I wouldn't call myself a die-hard, gotta own everything Zombicide fan, but I do enjoy it and own the 2nd edition base game and the Washington ZC and Fort Hendrix expansions. The NOTLD version has been on my want list for a long time because I'm such a horror fan and generally collect any horror IP board games good and bad.

One thing that has always kept me from getting Zombicide to the table as often as I'd like is my need to paint all the minis, which usually results in me spending so much time painting that I'm no longer interested in playing. For this one I decided to cheat and do a quick "black and white" version that a lot of people have done for this game. Spray black primer, then do a quick zenithal style spritz of white. Go back and add highlights and touch up, call it a day.

Now that Legacy of Yu broke me out of my board gaming funk with a full campaign, I'm really hoping I can keep the momentum going and finish this one as well.

[EzeKieL]

I finally played Sea of Legends. I didn't play it for the longest of time because apparently the rulebook and app for the first edition were crap. So I waited several years and 2 expansions to finally play it

Here is a YT short I made about it yesterday:

Spoiler:

I liked it and I'm curious about all the other captains and factions. I will probably record a playthrough one of these days as well .

[Blackhawk]

I want a game.

The game is solo friendly (which is different from playing a solo game - I'm fine with a true solo game, but I'm equally fine with playing an entire party and multi-handing.)

The game is fantasy themed (medieval, not urban.)

The game has a narrative, or at least a mission-based format rather than just a "You're the king - get the most gold" setup for the mechanics.

The game has more depth and complexity than, say, a deck builder or other, similarly light games.

The game is less complex/involved than Sword & Sorcery / Dungeon Universalis / Frosthaven.

The game nonetheless feels like those games - just without the back-breaking rulebooks.

/edit - I forgot that the game is not brutally difficult as seems to be the trend with solo games. I prefer to have to make an effort, but I dislike losing five times in a row to get a single win.

What is that game?

[wonderpug]

Tales from the Red Dragon Inn actually seems like it would check most of those boxes. It wouldn’t be hard to play two or even three characters solo.

[Skinypupy]

Tales from the Red Dragon Inn actually seems like it would check most of those boxes. It wouldn’t be hard to play two or even three characters solo.

+1. You can play true solo, or controlling multiple characters (I typically did two).

[hepcat]

Yeah, Tales from the Red Dragon Inn sounds like it's exactly what you're looking for.

[Smoove_B]

I'd agree and only add Pericle as my other recommendation. It's pricey (unfortunately) and I think the cost is related to the 25+ cardboard maps and acrylic standees. However, it plays very much like a modified version of D&D 5E (because it is) with the app controlling all the enemy AI and story elements. It's genuinely the first board game I've played where it really feels like a GM is handling everything I normally would, allowing me to just focus on the characters. If you ever see a used or cheap copy, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend picking it up.

[Fardaza]

I haven't played Tales From the Red Dragon Inn, but it looks like it would fit your desires. It's near the top of my list also.
I can also heartily recommend Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood. It might be more brain burn than you're looking for, although its complexity rating on BGG is less than all those you mentioned.

[Blackhawk]

Tales from the Red Dragon Inn actually seems like it would check most of those boxes. It wouldn’t be hard to play two or even three characters solo.

I just went and watched a few reviews - it looks like a good match. It's expensive enough that I'm going to be wishlisting it for now, but it's on the 'priority' wishlist.

I especially like that it's setup- and component-light. I love the experience of elaborate games (Core Space, presumably Frosthaven and DUN - if I ever set the two of them up), but sometimes the setup itself is a mood killer.

[Blackhawk]

I'd agree and only add Pericle as my other recommendation. It's pricey (unfortunately) and I think the cost is related to the 25+ cardboard maps and acrylic standees. However, it plays very much like a modified version of D&D 5E (because it is) with the app controlling all the enemy AI and story elements. It's genuinely the first board game I've played where it really feels like a GM is handling everything I normally would, allowing me to just focus on the characters. If you ever see a used or cheap copy, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend picking it up.

That one's actually really cool - it is out of my price range for now (I've honestly blown more 'personal' money in the past few months than I should have), but I'm going to be looking more deeply into it.

[Smoove_B]

I've been messing around with the solo mode for Ashes Reborn, specifically the Corpse of Viros set.

I don't have any experience with the prior system (from 2015), but it's always been something I've been interested in. However, I'm not really a deck construction PvP kinda player, so it was something I could always skip. However, when this new solo mode was released last year, I waited to see how it was received and I think it's been overwhelmingly positive.

Anyway, I'm still learning the basics and taking my time, but I really like the mix of cards and dice for the mechanics. The solo bot works quite well - there's a set of behaviors and routines it will follow, but it's also rolling dice and revealing cards from a shuffled deck, so you don't really know what's coming or how it will unfold - particularly with the cards as they seem to interact quite a bit with what I'm trying to do and/or helping other cards that the enemy is using to harm me.

I'm guessing it's fast for people that know the game, but I'm really going slow. The fighting in particular isn't like anything I'm used to - there's extra rules for things guarding (blocking) your attacks when you declare your targets and how they will or wont' get exhausted. It's not difficult, just not entirely intuitive. The turn structure is also different than what I would have expected, so it's all just learning new mechanics for me. Not impossible, just different.

The card artwork is all fantastic and even though they hate me, I will always love rolling dice. That you can use them for your card play and also manipulate the dice themselves (changing values) is just extra fun. Definitely a thinking game - lots of choices to make and timing (figuring out what to play and when) seems critical.

[Zarathud]

Ashes is a great game. Never played the AI, only hepcat.

[Fishbelly]

I've been messing around with the solo mode for Ashes Reborn, specifically the Corpse of Viros set.

I don't have any experience with the prior system (from 2015), but it's always been something I've been interested in. However, I'm not really a deck construction PvP kinda player, so it was something I could always skip. However, when this new solo mode was released last year, I waited to see how it was received and I think it's been overwhelmingly positive.

Thanks for your insight into Corpse of Viros. I've been looking at picking this up for quite some time, because my wife isn't a fan of PvP games, but I absolutely love the art for Ashes. I enjoyed the original version of Ashes and quite like the idea of being able to make use of all my old decks with the upgrade pack.

[hepcat]

How your creatures attack and block has always been a bit fiddly, in my opinion. You USED to be able to send all your attackers at once at a Phoenixborn or unit, and the defender (if they chose to guard or block with a unit) would assign one blocker per attacker. That way you could build up an overwhelming wall of units and just bum rush your enemies. Now they only allow 1 vs 1 battles (i.e one attacker at a time). And you have to counter if you guard or block with units now. I believe in the past, you could choose not to and just block the damage. But if a unit is being directly attacked, they can choose NOT to counter.

Overall, it's the most confusing part of the game and the only thing I struggle to remember when returning to it. It also made for some VERY long games.

But, I love that whole counter mechanic when all is said and done. What it does is exhaust your character, preventing them from attacking later in that same round. So you have to choose whether or not it's a good idea to exhaust your character to take out an attacking unit, or just take the damage and then attack with that unit later (preferably when your opponent has exhausted all THEIR units and their Phoenixborn is wide open).

The rest of the game is pretty intuitive though and makes sense. What I really enjoy is the main and side action mechanic. You can do a side action to get resources and then pass for your main action if you don't have a main action you can perform. BUT if the opponent also passes for their main action on their turn, the whole round is over. So you've got this little bluffing game going on to see if you can take a breather to gather up what you need without causing the end of the round.

And don't worry about deck building. I have never done it and I feel no need to ever do it. You want to try something new? Just buy a new Phoenixborn. There are like 2900 of them available. Each with their own distinctive decks. Honestly, mixing them feels almost wrong since they're so themed for the Phoenixborn they come with.

If you're going to start playing with others, you're gonna wanna stock up on extra dice though. That's the only optional buy I highly recommend.

As for the solo/coop games, I've got two of the three. I've only played the first one a couple of times though. But what I saw was impressive. It manages to FEEL like you're playing a human opponent at times in that you can use the entirety of the multiplayer rules set without any modifications for solo/coop. It really is a blast.

[Smoove_B]

Thanks for your insight into Corpse of Viros. I've been looking at picking this up for quite some time, because my wife isn't a fan of PvP games, but I absolutely love the art for Ashes. I enjoyed the original version of Ashes and quite like the idea of being able to make use of all my old decks with the upgrade pack.

I can be rather...particular about solo games so I waited for quite a bit to read/hear/see if the solo/coop mode for Ashes was liked. I personally like that it has clear behaviors but that there's all these elements (die rolling tables to check, a power that activates after it accumulates enough energy, variation in the cards it plays against you - they can be themed together or just randomly seeded) that add just enough randomness that you don't exactly know what's going to happen each round.

And don't worry about deck building. I have never done it and I feel no need to ever do it. You want to try something new? Just buy a new Phoenixborn. There are like 2900 of them available. Each with their own distinctive decks. Honestly, mixing them feels almost wrong since they're so themed for the Phoenixborn they come with.

Once I saw there was a website like Arkham LCG has where people share builds (both solo and PvP), I felt much better about the purchase as well.

The only downside for me is that I have the new core box and two of the solo expansions all stored comfortably in the core box using a Folded Space insert. If I start getting more (and I likely will), I'm going to need to transfer things to a different box, which isn't ideal (but necessary). I picked up a GameGenic 1100+ card box on sale last week and it might be the answer.

[Isgrimnur]

Ashes is a great game. Never played the AI, only hepcat.

So, Easy but Disjointed mode?

[hepcat]

I have, until the last two decks and the solo/coop games, been able to fit EVERYTHING into the core box from the first edition. I just ziplock bag the decks, bag up the dice and viola....one extremely heavy box that pisses off Zarathud (the Martha Stewart of Gaming) every time I open the box.

Ashes is a great game. Never played the AI, only hepcat.

So, Easy but Disjointed mode?

I'm sending the OO mentat to House Harkonen. Can we get a new one sent up?

[Zarathud]

Hepcat has plenty of experience with Ashes. He’s challenging.

We usually play 3+ so it’s an equal chance everyone spreads the damage or gangs up on hepcat or me. For the lulz.

[hepcat]

I love Ashes because it can take as many people as you want, should you wish. It will be a long game and there will be folks who get eliminated. But it works. We've done that at a few Octocons in the past.

Archinerd is the real Ashes challenge. He took to it like a duck to water.

[YellowKing]

I finally got Night of the Living Dead: Zombicide to the table after doing my typical thing of taking so long to paint the minis I never play the game. I still haven't finished the minis but got enough done that I knew if I didn't start playing I never would.

I really like Zombicide, and own the 2nd edition base game and two expansions. So I knew what I was getting going in. However, I think the designers did a great job making it feel more like the movie. The big gimmick in this one is that your survivors can flip back and forth between "Romero mode" (weak, normal characters) and Zombicide Mode (crazy strong characters). However, they have "relative" zombies that can appear and sap everyone's morale, flipping them back to Romero mode. This serves as a constant foil to getting too unrealistically powerful and keeps things more in line with the film.

The first scenario is the scene where everyone is in the house trying to barricade the doors and windows, so that's what you're trying to do. Zombicide has always been a very puzzly game in how to most efficiently use your three actions, but NOTLD cranks that aspect up big time. Running around closing barricades even as the undead are opening them back up is like balancing a bunch of spinning plates, and I had a blast. Also led to some really cinematic moments like when three Fatties showed up on the doorstep read to barge in and Barbra managed to build a molotov cocktail just in time to wipe them out.

I think this is one of those that - even if you aren't a Zombicide fan - makes for a great horror movie adaptation on its own.

[Punisher]

So...what's everyone's opinion on the easiest solo game to play?
I'm looking for:
1. Easy setup. Leaning towards also being a smaller game setup. Preferably something that could fit on a TV tray table.

2. Easy to learn rules. Like really easy. I want to start small.

3. While I'm not fond of deck builders due to their complexity I'm still slightly open to trying them. For example I have 7th continent.

I may even have what is recommended. I have way more games then I need and have only played about 3% of them. Hopefully that changes once we receive our gaming table in November I think. But I know I have a few solo games for sure just don't know what they are off hand.

[Smoove_B]

I haven't played it yet, but I've heard really good things about For Northwood, it's a solo trick-taking game that I think meets all of your requirements. Same with a game like Grove.

One that might be a little more challenging but adds in dice and randomness is That's Pretty Clever. I'm still not good at it, but it's enjoyable and quick. Unlike the other two games, you can play this one solo or with others. It seems complicated at first, but it's just a matter of understanding what you can do with the various color dice in your pool.

If you like these type of smaller games, there are so many - it really is a whole genre and they can get much more complex but this should be a good start. They're cheap and very small.

[hepcat]

Check out Friday: A Solo Adventure.

[Smoove_B]

Hersey I'm sure, but I found Friday to be...meh. Unless you like card counting, then it's probably great. It's one of the reasons I don't like deck builders (or gambling) in general - the meta elements involved.

[hepcat]

I'm barely able to count to 10 let alone count cards. I'm like Rain Man with NONE of the benefits.

[Skinypupy]

Quests of Valeria is a fun game with simple rules and a small footprint. It’s basically “Lords of Waterdeep: The Card Game” and plays really well solo.

[Punisher]

Added them all to my cart. Out of the 3, Friday seems the most interesting so I may get that first.
Thanks for the recommendations.
I should probably also check out my existing library as well.

[Smoove_B]

I can only offer the advice I wish I had when I started solo board gaming - resist the urge to buy things just because you want to play solo and it says "solo" on the box. Figure out what you want from a solo game (story, beat your own score, playing against an automa, etc...) and then find games that offer that experience in a theme you're interested in. Normally I tell people to chase theme first, but for solo play I've found the theme isn't usually enough to overcome the type of solo game it is. There are exceptions, but overwhelmingly that's been my (expensive) experience.

[Blackhawk]

I can only offer the advice I wish I had when I started solo board gaming - resist the urge to buy things just because you want to play solo and it says "solo" on the box. Figure out what you want from a solo game (story, beat your own score, playing against an automa, etc...) and then find games that offer that experience in a theme you're interested in. Normally I tell people to chase theme first, but for solo play I've found the theme isn't usually enough to overcome the type of solo game it is. There are exceptions, but overwhelmingly that's been my (expensive) experience.

+1.

Also be aware that many solo games compensate for the lack of other players with brutal difficulty. Not all, but many - it's something to be aware of. Also of note: You don't have to limit yourself to games with '1+' in the player count. Almost any cooperative game can be played solo if you're willing to play multiple characters (it's one of my favorite ways to play solo - you can get the coordination of group play by yourself.)

As far as your request, look at Deep Space D6.

For something different, look at Legacy of Dragonholt. Remember Choose Your Own Adventure books? Do you remember the gamebook style, where you'd keep track of equipment and use a chart to figure out results? It's like that, but for adults (in a PG kind of way.)

No guarantee that either of these suit you, but they're small, easy to learn, and fun.

[hepcat]

As far as your request, look at Deep Space D6.

Seconded. That's another great solo game.

[Skinypupy]

I can only offer the advice I wish I had when I started solo board gaming - resist the urge to buy things just because you want to play solo and it says "solo" on the box. Figure out what you want from a solo game (story, beat your own score, playing against an automa, etc...) and then find games that offer that experience in a theme you're interested in. Normally I tell people to chase theme first, but for solo play I've found the theme isn't usually enough to overcome the type of solo game it is. There are exceptions, but overwhelmingly that's been my (expensive) experience.

+1. I have so many solo games gathering dust on my shelf because I got caught up in theme without knowing how a game plays before jumping in.

Also +1 to Legend of Dragonholt. It’s a fantastic solo “choose your own adventure” experience