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Top Ten Solo Play Board Games
I know they say one is the loneliest number, but the next time you are alone try out one of these solo play board games. Some of the games on this list are co-ops or variants, official and fan-made. But as long as the solo game experience is fun and worthwhile, I have considered it for this list. Again, if I have not played a game but heard good things about it, it will be listed with the honorable mentions that just didn’t quite make the cut.
Here are my top ten solo play board games:
10. Agricola – How high can you score? If that doesn’t interest you, then played solo neither will Agricola.
9. Pizza Box Football – The solo game is fun but can be a little repetitive.
8. 51st State – Another solo game where you are trying to get a high score. This one moves quick and is pretty tactical.
7. Pandemic – Can you save the world by yourself? Still tense, but is still better with others.
6. Race for the Galaxy – The robot in the solo game seems a bit random. And after playing on the computer against the AI, I doubt I will try this again.
5. World of Warcraft: the Board Game – Still a long game solo, but the fun aspects of leveling up and killing monsters is there. Both the official and a couple fan-made variants are enjoyable.
4. Castle Panic – Tough to win but still a fun tower defense game.
3. Wrath of Ashardalon – Challenging but not too overwhelming, this dungeon crawl has a good balance of the two.
2. Space Hulk: Death Angel – This deadly card game is fun and you will need some luck to win it alone.
1. Thunderstone – Playing this with the official solo rules is not only a good time, it will help you learn how best to play when you are playing it against your friends. There are different difficulty levels and if you add the expansions the replayability goes through the roof.
Honorable Mentions:
Red November, Blokus , Battle Star Galactica
As always feel free to tell me your Top Ten, add suggestions or berate my choices in the comments section.
13 Responses to “Top Ten Solo Play Board Games”
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My top 1:
1. Age of Steam, Barbados map: A single-player map. The challenge is to stay afloat, the goal is to make as much money as possible.
I just haven’t played any other board game alone! (not counting computer/phone versions)
What?
No RAF, Ambush or Dungeonquest?
You’re weird.
What, no Arkham Horror? I play it solo all the time.
I will not deny I am weird, but I have not played Age of Steam, RAF, Ambush, Dungeonquest or Arkham Horror. Since I have not played any of those I could not put them on the list. That said now I want to try them out!
Nice list:-
check out Onirim :- fairly new quick no set up card solo game
obviously missed :- ghost stories
and:- defenders of the realm
p.s i totaly agree with Race for the gal, and death angel,
death angel probably being my current top + its new expansion,
hope for good things from the new living card game lord of the rings this month
also solos to avoid: i really disliked the dungeoneer series, nice but fiddly
best print and play solos:- d6 shooters or delve dice,
Thunderstone looks like it’d be pretty cool single player. I was also pretty impressed with how the robot mechanic worked in Race for the Galaxy… (though I got my butt kicked when I tried it).
I’d much rather play Space Alert or The Lord of the Rings, if you were going to play a coop by yourself. Pandemic is … bland?
I’ve got to ask… Blokus? How?
There are solo play rules that come with Blokus. It is more of a brainteaser, but if you like that kind of thing…
Some more solo games to check out that are a lot of fun –
Most titles from the States of Siege line from Victory Point Games (Zulu on the Ramparts, Ottoman Sunset, We Must Tell the Emperor)
Mousquetaires du Roy
I must add Mage Knight to this list. Best solo game I ever played. It’s even better solo. Really, it’s brilliant and you should check it out (watch youtube for a playthrough by Ricky Royal!)
Cheers,
Jonas
In the updated list I added it to the Honorable Mentions list. And since then I have played it with others (still not solo) but I can understand how fun it is solo and will add it the next time I update the list. Of course I’ll try it before I add it. 🙂
Thanks for the feedback!
How can this be the top 10 list when #6 won’t be tried again?
I am not saying the solo variant is not fun. The solo game is still good if you don’t have a PC to play the computer version on.