Solo Gaming – Thoughts?

[Kent]

As I have spent more time in graduate school my free time has decreased steadily. I now no longer have time to meet up with other people to game on a steady schedule and find myself looking more frequently at games with solo play modes. Anyone else here do solo gaming? I am looking for some suggestions on games. So far I am in the process of picking up Mage Knight, Tiny Epic Western, and I already have Dungeons and Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt.

[WonderSlug]

I’m always curious about what drives people’s motivation toward solo gaming. Your seems pretty legit.

I’ve watched some Mage Knight solo play, and that definitely seems like an acceptable way to play the game.

I think the Tiny Epic line of games all have a solo variant if I’m not mistaken. I’m almost certain Tiny Epic Galaxies was delivered with solo play built in.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure of too many others. I’ve never really leaned toward solo play, so I don’t keep up with it. I am curious though to see others’ input here.

[CK Lai]

I travel a fair bit, and don’t get a chance to get together with my gaming group. My wife likes certain types of games, but not all. So yes, solo gaming is definitely one of the things I’m looking for in a new game I back/purchase nowadays.

[Universal Head]

I very occasionally play Lord of the Rings LCG solo, but that’s about it.

[Tangram11]

You really must try Hostage Negotiator. It’s solo only and does an excellent job of capturing the escalating tension in the encounter it is simulating.

[Kent]

Tangram11, I will need to check it out. I read some reviews online and they were positive. Shall see if I can pick up a copy on the cheap. Thanks!

[chevalierdulys]

Hi, first post in these forums. I really enjoy the videos of Esoteric Order of Games and the rules manual. They are indeed precious and easy to consult.

Well for me, I play solo because I don’t have anyone to play with at the time being. Boardgames are not that common in Portugal with only a store or two with games (most of them the fantasy flight or other bigger companies) – fortunally kickstarter exists 🙂

One of my favourite solo games is undoubtly Arkham Horror. If you enjoy Cthulhu Mythos and dice throwing then this is a great game. Eldritch Horror is also very good but in my opinion the price range of their big boxes is absurd and so I only have the two small expansions.

Magic Knight as you’ve said is probably one of those that are on the top of the list for most youtubers and gamers on boardgamegeek. Then, you’ve got Kingdom Death. I know it’s pricy. I pay 300$ for it but they are worth it. The game is enourmous. You can play one playthrough (20 lantern years) and each year takes at least 1h. If you finish the game you can restart and I bet that nothing is going to be the same. There are some expansions to increase the replay value but they are not necessary… The only setback $$$. But if you want a cheaper you’ve got Shadows of Brimstone. You can buy the set for 150$ and you’ve got thousands of hours. A lot of material is coming out so it’s big and expanding.

Myth, B-sieged, Zombicide Black Plague and many others are single player friendly and you lose nothing by playing solo.

[Universal Head]

Welcome chevalierdulys! I’m beginning to wish I backed Kingdom Death now, but I just couldn’t bear the cheesecake female designs.

Glad you enjoy playing solo, though you must get some people locally into playing! I’m lucky to have a regular gaming group, but I occasionally play LOTR the Card Game solo; that’s about it.

[Kent]

Chevalierdulys, thanks for the suggestions.

Kingdom Death is something that I want to buy but the money is just too much right now. I could afford 3-4 really good games for the same price as KD. Those miniatures keep tempting me though as they are absolutely stunning. I think they would be very fun to paint and display. One day I will get a copy…maybe I can snag one used for cheaper.

I’ve never heard of Shadows of Brimstone but will have to add it to my ever growing wishlist!

[chevalierdulys]

Shadows of Brimstone is quite good as a dungeon crawler. Watch some videos of playthroughs. They are quite nice and with the expansion of Frontier Town (not obligatory to buy) but it is a game within a game. And they are already expanding with three other world encounters and dozen mores minis. If you like dungeon crawler there is no more diversity than this.

Unfortunally or fortunally, depends if you are talking to me or to my wallet, there are a lot of dungeon crawlers out there. There are too much out there but no money. This facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/miniatureboardgames/ has some information on most miniature board games (if you want opinions and such. They have a timetable of the boardgames coming out with minis (but lets face most dungeon crawlers have minis nowadays) 🙂

[Universal Head]

I’ve played a couple of times and was unimpressed. There’s certainly lots of content, but IMHO the game engine is a solid as a wet cardboard box. Battles are often long slogs of samey dice rolling combat with no tactics at all; rooms full of figures with no room for manoeuvre. The dice rolling is interminable. The two core sets repeat a lot and they didn’t even bother to include rules for combining them. The whole game feels as if they got so excited by the theme they forgot to playtest it. And the miniatures are very poorly designed and manufactured in comparison to similar games.

Still, I’ll try again once all the material I was promised finally comes through.

I agree, the dungeoncrawling genre is all but exhausted.

[8th]

Played a handful of games of Brimstone and it was fun, but we’re terrible with dice luck, which makes it more entertaining as we fumble through the mines.

I agree with what you’re saying though, it’s a cumbersome system and needs work, but the setting has so much potential.

It’s on my “make it a better game with house rules” list.

[Author]

Posts