Solo Board Games

Pickpocket

I have no friends to play board games with. The only time my mates sit around a table together is when there's a bag of coke in the middle of it. Sad, but true.

I've been playing plenty of RPGs on the PS4 over the past few years. It's a genre I never appreciated when I was younger but I've really fallen for the lore/stats/info to be found in them. It's interesting and challenging.

That in turn has led me to board games. I haven't played one yet but the physicality of it has me intrigued, plus I'm a collector of various bits and pieces so things like miniatures and cards hold endless appeal for me.

I want to start somewhere but it will have to be a single player experience. Mage Knight is one that keep popping up although it looks very complex and for experienced players only. So I'm looking for other recommendations. However it doesn't have to be an RPG! I'm interested in anything really as long as it's capable of being played on my own. Friday is an interesting looking card game that's got good reviews, as has the Arkham Horror card game.

So please feel free to recommend games of any genre or price range. I'll consider anything and everything.

Finally, I've read that any 'true co-op' RPG is capable of being played solo because you simply manage the second character as you'd manage your party in an RPG videogame. Is that true? If so feel free to recommend some co-op games that might fit the bill.

Many thanks!!

NomadicGray

The three you mentioned, Mage Knight, Arkham Horror LCG and Friday are all very good.
Theres also, Legendary Encounters(marvel, Alien or Predator),
Eldritch Horror,
Lord Of The Rings LCG,
Space Hulk Death Angel,
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game,
Pandemic.

Theyre all the ones I can recommend from looking at my own collection here but someone asks this question nearly every week on reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/5qzszw/wsig_wanting_to_build_up_a_solo_game_collection/

If you're looking for something with an actual board and pieces to move around I'd say go for Eldritch Horror, but the card games like Arkham or LOTR are fantastic too.
Also most of those are co-ops that you just take on the role of two people if playing solo, works perfectly well.

cherryghost

Viticulture 1 player seems to work well (the essentials edition) if you're into those kind of games.

Earthhorse

I know you're looking for recommendations but in case you haven't considered it you could look into joining a meet up group to play with others or you could buy the digital editions of games and play against people online.

Branoic

Some other games with solo modes:

Elder Sign
Ghost Stories
Scythe
Firefly

But as mentioned, a great way to play games when your normal circle of friends isn't interested is to join a group. There are a fair few around the country. Where abouts are you based?

Paddy Samurai

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/121921/robinson-crusoe-adventures-cursed-island

Although a "heavy game" I hear good things about this as a solo play.
There's a series of solo playthrough videos .

MarkHall

The Aliens board game was a hell of a one player system.
A tough nut to crack thou.
There's flash version of it out there.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/408816

Earthhorse

MarkHall wrote: »

The Aliens board game was a hell of a one player system.
A tough nut to crack thou.
There's flash version of it out there.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/408816

That's pretty cool. I had this but don't know what I did with it. Great little game.

chonix

I have to try soloing Flash Point Fire Rescue. I know it has a solo player mode but just bought it last week!

gaynorvader

Kingdom Death: Monster is great single player, if you can pick it up (it just finished its second Kickstarter, but is still accepting late pledges at the time of this post). Be warned it has a pretty hefty price tag, but I've had a lot of fun with it both in single player and multiplayer games.

Celephais

Arkham Horror LCG has been pretty good to play solo. There's a decent bit of replayability, so long as you don't mind playing through the same scenarios a few times. There's enough variance to keep things interesting, but I've found I'll play it for a 1-2 hour sitting and then I'm good with it for a few days. I'll always go back to it though.

Kingdom Death: Monster has been mentioned, and would indeed make a great choice. It's just a hell of an investment. I just dropped a bomb on the latest Kickstarter and won't see any sign of it until the end of the year, so it's a bit of a wait if that's an option.

In terms of co-op games where you can just play more than one characters, this is definitely true, but the experience can vary from game to game. Arkham Horror, for instance, is a good one for this - adding more characters just adds more actions that you can perform and ups numerical values like the health on enemies to account for this. Something like Time Stories though really plays best when you have 4 people, as it's more about telling a specific story, and the interactions and information sharing of the different players is a big part of the game. This is something that's definitely lost when you're playing on your own.

Alternatively, send me on a message if you're based in Dublin. I'm in a similar enough position - new enough to the hobby, most of my mates are still only meeting up to session, so I'm having trouble finding people who just want to chill and play some boardgames, without getting a bag of weed or something involved. So feel free to give me a shout if you're still looking to find a group

CatInABox

Pandemic: Legacy would be great too, although I'm essentially recommending that game for absolutely everything these days.

Friend: "Help, my bathroom has a leak"

Me: "Have you tried Pandemic: Legacy?"

gaynorvader

CatInABox wrote: »

Pandemic: Legacy would be great too, although I'm essentially recommending that game for absolutely everything these days.

Friend: "Help, my bathroom has a leak"

Me: "Have you tried Pandemic: Legacy?"

Thought it was 2-4, can you play it solo?

CatInABox

gaynorvader wrote: »

Thought it was 2-4, can you play it solo?

As with any boardgame, it's better with others, but seeing as you're playing against the board regardless of the number of players, then I don't see why not.

I played through it with my wife, but we played with 4 characters, and that definitely increased our enjoyment from it. If I had no one to play it with, then I would have been happy to play it solo. The rules wouldn't even have to change.

Mollyb60

CatInABox wrote: »

Pandemic: Legacy would be great too, although I'm essentially recommending that game for absolutely everything these days.

Friend: "Help, my bathroom has a leak"

Me: "Have you tried Pandemic: Legacy?"

Oooh I just bought this game. Cannot wait to get started!

Greg81

Mollyb60 wrote: »

Oooh I just bought this game. Cannot wait to get started!

Great decision.

I have finished it few days ago with friends. Can't wait for Season 2.

Awesome board game.

NomadicGray

I'm presuming OP has given up on the solo board gaming idea. Alwways good to have a thread for it though.

Think its time to give Make Knight another shot for me, I know the rules but the game still hasnt seemed to click yet.