Why do so many people love playing board games
by themselves? Aren’t they meant to be played socially? Today, I’m going to offer 10 reasons
why gamers might prefer to play alone, and why that’s ok. I’m also going to feature
10 single player board games that can provide a rewarding and fulfilling solo experience.
Thanks for checking out Legendary Tactics. Solo tabletop gaming has been a hobby with
a stigma for quite some time. Discussions on the subject used to inevitably lead to
jokes about playing with yourself. After all, aren’t board games designed to be social?
There’s nothing wrong with playing video games in single player mode, so why has this
sentiment not always been shared for board gamers? I believe it’s because people don’t
always recognize the reasons and the rewards for playing a game solo. If you’re a solo
game purist, please forgive me because I have included some games on my list that were not
originally designed for solo play. Some people love games because of the interactions
with other players. But another segment of board gamers just really truly loves the games.
Think of board games like a novel. You can escape from our world to the world of the
game. It’s an imaginative, intellectual, and tactile experience. A game that’s not
really intended as a solo game that serves this function for me is The Captain is Dead.
I’ve always been a sucker for the broken ship in space theme with the clock ticking
to fix it. Since there’s no hidden information between players, this co-op game is actually
quite fun to play by yourself. If you take turns playing 3 or 4 different characters,
you can dive into your broken down ship and desperately try to fix it before the masochistic
alien game mechanism cleans your clock. It’s hard not to picture that it’s you running
around on the ship blasting aliens and repairing core systems.
Another good reason for solo gaming is to solve a puzzle, or to take on a designer’s
system and crack it. It can’t be easy. The games I love most are the ones that are a
challenge to win. The intellectual challenge can be very rewarding when you finally solve
it. The game that does this for me is Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective. When I spend
only a few hours on a case, I rarely do well. This game draws me into the narrative, and
isn’t this the purpose of Detective novels? Th is game is in fact the evolution of the
Detective novel, that actually brings you on board to solve the case.
Beating a board game AI is rewarding, but so is competing against yourself. There’s
a reason that video gamers of yesteryear used to love getting high scores. It’s not the
points that matter, it’s developing mastery over a game and refining your skills. It’s
really quite satisfying. The game I most love for besting myself is Wingspan from Stonemaier
games. I almost chose Viticulture here, and it’s a great game too, but Wingspan, played
with the Automa system is a fun challenge with multiple paths to victory depending on
what cards are offered. The automa is something that Stonemaier is now standard equipment
on their games because they have realized that solo gaming can be really cathartic.
Many of the games on my list are ones that are primarily intended as multiplayer games.
But there are some great games built exclusively for solo play. I was introduced to the PNP
turned published solo games via Under Falling Skies. But it wasn’t quite the challenge
I was looking for. One of the best reasons for playing a game is to take on a challenge
and beat it. Honourable mention in this slot goes to Robinson Crusoe which came out at
the same time as the game I’m choosing. The game that just seems to keep breaking
my back is Friday. It’s a quick 25 minute game, or in my case, 10 minutes because of,
you know, mortality and being terrible at it, but it’s a game that I keep wanting
to play. As a gamer, I’m somewhat fickle, and if I don’t enjoy a game after the first
play or two, I never go back. But if I find myself thinking about it later, and wanting
to solve it, that’s a keeper. It’s easy to learn, and is a nice little distraction
from whatever ails you. You have to respect really well-designed games.
The very first game that blew my mind for how it automates the antagonist was Pandemic.
You’re probably getting a sense that I enjoy hi-jacking co-op games and just playing as
multiple characters, and I’m not ashamed to say it. The virus in this game is not only
really intuitive and easy to learn, but it simulates how a virus infects exponentially.
For me, there’s nothing worse than spending a lot of time with a flow chart, or with your
nose buried in a 40 page rulebook that controls the baddies. Pandemic never feels as if you’re
working hard to automate your opponent, and for that reason, this is a great game to play
by yourself. If you are getting value from this video,
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Some games take a lot more play to master. Especially, asymmetrical games. To get good
at a game, you sometimes need more playtime than you can get in social settings. I will
confess that the game I’ve chosen here is much better with a group of friends, but it’s
also one that I feel I need to practice more so I can really learn how to play each faction.
Root, the Clockwork expansion, lets players face off against automated systems for the
other factions. It’s a bit fiddly, and you need to learn how to run the automa, but I
absolutely love this game, and being able to play it solo means I can decimate my casual
playing friends. I do really enjoy playing this one in its digital format so that I don’t
need to bother running the A.I. I love when I get into the narrative of a
game and am fully immersed with the characters, the story, and the gameplay. If a game can
draw me deep into its story, and make me actually care about the characters on the board, then
it’s doing its job. When I played Frostpunk, the video game, I really started feeling bad
for my civilians trudging through the snow, and the poor kids being forced to work and
getting injured and sick. I find the Frostpunk boardgame to be a little daunting as a solo
player, trying to manage the hunger, health, laws etc... But I’ve chosen another game
that is more accessible than Frostpunk for its narrative immersion. One of the best solo
games in recent memory is This War of Mine. With this game, you get a slice out of a war
torn world with real intensity. There is a real story here with a complex and customizable
plot. It’s a game where your decisions really matter. Some game mechanics lend well to solo
gaming. One that I love in any game is the Push Your Luck mechanic. I love that you can
take risks, win the rewards, or suffer the consequences. The more choice there is in
a game, the more replayable it is. But I also want characters with real problems that need
to be solved. This game comes with a scripts book with over 1000 events, so the number
of possible story lines are impressive. The main reason to love this game is not to win
it, but rather just to experience it. One caveat though - it’s a sad sack game. It’s
not one you play to lighten the mood. All kinds of terrible tragedies will happen to
your characters. This is why I like playing this one solo. It’s not meant to be a laugh
out loud party game. It’s meant to simulate what it might feel like to live in a time
of war. It’s a dose of reality - which is something that not everybody wants in a board
game. If you
could take a moment to let me know what you enjoy about solitaire gaming, and what games
are the most rewarding for you, I’d be ever so grateful.
There’s something intensely satisfying about starting with a base character, and improving
their skills, buying new weapons and perks, and leveling them up, so to speak. In solo
game play, this experience is magnified even more because you can decide how to optimize
how you disperse gold, and other goodies across your characters. Please forgive me for including
another co-op game which is technically listed as 2-4 players, but co-op games really do
lend well to solo play. The game that just feels good to play because of all the loot
is the Legends of Andor. It’s a little like Gloomhaven light. In order to beat the game,
you need to find efficiencies to level up your characters. Replayability isn’t as
good on this game. When you’ve had a great experience with
a game in the past, it’s nice to extend your horizons and try something new. The freshness
of a new game, the wonder that comes with the unexpected, and the excitement that a
new gaming experience brings can be another motivator for solo gaming. It almost becomes
a quest for board gamers to find the next hit. I almost picked Spirit Island for this
slot, but there was another game that caught my interest more. For me, the game that was
a pleasant surprise this year was Pax Pamir 2nd Edition. It came out in 2019, and it slipped
completely under my radar until some of our viewers alerted me to its awesomeness. It’s
an area control style game with some card drafting mixed in there. In solo mode, you’re
battling against a Wakhan AI opponent. They are really unpredictable, sometimes a little
daft, but they also get additional powers to compensate. This game will take a little
more management on your part because you have to play your own hand and the AI hand. The
Wakhan is a challenge, and the game has strong replayability because there’s lots of variety
in how each game develops. But if you’re looking for something a little different,
this game is worth a try. One really valid reason for solo gaming is
just to get the games that you love to the table more often. Sometimes you just want
to play the game for the game’s sake and you can’t always muster up 4 friends while
you have an itch that needs scratching. The game I’ve selected for this position is
the beast, Gloomhaven. I know at least half a dozen people who bought this game and have
played no more than 5-10% of it. It sits in the closet waiting for the day that it will
once again grace the table. Don’t get me wrong, they all love this game and want more
of it. So if you really want to get value from that purchase, you may need to play solitaire,
and explore its depths, level your character up, and just enjoy the interaction between
yourself and the game. If you haven’t tried this game yet, you might want to check out
Jaws of the Lion, which is a stand alone game set before the events of Gloomhaven. It’s
targeted more at casual gamers if that’s your bag.
If this video has helped you appreciate the value o f solo board gaming, or alerted you
to a game you hadn’t considered playing before, please consider subscribing to our
channel and liking the video. Nato from Legendary Tactics also made a top 10 solo games that
I’ll link to at the end of the video with some off the beaten path games that you should
check out. Thanks for your time.
Mindfulness. Messing with Fields of Arle or even taking on Spirit Island is just about the most Zen thing I do. It is utterly consuming. I love that about boardgaming: my troubles just can't get to me when I'm playing.
Relaxing way to pass the time
0:00 Why Game Solo?
0:55 #10 - Imaginative Escape
1:48 #9 - Solving the Puzzle
2:29 #8 - Competing Against Yourself
3:14 #7 - The Challenge
4:12 #6 - Intuitive A.I.
5:15 #5 - Refining Your Skills
6:03 #4 - Re-playability, Exploration, and Narrative Immersion
8:39 #3 - Leveling Up
9:38 #2 - New Experiences
10:53 #1 - Games To the Table
I like that it's a hobby I can do on my own that doesn't involve screens, as a lot of my interests do.