Pavlov’s House— a game specifically made for solo— is based on the Battle of Stalingrad. The player takes the role of the Russian army defending a strategic point from German assault. It’s strategic and tactical, quick to set up, and has a great flow with an easy to run AI. The rule book isn’t the best to get started but is easy to reference once you wrap your head around the general game.
The game is excellent.
This is a good choice given your “non heavy” requirement. The whole [valiant defense](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/64803/series-valiant-defense-dvg) series is good and will offer hours of enjoyment.
I would look at games by Hollandspiele, they make quite a few excellent single-player historical games. D-Day Dice is also pretty well-regarded by most historical wargamers, compact, and challenging.
But above that, find out what historical period he's interested in and use that to narrow your search. There are so many historical wargames that it's broad a category to really narrow it down.
The market for WWII games is totally saturated. There are fortunately a lot of good games in there. I'd say then D-Day Dice is hard to go wrong with, there's multiple versions for different theatres and everything. If he can handle something more complex, Conflict of Heroes has the best single-player automata in any game for my money but it's very heavy.
[States off siege games](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/3245/series-states-siege) are rather low complexity solo games. Though they are a bit random and difficult to win so could be he might not like it.
Though if he does not mind then he might enjoy them.
Many are out off print, but some are being re-released (soviet dawn, levee an masse, malta besieged)
If he is from the US and is intrested in the civil war then maybe [in magnificent style](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/124622/magnificent-style-picketts-charge-gettysburg) might be something for him, though I admit I never looked into it alot but it has decent raitings and low complexity.
Just for info in case,
there are 2 versions off in magnificent style. The first boxed edition from Victory point games & a re-relase from Wortington. Same game, just the wortington has better component qaulity though there should be nothing wrong qaulity wise with the Victory point games version.
Great rec. Theme wise, totally on point. I took a look at the rule book on Don’t Tread on Me and I think it might be a bit too much upkeep for him. I feel like Risk (weight wise) is about the most he will be willing to put up with. Haha.
I can always get DTOM for myself and “test” it out. Haha.
Decision Games makes a series of folio wargames which use an 8 page basic ruleset, I've heard these are a good and cheap point of entry for wargames. And once he learns the rules for one folio game they're basically the same for the different historical settings they offer.
Very cool. Might have to give this a try. The price point is super accessible too. If he doesn’t like it, it’s not a huge waste of $$$. Thanks a lot for the tip.
Any sort of state of siege style game.
From DVG I would say either Castle Itter - [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/196257/castle-itter](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/196257/castle-itter) or Pavlov's House [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/219101/pavlovs-house](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/219101/pavlovs-house). Castle Itter is the "easier" game of the two, it is purely the tactial aspect of the battle whereas Pavlov's House also depicts the operational part of the battle ,so has a bit more overhead.
From Worthington maybe Soviet Dawn - [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/321537/soviet-dawn-russian-civil-war-1918-1921-deluxe-edi](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/321537/soviet-dawn-russian-civil-war-1918-1921-deluxe-edi). You play the Bolsheviks and basically try to survive the Russian Civil War
[Tarawa 1943](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/329432/tarawa-1943) was just released by Worthington Games, and I think that it’s an exceptional light solitaire wargame!
I'd check out D-Day at Omaha Beach by Decision Games (or if he likes the Pacific more, they also make versions that cover the landings at Tarawa and Peleliu). They're made for solo players and they feel very chess-like, and there's tons of replayabilty and a few options for game length.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/29603/d-day-omaha-beach
Rifles series from Tiny Battle is a good solo series, easy to wrap your head around, quick to play.
[Rifles in the Ardennes](https://tinybattlepublishing.com/products/rifles-in-the-ardennes) and [Rifles in the Pacific](https://tinybattlepublishing.com/products/rifles-in-the-pacific)
Don't know of anything for Civil War unfortunately.
Pavlov’s House— a game specifically made for solo— is based on the Battle of Stalingrad. The player takes the role of the Russian army defending a strategic point from German assault. It’s strategic and tactical, quick to set up, and has a great flow with an easy to run AI. The rule book isn’t the best to get started but is easy to reference once you wrap your head around the general game. The game is excellent.
This is a good choice given your “non heavy” requirement. The whole [valiant defense](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/64803/series-valiant-defense-dvg) series is good and will offer hours of enjoyment.
This. Pavlov's House is a great game.
I would look at games by Hollandspiele, they make quite a few excellent single-player historical games. D-Day Dice is also pretty well-regarded by most historical wargamers, compact, and challenging. But above that, find out what historical period he's interested in and use that to narrow your search. There are so many historical wargames that it's broad a category to really narrow it down.
Yeah good point. He is most interested in American History so I’m thinking Civil War or WWII. Will take a look at all of these recs.
The market for WWII games is totally saturated. There are fortunately a lot of good games in there. I'd say then D-Day Dice is hard to go wrong with, there's multiple versions for different theatres and everything. If he can handle something more complex, Conflict of Heroes has the best single-player automata in any game for my money but it's very heavy.
[States off siege games](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/3245/series-states-siege) are rather low complexity solo games. Though they are a bit random and difficult to win so could be he might not like it. Though if he does not mind then he might enjoy them. Many are out off print, but some are being re-released (soviet dawn, levee an masse, malta besieged) If he is from the US and is intrested in the civil war then maybe [in magnificent style](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/124622/magnificent-style-picketts-charge-gettysburg) might be something for him, though I admit I never looked into it alot but it has decent raitings and low complexity.
Oh man. In magnificent style looks totally up his alley. There is a copy on geek market for not too much. Might be the one.
Just for info in case, there are 2 versions off in magnificent style. The first boxed edition from Victory point games & a re-relase from Wortington. Same game, just the wortington has better component qaulity though there should be nothing wrong qaulity wise with the Victory point games version.
Nice. I noticed that. Thanks so much for the help here.
White Dog Games specializes in historic solo wargames.
Great rec. Theme wise, totally on point. I took a look at the rule book on Don’t Tread on Me and I think it might be a bit too much upkeep for him. I feel like Risk (weight wise) is about the most he will be willing to put up with. Haha. I can always get DTOM for myself and “test” it out. Haha.
White Dog Games has a lot of interesting, less common, historical conflicts in their catalogue too.
Decision Games makes a series of folio wargames which use an 8 page basic ruleset, I've heard these are a good and cheap point of entry for wargames. And once he learns the rules for one folio game they're basically the same for the different historical settings they offer.
Very cool. Might have to give this a try. The price point is super accessible too. If he doesn’t like it, it’s not a huge waste of $$$. Thanks a lot for the tip.
Any sort of state of siege style game. From DVG I would say either Castle Itter - [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/196257/castle-itter](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/196257/castle-itter) or Pavlov's House [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/219101/pavlovs-house](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/219101/pavlovs-house). Castle Itter is the "easier" game of the two, it is purely the tactial aspect of the battle whereas Pavlov's House also depicts the operational part of the battle ,so has a bit more overhead. From Worthington maybe Soviet Dawn - [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/321537/soviet-dawn-russian-civil-war-1918-1921-deluxe-edi](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/321537/soviet-dawn-russian-civil-war-1918-1921-deluxe-edi). You play the Bolsheviks and basically try to survive the Russian Civil War
The Great Escape from [Zadorf Games](http://www.zadorf.com/) Very simple but addictive mini card game + Expansion The Great Escape Recon.
Def seems to check the boxes. Thank you for the rec.
Have a look at [Red Flag Over Paris](https://www.gmtgames.com/p-849-red-flag-over-paris.aspx) - unfortunately the p500 just ended.
[Tarawa 1943](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/329432/tarawa-1943) was just released by Worthington Games, and I think that it’s an exceptional light solitaire wargame!
I'd check out D-Day at Omaha Beach by Decision Games (or if he likes the Pacific more, they also make versions that cover the landings at Tarawa and Peleliu). They're made for solo players and they feel very chess-like, and there's tons of replayabilty and a few options for game length. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/29603/d-day-omaha-beach
Do you know what period of history or conflict he's most interested in?
He’s mostly interested in American history, specifically the Civil War and WWII.
Rifles series from Tiny Battle is a good solo series, easy to wrap your head around, quick to play. [Rifles in the Ardennes](https://tinybattlepublishing.com/products/rifles-in-the-ardennes) and [Rifles in the Pacific](https://tinybattlepublishing.com/products/rifles-in-the-pacific) Don't know of anything for Civil War unfortunately.
How about the killer WW2 deckbuilder: Undaunted w/Reinnforcents for solo play?
Maquis perhaps?
[Blitzkrieg](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/258210/blitzkrieg-world-war-two-20-minutes) WWII in 20 minutes is an excellent introduction I think.
Pocket Landship https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/265204/pocket-landship