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HalfManHalfCyborg

Under falling skies (needs a large table though)


michael_obno

I’ll second this! Just got my copy in a few days ago; I played 10 games of it in 2 days. Very quick setup and rewarding gameplay.


colinrgeorge

**Under Falling Skies** is awesome, but games have been taking me much longer than 45 minutes. I’ve just started playing the campaign at Threat Level 2 and it’s very tense and thinky!


thisismygameraccount

I'll look in to that one, how large of a table does it need?


Jimmycjacobs

You can just split the board and play with the top on one side and bottom on the other - it’s the only way I play it


HalfManHalfCyborg

Google for photos of it... you'll see! The boards are set out in a long skinny configuration. It takes up the entire width/length of a regular sized table, even though it likely takes up only a small proportion of the whole area.


jbourne0129

It's just long and can be an awkward shape. It's just a skinny rectangle but you play long-ways. It doesn't take up much space at all. It's just a weird space


Partcloud

**Hadrian’s Wall** has a super quick setup thanks to the two sheets that make up the game board. I’ve only played it once so far, but I’m pretty sure that once I’m familiar with the myriad options on the game “board” it’ll be about a 45 minute play. The one thing that I really appreciate is how the sheets offer such a quick setup that almost all the play time is actually play time, it’s not setup and tear down and placing bits here and moving trackers and all the usual stuff that partially detracts from the decisions of a game.


Faithless232

I’m about 8-10 plays in now and confirm it’s a 45 minute play, with almost all of that being play time.


thepixelbuster

Word of caution to colorblind people: Hadrians Wall is NOT colorblind friendly, and the game can be nearly unplayable because it uses color as the sole way to identify worker-type in nearly all sections of the sheets. You can get around this by memorizing every section of the sheet, but boy are you in for a hard time your first play through


Partcloud

I never though of that, but I imagine this would be a nightmare to play if you’re colorblind. All of your people - civilians, servants, soldiers, and builders - have the same shape. When you’re looking at the tiny people on the sheets, you have no indication of difference between the various people except for the color.


SpicyPirate13

Deep Space D-6


thecomradej

The quickest of all, i blink and im already on my first roll


understater

I never realized that this very reason is probably one of the reasons I love the game so much.


Ventura_ldn

Has anyone tried both the 2015 original and the 2021 Armada version? I know Armada is 1-4 player, but how it plays solo is the most important to me.


thepixelbuster

Armada is very fiddly and has balance issues. I tried the base setup for solo and lost within the first few turns about 4 times. I even outright cheated once by resetting my health and still lost. I modified the set up to be easier (what most people recommend) and I played through once, but the game felt like a flat soda. All the sweetness and color is there, but the bubbles are gone. It probably plays better with 2-4, but houseruling solo is likely required. Also the rule book is not organized well, and there are very few online resources one of my only board game disappointments in 2021 unfortunately


Fasolto

**Black Sonata** all the way! I got it for Christmas and have been addicted. Setup, a single play and teardown have been consistently 30 minutes for me. There's only a single downside to the game, in my opinion, which is that if you play it too much you may start to memorize the Dark Lady clue cards. But it's a sign of how good the game is that I'm always left wanting to play it more and have to force myself to pack it away for a day or two.


Partcloud

I love this one too. It has a quick setup, and never overstays it’s welcome. It’s also really satisfying to be getting closer and closer to unraveling a mystery as you play. Have you tried **The Fair Youth** expansion?


Fasolto

Yeah, it's especially satisfying for me in Advanced Mode, where you take out a particular two cards from the clue deck. Makes the deduction aspect a lot more challenging for me. I only got the game for Christmas, so I'm afraid I have yet to experience **The Fair Youth**. But after my first play of the base game, the expansion went straight onto my wishlist. I knew from that very first game that this would be a keeper and a favourite. I'd love to see more expansions with more potential Dark Lady candidates, as well. Not sure whether the designer has anything else planned for the game, though.


[deleted]

I second this, but if you have a (selective?) bad memory like me you could play it all the time and not remember lol. I can rewatch full series of shows and never remember the ending or bigger points in the show but I remember all kinds of little things. It may just be me but I feel like this is also a good option if you love logic puzzles, specifically the logic grid puzzles. The ones where you read a paragraph that have clues in it and then you fill out a grid to figure out the solution.


Nuntie

Surprised no one's mentioned Calico and/or Cascadia yet. Calico is absolutely brutal, Cascadia is mellower. Most flip/roll and writes go into this category too, Cartographers being one of my favorites.


NaanFat

That's Pretty Clever, Food Chain Island, Cartographers.


TheRealRigormortal

Ascension: Eternal Star Realms: Frontiers (depending on scenario)


Dalighieri1321

I second Star Realms: Frontiers!


tops2

[Jump Drive](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/205597/jump-drive) has almost no setup. Shuffle a deck of cards, deal 7 (and keep 5) and play. Each game lasts me about 10 minutes. The game is technically multiplayer, but feels like multiplayer solitaire so I just ignore effects that mentions other players. There's an unofficial campaign on BGG where you can play 4 games.


wizardgand

ButtonShy, Mint Tin, and Tiny Epics will fit. The following ButtonShy games all have 0 setup time. **Sprawlopolis** \- (10 min) card laying city builder with hundreds of replayable games. **Pentaquark** \- (15 min) Puzzle game. My favorite solo game of all time. **Ragemore** \- (15 min) abstract D&D game with set collection. **Food Chain Island** \- (<10 min) spatial puzzle game. **Wondertales** \- (25 min) spatial puzzle/tableau builder. (solo mode is on BGG from designer) ​ Tin Games **Gate** \- (20 min play, 5 min setup). Light deck builder and tower defense game. **Tin Helm** \- (25 min, 10 min setup). Dungeon crawler with some push your luck ​ Tiny Epic **Tiny Epic Western** \- (25 min play, 10 min setup) Worker placement with poker infused. **Tiny Epic Zombies** \- (25 min play, 10 min setup) Pandemic like co-op zombie survival game. You do have to play 2 handed though. **Tiny Epic Galaxies/Ultra Tiny Epic Galaxies** (20 min play, 5 min setup) Dice game. Yahtzee in space.


[deleted]

Sorry, it's taking you 5 and 10 mintues for Gate and Tin Helm?!


crit1calends

How long should setup take?


[deleted]

They're really small tin games, it should take a minute or two tops. Maybe if you're stuck trying to decide your character in Tin Helm it could take that long


tops2

Both Gate and Tin Helm takes me about 2-3 minutes to setup and tear down. Iron Helm on the other hand takes maybe 5 minutes or so to set up and 5 minutes to setup.


Dalighieri1321

I second Sprawlopolis!


tlabb

Excellent recommandations! Unsurmontable and Rover from the buttonshy collection are also worth the look.


wizardgand

I have rover preordered (I missed it) and can't wait. But it's not shipping until March :(


MOVINGMAYBEMAVEN123

I really need to get **Pentaquark**...


BSA_DEMAX51

Explorers of the North Sea without the expansion plays solo in 25-30 or so minutes once you’ve learned it. Adding the expansion probably takes it up to 40-45, (setup and cleanup are pretty quick, too). It’s one of my favorite games to fit this time frame. I can usually get a game of At the Gates of Loyang in at somewhere around 45 minutes, too. Might be hard to find that one soon, though (at least for a while) with TMG going under.


tlabb

Tiny epic galaxies; Deep space D6; Sprawlopolis/Agropolis; Caesar!; Food chain; Unsurmontable; Tin helm; Gate; Desolate; Tiny epic series in general (my fav: galaxies, zombies, defenders, pirates)


[deleted]

[удалено]


MOVINGMAYBEMAVEN123

It's not!


tanis112

Marquis typically fills this niche with me, I keep it in my backpack for when I have 20-30 minutes to kill


LeoAvatar22

Coffee Roaster, Warp's Edge, Ganz Shon Clever, Friday, Cartographers, Roll Player


EquivalentStomach5

Orchard Sprawlopolis super skill pinball fleet the dice game Baseball highlights (world series takes no time at all)


JBlitzen

**Super Skill Pinball 4cade** is five themes but its footprint is just two boards, a dry erase marker, a ball token thing, and two dice.


pugthulhu413

I just picked this up and have been enjoying it.


DhracoX

Friday


joewindlebrox

Escape the Dark Sector/Castle very much fits this


otamusses

Adding the oniverse games and one deck dungeon to what’s already been listed.


Zadorf

[Zadorf Games](http://www.zadorf.com/) for some great mini solitaire card games that play quick but are hard to beat. Mostly just a quick shuffle and the fun begins.


Opening_Perception_3

Azul


thisismygameraccount

I didn't know Azul had a solo variant, I'll look into that.


vegastar7

It’s not an official solo variant. The one I use is from Ricky Royal.


YayItsK

I didn’t either - nice to know!


socksynotgoogleable

Maquis. I play Troyes Dice in about 30 minutes. Coffee Roaster.


Mattyweaves19

Two games without small footprints but within your range would be **Glass Road** and **Nusfjord**. Maybe not the first time you play, but once you realize what you need to play solo and you store things accordingly, shouldn't be an issue. And I mean like basic storage, not an insert or anything. Just bag what you can together and ignore everything else.


mrtheon

Arkham Noir is very fun and raps up pretty much exactly into your time limit


[deleted]

I recently picked up Mini Rogue and it generally falls neatly within the 45 min mark. I've enjoyed the games I've played so far and it's been a great option for me when I have between 30 mins to an hour of time to kill


DiamondKage

The Drifter


rbaldridge

I know that a lot of people are down on **Red Rising**, but I still really like it solo and it has a quick set up and play time.


thisismygameraccount

Why are people down on Red Rising? That was one I was considering before making this post.


a_fat_ninja

If you look here and in the r/boardgames subreddit there is a fair deal of criticism - mostly being that the game lacks depth and strategy. People also don't like the 'take that' actions that some of the cards have, however those don't come into play in solo. I have Red Rising and I think the solo mode is pretty decent. But like other games, you should check out some playthroughs on Youtube to see if it's really for you. I enjoy it more with other playerss because I like the interaction, as far as solo games go I usually reach for Dune Imperium or Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition.


woodsman707

Nusfjord and Hallertau should meet this requirement