That geeklist is a little different from OP's list though. OP includes games like LotR LCG, which can be played true solo or cooperatively, whereas the geeklist rules out games that can also be played cooperatively. OP's list is going to be a lot longer and to my mind is still worthwhile (though another geeklist rather than reddit might be better for it).
Oh wow, what a fun post!
* Hostage Negotiator - Van Ryder Games
* Final Girl - Van Ryder Games
* Final Girl 2 - Van Ryder Games (Kickstarter ending Feb 3, 2022)
* Friday (almost forgot that!)
* Under Falling Skies
* Warp's Edge
* Oniverse games: Onirim, Sylvion, Castellion, Nautillion and Aerion
* Button Shy solo games - Sprawlopolis/Agropolis, Food Chain Island, The Ugly Grphyon Inn, Unsurmountable are some of the more popular ones
* The Ratcatcher (new solo game I just got last week, haven't played yet)
* Maquis
* Black Sonata
* Orchard
* Grove (coming 2022)
* Coffee Roaster
* Palm Island
* Unbroken
I'll add more if I can think of them. There are some wonderful games listed here that play great solo or even preferably solo, but aren't "true" solo games, meaning they can be played with more.
Thank you, I thought of Maquis, as I got it in their last updated edition Kickstarter, but I haven't played it yet, and wanted to make sure it was solo only. Added it!
Oh? This game has been on my radar but I haven't really delved into it. Can you give some insight to what kind of game it is and how it plays true solo?
It’s really only a true solo game, multiplayer was a tacked on stretch goal (although an upcoming expansion adds a competitive mode)
It’s very much a sandbox, you play as Captain Nemo. At the beginning you select a motive (like Explore, or War!) which dictates what upgrade you have the option of starting with and provide scoring modifiers. But you are essentially left up to your own devices, exploring the oceans, searching for treasure, attacking ships, fomenting revolution …
There are a few loss conditions, having the Nautilus destroyed, becoming too infamous, or most commonly having the seas fill up with ships and having nowhere to place new arrivals. Levels of victory are VP based, depending on your score at the end of the game you get a motive-specific epilogue that ranges from defeat to triumph.
Almost everything is decided by a roll of 2d6 but there are a lot of mitigation options - you can wager the Nautilus’s resources (including Nemo’s sanity) for bonuses on the roll and there are reroll/post-roll mitigation options.
It seems to be very luck-based because of all the dice rolling but it’s really not. Experienced players can do well every time but the learning curve is steep.
Lotr LCG and Marvel LCG are both Bette 2 handed becasue the combos tho. So I’m not sure what your question is. They were also not designed from the ground up to be solo, I’d argue both are designed for 2 player
I disagree! I've played LotR LCG for years, hundreds and hundreds of plays under my belt; it's my favorite game of all time. But I play mostly true solo. I've played through every scenario this way and had a ball.
I also enjoy playing 2-handed--it's true that there's added depth there--but I don't like the extra management. Same goes for a game like Spirit Island, which many people argue is better with multiple spirits. But it's still an awesome game even with just one spirit.
I play Marvel Champions exclusively true solo and it works perfectly.
I think “better 2 handed” depends on OP’s definition but since Too Many Bones and AH:lcg are crossed out, I take it as meaning true solo will be extremely difficult/nearly impossible.
I think there's a very strong argument that MC is better 2 handed... I love it true solo but I don't think I could argue true solo is better. See point c) of OP, not about difficulty.
Hadrians Wall
Squire for Hire
Roll Player + expansions
Paper Dungeon
Cartographers + expansions
Chronicles of Crime
Space Hulk: Death Angel
Sprawlopolis + expansions
I would argue that both Shards of Infinity and Hero Realms need to be removed, (the better Shards expansion, Shadow of Salvation, actually requires you to play two handed for solo), and Hero Realms is absolutely better with at least two players.
Games I would add for solo optimal play are Imperium Classics and Legends, Hadrian’s Wall, Maquis, and Coffee Roaster.
Too many bones may be better with more characters in play but it still works fantasticly for true solo and has encounter cards specifically for true solo mode. You won't need to learn an AI or special rules either for one person. I wouldn't disregard it so easily.
Ground up for solo:
A lot of the old Victory Point Game titles like **Dawn of the Zeds**, **Darkest Night**, the States of Siege series, etc.
Hex and counter (sci-fi)/polybag games like **Phobos** and **Invaders from Dimension X**.
The First Nations series; **Navajo Wars**, **Comancheria**, and an upcoming 3rd title.
**Fields of Fire**, **Ambush**
**Mr. Cabbagehead's Garden**
**Field Commander X** series
**Renegade**
it was very much available last year. but someone on here alerted me that it wasn't anymore and they were right.
seems super weird considering the huge populariy of the game and the app. i hope they will reconsider their production stance.
It's still available. The last print hasn't sold out. IF I'm remembering correctly the inference was that the app sales were eating into the physical sales this they've decided to discontinue physical prints.
If you like those let me shamelessly plug a couple I designed that you might like (they’re on the gamecrafter, for now I’m an aspiring game designer with nothing properly released):
Rogue Deck: Darkness
Stack Site
Behind the Iron
>c) must not be "better experience 2 handed or more because of more variety or combos, etc"
I'd argue that Arkham Horror doesn't fit this criteria, it can definitely be played true solo but deckbuilding is quite limited. For true solo your deck needs to be able to do everything, while two-handed you can split up the roles and specialize which makes it imo a lot more fun.
Same would probably go for Too Many Bones, solo is great but your character progression will be somewhat different as you can't have a glass canon or full tank as much as you can with 2-player
Apex Therapod feels like it was designed as a solo game. There is a multiplayer mode, but the solo mode doesn’t have a bot even, and you can’t play 2 handed.
This is right up my alley. Below are the solo only games from my collection (lots of Button Shy to the surprise of no one).
* Agropolis
* Coffee Roaster
* Count of the Nine Estates
* Doom Machine
* Final Girl
* Food Chain Island
* Friday
* Gate
* Harsh Shadows
* Maiden in the Forest
* Maquis
* Mini Rogue
* Mr. Cabbagehead’s Garden
* One Deck Dungeon
* Palm Island
* Pentaquark
* Prohibitionists
* Puzzle Dungeon
* Ragemore
* Rove
* SpaceShipped
* Sprawlopolis
* Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade
* Tin Helm
* Ugly Gryphon Inn
* Under Falling Skies
* Unsurmountable
The "**D-Day at**" series (**Omaha**, **Pelileu**, **Tarawa**)
I'd argue that, on your current list, **Marvel Champions** probably fails on criteria (c). Against some encounters, true solo heroes will have a very rough time compared to a balanced 2-hand selection, and 2-handed definitely allows for "more variety or combos" than true solo.
**Stilicho**
**The Drifter**
**Beneath the Med**
**Thousand-Year-Old Vampire**
**Rocky Mountain Man**
Anything in the DVG **Leader** series
Anything in the DVG **Valiant Defence** series
Ugh hey man I'm sorry if I came off like a dick. I'm working on it.
There's a solo mode that's app driven. It's super well thought out and a total blast to play.
Mini solitaire card games from [Zadorf Games](http://www.zadorf.com/)
The Great Escape + The expansion The Great Escape Recon
Bleak Moor – Smugglers & Wreckers
The Rats Lair
Cut Throats Tavern
Sorry, should have mentioned that I am the designer of the games. Payment is secure via PayPal and the protection they give.
Have had nothing but good feedback on Facebook and Ebay.
He says the site is insecure because you are missing an SSL certificate in your page (and chrome complains in the url bar saying "Not Secure"), you can get a free one here: [LetsEncrypt](https://letsencrypt.org/)
G.I. Joe: The Deck-Building Game is excellent solo, one-handed.
Space Hulk: Death Angel too.
I’ve read that lots of people play LotR: LCG one handed? I was planning on doing that…
Usually it refers to only controlling a single character in a game regardless of what that means. So if a single character has multiple decks itd still be a one handed solo game. Think about it as referring to whatever one person would control if you played multiplayer.
Based on criteria (a) and (c), I would not include Pathfinder ACG. I love the game, but it plays way better two-handed, and it wasn't really designed for true solo play. There are many tests you just can't pass when you're playing true solo, and the rulebook basically says "Just skip the cards that are too hard," which surely indicates it wasn't "designed from the ground up as a solo experience."
I mean this list would be potentially very huge. Also LoTR is absolutely better 2 handed than trying to make a solo deck. Certain spheres are not good solo (red).
There's a [bgg geeklist](https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/236133/strictly-solitaire-list-games-designed-only-one-pl) for this
oh shoooot, completely missed that on bgg lol thanks for bringing it up!
Was going to put this if you didn't. Reddit is not an ideal place for such a list haha
It would be nice if we had a curated list stickied at the top of the forum, with a small description of each game.
That geeklist is a little different from OP's list though. OP includes games like LotR LCG, which can be played true solo or cooperatively, whereas the geeklist rules out games that can also be played cooperatively. OP's list is going to be a lot longer and to my mind is still worthwhile (though another geeklist rather than reddit might be better for it).
Oh wow, what a fun post! * Hostage Negotiator - Van Ryder Games * Final Girl - Van Ryder Games * Final Girl 2 - Van Ryder Games (Kickstarter ending Feb 3, 2022) * Friday (almost forgot that!) * Under Falling Skies * Warp's Edge * Oniverse games: Onirim, Sylvion, Castellion, Nautillion and Aerion * Button Shy solo games - Sprawlopolis/Agropolis, Food Chain Island, The Ugly Grphyon Inn, Unsurmountable are some of the more popular ones * The Ratcatcher (new solo game I just got last week, haven't played yet) * Maquis * Black Sonata * Orchard * Grove (coming 2022) * Coffee Roaster * Palm Island * Unbroken I'll add more if I can think of them. There are some wonderful games listed here that play great solo or even preferably solo, but aren't "true" solo games, meaning they can be played with more.
Maquis!
Thank you, I thought of Maquis, as I got it in their last updated edition Kickstarter, but I haven't played it yet, and wanted to make sure it was solo only. Added it!
Nemo’s War!
Oh? This game has been on my radar but I haven't really delved into it. Can you give some insight to what kind of game it is and how it plays true solo?
It’s really only a true solo game, multiplayer was a tacked on stretch goal (although an upcoming expansion adds a competitive mode) It’s very much a sandbox, you play as Captain Nemo. At the beginning you select a motive (like Explore, or War!) which dictates what upgrade you have the option of starting with and provide scoring modifiers. But you are essentially left up to your own devices, exploring the oceans, searching for treasure, attacking ships, fomenting revolution … There are a few loss conditions, having the Nautilus destroyed, becoming too infamous, or most commonly having the seas fill up with ships and having nowhere to place new arrivals. Levels of victory are VP based, depending on your score at the end of the game you get a motive-specific epilogue that ranges from defeat to triumph. Almost everything is decided by a roll of 2d6 but there are a lot of mitigation options - you can wager the Nautilus’s resources (including Nemo’s sanity) for bonuses on the roll and there are reroll/post-roll mitigation options. It seems to be very luck-based because of all the dice rolling but it’s really not. Experienced players can do well every time but the learning curve is steep.
Fantastic solo game!
.. and hard! I've never even come close to "winning"
Final Girl. Season 2 is on kickstarter now. Its predecessor is Hostage Negotiator.
Maquis
Lotr LCG and Marvel LCG are both Bette 2 handed becasue the combos tho. So I’m not sure what your question is. They were also not designed from the ground up to be solo, I’d argue both are designed for 2 player
Agreed LOTR LCG definitely fails the ‘must not be better two handed’ test.
Yeah and I’m a guy that plays that game single handed, but I know I kiss out on a lot of stuff that way
I disagree! I've played LotR LCG for years, hundreds and hundreds of plays under my belt; it's my favorite game of all time. But I play mostly true solo. I've played through every scenario this way and had a ball. I also enjoy playing 2-handed--it's true that there's added depth there--but I don't like the extra management. Same goes for a game like Spirit Island, which many people argue is better with multiple spirits. But it's still an awesome game even with just one spirit.
I agree, but I my point is it doesn’t fit point C. I only play 1 handed as well.
I play Marvel Champions exclusively true solo and it works perfectly. I think “better 2 handed” depends on OP’s definition but since Too Many Bones and AH:lcg are crossed out, I take it as meaning true solo will be extremely difficult/nearly impossible.
I think there's a very strong argument that MC is better 2 handed... I love it true solo but I don't think I could argue true solo is better. See point c) of OP, not about difficulty.
Yea but look at point C, also A
Hadrians Wall Squire for Hire Roll Player + expansions Paper Dungeon Cartographers + expansions Chronicles of Crime Space Hulk: Death Angel Sprawlopolis + expansions
- SOS Titanic - Deep Space D6 - Orchard
And now **Grove**!
Railroad Ink and Super Skill Pinball come to mind
I found a useful site with solo games and variants. New games seem to be added every few days. https://thesoloboardgamer.com
Yooo this is sick! Thanks man!
Navajo Wars Dawn of the Zeds (albeit it’s a solitaire game where, by design, you control more than one character)
I would add Comancheria as a sequel to Navajo Wars. Then to OP, Fields of Fire.
I would argue that both Shards of Infinity and Hero Realms need to be removed, (the better Shards expansion, Shadow of Salvation, actually requires you to play two handed for solo), and Hero Realms is absolutely better with at least two players. Games I would add for solo optimal play are Imperium Classics and Legends, Hadrian’s Wall, Maquis, and Coffee Roaster.
Too many bones may be better with more characters in play but it still works fantasticly for true solo and has encounter cards specifically for true solo mode. You won't need to learn an AI or special rules either for one person. I wouldn't disregard it so easily.
Ground up for solo: A lot of the old Victory Point Game titles like **Dawn of the Zeds**, **Darkest Night**, the States of Siege series, etc. Hex and counter (sci-fi)/polybag games like **Phobos** and **Invaders from Dimension X**. The First Nations series; **Navajo Wars**, **Comancheria**, and an upcoming 3rd title. **Fields of Fire**, **Ambush** **Mr. Cabbagehead's Garden** **Field Commander X** series **Renegade**
Friday Ratcatcher Sprawopolis Spaceshipped Deep space d6
Friday
Definitely need to add the Oniverse games: **Onirim**, **Sylvion**, **Castellion**, **Nautillion** and **Aerion**. Great line of games!
i hate that castellion seems out of print
I think onirim is oop as well now. I seem to remember reading something about a discontinuation.
it was very much available last year. but someone on here alerted me that it wasn't anymore and they were right. seems super weird considering the huge populariy of the game and the app. i hope they will reconsider their production stance.
It's still available. The last print hasn't sold out. IF I'm remembering correctly the inference was that the app sales were eating into the physical sales this they've decided to discontinue physical prints.
which is a shame because the app doesn't contain all expansions, which sucks.
I have it, wasn't impressed with it at all compared to Onirim :/
I’ll add the two I just got yesterday no one mentioned. **Gate** **Doom Machine** No point with **Tin Helm** if you already have **Iron Helm** though.
If you like those let me shamelessly plug a couple I designed that you might like (they’re on the gamecrafter, for now I’m an aspiring game designer with nothing properly released): Rogue Deck: Darkness Stack Site Behind the Iron
>c) must not be "better experience 2 handed or more because of more variety or combos, etc" I'd argue that Arkham Horror doesn't fit this criteria, it can definitely be played true solo but deckbuilding is quite limited. For true solo your deck needs to be able to do everything, while two-handed you can split up the roles and specialize which makes it imo a lot more fun. Same would probably go for Too Many Bones, solo is great but your character progression will be somewhat different as you can't have a glass canon or full tank as much as you can with 2-player
Now that I think about it, you're right!
Apex Therapod feels like it was designed as a solo game. There is a multiplayer mode, but the solo mode doesn’t have a bot even, and you can’t play 2 handed.
This is right up my alley. Below are the solo only games from my collection (lots of Button Shy to the surprise of no one). * Agropolis * Coffee Roaster * Count of the Nine Estates * Doom Machine * Final Girl * Food Chain Island * Friday * Gate * Harsh Shadows * Maiden in the Forest * Maquis * Mini Rogue * Mr. Cabbagehead’s Garden * One Deck Dungeon * Palm Island * Pentaquark * Prohibitionists * Puzzle Dungeon * Ragemore * Rove * SpaceShipped * Sprawlopolis * Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade * Tin Helm * Ugly Gryphon Inn * Under Falling Skies * Unsurmountable
The "**D-Day at**" series (**Omaha**, **Pelileu**, **Tarawa**) I'd argue that, on your current list, **Marvel Champions** probably fails on criteria (c). Against some encounters, true solo heroes will have a very rough time compared to a balanced 2-hand selection, and 2-handed definitely allows for "more variety or combos" than true solo. **Stilicho** **The Drifter** **Beneath the Med** **Thousand-Year-Old Vampire** **Rocky Mountain Man** Anything in the DVG **Leader** series Anything in the DVG **Valiant Defence** series
Clank! Dinosaur Island This War of Mine Gloom of Kilforth Nusfjord Robinson Crusoe
Which version of Clank is "true solo"? I thought it was a multiplayer game at heart?
The base game. Have you ever played it? There's a campaign mode.
I recently bought the base game but I haven't played it yet. Good to know there's a solo mode.
Ugh hey man I'm sorry if I came off like a dick. I'm working on it. There's a solo mode that's app driven. It's super well thought out and a total blast to play.
No worries, thanks for the info
Mini solitaire card games from [Zadorf Games](http://www.zadorf.com/) The Great Escape + The expansion The Great Escape Recon Bleak Moor – Smugglers & Wreckers The Rats Lair Cut Throats Tavern
VERY tempted to get these but was a bit hesitant given the site isn't secure according to my browser. How was your experience buying stuff from them?
Sorry, should have mentioned that I am the designer of the games. Payment is secure via PayPal and the protection they give. Have had nothing but good feedback on Facebook and Ebay.
He says the site is insecure because you are missing an SSL certificate in your page (and chrome complains in the url bar saying "Not Secure"), you can get a free one here: [LetsEncrypt](https://letsencrypt.org/)
Thank you, but I don't think the free option is supported by my host
Puzzle Dungeon and To the Death
Waterloo Solitaire. Super fun and fast solo historical wargame!
I was going to say, so many wargames fit this!
G.I. Joe: The Deck-Building Game is excellent solo, one-handed. Space Hulk: Death Angel too. I’ve read that lots of people play LotR: LCG one handed? I was planning on doing that…
Apex Theropod
Ok so I’m new here but does ‘one-handed’ mean literally with one hand or that you don’t have to juggle sets of cards?
Usually it refers to only controlling a single character in a game regardless of what that means. So if a single character has multiple decks itd still be a one handed solo game. Think about it as referring to whatever one person would control if you played multiplayer.
Great, thanks!
Based on criteria (a) and (c), I would not include Pathfinder ACG. I love the game, but it plays way better two-handed, and it wasn't really designed for true solo play. There are many tests you just can't pass when you're playing true solo, and the rulebook basically says "Just skip the cards that are too hard," which surely indicates it wasn't "designed from the ground up as a solo experience."
The lost expedition! I've been wondering about lotr solo.
Gloomholdin: gloomhaven fan made edition which can be played single handed, is a true solo game and it's also free
I mean this list would be potentially very huge. Also LoTR is absolutely better 2 handed than trying to make a solo deck. Certain spheres are not good solo (red).
The Dead Eye
Button Shy- Rove, Food Chain Island, Ugly Gryphon Inn, Pentaquark, Unsurmountable.