Solo Games

Besides the two player duel games there are many solo player games. Some solo games are multi-player games that also make good solo games, but a few are solo only.

Coffee Roaster, Friday, Maquis, and Under Falling Skies are some of the currently popular solo-only games. Some others are Star Trek: The Dice Game, Hostage Negotiator, Railroad Ink Challenge: Solo Board, and Unbroken. Many war games are solo only and I have a list of them here. A couple of videos recommending solo war games can be found here and here.

Many very small card-based solo games are popular: Orchard, Ragemore, Rove, and Mini Rogue. These and other card-based games are available from PNP Arcade as downloads to be printed, some free. Black Sonata is a highly rated solo game. Button Shy Games specializes in pocket sized card games and are quite popular. There are also many solo role playing games (aka RPGs). Here is a video on some of the more popular ones. For example try Last Tea Shop.

Two player games that also include solo play are Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes!, Blitzkrieg!: World War Two in 20 minutes, Chai: Tea for 2, Death Valley, The Shores of Tripoli, Saboteur: The Duel, Navajo Wars, and One Deck Dungeon: Forest of Shadows. Concordia: Solitaria is a one or two player expansion for the game Concordia.

Some good multi-player games that include solo play are Alien: Fate of the Nostromo, Ark Nova, Arkham Horror (3rd Ed.), Cafe, Carcassonne, Cartographers and Cartographers Heroes, The Castles of Burgundy, Catan Dice Game, Chronicles of Crime 2400, Clans of Caledonia, Detective: City of Angels, Dune: Imperium, Everdell, A Feast for Odin, The Guild of Merchant Explorers, Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, Ghost Stories, Horrified, Imperium Classics, It's a Wonderful World, Lisboa, The Loop, Lost Ruins of Arnak, Obsession, On the Rocks, Scythe, The Search For Planet X,  Sleeping Gods, Snowdonia, Soloman Kane, Spirit Island, Star Wars Imperial Assault, Terraforming Mars, Tinners' Trail, Town 66, Wayfarers of the South Tigris, and Wingspan. Summit is an interesting mountain climbing game that can be played as either a solo, co-operative or competitive game.

The SoloBoardGamer has solo variation rules for many multi-player games including: 7 Wonders Duel, Azul, Brass Birmingham, Catan, Jaipur, Risk, Forbidden Island, Undaunted Normandy, Wingspan, Cartographers, Agricola, and Arkham Horror. BoardGameGeeks also has, in their files section, instructions for solo play; some are the manufacturer's version and some are created and submitted by users. The site Mautoma provides solo rules and print-n-play cards for many popular board games: Brass Birmingham, Brass Lancashire, Marco Polo, Mombasa, Viticulture World, and others. If you don't want to download and print the solo deck you can use the online automated deck on their website.

BoardGameGeeks rates the top 100 solo games. The top 10 are Spirit Island, Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition, Marvel Champions: The Card Game, Arkam Horror: The Card Game, Too Many Bones, Gloomhaven, The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, Terraforming Mars, Aeon's End, and Ark Nova.

Better Than the Original

A number of classic and popular games are now seen as too simple by many contemporay game players. One of the games that gets the most vitriol is Monopoly. A game that is considered to be superior to Monopoly is Lords of Vegas.

The newer variations of Risk — Risk Legacy, Risk Europe, Risk Star Wars — are considered to have much better play features than the original. Other better alternatives to Risk are Axis & Allies, Memoir '44, Undaunted: Normandy, and Undaunted: North Africa. Tom Vassel of Dicetower has a good discussion on the alternatives here.

Inkognito: A Carnival of Spies in Venice has some elements of Clue, but has many more elements in play. Players reveal clues to other players but play in partnerships and have a mission to complete.

Another approach to upgrading classic games like Risk is offered in New Rules for Classic Games by R. Wayne Schmittberger. He develops new rules to make these classic games more interesting. This includes Monopoly, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Chinese Checkers, Boggle, Mastermind, Hearts, Scrabble, Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, Pente, Eleusis, Bridge, Poker and Go.

Hnefatafl - Viking chess

Hnefatafl is an old board game that was popular in medieval Scandinavia. It was also popular in Northern Europe during the Middle Ages but declined with the introduction of chess. The game disappeared and the rules to the game were lost. Discovery of playing pieces and boards lead to the modern reconstruction of the game and rules in the early 20^th century.

Unlike chess, one side is playing defense (white) and the other offense (brown or black). The game is similar to one aspect of chess in that all moves are, like the rook in chess, orthogonal. An unusual aspect of the game is the asymmetry of the opposing sides. The defensive side has 12 "soldiers" and a King; the offensive side has 24 soldiers. The offensive side can capture (and remove from the board) a white piece by moving a piece so that it and another offensive piece are on either side of a white piece. White can also capture opponents pieces. 

For the King to be captured, he must be surrounded on four sides, which is the goal of the offensive team. The goal of the defensive team is for the King to move from his initial central position to one of the four corners while avoiding capture. If the King succeeds in moving to one of the four corners, the white team wins.The game is now readily available.

Memoir '44

From Days of Wonder, the creators of Ticket to Ride, comes the very popular war game, Memoir '44. The selection of command and tactic cards and dice throws determine the course of the military maneuvers. It won The Wargamer 2004 award of excellence.

From Boardgamegeek: “Memoir '44 includes over 15 different battle scenarios and features a double-sided hex game board for both beach landings and countryside combat. Each scenario mimics the historical terrain, troop placements and objectives of each army. Commanders deploy troops through Command and Tactic cards, applying the unique skills of his units – infantry, paratrooper, tank, artillery, and even resistance fighters – to their greatest strength.... [According to game designer Richard Borg], ‘The game mechanics, although simple, still require strategic card play, timely dice rolling and an aggressive yet flexible battle plan to achieve victory.’”

Memoir '44 base game, the New Flight Plan expansion and the Equipment Pack:

There are six expansions available:

There are two alternate battlefield boards:

And there are four alternate scenario maps:

Through Jungle and Desert

The Battle of Khalkhin-Gol

Sword of Stalingrad

Disaster at Dieppe

Here is a video explaining the game:

Click to view video

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective

One of the more popular detection games has been the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective series. Solving the case involves studying the various documents provided and piecing together the clues. The series includes The Baker Street Irregulars, Carleton House & Queen's Park, Jack the Ripper & the West End Adventures, and The Thames Murders & other cases.

From Boardgamegeek: "In Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, you are presented with a mystery to solve, and it is then up to you to trace the threads of evidence through the byways and mansions of nineteenth century London. You will interview suspects, search the newspapers for clues, and put together the facts to reach a solution."

Imhotep: Builder of Egypt

Imhotep is a 2 to4 player building game set during the time of ancient Egypt. Players have to ship quarried stone by barge to building sites and build pyramids, temples, obelisks and burial chambers.

There are some expansions available. Imhotep: A New Dynasty is a extensive expansion.

The Private Ships, is a small expansion consisting of a few new ships. Mini-expansion, The Pharaoh's Favors, consists of a print-and-play card available as a free download from the manufacturer.

There is also a two-player version available: Imhotep: The Duel.

Here is a good video by Rodney Smith explaining game setup and play:

Most popular board games

I've seen on Youtube a number of experienced game players putting up lists of their favourite games. Some of the games I have and some I have interest in but do not yet own.

Here are a few people's top ten lists:

Foster The Meeple: HIS - Root, Scythe, Res Arcana, Vast: Crystal Caverns, Gaia Project, Dune Imperium, Brass Birmingham, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, Star Wars Imperial Assault, Mansions of Madness. HERS - Villainous, Overboss, Mansions of Madness, Vast: Crystal Caverns, Fort, Cubitos, Fantasy Realms, Wingspan, Isle of Cats, Castles of Burgundy.

Watch It Played: Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea, Watergate, Exit: Advent Calendar, Call To Adventure, Endless Winter, Maquis, Weather Machine, Spires End: Hildegard, My Lil' Everdell, and Wayfarers of the South Tigris.

Before You Play: Arboretum, The Game, The Castles of Burgundy, Yokai Septet, Alchemists, Schotten Totten, Spirit Island, A Feast of Odin, Scythe, and Kanban. And Lisboa as an honorable mention.

Before You Play (this is actually their "10 games [each] they'd never get rid of"):A Feast of Odin, Cafe, Obsession, Goa, Bruges, Parade, The Castles of Burgundy, Witness, Brass Lancashire, Scythe, Panamax, Yokai Septet, Kanban, The Downfall of Pompeii, Gingkopolis, Alchemists, CuBirds, Jack's Friends, Johari, Two Rooms and a Boom, and Adel Verplicht.

Chits&Chats: Marco Polo, Spacers, Wingspan, Root, Pandemic Legacy, Praga Caput Regni, Concordia, Hallertau, Spacers, It's a Wonderful World, The Search for Planet X, NMBR9, Azul, Tiny Towns, Macao, Scythe, and Castles of Burgundy.

Boxed Meeples: Lost Ruins of Arnak, Scythe, Pandemic, Star Wars Rebellion, Everdell, Dwellings of Eldervale, Gloomhaven, Jaws of the Lion, Yggdrasil Chronicles, Viticulture, Red Rising, Starcadia Quest, Iki, Tapestry, Teotihuacan: City of Gods, Yedo.

Trey Parker's top 10:  Summit, Sub Terra, Star Wars Rebellion, War of the Ring, Alchemists, Auztralia, Robinson Crusoe, Fury of Dracula, Abomination, Merchants & Marauders, Western Legends.

TerreDice (top 10 for couples, part 1): Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, Gloomhaven, Everdell, Disney Villainous, Hive Pocket, 7 Wonders Duel, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, Tiny Epic Galaxies, Carcasonne, Splendor, Codenames Duet.

TerreDice (top 10 for couples, part 2): Spirit Island, Arkham Horror, Viticulture, Wingspan, Hogwarts Battle, Creator's Corner, Imhotep, Onitama, Patchwork, Lost Cities, Jaipur.

Mr & Mrs Boardgame (top 10 for couples): Star Realms, Raptor, Codenames Duet, Blokus Duel, Arkham Horror, 7 Wonders Duel, 5-Minute Dungeon, Azul, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, and Jaipur.

Here are a few video reviews of highly rated solo games: Totally Tabled (1), Totally Tabled (2), Sir Thecos, Man vs Meeple, Legendary Tactics, and No Rolls Barred. (Note: not all of the games reviewed in these videos are solo-only, some are multi-player games that can also be played solo.)

From a survey of the reviews above, here are the ones that are repeatedly mentioned: Robinson Crusoe, Friday, It’s a Wonderful World, Under Falling Skies, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, Cartographers, the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective series, Solomon Kane, Detective: City of Angels, Overboss, On the Rocks, A Feast for Odin, Wingspan, BULLET🤍, Coffee Roaster, Imperium Classic, Cascadia, Terraforming Mars, Star Wars Imperial Assault, Micro Macro Crime City Full House, Viticulture, Ark Nova, Black Sonata, The Captain is Dead.

Of the games reviewed above (and below), the ones I’m interested in that I don’t already own are: In Vino Morte, A Feast for Odin, Goa, Bruges, Cafe, Viticulture, Dixit, Dead Reckoning, Catan: Starfarers, Foundations of Rome, and Witness. I'm also interested in a few games that I've found - Silver Bullet, Hnefatafl, and a Risk variant called Risk: Europe. A few that I have some interest in are Sleeping Gods, 1862: Railway Mania in the Eastern Counties, Village Rails, Furnace, Endless Winter, Fury of Dracula, Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest, Keyflower, Hadrian's Wall, and Twilight Struggle. Also looking at a few of the Oink Games mini games.

Dicetower is one of the most viewed game review sites on Youtube. Their video of the top 100 games of all time can be found here.

For an historical perspective, this site lists the 10 most popular games of all time (rated lowest to highest): Risk, Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, Othello, Clue, Monopoly, Scrabble, Backgammon, Checkers, and Chess. Of course, for popularity, chess has an advantage considering that it has been around for over 1,000 years!

Update: 2022 Reviews

From Foster the Mepple's list of their favorites of 2022 (with BGG rating in brackets): Ahoy (7.6), Applejack (7.3), Creature Comforts (7.6), Dead Reckoning (8.3), Downtown Farmers Market (7.2), Flamecraft (7.6), Endless Winter (8.0), Heat: Pedal to the Metal (8.2), The Initiative (7.7), Marvel Dice Throne (8.3), Paint the Roses (7.6), Planet Unknown (8.0), Root: The Marauder Expansion (8.9), Star Wars: Villainous (7.4), Turing Machine (7.9), Unmatched: Jurassic Park - Dr, Sattler vs T. Rex (8.1), Vagrantsong (7.9), Verdant (7.5), Wayfarers of the South Tigris (8.0), and Wonderland's War (8.2). Also mention: Loose Caboose! (6.9).

From Tantrum House list of their favorites of 2022 (with BGG rating in brackets): Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Collector's Edition (8.5), Creature Comforts (7.6), Dead Reckoning (8.3), Downtown Farmers Market (7.2), Endless Winter (8.0), Foundations of Rome (8.1), Green Team Wins (7.2), The Guild of Merchant Explorers (7.8), Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest (7.5), My Father's Work (8.0), Old London Bridge (7.2), Paint the Roses (7.6), Planet Unknown (8.0), Ready Set Bet (7.7), Space Station Phoenix (7.4), Terracotta Army (7.7), Verdant (7.5),

Forbidden Island

A newer category of board games is the cooperative game where the goal is not to defeat an opponent but for all the players to win as a group. By cooperative game innovator Matt Leacock comes the popular Forbidden Island from GameWright.

From their website: “Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss!”

There are two variations on the game: Forbidden Sky and Forbidden Desert.

 

Here is a video showing a complete game of Forbidden Island:

Click to view video

And here is a video showing a complete game of Forbidden Desert.

This website has a list of the top 40 cooperative games. Some of the popular cooperative games are Codenames Duet, Mysterium, Spirit Island, Pandemic, Gloomhaven, The Mind, Robinson Crusoe: Adventures of the Cursed Island, and the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective series.

Mysterium

“Mysterium is a cooperative board game designed by Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko. It blends aspects of murder mystery games and card-based guessing games. One person plays the ghost of a murdered individual who can communicate with the other players only through a series of visions in the form of illustrated cards. The other players, who take the role of psychic mediums, must interpret these cards to identify a suspect, location, and murder weapon.” - (source: Wikipedia). Although the goal is similar to Clue, the play has many more elements.

Two expansions are available: Hidden Signs and Secrets & Lies:

 

There is also a simpler, stand-alone game called Mysterium Park:

Here is a good video of the game play for Mysterium:

Click to view video