War Games

There are a plethora of war games available today. The classics like Risk and Axis & Allies have now expanded to both simpler short games to more complex longer games. Some are two player only, some have a solo option and some are solo only. For example, two player games like Blitzkrieg!: World War Two In 20 Minutes and Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes include a solo variation, others can be played solo with additional instructions or other elements created by gamers.

The current most popular war games are the Undaunted series and the Memoir ‘44 series.

Some of the following two player games also have a solo option. The more popular or highly rated ones are (with BGG ratings) Air, Land, & Sea (7.5), Air, Land & Sea: Spies, Lies, & Supplies (7.9), By Stealth & Sea (8.0), D-Day at Omaha Beach (8.3), Enemy Action: Ardennes (8.6), The Hunters: German U-boats at War 1939-43 (7.7), Men of Iron Battles Tri-pack: Men of Iron, Infidel, Blood & Roses (8.2), RAF: The Battle of Britain 1940 (8.0), Silent Victory: U.S. Submarines in the Pacific 1941-45 (8.0), Storm Above the Reich (8.1), Shores of Tripoli.

The solo-only games are Aces of Valor (8.4), Airborne Commander (6.9), American Tank Ace: 1944-1945 (8.3), Enemy Coast Ahead: The Doolittle Raid (8.0), Fields of Fire 2 (8.3), Thunderbolt Apache Leader (8.0), Hill of Doves: The First Anglo-Boer War (8.0), Hornet Leader: Carrier Air Operation (7.9), Sherman Leader (7.6), Silent War: IJN – Imperial Japanese Navy (7.6), Target For Today: Bombers Over the Reich, 1942-1945 (8.1), Western Front Ace: The Great War in the Air 1916-1918 (8.8).

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For 2025, Zilla Blitz Youtube channel has recommendations for beginning war game players.

1. Undaunted Normandy 
2. By Stealth & Sea (solo) 
3. The Hunt 
4. Sherman Leader (solo) 
5. Gettysburg 
6. A Time For Heroes (solo option) 
7. Lanzerath Ridge (solo) 
8. Memoir '44 
9. The Shores of Tripoli (solo option) 
10. Downfall of Empires 
11. Tank on Tank Eastfront 
12. Tank on Tank Westfront 
13. Onoda (solo) 
14. Resist! 
15. Aces of Valor 
16. Louisbourg 1758 
17. La Résistance
18. Tank Clash: Western Front 
19. Worthington Pacific War 1942 (solo) 
20. Worthington French & Indian War (solo) 
21. Worthington Waterloo (solo) 
22. Worthington Europe at War 1940 (solo) 
23. Worthington War of 1812 (solo)

Field Commander: Alexander and Waterloo Solitaire are two new solo games.

Kings Cribbage

This is a tile version of cribbage with the added aspect of a Scrabble game or crossword puzzle. Players take turns putting down sets of tiles to make runs or combinations of 15 as in Cribbage. Other players then add their tiles horizontally or vertically connecting to existing tiles.

See the official Kings Cribbage website.

East India Companies

From BoardGameGeek, in East India Companies, each player manages a large shipping company that trades with far flung trading posts in India. Players must manage their ships and invest in buying shares of their own company or those of their competitors. Players must keep an eye on the fluctuating market prices. Do you invest your money in the stock market or in buying goods? Do you prefer to use fast ships with low tonnage or slower ships with larger holds? Whatever you choose, your strategy will influence those of their opponents. (BGG rating 7.5)

Rummikub

Invented in the 1940s by Ephraim Hertzano, this is basically a board game version of rummy but with a difference: tiles are used instead of cards and the lay-down is common for all players. As in rummy, you form runs of the same suit or sets of the same rank. The arrangement of tiles can be rearranged to allow new combinations with added tiles on each turn. One of the most popular games in Britain and popular around the world.

A virtual version is available as an app for OS and Android, just search in their app stores.

Inkognito: A Carnival of Spies in Venice

Inkognito is a deduction game that has been reproduced after being out of print for many years. First produced in 1988, it won the Spiel des Jahres for most beautiful game. The original game was for 4 players only; the new version has added a 3 and 5 player variation, though most reviewers say that the 3 player game is not very good, the 5 player is okay, but the 4 player is still the best.

Inkognito could be seen as an advanced variation on the game Clue. The difference is that you play in partnerships but you don't initially know who your partner is. On each turn, a player moves one of his “agents” and may approach another player and ask a question. That player then secretly reveals a number of cards, one of which provides correct information. As in Clue, a notepad is used to keep track of answers in order to narrow down the correct clues.

You first have to discover who your partner is (as your partner is trying to do as well). The two of you next have to determine what your mission is — each of you has half the information required to determine the mission. You and your partner then try to complete your mission, as the other team is trying to complete theirs.

A device unique to this game uses coloured marbles to randomly determine the moves possible on a player's turn.

There are a couple of good videos explaining the game: Tom Vasel at The Dice Tower and Marco at OmniGamer.

WS Gaming Co.

Maker of deluxe versions of popular games, WS Gaming models give a luxury feel to the game. Some are made of glass, and some of wood to give high relief to the board. Others are redesigned with custom layouts.

Clue Luxury Edition

Monopoly Prisma Glass Edition

Monopoly California Dreaming

They also make deluxe versions of Scrabble, Risk, Sorry and others.

Summit

From Canadian game designer Conor McGoey comes a complex but exciting game based on the challenges of ascending a mountain. The players have to contend with climbing gear, food supplies, oxygen, blizzards, ice fields and all the hazards of mountain climbing to reach the top and return to base camp. A great feature of the game is that it can be played as a solo game, a cooperative game or as a competitive game.

There are a couple of expansions available. Teams adds new cards and characters, and a new playable tile type: ladders. According to the website, the Yeti expansion “brings a new level of excitement and distress to your expedition as you, your friends and your rivals are stalked across the frozen landscape by an unrelenting foe.”

Teams

 

Yeti

And there will soon be a new expansion: Sanity, which challenges the climber's mental fitness to conquer the summit. Planned for release sometime in 2023. 

                 Sanity

Here are a couple of good videos by the creator of the game, Conor McGoey, explaining the Cooperative/Solo version and the Competitive version of the game. And here is another video of a full play-through of the game.