Solo Board Games: Where to Start

Playing board games alone used to be a slightly embarrassing admission. It is now one of the largest growth areas in the hobby, and most new releases ship with a solo mode whether they need one or not.

That last part is the problem. “Supports 1 player” on a box covers two very different things: a game genuinely designed to be played alone, and a multiplayer game with an automated opponent added late to widen its appeal. The first can be superb. The second is often a chore.

What actually makes a good solo game

A real opponent, or no opponent at all. The best solo designs either give you a system that pushes back on its own terms, or drop the idea of an opponent entirely and hand you a puzzle that is hard because of the puzzle.

Little upkeep. You are doing all the work. If the automated opponent needs a flowchart and four dice rolls per turn, you are administering a game rather than playing one.

A reason to replay. Nobody else is providing the variety, so the game must: variable setup, a difficulty ladder, a campaign, or a score to beat.

An honest score. Solo play lives on “can I do better than last time”. Games with a published scoring scale are far more satisfying alone than games that just say you won.

Start here: solo-only games

These were built for one player. Nothing is bolted on, and both are cheap enough to be a low-risk first purchase.

• Friday — You are Robinson Crusoe’s companion, improving a deck of cards to survive the island. A small box, about 25 minutes, and a genuinely clever deck-building puzzle. The standard first recommendation, and still a good one.
• Under Falling Skies — Alien ships descend a board while you place dice to shoot them down, dig deeper, and research an escape. Every dice placement does two things at once, and the campaign tightens the screws each mission. A small box that plays far bigger than it looks.

Cooperative games that are excellent alone

Co-operative games are solo games with the seats filled. Playing them alone removes the alpha-player problem entirely, because you are the alpha player.

• Spirit Island — Play one spirit, or two for the real challenge. Deep, properly hard, and with a difficulty dial that goes far past your skill. Many people buy this as a multiplayer game and end up playing it alone.
• Arkham Horror: The Card Game — Campaign play where your investigator carries damage and trauma between scenarios. Built for one or two from the start.
• Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion — A long tactical campaign you can run alone by playing two characters. Far more approachable than the original and a fraction of the price.

The solo benchmark

Mage Knight Board Game is the game solo players measure others against. You explore a map, build a deck, level up a hero and manage a hand of cards where everything can be played two ways. It is genuinely heavy and the first game takes most of an evening, but there is nothing else quite like it.

Buy it third, not first.

Multiplayer games with solo modes worth having

Not every bolted-on mode is bad. These three are properly designed and give you an excuse to own the game even if your group rarely meets.

Scythe deserves a mention too: its Automa deck was one of the first to be taken seriously, and much of the design vocabulary other games now use started there.

For a long evening

Two more, if you want something that eats a whole weekend rather than an hour:

• Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island — famously brutal, famously thematic, and famous for a rulebook you will want to watch a video about first.
• The 7th Continent — an exploration game you save and resume across many sessions, more like a solo adventure book than a board game.
• Nemo’s War (Second Edition) — sail the Nautilus with four different motives to play for. Solo-first design, and a beautiful one.

How to pick on this site

Set Min players to 1 in the finder and you get games whose minimum is one — that is, the ones where solo is a designed count rather than an afterthought. Pair it with an Experience setting: Beginner if this is your first, Expert if you want the deep end.

One caveat worth repeating: a rating is an average across all players, most of whom played with other people. A high score does not promise a good solo mode. The ones above are chosen for how they play alone, which is not something any single number on a game’s page can tell you.

The short version

If you are buying for somebody else who plays alone, our gift guide covers what to check on the box before you pay.