Most board games are played by at least two players. However, there is a wide choice of games that you can play alone and get the same satisfying feeling you would get if you had an opponent. This article lists some of the best single player boards that you can purchase for some fun alone time.
Table of Contents
- Board Games With Great Single Player Variants
- Board Games Designed for One Player
- Is there Such Thing as a Single Player Board Game?
Board Games With Great Single Player Variants
The following board games were meant to be player with more than one player, however the designers have added great additional modes for a solo experience.
Welcome To
Welcome To is a retro game inspired by a similar game that was popular in the late 50s. The game revolves around creating a booming city in the United States. The package includes all the characters you need to build your city, from fences to structures and means of transport. Everything must be done from the ground up, from subdividing land to constructing structures and houses. It calls for good management of the available resources and keeping track of what you have already used in the game.
You play the game with a scoresheet and various cards that dictate what is required in your city. However, you need to act like a knowledgeable architect and build a presentation and make the important decisions. The solo experience gives you a chance to take your time and think of the best approach to creating the community. It is a great game to unwind with.
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Tiny Epic Galaxies
If you love the elements of sci-fi, Tiny Epic Galaxies is the game to pick. As its name suggests, it is involved in travelling into new galaxies and conquering them. Through various dice rolls, you will get various resources that you will be required to put to good use.
This game uses a unique dice mechanism that plays a role in determining the next step in the quest to conquer the planets. The number of dice you roll is determined by the strength of your galaxy. Each die is has symbols that represent actions you can take. These include but aren’t limited to: moving a spaceship, increasing your culture or energy resources, or advancing your political or economic influence over the newly discovered planets. The game provides an unrivalled galactic adventure for the single player experience. It is a mind game where you will be required to think about various alternatives before making a decision.
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Scythe
Scythe is a retro-historical game that takes you back to the 1920s in Europe in a what if scenario. During this historical time, there is widespread unrest in a state called “The Factory.” The capitalistic city-state is suffering from the upheaval just after the end of the great war. This city fuelled this war as it provided the machinery that caused widespread devastation and nearby countries have taken notice.
Your job assignment in Scythe is to build more mechs and make the land productive. You will also explore the entire city and protect it from mechs from other cities as you lead your faction to victory. This game can be played by anyone that is at least 14 years old and its gameplay lasts anywhere between one and a half and two hours. Its single-player mode is satisfying and gives the player lots of space to recreate their city as they see fit. It is highly immersive, but easy to crack open and play alone.
Terraforming Mars
If you love setting up civilizations or are a fan of space, you must give Terraforming Mars a try. This board game takes you to the future in the year 2400, when the earth is overpopulated with human beings. There is a serious shortage of all essentials, including water and food. Your organisation is one amongst many corporations that have been sponsored by the World Government on Earth to make the red planet habitable for the human population.
You will be required to come up with good strategies to make the planet more like earth. Some of the steps that you will take include raising its temperature, ensuring that there is enough oxygen and oceans have started to form from frozen water. You will get Victory Points when you make a significant contribution in any of the three areas. Besides, you will be appreciated for each advanced piece of infrastructure that you donate.
Take caution when advancing on transforming the red planet, as any misstep will take you back several steps. Besides, do not lose your project cards, as they will spell the end of your progress. The single player mode is feature-rich and easy to implement, while giving you the freedom to apply your ideas with ease.
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Gloomhaven
Gloomhaven is rightly known as the great cooperative dungeon crawl by Isaac Childres, but it also offers a splendid solo experience. The players control mercenaries in this legacy-style game, who are searching through a dark and enigmatic landmass. The AI-driven solo variant features a high level of challenge and dynamism through an artificial intelligence system that simulates other characters’ actions. Gloomhaven has a narrative-driven campaign coupled with tactical combat and character progression that make for a deeply immersive and fulfilling gaming experience in its solo mode. Its a game that can quite literally suck away hundreds of hours, well worth the buy and doubles up as a great game for large groups too!
Nemesis
Nemesis, designed by Adam Kwapiński, takes its cue from science fiction horror classics to situate gamers within the fraught ambience of a spacecraft ridden with dangerous intruders. Nemesis’ solo variant retains the core elements of the game while pitting players against deadly aliens lurking on their way to mission accomplishment. The emergent narratives combined with ever-present possibilities of treachery make for an unpredictable yet adrenaline-fueled single-player experience. Nemesis is a fantastic example of how a solo board game can capture the true essence of multiplayer play more than anything else out there. Nemesis has been here with us for some time, and has managed to win the hearts of many players across the globe.
The Witcher: Adventure Game
The Witcher: Adventure Game, created by Ignacy Trzewiczek, is a game that was adapted from a popular book series and video games and takes the players into the dark and fantastic world of The Witcher. In solo mode, players take on roles of famous characters, like Geralt of Rivia, who have different abilities and plot themes. It’s an engaging single player game that combines storytelling with exploration and puzzle-solving seamlessly. This thematic immersion combined with meaningful decision-making makes The Witcher: Adventure Game a perfect choice for solo gamers who love epic fantasy adventures. This 2014 game is quite hard to pick up new, but has a cult presence on ecommerce platforms like eBay and Board Game Geek. Its a great buy for a lover of the franchise and a board game fanatic!
Dinosaur Island
Lovers of Jurassic Park will love this inspire game. Play as the manager of an exciting dinosaur-themed amusement park in the aptly named Dinosaur Island. This game that offers worker placement, strategic planning and resource management in a spellbinding way. The success of your parks depends on the balance you strike between attraction safety and guest satisfaction. Will you thrill your guests just right or will you go just a bit too far?
The solo mode of Dinosaur Island provides an amazing challenge as you have to juggle multiple aspects of park management. There is also the issue of what to do with loose dinosaurs, which dinosaurs to breed, how much to spend on food or medicine for them or what to do in case there are rampaging dinosaurs in your park. The AI system presents an interactive opponent making it an engaging experience even when playing alone.
Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island
Robinson Crusoe has players assuming the roles of castaways abandoned on a deserted island for a thrilling adventure. The game provides an immersive world where they must gather supplies, build shelter, and defend themselves from things like wild animals or bad weather. This game has a myriad of nominations and awards such as the Golden Geek best thematic board game 2013, which it won; and the Dice Tower best game of the year.
In Robinson Crusoe’s single-player mode, one faces his or her own survival challenges. Those decisions determine whether you live or die though alone in isolation. Whether it be exploring this landmass, hunting for meat or building necessary equipment every movement will count as you attempt to beat the odds stacked against you until you flee from the evil curse spread all over this island.
Board Games Designed for One Player
These games were designed with the single player experience in mind. While they can sometimes be played with more than one player, they play much better with fewer numbers!
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
If you like dark fantasy, you will love this dark RPG-inspired game. This fantasy game has a mix of Celtic and Arthurian lore and legend. You can enjoy playing it solo or with your friends.
The game takes place in the lands of Wyrdnress, which looks similar to Dungeons and Dragons. You will frequently face off against other forces in this cursed land. However, fighting is not the main point of the game. Instead, you will be striving to gain new abilities and traits in such a way that you are able to create different characters and destroy your enemies. It is a great way to clear your mind after a hard day’s work. With the game, you are able to create a storyline as you move from one victory to the other, this adds replay-ability and helps to build a continued narrative.
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Coffee Roaster – A Completely Solo Game!
If you want to make the perfect cup of coffee without getting into the kitchen, then Coffee Roaster is the game to try. This is a pool-building game for anyone over the age of 14. Your work will be coming up with ideas for making the best cup of coffee that has ever been made. To do this, you need to choose the best coffee beans, roast these beans perfectly and then grind them to make the perfect cup. You will have a chance to check if they are delicious.
Despite the fact that it looks like a simple task, it is not as easy as it seems. There are several elements that come into play when making the perfect cup. For example, you choose the best coffee bean from over 22 tokens. Besides, you will be required to determine the best roast level for each bean to have a perfect cup. Be careful not to spoil the flavour of the bean that you make. This board game is highly addictive and feels so natural.
Unlike some of the other games on this list this one is tailored to the single player experience. The gameplay design reflects this rather than a “tacked on” extra you can find in other games.
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Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
This game is a mystery adventure that is similar to the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective series. You can play it alone or with friends Playing alone gives you a chance to internalise the strategies that you need to uncover various mysteries.
This is an unconventional choice given there are no dice, there is no luck. You can go as far, or as little, as your mind can take you. The game has been thoroughly researched to capture a feeling of a bygone era, casting you back to the streets of 19th century London.
The game comes with several mysteries, from which you choose the ones to solve. In each mystery, you need to follow up your evidence in order to solve the mystery. Fortunately, there are tonnes of evidence for each mystery and you will get several cues and interviews that you will go through before you are able to solve the case. Once you are done with one game, you get access to several others on the board, giving you almost unlimited opportunities to play.
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Spirit Island
If you love survival games, you have a chance to get into survival mode on the Spirit Island. This game is built around settler destruction by great forces. You need to come up with effective and innovative ideas for you to win. Here, you will play as a powerful spirit of a beautiful island. It is an isolated island but has been a beautiful and peaceful land for islanders called Dahan.
Unfortunately, colonialists from far-off lands have discovered the island and want to take it by force. In the process, they damage the balance and presence of the spirits. You are required to grow your powers and gain bonuses in order to fight, defeat and banish the attackers. There are magic spells that work faster than others. Others require more energy to start operating in your body. You need to plan your power so that you always have adequate power.
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Is there Such Thing as a Single Player Board Game?
A lot of people ask is solo board gaming fun. Many of the games we’ve discussed are designed for more than one player, but have a single player variant. In these kind of games you can use the single player experience to improve yourself and make sure that you beat your friends the next time. However, games like Coffee Roaster show that some board games games can be completely a solo experience. I’ve always believed that tabletop games should be a social and collaborative experience. But there’s nothing wrong with setting up a game by yourself and having fun on a rainy day!
