Our Top 10 Solo Board Games in 2024: Epic Adventures for One!

[@alcann4234]

Love seeing Ambush on there fellows! Still have my original copy from 1983. Still haven't quite gotten over when a random artillery strike on mission 11 (I think) took out three of my original soldiers from mission 1. Astronomical odds against that, yet the Ambush gods struck hard!

[@robertthurman9866]

A fantastic solo/co-op game is UnMatched: Tales to Amaze. It scales perfectly with up to 4 players. Each Boss and minion has their own deck and it really feels like you are playing a real opponent. Best AI opponent I have ever used.

[@adriang6259]

Good to know about "Dune Imperium." Thanks guys. I mean, I haven't looked in the box in a while. I do like Under falling skies. I bought frost punk, haven't played it yet. I need a weekend with everyone out of the house or a separate gaming room where I can set it up. Crikey, gee whiz, I love the look of Mr President. Can't get it in Oz!

[@robertthurman9866]

Mr. President is Twilight Struggle maximus. This really needs a computer version so you can stop and save when ever you need to.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Agreed! I can't imagine they would make an app for it, but it would be great!

[@danielschaublin]

I'll say for Gloomhaven that if you'll able to afford the game's price tag ($150+), have the table space to set-up the game, and store the big box somewhere (someone told me you can do your exercise lifting that 20 pound box all day), its mostly like a game you'll keep for life since it has so much replayable and desipte being 10 years old, its a game you might still discover something new each day. It might be a reason why its on BBG top 10 list for however many years its been there. As for the other games you mentioned, I played Dune Imperium's solo mode, and it isn't bad either. You can enjoy it with just the base game both solo and multiplayer, and despite its 3 expansions now (won't be surprised if a 4th expansion comes out this Christmas for it), you can still enjoy the base game as-is. For the others, I'll have to look into them at some point, but with all of the other games coming out with solo modes now, I think done the line, you'll end up finding a game that you'll like and stick with it a long time and not toss it out at some point.

[@dantheboardgameman9593]

Solo gaming is part of my gaming moments way before there was a 1 on game boxes. Squad Leader was my first official solo game from early 80’s. Nowadays, Wingspan, Dune Imperium, 20 Strong, Cartaventura series, Railroad Ink, Turing Machine, Freedom : the Underground Railroad, Rolling Realms, Seashore and Sleeping Gods : Distant Skies are my solo friends.

[@maarten3811]

Great pics. Friday was one of my first solo games. Dune Imperium is really great solo. I wonder if some of the other games will be reprinted one day :-/ For me I would add Spirit Island, Sleeping Gods (i and ii), and For Northwood. Also Kinfire Delve is fun. One which I also like playing solo against the automa is Meadow. It is such a great experience (relaxing nature stroll/hike).

[@VampguyN85]

My solo games are all over the place. I started with Clans of Caledonia, than jumped into Mage Knight the Ultimate edition when I caught a reprint. I did back Gloomhaven the second edition, and buttons & bugs has arrived already. Lately my solo games have been Zoo Tycoon the Board Game, Arkham Horror LCG, and Spirit Island. For lighter games, I enjoy Marquis Maquis, and I have yet to play Orchard, or one of the Hunted games I backed like Kobayashi Tower. I'm mixed on Skytear Monoliths honestly. I like it, but don't love it. Arkham is my card game deck builder of choice right now. And I enjoy Everdell a lot also. I jumped in with the big box and got everything at once even though I never played it before lol.

[@KabukiKid]

A bit surprised (and happy!) to see Ambush! mentioned... and Thunderbolt Apache Leader. Far from new games, but they really do stand out and are still fun today. :-)

[@nagredmoonstriker252]

I LOVE Ambush, Silver Star, Purple Heart... Running a single squad through all of the missions... Beautiful!

[@KabukiKid]

@@nagredmoonstriker252 I heard rumor that Ambush! is coming back. I never thought that would be reprinted, but it may be coming!

[@drg3712]

@@KabukiKid can you tell us more? What did you hear? Where?

[@KabukiKid]

@@drg3712 I wish I had something to point to. I only heard it from one of my wargaming friends, so I hope he isn't misinformed. I maybe shouldn't have said anything until I know it to be solid fact. If I find any info soon, I'll try to remember to post it here. :-) Crossing fingers.

[@drg3712]

@@KabukiKid no worries. It would be a great success I think with updated components

[@normang3444]

Went through my storage and found my original copy of 'Ambush' and two expansions!

[@LegendaryTactics]

Great decision! Now don't let it get buried again!

[@grantross2609]

........think there was 3 expansions now all quite expensive tho !

[@whiskeygamesnerdstuff789]

Friday is a great game, find myself going to it on a regular basis.

[@ronaldbell7429]

Under Falling Skies is a lot of fun

[@whiskeygamesnerdstuff789]

Under Falling Skies is a blast.

[@Filthyanimal9]

Thx for sharing! Nice to see some non-mainstream solo choices here like Ambush and Thunderbolt Apache Leader. I’ve been enjoying some faster to play games like Warp’s Edge and Heat lately

[@davidt4233]

Nice list. i own half these games and agree (Dune, TAL, Viticulture + Tuscany, Marvel Champions). Sold Gloomhaven as I think it's too much two handed. Much prefer Mage Knight which would be my number one for sure. Also like Shadows of Brimstone and Too many Bones.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Great choices

[@campbellmj9405]

What? No Mage Knight? 😉 Nice discussion, thanks.

[@veerchasm1]

Scythe’s solo Automa is horrible and non-intuitive. Other than that they make very good games

[@kevinmace]

I’ve been playing a lot of Tang Garden solo lately. Really good.

[@timryckmanii8282]

I just got Sentinels and love it. I do prefer Marvel Champions but both are great. Almost all games I play are both co op and solo. Sometimes I want to relax and play something by myself and sometimes my kids will want to join in.

[@mickbeast8371]

My favorite is another great gaming item from Canada, We are Coming Nineveh…it is addictive in that you keep trying to do better…you really cannot win…all you can do is just not do as bad as before…great game for understanding that conflict is about pursuing the least bad option

[@georgee4810]

If you love Ambush, I've heard that Fields of Fire does ten times better what Ambush does. Lately I've been thoroughly enjoying 51st State solo. It also has a hyper-solitaire mode, Borgo Automa. I think you guys'd also enjoy the Invaders from Dimension X trilogy. Light, nail-biting, campy fun.

[@thatkaiguy]

Have you guys tried Mage Knight? If so, I'd love to know why it didn't make your list. Maybe with some perspective, I'll stop asking people to play it with me. =)

[@LegendaryTactics]

We have played Mage Knight, but it has been years. I remember liking it at the time, and I know it has a great reputation, we just just never got back to it.

[@mrsamtheman80]

I really want to enjoy Mr President, but I found it too easy even on Hard! I hope they fix that in the future.

[@LegendaryTactics]

How did you do on the legacy points? And I think it can be easy. Some games and crushingly hard in others

[@mrsamtheman80]

I actually stopped my Hard games 2x after Year 2 because things were going so well. I wonder if maybe the scenarios are harder? Or maybe I just got lucky-I should give it another go

[@edwardlasso3092]

Sentinels has preconstructed decks, whereas you can build your own decks for Marvel Champions (or play w the pre-cons).

[@fiddleronthecube7835]

I thought Mage Knight would be in the top three. I just bought Ambush from eBay. I'm eager to try it. I also bought Under Falling Skies and Final Girl.

[@Granite-ny8up]

V-SABOTAGE Never saw the appeal of solo until i played this. And from Canada too!

[@joematty1353]

Friday took me forever to learn and so many people teach it wrong. If this was a easy game everyone would be on the same page. I watched about 10 videos before I learned to play and I'm glad I didn't give up. But really only one person taught it right and it was a lady with red and blue finger nails and tapped the table when she was thinking. But after i won 3 games in a row after about 15 tries i never played again. But if you can learn the rules it's a fun game.

[@wmarclocher]

Wow, lot of interesting suggestions for me to check out. 10:50 maybe Silent Victory or Silent War 2.0 Silent War and IJN as a sea (albeit submarine) solo game? My favorite Space 4x experience has been Voidfall which recently pushed Gaia Project off at that tier. As far as a solo wargame, I would have to say any COIN with a solo mode. (edit)

[@MaxwellSchmalzried]

Those are very different games, Silent War in particular you’ll want to make sure you’re up for it. It’s the kind of game you’ll have to leave on your table for a few days to a week or longer depending on how much time you can devote to it in a day. Silent Victory is a much lower bar of entry and is a great game if you enjoy that style of game (narrative game). If you’re interested in the Leader series, there is Gato Leader you could look at, but I haven’t played it personally.

[@wmarclocher]

@@MaxwellSchmalzried Yeah I haven't played any of them. Just interested. Favorite simulation WW2 sub game was Silent Service 2, back in the Microporse days of DOS. Would love to find a board game sub game like that.

[@MaxwellSchmalzried]

@@wmarclocher I played that a bit back in the day! Do you have any experience with narrative solo games (B17 QotS, The Hunters, etc)? If you have and they aren’t for you, disregard, but otherwise I would recommend checking out Silent Victory, you can either preorder the latest printing from GMT games directly or search for a used copy from the usual sources. Good luck!

[@wmarclocher]

@@MaxwellSchmalzried Yeah I have Silent Victory as P500, hopefully won't be more than another year to wait for. Was eyeballing Silent War 2.0, but may pass on that after what you said. Solo games I have sit out for a while generally never get finished and eventually just get put away.

[@robertthurman9866]

Corsair Leader is so much better than Thunderbolt. Do give that a try.

[@drg3712]

❤ AMBUSH! ❤

[@robertthurman9866]

How about top 10 computer/App games?

[@LegendaryTactics]

Love the idea, we'll have to add that to the list! Any games you think translate well?

[@jangofouts]

I’ve been told this is an unpopular opinion, but 1-player only games and multiplayer games with a solo variant are not the same thing. In my experience, I have always found the gameplay in 1-player multiplayer games to be lacking, since the original intent of the game design was probably for multiple players. That being said, Mr. President has rapidly become one of my favorite games.

[@PierreCarette]

gaia project

[@CristianoErre-sh8kh]

gloomheaven more than 100 scenarios where u kill monsters in the same way! most overrated game ever.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Well, it is a dungeon crawler, and those games naturally have a certain repetitiveness to them. But Gloomhaven brought a neat legacy element to the genre that I think was really intriguing. But, ultimately, to each his own

[@CristianoErre-sh8kh]

@@LegendaryTactics never see a "Dungeon crawler" where u know in advance which monster u find, where they are and the same for the traps... Imo it s all other than a DC! Dungeon universalis is a DC