Top 10 Solo Games (ft. Maggie of ThinkerThemer)

Help Rahdo Run: / rahdo ❤️ Code of conduct: conduct.rahdo.com 🙂 And now...
A video counting down our favourite solo games.
Thinker Themer channel:
/ thinkerthemer
0:00 Intro
6:25 Rahdo's #10: Carson City the Card Game
10:09 Maggie's #10: Viticulture
15:23 Rahdo's #9: Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
21:00 Maggie's #9 Paleo
28:59 Rahdo's #8: Aerion
31:51 Maggie's #8: The Bloody Inn
36:27 Rahdo's #7: Hallertau
42:24 Maggie's #7: Friday
46:49 Rahdo's #6 Ausonia
51:40 Maggie's #6: Robinson Crusoe
55:25 Rahdo's #5: Concordia: Solitaria
1:00:31 Maggie's #5: Imperium: Classics & Legends
1:06:51 Rahdo's #4: Space Hulk Death Angel
1:11:10 Maggie's #4: Terraforming Mars
1:16:02 Rahdo's #3: The Automa Factory
1:19:34 Maggie's #3: Nusfjord
1:24:07 Rahdo's #2: SOS Titanic
1:28:45 Maggie's #2: Hadrian's Wall
1:33:14 Rahdo's #1: Marvel Champions
1:38:17 Maggie's #1: A Feast for Odin
1:41:55 Honorable Mentions
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boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2...

[@afrank525]

So enjoy Maggie's storyifying and relaxed approach to solo gaming!

[@ko9]

I so enjoy how you verbified the word "story".

[@afrank525]

Lol 😀 Thanks!

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thank you! And I so enjoyed this thread! 🥰

[@rainingtacos5879]

who else didn't intend to sit for 1.5 hours but this was a really good list and conversation... well done you two great stuff!

[@charlesvalentine9638]

I am working on a scientific weight scale for games, based on the number of seconds in the Rahdo Runthrough that are spoken in falsetto. Hi Maggie.

[@ylein6508]

Haha good one

[@shelby789]

Really enjoyed this video - so awesome to see a collab with Maggie! I love what she and Amy are doing with ThinkerThemer and can’t recommend their channel highly enough!

[@nigelbuckle3759]

Thanks to Maggie for continuing with Imperium - really happy the Utopians clicked so well :)

[@ThinkerThemer]

Love love love the Utopians and all their civ peculiarities 🥰Thanks again for pouring so much into Imperium. There's just so much game in there! 😊

[@richk6181]

always appreciate to see timestamps and showing the picks in the description instead of hiding them.

[@rahdo]

yeah, i never see the point about being coy. someone will just post the list in the comment anyway, and it just makes it easier for the audience to jump to what they want (especially important in such a long video) :)

[@philipdennis7820]

Great lists from both of you. I hadn’t yet seen Maggie’s video channel so it was an immediate subscribe to ThinkerThemer for me.

[@andeeheartsbooks7447]

Saw Amy's new list today and she refrenced this video so ofc I had to check this one out. Really enjoyed it!

[@gaillardlionel]

I am thrilled you loved Terraforming Mars Maggie!!!

[@ThinkerThemer]

It really was a surprise to me as I don't tend to gravitate to space themes. But the gameplay and the puzzle really captivated me 🥰

[@Crabdust1]

Love seeing you two chat on this topic. Great pairing!

[@skeezaworkan]

I'm not a solo player, but lately I'm playing Dune: Imperium solo mode. Surprisingly fun mode.

[@uxjared]

Two of my favorite Tubers. I really enjoyed the variety of approaches to solo showcased.

[@FrancoisLandryCorbin]

I really really enjoyed listening to both of you. Maggie is awesome, and to be fair Richard, you will need to find a topic for Amy. And then, another with both of them since they are wonderful.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thank you for the lovely words Francois 🥰

[@bearabl]

Great video. Love seeing solo content.

[@joellen5984]

Still great nearly a year later after discovering both your channels. Really enjoyed the discussion - thank you!

[@JSkyF]

Love your shirt! 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

[@pauls3585]

Thanks for having Maggie on your channel. She an awesome person and presenter in the gaming hobby.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thank you for the lovely words Paul 🥰

[@pauls3585]

All true. You Aussie girls are awesome. (I'm an Aussie boy)

[@victorybhg]

hats off to you all, great conversation and awesome list of games

[@shantelalbert7151]

This is just so perfect, thank you, thank you! I have solo gamed my whole life. As a kid I would play two handed Life and other such board games and this has carried on through my adult life. Maggie's insight and passion in this topic is much appreciated. I too am quite shallow on theme and game looks, thank you Maggie for your voice & showing I'm not alone in the world in regards to not caring for space themes and such. Thank you Rhado for sharing your insights & views with our solo board gaming world, as always you are a joy and I love finding new games to explore and adventure with 💕

[@nirszi]

Excellent video! So good to find out new great solo games.

[@jamessendy8131]

Awesome work having Thinkerthemer on, i really enjoy their channel, it is one of my favourite newer board game channels, some great lists as well

[@mortenmdk]

@Rahdo, thank you so much for all the kind words - I'm still blushing :). Thank you for making my day.

[@andreasoranno]

Great choices and great conversation!

[@thedeepones]

Anyone also itching to clear the 899 notifications on Rahdo's BGG page ;) Nice to see Maggie here, I really enjoy ThinkerThemer's content.

[@johnathankokoski]

Very fun chat! Thanks for sharing

[@dustyashes2264]

Thanks for introducing me to ThinkerThemer... My family are not board gamers so I play a lot of solo games.

[@MichaliSarris]

Check out the One Stop Co-op Shop and Rolling Solo channels too, they have very good solo reviews too. But ThinkerThemer is an amazing channel for sure.

[@clayesterling2567]

Great video. This has pushed me to get some of these games that I was on the fence about.

[@Nain1982]

great to see Maggie from ThinkerThemer here. Love many of the games from both lists. Carson city is indeed a great little card game that at solo is as fulfilling as at a higher player count. Beating the automa players can be tough! Space Hulk has been with a feast for Odin my fav solo. I think most Uwe games (except maybe Agricola) work great in solo mode. AFFO is my fav solo of his; besides the several strategies, that restriction of spaces being blocked until every other round makes it even tougher than when playing at 2 players. Nusfjord and GR play so fast that they are easier to take out.

[@danddjacko]

Love Thinker / Themer 😏👍

[@KabukiKid]

You got a new subscriber from me, Maggie. ^_^

[@logiclust]

happy to see my postcard next to Maggie's noggin

[@ThinkerThemer]

haha It's so lovely to be surrounded by them all as we film and play. Thanks again! 🥰

[@nigelgraves174]

Thanks for sharing! So happy to see Maggie -- TT is an excellent channel!

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thank you Nigel! 🥰

[@itboznkgvjugjtfg]

Love the games, the video, the shirt, and the sweater :D

[@simmerdownfood]

I'm also big on theme and have purchased several games based on the theme/ artwork alone (hello, Parks?). As someone who has studied French and lived in France, I particularly gravitate towards anything France- related, so I was so happy to see the Bloody Inn on this list-- the artwork and theme are so perfectly executed (no pun intended, hehe)! Another game I picked up because of the theme is Maquis, a solo-only game where you play as a French Resistance fighter carrying out missions against the Nazis. I found it to be a very immersive experience! (Like Maggie, I also tend to avoid fantasy, outer space, and war or battle themes...this is my only war-themed game, but to me it doesn't feel like one.) Great list(s), I play solo a fair amount and have already added several of these to my BGG wish list based on your enthusiasm!

[@successfulgeek]

Great list since I am only just getting into Solo play, and I absolutely love the TT channel!

[@successfulgeek]

Marvel Champions is the game that is actually getting me to enjoy Solo!

[@achang101]

This is great! I'm a big solo gamer and a video about solo games with two of my favourite KZbin creators in Rahdo and ThinkerThemer!

[@victorybhg]

playing nusjford solo campaign a lot, with the c building starting draft rules ( pick 2 cards, choose 1 until you have your c buildings ).. so much fun rahdo.. its an uwe in a more schedule friendly amount of time while giving you a lot of starting setup and interesting decisions in a tight design. Thanks Rahdo, Maggie for this list and talking about this game

[@victorybhg]

traded nusjford for hallertau, played a lot of nusjford.. lot of fun for quite a while but wanted to “graduate” to a larger weight uwe game. The resource acquisition of Nusjford is very blaise without any interesting decisions. the solo is pretty strong but after a while really need some more interesting decision making space. Solid game to get started on a tight Uwe game. but many other of his games provide more crunchy decisions

[@BoardGameHangover]

Tried Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition and it worked fantastically as a solo game. Totally agree with your points

[@sarahchapman7941]

There are only two channels in board gaming media that I've supported financially, and here they are together and that makes me so happy :) Loved this list and this collaboration. Maggie: you need to try Obsession solo!! It's SO GOOD.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Hi Sarah! And agree that Obsession has done a great job with the solo implementation. My only reason for it missing out on the top 10 is because I realised when I play it solo that one of the elements I find most thematic and engaging is in the vocalising to the rest of the table (and in-character posh bragging with my terrible attempt at a British accent haha) what event I'll be hosting and who the distinguished guests will be and what wonderful favours I'll get as a result. And that's something I dearly miss when playing solo. But still completely agree that it's an excellent game and lovely solo mode 😊

[@DanWaksman]

Great teamup Maggie and Rahdo! Glad to see so many of Uwe's games on the list, since he's my favorite designer. I'm not a solo gamer yet, but just got Marvel Champions with the intention of dipping my toes in.

[@sentino68]

So we actually got a top 20 list! I love Maggie’s voice and Aussie accent. I’ll have to go visit her channel.

[@Retro_Care]

great list from both, and lots of Uwe games that i love. 100% im hunting down Hallertau and nusfjord !!, what surprises me is that there are amazing card games that i have no knowledge of and need to get in to because it was not on my radar at all. Thank you both for making this list and i love the talk about it as well why it is a great solo and what makes it a great solo. it is very hard to make a list imo, you know, there are so many games that have great solo experiences that play so fluidly and with easy rules that i love and play a lot, like Crown of Emara, excellent hidden gem imo, its just done well, the reason i love Emara and gates of Loyang so much is the setup time is short, i can just play a fast game before i go to bed and i think that also a factor that makes a game great in solo, and thats why Feast for Odin is kinda never going on the table as solo but i have to still try it playing solo to be honest. Sorry now im just rambling. Thank you both, excellent choices

[@normstewart546]

This was a great episode. You really should have some more joint videos with ThinkerThemer - maybe give Maggie's partner equal air time. I really like the ThinkerThemer site also.

[@rahdo]

the timeones makes it tough scheduling wise, but yeah, i think they're both fantastic! :)

[@Fighterfan69]

Nice Lists. Mine are 1. Spirit Island 2. Imperium Classics/Legends 3. Paladins/Viscounts of the West Kingdom 4. Empires of the North 5.Anachrony 6. Roll Player 7. Railroad Ink Challenge and all the expansion die 8. Welcome to Dino World 9. Sprawloplis/Agropolis 10. Super-Skill Pinball 4--cade

[@rahdo]

1 great call 2 maggie agrees 3 hey, gotta pick one! :) 4 only way i'd play! 5 that would be interesting to try 6 just about perfect (almost made my list) 7 oh yes 8 haven't tried 9 better solo than co-op for sure 10 again, only way i'd play (too long otherwise)

[@uxjared]

Great list as well. 1. has such a great narrative/tension arc, love it 2. Gotta get this! 3. Great system in both, less luck in Viscounts as a whole 5. Is the reason Turczi gets solo work. It’s probably his best system because he’s worked it all out on that board and you as a gamer just roll and move within that prebuilt decision tree. I hope he comes back to making solo systems like this instead of putting too much onus on the player.

[@jfb4420]

hell ya spirit island is my #1 also. can't get enough. looking forward to trying empires of the north one day.

[@ericdollarhyde3296]

Yup! Maggie's right, the art has to be on point, or you can't tell the theme story as well..so many good games! And I'm only on number 8 lol.

[@boardgamekrucke5212]

very nice T-Shirt!!!

[@picklexis]

This was so fun to watch! I’ve subbed to Maggie’s channel now thanks to you. Have either of you played This War of Mine? I’m personally in loooove with that game solo.

[@rahdo]

yup, i played a lot of it solo when i was covering the prototype of it for kickstarter years ago. excellent solo experience!

[@stompy15056]

Thank you for having her on your channel. So just subscribed to their channel :)

[@stacie_everdell]

Oh wow Maggie, we have SO much in common, from you comments about themes you don't like, to your overall list. Needless to say, you hit on one of my favorite solo games, PALEO. I've not been able to walk away from this since I started playing last year. I play it in full solo mode and love it. I understand your comment playing solo, but my strategy is always to build up to 5-7 people, plus the extras you pick up in upper levels. Once you have enough in your group, it's easier to tackle bigger predators and get more resources. I absolutely love it! I think it's an oversight NOT having 1-4 players on the box especially since it does come with a solo mode. I just think most solo players are missing out on a great game. This was a awesome segment. Thank you both your efforts! :)

[@ThinkerThemer]

This is so lovely to read! 🥰 And yes, I agree with the strategy of building up to 5-7 people with paleo playing solo. It's something I worked out in later plays after struggling with only 2 to 3 people for a few games 😂

[@CG_Hali]

I have a similar problem as Maggie with many themes in games. So many are just so war-mongering destroy others, ugly AF creatures with women characters totally unrelatable to me (if you are lucky enough to get more than 1 out of 4-5 ratio), saving the human race cause we messed up earth or we're gonna conquer aliens, Welcome to ... red lining or building casinos that will bankrupt poor suckers but let's not mention it, build your environmentally harmful empire (I'm looking at you, Pipelines!), Imperialism while pretending nothing bad happened let's just get rich (check out the description of Mombasa and think carefully when looking at the cover), and on and on. So glad to now have access to games that think above and beyond that, that include much more women (even trans in Forgotten Waters) characters, building villages that won't wipe out others, etc. More please!! :D

[@timhipkiss]

Great lists Maggie and Rahdo! A few games there I've added to my wishlist! Viticulture is now on my radar - I've previously only been attracted to fantasy/sci fi games (the opposite of Maggie!) Nothing wrong with wine though ;) I generally steer clear of games with dour looking men on the cover...

[@Assie8911]

Great video again Rahdo.The automa factory is fantastic.You should really try the solomode they did of glenmore 2 (highlands expansion)it's amazing.Love it. Official Solomode of Grand Austria Hotel is also great.

[@Sebastian-rt9qf]

Great lists. And nice to see Maggie in the video. Heavy number 1 Maggie! And for me a surprising number 1 from Rahdo (or I just didn't know you liked this game so much. Too bad, the isle of cats hasn't been mentioned as I think it has a brilliant solo mode, which is unique as you play on one board with polymino tiles.

[@rahdo]

Cats was on the super short list for me, almost made it :-)

[@grahamtastic83]

Would absolutely love to play any oni-verse game with you one day! Great list!

[@SoloBoardGamingKnight]

Paleo is great! I would recommend Warp’s Edge which is an incredible solo only game.

[@jelledaems808]

My favorite solo games are: Terraforming Mars, Calico and Isle of Cats

[@neilz2869]

Nobody mention 7th Continent, my no. 1 game, which would've been an insta-win. But Maggie mentioned Imperium and I've played 40+ solo games of that already (just the Classics box!) so I have to give the win to her!

[@ThinkerThemer]

haha Thanks Neil! Haven't tried 7th continent yet. Will have to definitely give it a go 👍

[@franciscorojas8088]

I'm surprised none of you mentioned The Search For Planet X. I honestly believe that's the best solo experience I've ever had. Made me look into Uwe's designs since I've never been able to get my hands on either of his games. I'll start with Nusfjord, seems fun.

[@whatyourgpdoesnttellyoupod2598]

After recently watching this video ordered Carson City The Card Game, I had never heard of it before, but what a great little game. Completely different solo game to any others I own, also fun multi-player too, so many thanks for this excellent recommendation! I can't understand why this is only a 6.9 on BGG, should be much higher.

[@Mambaru]

Great video. A solo game that doesn't often get talked about for me is Sojourn, its a card laying time travel game. Which I guess some of the 'event's might put people off.

[@JeanDubuc]

Mucho amor para Maggie, she's such a fun person

[@ThinkerThemer]

Gracias Jean 🥰

[@darren.mcauliffe]

Rahdo on Marvel Champions: Ok you go first, because all I have to say is *rants for five minutes*

[@AaronAndSusie]

Rahdo and I definitely share the same #1!

[@xxlt1xx]

I hope to see some Hallertau goodness on the ThinkerThemer channel! Im also very curious to know what Maggie thinks of it as a solo experience.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Hopefully very soon! It's priority on the playing queue! Though we love to play at different player counts before reviewing and we're currently in the middle of lockdown so can't get together with people. But will start with 2-player & solo for now 🥰

[@xxlt1xx]

@@ThinkerThemer woohoo!! 😄

[@dryule]

Tended to agree with a lot of Maggie's choices and actually played an entire campaign of Nujsford whilst watching, almost to the minute, not knowing it was on her list.

[@ThinkerThemer]

This is so amazing! Love this. Nicely timed.

[@danieltaylor3755]

Neom solo is great!

[@stevepaltrineri7956]

After watching Rahdo's best solo games list from a few years ago, I ran out and grabbed Space Hulk: Death Angel. I loved it and went out and got all the expansions. I lucked out because FFG lost the license a few weeks later and made this game impossible to find. So good! I'm surprised Shadowrun: Crossfire didn't make the list. That's another one he talked me into buying.

[@rahdo]

for this list i was trying to limit myself only to "true" solos, and leave co-ops you can play 2 handed out. not that there's anything wrong with 2 handed! :)

[@wedgeex]

How did I not know there was a solo mode for Carson City the Card Game? Oh, man.

[@theunamiable]

I have returned to this list, after having been distracted by the actual ThinkerThemer channel. Couple of suggestions I should really look into here, although I think the only one I've actually played is Marvel (and, as I probably said before, I do wish that was DC :)

[@mebarker74]

Great number 1 pick Maggie. Mine as well.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thanks Matthew. Such a great game!

[@ShelfStories]

Maggie!!!!!!!!!! Great to see you repping solo games! Although you number one puts your "Themer" reputation in question...

[@uxjared]

I find it super thematic as your [group] specializes over time, must be fed, and you are trying to get a horde of wealth (die with the most stuff). Whenever I hear about a new burial site being found with various goods I think of the game haha. Definitely check out the Almanac book in the box.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thank you for the support always! 🥰and haha I actually really get quite into my worker placement actions in Feast. It's not thematic in an in-game narrative way, but I find it thematically immersive from an investment in my clan's journey through the game to hunt, explore, migrate and always make sure everyone's fed! haha

[@ThinkerThemer]

@@uxjared I agree with you here and with all the wonderful extra content in the supplementary book. Great stuff 🥰

[@jfb4420]

Great video! Surprised spirit island didn't make it in. that is definitely my favorite solo lately! how do you two feel about spirit island? :)

[@rahdo]

i can't speak for maggie but i've only played SI as a 2p game so i didn't consider it. but i imagine you're right that it must be an excellent solo game as well :)

[@tylerbrown9797]

Thinkerthemer is AWESOME Also..... no Spirit Island?!?!????

[@rahdo]

generally for me i wouldn't consider a solo game unless it's fairly easy to set up and quick, so that leaves a lot of great solo experiences off the list. hallertau plays really fast and is surprisingly easy to set up :) can't speak for maggie though

[@tylerbrown9797]

@@rahdo super fair point, but spirit island is just so darn good!

[@jamessendy8131]

@@rahdo psst Spirit Island with one Spirit is quick to set up and play, it is a much different puzzle then the 2+ spirit games though. It is one i do love playing with only one spirit as i can do a lot of games quite quickly and reset really quick BUT it is quite a brain burner

[@ThinkerThemer]

I've only played Sprit Island multiplayer, but I keep hearing great things about the solo. Will have to check it out 👍

[@davidc6836]

Excellent choices! You should also check Brass Birmingham with online solo opponents Eliza and Eleanor...absolutely fantastic!!

[@rahdo]

i had not heard of that, wow!

[@wanderingwolf6604]

On Automa Factory - their new Automa for Glen More 2 should be considered up there with their best.

[@rahdo]

yeah, i've heard great things. i should really give it a try! :)

[@ashleighmiller2607]

I've attributed the beginnings of automa mechanic has always been Dungeon Petz so I was really surprised that you would say it was Viticulture since I think you're still a fan of Dungeon Petz too. In a player count lower than 4 Dungeon Petz has the first implementation that I know of with a little automatic player who blocks the Euro action spaces. It's early, 2 years before Viticulture, but it seems Viticulture built on that original foundation :).

[@rahdo]

DP is fantastic and i'm surprised they didn't include a solo mode since they were so close (but then it just wasn't on people's radar back then). the main thing that i give credit to viticulture for though is naming the automa system... there's real power in a name. i talked about it a bit here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHOWipSgYr6nqtE :)

[@JasonWeitzelPhillies]

Hallertau is in my Top 3 solos, easily. It's a solitary experience anyway. The solo mode does more than enough to simulate another person at the table. Plus, I'd prefer fewer arms and hands orbiting the table because one accidental bump borks the whole game.

[@lisa-gentlepaws5383]

Love Maggie 🙌🏻 🇦🇺🌈❤️

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thank you Lisa 💕

[@kevinngo3299]

I’ve played the essential edition of viticulture/Tuscany tons! It’s one of our favorite games but never noticed the campaign challenges that Maggie was talking about… Where would I find this?

[@rahdo]

i thin it's the last page of this pdf :) boardgamegeek.com/filepage/113535/tuscany-rules-english

[@JJ_TheGreat]

14:48 I believe his name is Morton :-)

[@sentino68]

Paleo is tough to get. Ebay for 80 bucks!

[@Mister-Brightside]

@Radho would Shadowrun Crossfire qualify as a solo game for you, or has it simply fallen out of your “top” games lists?

[@rahdo]

for this list i was trying to limit myself to games with 'official solo' modes, because otherwise almost every co-op in existence can be played solo :)

[@deepdivemusicreactions]

how come you enjoy solo BGing now? I though you enjoy BGs just when playing with Jen

[@rahdo]

For the last couple years I've been occasionally doing solo run throughs instead of my normal two-player run throughs because it's just more fun to film that way, so I've been getting a lot more solo experiences :-)

[@JJ_TheGreat]

1:15:31 Maggie, knowing what you like - does the take that not bother you in this one?

[@ThinkerThemer]

Do you mean Terraforming Mars? If so, I love that there's no take that in the solo mode, but even with the multiplayer experience, I haven't minded as much as it's never felt devastatingly brutal or hyper targeted, but I may have been lucky in my games so far with not very aggressive players 😅

[@JJ_TheGreat]

@@ThinkerThemer Gotcha, thanks :-)

[@RafaAkd]

When it comes to solo game is important to say that there is more than solo euros. I don’t really think is fair to only consider those as solo games (besides of solo only games of course). I play solo most of the time and double handed coops are as much a solo game for me as Friday is

[@rahdo]

Oh sure, and don't forget Maggie mentioned at least one of hers being a game that she plays co-op two-handed. Nothing wrong with that at all :-)

[@RafaAkd]

@@rahdo for sure! And I know a lot of folks only play euros for solo. I enjoy some but not most for solo. I need to try Hadrian’s Wall

[@JJ_TheGreat]

15:24 That was Jen telling you how to pronounce “Pinot” (it is PEE-NO) :-)

[@biffybeans]

Radho- what Aliens game are you comparing to SHDA?

[@rahdo]

i just looked really quick didn't see me making a game comparison... i think i referred to the movie aliens? do you remember what i said?

[@biffybeans]

@@rahdo ok- I gotcha. (Just listened again as well) I think I’m mixing up one of the Alien games that people say is similar to a different game. (That probably doesn’t make sense… sorry.) I have SHDA (no expansions) and have never won. I need to try setting out the marine cards in a grid like you show and try and play it more like a worker placement to see if that helps me “see” strategy.

[@rahdo]

i never thought of it that way, but you're right - i do play it like a worker placement game! :)

[@stevekingswell9143]

Maggie was great

[@ThinkerThemer]

Thank you Steve 🥰

[@CandiceLikes]

Stardew valley the video game is sooooo good! Also, LOVE YOU MAGGIE!!

[@stacie_everdell]

Question for Maggie: to be clear, your #10 is Viticulture, just Viticulture, yes? Not Viticulture Essential Edition or Viticulture with any of the other expansions including Tuscany? I just started playing but I jumped right to Viticulture: Tuscany Essential Edition solo and it's not really clicking for me. I keep wanting it to be a game about making wine, lots and lots of wine. But I usually don't get close to fulfilling a wine order until round 6. :(

[@ThinkerThemer]

Hi Stacie. It is Tuscany I like best because I love the side map with the stars. I agree that it can be difficult to make lots and lots of wine, particularly if luck doesn't allow me to get a good combo of vines early on. You can use the swap action (cards/money/point/grape) to get some early grapes, which is not an available action in the non-Tuscany board. But I agree that having a 7-year round limit makes it tough to optimise for wine production (at least at my skill level). When I play solo I spend a lot of my time focusing more on finding different ways to get points from a range of areas. Sorry to hear it's not clicking for you :(

[@stacie_everdell]

@@ThinkerThemer Thanks for your reply. Yea, I suppose I was looking for it to be more thematic rather than just grabbing points. No biggie. Such is the fun of this hobby and how wonderful that there are so many games to explore. :)

[@mabos555]

For me i love here sos titanic, Aerion, Friday, and hopefully ausonia as well after I'll buy it Everything else that it's solo is beat your own score which is most of this list I hate it

[@rahdo]

i think only one of mine is a "beat target score" (hallertau). all the others have win conditions or automa to beat. maggie did have more. but if the publishers include a "scores to beat to get ranked", that's usually sufficient for me to get a sense of accomplishment. the worst is "beat your best previous score"... ugh to that! :)

[@mabos555]

@@rahdo yeah this is why I love your solo style it is somehow the same as mine. See the target score and optimize your games for me is the same as beat your previous score without any goals to reach... The table that say 10-20 you rock, 30-40 you are great and all of that is meaningless to me but a game that says get 30 point and do this mission like in palm island for example it better for me i guess

[@JJ_TheGreat]

@@mabos555 Yeah, I agree with you! To me, a “beat your own score” is a “beat your own score”, regardless of whether there is a subjectively made up table to classify your results or if it’s just “beat your previous score”. I don’t differentiate between the two. I definitely prefer games which include automa solo modes.

[@darren.mcauliffe]

I think I'm the only person who doesn't like the Viticulture solo mode. My problem with it is what Rahdo mentioned when talking about Hallertau. It is just beat your own score. All the other Automa Factory games (that I've played) have a thinking opponent for you to beat. Where Viticulture just gives you a set score to beat in seven rounds. It was Morten's first design, and so his weakest. I wish he'd go back to it and come up with something better. Rahdo compared Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition to Race for the Galaxy. I have RftG and enjoy it solo. Which is better for solo? Would it be worth me getting AE too?

[@rahdo]

if you love race, i don't see how you wouldn't love TM:AE. haven't played RftG solo i couldn't say for sure though comparing to two that way

[@JJ_TheGreat]

I also don’t like the “Beat your own score” cop-out style solo games.

[@mabos555]

As for my list : But it can be changed after the next few games that I'll buy soon so for now it's just the ones I did play Pay attention now of theme is vp based Cuz I hate vp games 10. Finished/palm island 9. Dd6 8. Micro city 7. Super hot 6. Onirim 5. Sos titanic 4. Sweet spot 3. Hero realms with the campaign 2. Spaceshiped 1. After the virus I will have 40 solo/able games in total for my collection BTW rhado most of my games I blame you since I loved the gameplay so those games are the gifts from you to me

[@rahdo]

interesting list. some of those i haven't heard of!

[@mabos555]

@@rahdo Space shipped is a button shy game just like you played circle the wagon for a example? The same company. In this game you are a space merchant in a quest to get first 2 xenocryatals before your opponent the maruder does it. It doesn't have a 2 player mode but I guess you and Gen can just play it as is since it's only 18 cards anyway (12 more in the expansions). It has an amazing rotating multi-use card each card is a crew/ship/special ability for you and the other side has the planets events/market supplies/xenocryatals Amazing game love it! After the virus is from the same creators of TM you love it you and Maggie why haven't you check their second game as well? It is for up to 3 players it can be played Co-op although it is really hard to help each other. The theme is maybe not for Jen since it is a zombies and the campaign is too generic but it is one of the most hard game I played, the deck building and using cards as your resource just like in marvel champions will be your number one solo game as well trust me you really need to give a try at least one, the main goal is to do what the campaign mission said maybe it is to get 6 weapons or maybe just to find the cure

[@mabos555]

@@rahdo As for the rest: Sweet spot it a game for 1, 2 or 4 players it is just a tennis game but you don't need to know how to play tennis at all! It is a card game with numbers and hidden cards if you want to put. You move the ball from side to side and manage your hand and your stamina as a mama for the actions, once the ball is "out" you score like in regular tennis 15-30-40-win. The AI is one of the easiest too manage and it is a ton of fun to just run against him And as for dd6 it is a short for the game deep space d6, it is a dice placement just to survive the longest to vp are needed. It has a great app to try it for free too BTW. You choose a ship, roll dice and handle events in order to survive all of the attacks, hacks, injurued crew member etc. Each ship has special worker placement ability for example in one you can heal the crew member and oh the other you can shield yourself better etc... I think you can just create another set or dice and play together you and Jen will have separate ships and together you need to survive the full event list without getting yourself killed by the event deck So eventually every game of mine can be also be two players haha The rest of the list is just a games you played over the years so most of my list again is thaks to you, you are my favorite KZbin out there and your reviews are the only one that convinced me to buy

[@JJ_TheGreat]

@@mabos555 Sweet Spot sounds interesting! I enjoy tennis :-)

[@windbane69]

My fiancee wants to know where Maggie got that hoodie! We've seen it before in their videos, so we'll have to ask there if she doesn't see this.

[@ThinkerThemer]

Hi Allen! The hoodie is from one of my favorite shops here in Australia called Gorman. They have lots of colorful fabrics which I absolutely love 💕 They have an online store, but not sure about international shipping. Definitely worth checking them out 😊

[@windbane69]

@@ThinkerThemer thank you, so much! We will investigate it!

[@NATOnova]

im surprised to see no mention of gaia project

[@rahdo]

i've never tried it solo, but now i'm very curious to that you mention it!

[@JJ_TheGreat]

Hehe... I don’t think Rahdo tried the solo of that.

[@danmarquart1076]

Feat? What's this usage mean?

[@rahdo]

It's the hip way to say featuring but I forgot to put the. at the end! Thanks for the heads up :)

[@danmarquart1076]

@@rahdo I'm a word nerd, but not hip I guess :). No worries, I've never been. Thanks!

[@MrKato84]

whats about Dawn of Zeds ?

[@rahdo]

never tried is

[@albertolopes829]

I ❤️ you shirt. How can I get one for me?

[@rahdo]

got it off amazon: smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JQKGMP6 (be sure to always use smile.amazon.com so portion of sale goes to charity) :)

[@mabos555]

Also sorry for the multiple messages but the new sos titanic actually worth buying? It seems to be the exact same just with ugly as hell art the original is amazing as is and I did pay what it takes from m&m

[@rahdo]

really, i thought the new art looks fantastic!

[@mabos555]

@@rahdo Maybe but the price is too high You are the expert what will be new in this version? Is it the same as before or they added something? Let me know I want to know

[@rahdo]

@@mabos555 i can't see any announcements about and changes or additions, so at this point i'm assuming it's the same, gameplay-wise

[@mabos555]

@@rahdo Yeah it is weird people can order/pre-order it but there are not any news about it 🤷

[@justinlenhart4330]

I thought for sure shadowrun:crossfire

[@rahdo]

I was limiting myself to true solo games rather than co-ops where you can control two characters :-)

[@justinlenhart4330]

@@rahdo Ah, that makes sense. I still enjoyed both lists. Keep up the great content. Thank you