Top 10 Solo Games of 2023 - MvM and the Solo Community

[@Deltium5683]

I really like how you include so many other KZbinrs to be inclusive and build the community. A lot of people don’t do this because they are afraid of diluting their viewers but I really appreciate your views and content so I’ll remain subscribed for sure. You’re excellent. Warm Regards.

[@meeple]

Hey thank you. You get it. While we are solo games, we are strongest when we build each other up and share our love for the hobby. No smoke, I give a shit

[@AlliesorEnemies]

Thank you so much for including us! We maybe didn't quite understand the memo, but our pic plays really well solo as well.

[@jhowd78]

It was as clear as mud so that's fine. I just wanted you to contribute!

[@ryangilmore3678]

I love how you do this list. I always discover a new voice and a new game this way. Appreciate you Jeremy!

[@meeple]

That's the goal. Community and exposure to great titles and content creators

[@NotBoredGaming]

Thanks for doing this Jeremy and for including me. Some great games and a variety of tastes here.

[@meeple]

THANK YOU

[@timothypaullawrence]

Hey Jeremy, great to see lots of different voices highlighted. Daniel from The Dungeon Dive is one of the most unique and authentic voices in board games. Definitely one to check out.

[@meeple]

That's why I appreciate his contribution so much. One of my favorites

[@jordanw2741]

Came from Jenna's channel! Love seeing small creators supporting each other. The life blood of KZbin. Really like your vibe. Will be back!

[@meeple]

Always a please to see and play with Jenna. She's great and than you for watching

[@PurpleMoosePlays]

Was a lot of fun joining the list this year, thanks again. Great choice @TheBoardGameGarden! Lots of great games in here and so many I haven't tried yet that I really need to get into. Great year for action/adventure games for sure!

[@meeple]

I appreciate you!

[@SkyrekGaming]

Isofarian Guard is great. Looking forward to the new components. As mentioned great organization. It eats a lot of table space, but for the size it is easy to setup and take down. The weight is crazy, but when you see what is all in there it makes sense.

[@jhowd78]

Its a crazy project, thank all that is holy it wasn't a waste of time and effort. You can tell this was a passion project.

[@LeRougeLapin]

Thanks for this top 10! I feel that we have a lot of tastes in common :D. I have loved Tales from the Dragon Inn, Earthborn Rangers and Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies, I have backed the 2nd printing of Isofarian Guard and I am waiting Kinfire Chronicles to be shipped. I feel so much validated! You've gained a new subscriber.

[@jhowd78]

Thanks for watching and subscribing. I really appreciate you for that.

[@coreymayo8321]

Isofarian Guard and Earthborne Rangers are the two 2023 games that grabbed onto my gaming table and didn't let go for many hours.

[@meeple]

Both are special. I'm happy to hear people really deep diving into titles. For me it's hard to stop and appreciate games as much as I want to but this year I made a point to.

[@Frodo-]

Fantastic list, thank you Jeremy! I typically live in a world a year behind the hotness, partly because I want to see how the game end up a year later, and mostly because I dont have the time to stay ontop of everything haha. This list is great, a lot of games I have heard praise from already this year, and having you talk through them will really help my decisions on what I would like to get next year.

[@waynec7740]

What a great video to watch on a snowy winters day. In fact, I immediately restarted it so I could watch it again (after I do some work around the house) and write down some of the games that peaked my interest for further research. The one dungeon crawler/adventure game I am most looking forward to playing this year when it arrives in the summer is Weirdwood Manor by Greyridge games. Technically it takes place in a mansion but you are still fighting monsters and rescuing people so I figure that's close enough to count. In keeping with the theme of this channel the game is co-op.

[@meeple]

Played it several times with the publisher really fun

[@findle70]

Great video! Loved the format. One of your Earthborne is special, and I can't wait to see where it goes in the future. Happy new year, and thank you for all the great content in 2023 that helped me make better decisions (ie, spend more money) ;)

[@meeple]

Same to you! But above all thank you for watching.

[@realdealastrology9]

First, your hair is GREAT. That's definitely the style for you. Secondly, the two games that I just bought on your list are Fallen Lands (because I love Eldritch Horror and heard it's similar to that) and Deliverance. I had to get Deliverance because the angels vs demons theme is extremely relevant today. Lord knows just how many demonic human beings are being exposed in American society today! It's gonna be great playing as angels and smiting them back to the bowels of Hell. :)

[@meeple]

I'm glad you're picking up Deliverance. i think it's going to go down as one of the most underrated coops.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Hey Jeremy! Thanks for putting this together!

[@meeple]

I'm just honored that one of my favorite content creators contributed. I truly appreciate it.

[@buddhawasright]

Glad your Patreons chipped in for those new glasses! No more squinting for you!

[@TheDungeonDive]

@@buddhawasrightI just wanted to say thank you for all the rent free space inside your head you’ve given me! I’m absolutely thrilled by how often you think of me and post about me across multiple platforms. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bigger fan. Hugs and kisses. ❤❤❤

[@Grooty6226]

Great list and awesome delivery, man! It was good to see some others tossed in there, including my main go-to, Alex. I've got Isofarian Guard coming in the next few months :)

[@meeple]

I appreciate it. I love doing this

[@raortiz73]

Jeremy, I always enjoy your year-end videos. It just tells me you need to produce more content.

[@meeple]

More to come! And yall keep me motivated

[@eVanDiesel]

These are always such fun videos to watch every year!

[@jhowd78]

Thanks for watching

[@ginovilleneuve6557]

wow what a top 10! with so many cool guests and games. Thanks man ! keep up the good stuff.

[@meeple]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@BoxofDelights]

Great stuff! Some titles on there for me to check out. nice one Jeremy 👍

[@meeple]

Ahhhh I need you in my next year video! Dungeon Dive did it, now it's time for you to participate. It would be an honor.

[@coffeespoonman7931]

Thank you so much for inviting me to contribute this year (Aaron Rotsinger from Solo Board Gamers)! Really sorry I wasn't able to get a video together in time. Maybe next year's video?

[@meeple]

Pleasure to have you

[@tonybowers9490]

Thanks for sharing. Kinfire and EBR were two of my top games for 2023 too. Kinfire had a lot to like and I played the whole campaign, but I didn't care for the town visits. Having that aspect in decks of cards was difficult for me to work with. EBR is extremely unique and a lot of fun too. I finished the campaign, but the travel got old after awhile, especially when there was nothing new to learn.

[@meeple]

I actually agree on both your takes but I chalk that up to me just wanting to get the most exciting parts. It's good to hear such positive things about the titles I enjoyed too. thanks for watching.

[@travisbicklejr]

Your top solo games of the year video is absolute mandatory viewing for me every year! Thanks so much for your content! You do a fantastic job!

[@meeple]

Hey thank you. I really appreciate it and I hope I'll give even better content this year

[@jacobstein5678]

Good to see Mike delisio and you both having 20 strong on there. I hadn't played it enough when you were asking for videos but it is now my number one solo of the year. Probably in my top 3 for the year in general. Brilliant system and looking forward to the future as they expand and grow the available decks.

[@meeple]

We definitely agree! I can't wait for them to add even more content in 2024

[@b67us]

thanks so much Jeremy! as a solo player, I really appreciate this content. and man, ...with the others YTer you've including in this video, sooooo joyful to see thanks again Jeremy! 👍👍

[@donbooger]

Good guestlist, nicely edited into a fine video.

[@meeple]

Thank you kindly! I love doing this every year.

[@yadayadayada]

Isofarian Guard was my #1 for the year too. Also glad to see Eila and Something Shiny get love. It's a special game.

[@meeple]

Sweeeeeeet!

[@sharkey1337]

Loved this video format with the other KZbinrs giving their favorites, and LOVE to see Resident Evil being mentioned as it was my favorite game of 2023 as the series is among my very top, love what SFG has done with the games!

[@meeple]

They are having a good run recently. Hopefully that's a good sign of things moving forward.

[@accessibleglobetv6995]

This is because you are so generous with other KZbinrs. The world should be more like this. Cheers mate for Australia

[@morgaknightgames]

Interesting to see 20 Strong on so many lists. I haven't even played my copy because the majority of my dice had severe factory errors (chips, pitting, missing corners, missing paint) that it killed any desire to play it. I have recently been promised replacements, but who knows when that will happen. As my first Chip Theory Game purchase, it was not a good impression. I'll join the chorus lauding Deep Rock Galactic as an amazing board game at any player count. For solo or works well with true solo and running multiple characters. As an added bonus, it is a fantastic adaptation of the video game too!

[@meeple]

That really sucks. What I will say is chip theory will make it right. Some of the best customer service out there. Just make sure you put in a ticket through their website.

[@joostborst]

I'm playing Tales off the red dragon inn as my first solo game and both kinfire and earthborne are on the top of my list to get after I finish the campaign. Seems you have the same taste in games. I just subbed!

[@meeple]

Hope you enjoy it! That's a great grouping of games. Report back in a future episode of Solo chat

[@foyoGames]

Nice Collab! Good idea to solo some of these ...maybe Fallen Land finally or Expeditions 🤔

[@rickbachCGS]

WOW! That is such a great news for CoD! We definitely worked hard to improve the game. Learning a lot on our end to keep moving forward. Let see how DANTE turns out.

[@meeple]

I'M READY!

[@PlayGamzWithMe]

great vid!!! TY

[@meeple]

Thank you. Appreciate you watching

[@lilianempls]

I've been waiting for this!

[@meeple]

hopefully you enjoyed it.

[@Mike_James]

Deliverance is criminally overlooked. ive played all the way through the campaign, you may want to pick that campaign up again. towards the end you can do some pretty epic stuff. one turn i moved 11 spaces, killed 2 demons, healed 4 health, and gained a courage for my trouble. those character builds really sing later on

[@meeple]

I think time will tell but it already seems that way

[@wiblick]

I only started in the hobby in October - and Earthborne Rangers is exactly what I was hoping for from modern board games... so it was a bit of a surprise to me that it was the first of its kind (in terms of adventure and challenges, versus combative and conflict-laden) so I'll be buying everything for it and hoping other publishers create similar games with different themes .

[@meeple]

The publisher really stick to their guns in the making of this game in all facets. Design and manufacturing. I'm definitely supporting future projects.

[@jcw59able]

Been waiting for this!

[@meeple]

I made you wait too long!

[@ShivanAngel15]

The Witcher Old World would have been my top vote from last year. Multi use cards that you cycle through often, adventuring in the form of encounter cards as well as movement around the map and a fast paced combat system using your same deck of cards. Deckbuilding is easy and impactful and the game is just tons of fun to play through.

[@meeple]

My only pushback was it needed outside the box content to make it excellent

[@portwills]

Don't forget Mike from Board Games for One!

[@dcal12]

Really enjoyed this video. Thanks

[@meeple]

Glad you enjoyed it! Appreciate you checking it out.

[@christianj.suarez5293]

This is hands down the best top 10 i've ever watched.

[@meeple]

Damn! Thank you.

[@hschwarz75]

I own Isofarian Guard as well and man I love it!

[@davidriemaker]

Very good video. But I’m a little confused. Title says “top solo games”, while in the video “top adventure/dungeoncrawler” is mentioned several times. Are we excluding genres from this list? (e.g. euro, abstract, … )

[@meeple]

That's correct. Every year I have lists I stick with a theme. I do this to mix it up.

[@davidriemaker]

@@meepleoh, ok, I’ll have a look at previous lists then! Thanks for your good work sir.

[@BoardGameOfficer]

Thanks for the opportunity to share in your video!! It is fun to see all the different content creators and your top games!

[@erictighe2381]

Chronicles is amazing! I am very sad to see it no on any lists or no one is talking about it... are you going to do a playthrough?

[@BoardGameOfficer]

@@erictighe2381 Ya it is a hidden gem! And I have some older playthroughs on my channel using TTS and I just finally finished painting them, so I am going to get a playthrough done soon!

[@erictighe2381]

@@BoardGameOfficer this is great to hear! I love your content so keep it coming!

[@BoardGameOfficer]

@@erictighe2381 thank you so much!!

[@raortiz73]

Colton, I hope this gives you more exposure. I not only enjoy the video content but also your interaction and helpfulness on the different gaming pages.

[@kobusbrits3523]

With Primal: The Awakening delivering later this year, are you still as excited for the game as you were before? I remember reading your AMA on BGG after you guys played the prototype. Do you think it has the potential to make this list next year? Has your opinion changed on the game since then?

[@meeple]

If it's anything like I played back in the day...GOTY potential.

[@kobusbrits3523]

@@meeple oh dang, that's big. Excited to see your coverage of it once it arrives!

[@Christian-cy2pn]

I realy tried to like this, and at first i realy did! The problem for me was the grind broke the immersion for me. I know the reprint have fixed this somehow, just too bad it wasnt fixed from the start because this isnt a kind of game i got the money or time to give a second chance. Great video tho!

[@meeple]

Nooooooo give games a second chance. Well at least I think THIS title is worth it

[@Christian-cy2pn]

@@meeple Maybe i will one day😅

[@alicia1465]

Earthborne Rangers looks cool! I love Lord of the Rings LCG and like Arkham Horror LCG so far, but they are money pits and have their downsides for sure. I like that Earthborne Rangers was produced with sustainable materials.

[@george_castle]

Wait! Has it been a year already since we last did this??? I need to switch to gateway games.

[@meeple]

Nooooooo don't go!

[@george_castle]

@@meeple 😂

[@marcl2427]

What did you mean exactly when you said you play "three-handed"?

[@dejavu_d]

For rock and stone!

[@meeple]

I gotta play this video game now. It's been on my system for years

[@williecallison8706]

Did I miss it - what’s name of #1? Maybe just editing, but 4-5 minutes and no mention of name or publisher and only one glimpsing, nonidentifiable picture. Was it Witcher? Something else? Please someone update!

[@ChromaTick360]

The Isofarian Guard.

[@williecallison8706]

@@ChromaTick360thanks for the information - will look it up (missed it so far, and Witcher is under a pile, so didn’t know what it had)

[@ChromaTick360]

@@williecallison8706 No problem. I don't really solo, but Isofarian Guard was easily my game of the year for 2023. My friend and I have logged over 100 hours playing it co-op.

[@SaschaKleiber]

Don’t really agree with the praise 20 Strong gets. Backed it after I played Hoplomachus Victorum a lot. It feels way to luck-dependent and swingy. Especially solar sentinels feels a bit boring cause it’s essentially always the same every game.

[@jhowd78]

Even with 20 dice it's still a luck fest game with cards that help with luck. For me that's OK because of thematic ties to some of my favorite games. Works for me, totally understand how people bounce off that. Thanks for watching

[@Vardakula]

I sold my isofarian guard, couldnt get past the slog of the first campaign. Spent more time setting up the fights than actually fighting. Didnt feel like there was much choice aswell on where to use the chips, it was all pretty obvious when you had your "combo". Huge disappointment.

[@meeple]

Totally understand. They actually cleaned this up via update and for the sort of 1.5 version

[@jeremymullen7097]

Small complaint. The video says Top 10 solo games, yet some of the content creators were talking about best Dungeon Crawlers and Action/Adventure. Still good content, but inconsistent.

[@PurpleMoosePlays]

If you listen at the beginning of the video, this year’s theme was action/adventure games, but they should have been our top solo action/adventure game of the year, so while different people used different terms, everyone was on the same page.

[@jhowd78]

In the video I mention that the theme for this year is action and adventure

[@jeremymullen7097]

@@jhowd78 Not sweating the small stuff. Saw the title.....formed my own expectations.....got something other than what I expected but still enjoyed it.

[@meeple]

It's cool. Thanks for watching.

[@Brotzkopf]

You know why Steamforged Games delivered and Primal was so long in development? Because they are actually playtesting their games 🤣

[@meeple]

It's more to it than that but I respect when any publisher takes their time to make the best product possible. Monster Hunter is fantastic and I forsee Primal being the same

[@Brotzkopf]

@@meeple I strongly disagree with that one, because Steamforged is not very professional when it comes to playtesting imo. But if you enjoy the game than good for you :)

[@fredfredrickson5436]

How on earth can Arham Horror lcg be your #1 least favorite game of all time when it's surely the most exciting game of all time?

[@meeple]

Long story for another day

[@Filthyanimal9]

Great to hear from so many people! Thx for compiling

[@meeple]

I love doing this!