Source
r/soloboardgaming•
Telize_Chaocid

Aspiring Solo Gamer

I got into board gaming over the past 6 months or so, hoping that my wife would really enjoy playing. She likes some games, but prefers to play short, simple games and limit herself to once a week or so. I really appreciate her playing and don't want to push her to play things she doesn't enjoy, so I have been branching into solo modes over the past 6-8 weeks.

I am looking for my next solo game after spending dozens of hours with The 7th Continent. That was my first *real* solo game to truly enjoy, and I think I owe that mostly to the exploration and story aspect of the game. I can play solo Sagrada 2-3x in a row and have fun, but it's not something that I think about for the rest of the evening and want to come back to the next night like 7th Continent. I feel the same way about Horrified...it's fun while I'm playing, but once is usually enough to scratch that itch for the week.

I've tried One Deck Dungeon and didn't like the dice-chucking...it's fun every now and then, but not something I'm going to come back to frequently. I have Friday for short weeknight games as well (it is very difficult but not quite engaging enough for me to keep picking up and improve at). I have fun solo-playing several digital game versions, including Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Onirim, Splendor, and sometimes Scythe.

In looking for my next game, I keep coming back to Aeon's End Legacy. The theme is appealing to me, but I'm worried about jumping into a new IP with no background and trying to 2-hand solo off the bat. What are your thoughts on a) starting the series with Legacy, and b) soloing this version?

Bonus upvotes for opinions on Raiders oTNS, Architects otWK, or Viticulture EE + Tuscany EE, as those are the other games I'm considering...though I don't know if I would enjoy them as much without the story aspect. I would also love to hear any other opinions for new games to look at...I enjoy learning about new games almost as much as playing them!

TL;DR - Started board gaming 6mo ago; wife likes short, simple games so I play mostly solo. Loved 7th Continent for immersion/story. Curious about solo-ability of Aeon's End Legacy OR to hear about other great ideas for another game. Thanks!

Posted Apr 30, 2020, 12:33 PM UTC

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dryule•

Check out tainted grail if you get hold of it. Reminds me a lot of 7th continent.

Viticulture is a pretty good worker placement game. It does have a "campaign" mode, which is not a story but does add variability. I like it. Also the automa is ready to upkeep and is quite challenging. Especially if you ramp up the difficulty. Try the base box first before getting Tuscany but the expansion is brilliant. The theme is very good and highly recommended.

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

I didn't learn about 7th Continent until Tainted Grail had already fulfilled. I've never backed a KS but that would have been my first one if I had known! I'm on the lookout for it..hopefully they'll have a commercial release before too long. If nothing else, I can get the digital version when it releases.

You're the first person to recommend the base Viticulture without Tuscany, which would actually make it much more appealing to me due to the ease of getting the game to the table and slightly lower cost. Thanks for the input!

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dryule•

Don't get me wrong, Tuscany makes viticulture much better. But if you don't like the base game, you're unlikely to like it with the expansion. So if you do like it, you'll likely get Tuscany. But if you don't like it, it'll be less of a "waste".

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

Kinda nice to have 'permission' to buy the base game alone, if that makes sense! Come to think of it, I haven't read anything bad about Viticulture EE without Tuscany, only the praise for what Tuscany adds, so maybe I'll pull the trigger.

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lazybum965•

We spent about half a year with the base game before picking up Tuscany. The base game is brilliant!

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HuxleyJP•

Legacy was actually my least favorite of all the AE boxes. I just didn't feel like what the whole legacy structure adds to the game really emphasizes the strengths of its design. Legacy is also the least compatible with all of the other products. I'd suggest starting with any of the other boxes. If you want the whole narrative/campaign aspect, go with New Age. New Age is probably the most accessible entry point anyway since the cards in that box tend to be a little bit stronger and easier to work with than some of the others.

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

That's really helpful, thanks. I remember reading something on BGG a few weeks ago that recommended New Age as a good starting point...but at that point I was really stuck on 'needing' a legacy game. I'll definitely look into New Age!

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

Also, as a follow up, would your opinion change if you didn't have a background in AE before Legacy? I've read that it's a pretty good way to learn the mechanics, though it doesn't seem that AE in general is overly complex.

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HuxleyJP•

That's a good question. I can't really say since it wasn't the case, but all of the boxes are actually set up in such a way as to make the first game a tutorial that teaches the game mechanics. Each one comes with the cards prearranged and a quick start guide to lead you through your first game so learning the mechanics shouldn't be a problem. The real learning curve is figuring out strategies that work against some of the tougher nemeses. AE can be tough!

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aka_Foamy•

Sounds like Gloomhaven might be the thing for you. Combat without dice chucking, and a long campaign with tons of content.

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

I agree, it sounds awesome. The issue I have is in spending that kind of money on a product without any chance to play it before. I've been eyeing Jaws of the Lion, but not sure yet how long it'll be before that releases. I could either try to Steam early access version or back Frosthaven instead, I guess, but neither of those really gives the same experience.

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aka_Foamy•

The steam game would give you a good idea of the combat at least. The one knock I had against it from the couple of games I played was the amount of bookkeeping there was. I believe there's apps that help with that though. I really didn't like the scythe solo until I got the app which does the movement for you.

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blindsight•

You can try it out (or just pay it completely) on r/TabletopSimulator, afaik. I'm still a TTS newbie, but search over in that sub if you're interested.

It's been great for me trying new games, it's really cheap, and my potato of a laptop can handle it fine.

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

I have been playing quite a bit on TTS recently, but that's definitely a new level of TTS complexity! I may have to check it out to get a feel for it. Great idea!

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tomboystud•

Are you my twin? I feel like we have similar stories. Horrified is fun but doesn't cure the itch. I bought 7th Continent but I haven't played it yet. Palm Island was ok for a little bit but didn’t entertain me. I want to get into online gaming so I can try before I buy. Thank you for such a great post!!! Good luck in your search. I am looking forward to reading all the replies.

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

I'm jealous that you haven't played 7th Continent yet! It's fantastic. I still play Horrified quite a bit, but there are lots of good things to mull over from this thread so far!

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tomboystud•

Did we just become best friends? Stepbrother quote. I would love to chat with you about online gaming. I'm really intrigued to try

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

It's interesting, but not quite the same. Fulfills the need for social interaction during social distancing, but just adds an extra level of fiddliness to the whole experience. Better than nothing, though.

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tomboystud•

That makes sense. I read somewhere that you need to know the rules and they aren't written anywhere. I would love a teach to play

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hwlr555•

Dawn of the Zeds. Valhalla. Outer Rim.

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

Youdabest. Thanks!

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Brodogmillionaire1•

Others are saying Gloomhaven is the answer because there is not dice chucking, but please note that each hero has a modifier deck that is functionally identical to rolling dice to see if your attack lands. The monsters also have a mod deck. You're also at the mercy of their AI decks which sometimes behave in odd ways. All of this amounts to a lot of output randomness. Not to mention that the game is fairly expensive for something you might not even like. TTS and the game on Steam do not portray the setup, teardown, and upkeep of components accurately.

You're much better off with either Mage Knight, Renegade, or Spirit Island. Mage Knight has a sense rulebook and a long learning curve for skillful play, but the Ricky Royal videos on YouTube do wonders for getting you into the game more quickly. Setup time is a fraction of Gloomhaven despite it being of comparable weight and replayability. And the output randomness is minimal. Dice are only used for determining the inputs of Mana available to you every turn. And there are ways to mitigate the minimal output randomness in attacking a fortified you can't see at night. The game thrives on input randomness, as all deckbuilders do. Meaning that every turn, you draw a hand from your deck and then have to decide how best to use it. Renegade plays in a similar way. While not as expansive and open as Mage Knight, what it lacks in adventure it makes up for in a tight game with challenging decisions. It plays in about an hour, sets up in moments, and packs a ton of replayability. The puzzle is different every time. Spirit Island is a good middle ground between the two in terms of setup and rules weight. But the difficulty is about on par with Mage Knight. All three great alternatives or Gloomhaven. And all three allow for true solo, only managing a single hand of cards.

Instead of Raiders of the North Sea or Viticulture, I would recommend Agricola for solo worker placement gameplay. It has a ton of replayability from the cards alone and is a challenge every time. You'll get way more gameplay out of it long-term. I would also recommend, for shorter engine building gameplay, At the Gates of Loyang and 51st State: Master Set. Two excellent medium weight euros that are quick to setup, play, and teardown. None of these are as focused on the story, but they're great medium weight fare if you enjoy the euro puzzly play of some of the others you've mentioned.

For a story-driven game, it depends on whether you're looking for a written story or an emergent narrative. Games like Arkham Horror the Card Game provide a written narrative. Even 7th Continent does this, despite being able to explore freely. Events come out in a prescribed order. Encounters are procedurally generated to fit the events. It's a game I love, but I don't always want its brand of storytelling. Maximum Apocalypse is a game with great emergent storytelling. Because players' choices and the clashing systems of input randomness create the story. It's my favorite thematic game for this reason, and I highly recommend it. What's more, it is great for solo, as you can play single handed and add in the allies, or you can play two-handed with a system for combining hands to limit the fiddliness. While the allies are part of the expansion (Gothic Horrors, not essential but certainly makes everything about the base game better), the modes for solo are easily implemented with the base game content. And while the base game had a ton of content, the expansion doubles that offering.

Edit: a few points about MA

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

Gonna take some time to sift through all of this. Thank you for the in-depth comment!

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

I think that even if Gloomhaven was the perfect game for me (which it may well be), I wouldn't ever have the courage to buy it. The cost is so high that I would never be able to justify it over the 3 next best games on my list, especially without ever getting to play it before buying. I also never have much more than 1.5hrs to play, so with set-up and tear-down I would be pushing it, I think.

I have never heard of Renegade, but I'm not quite sold by the looks on BGG. I'll look up some videos to see how it plays, because your description makes it sound like a top contender.

Spirit Island is one that I have gone back and forth on multiple times. The complexity has kept me from grabbing it, as I have only been playing board games for a few months and solo'ing for a few weeks. That said, half of the fun in solo gaming is being able to take your time to grok things, right?

With your suggestions, I'm not sure I would look for a worker placement game now. Too many other great options to look into!

Maximum Apocalypse sounds great. I like that you've differentiated its story-making from the story-driven nature of some other games like 7th Continent. It would be cool to feel like I'm writing the story rather than uncovering it, sometimes. I'll check it out too!

​

Thanks again for the insights, these are really cool things to think about.

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aidwiz•

for most of the games on top, you can try it on tabletopia. architects of the west has a solo playable game there. still need to read the rules though.

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geijuutsuka•

Some of my favs:

-Deep Space D6 (great board game take on the popular survival video game "FTL")

-7th Continent

-Scythe

-XIA (huge open world space exploration, full sandbox complete with enemy ai, hazards...etc)

-Raiders of the North Sea (near perfect mix of a territory control, worker placement, and engine building with a really great art style and theme.

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Telize_ChaocidOP•

I was literally reading the rules for Deep Space D6 when I got the notification that this post had a reply! I loved FTL when it first game out, and I think DSD6 is gonna be a winner for me.

I've picked up the Raiders Steam implementation and it's great, I've played a game almost every night this week!

How long does it take you to play through a game of Xia?

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[deleted]•

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