November 2019 | Top 15 Solo Board Games | With Colin 

Yup planning on it!!

Have fun!!

Haha!! Love it! Yeah I was surprised too!!

Thanks so much! Enjoy your podcast a lot!! Keep it up!!

Cool I'll look into it thanks!

It is such an amazing solo game!! Glad you are enjoying it!

I get you!! I wish I had inifinite time to play games!! :) :)

You never go wrong by going back to Mage Knight... other than relearning some of the rules. lol

....and Black Orchestra

Nice!!! Great list there I have played all of them except Journey: Wrath of Demons and A Touch of Evil!

A Touch of Evil is like a cross between Horrified, Arkham Horror and Fortune and Glory..it is quite wonderful. Journey is basically Journey to the West (Monkey!) the board game and has very tactical combat and amazing miniatures wrapped in a crazy wuxia style adventure game.

A touch of Evil is a very underrated game! It’s the game that got me into modern gaming. I know pretty strange!

@@THEGLADIUS101 A touch of evil is a mess, rules wise, and the gameplay is a little shallow, compared to Arkham Horror or Fortune & Glory. The theme on the other hand is top notch and very well represented in the game.

Thanks so much!!

Darkest Night! I still haven't played that one, is it worth picking up? I hear it can be very random so wasn't sure if it is worth the price tag! Thanks for watching!

@@OneStopCoopShop Darkest Night is great for solo. Even though you're playing 4 characters, the game has a high focus on using each one's unique abilities, together, to win a fantasy guerilla war against the necromancer. So many characters to choose from, each with their own unique abilities and style. Between that and the stealthy guerilla war style, it's quite fun. The rules are also fairly easy to learn and come back to later without too much re-learning. I just recommend getting it soon if you plan to, because Victory Point Games recently shut their doors. So I don't know how long supplies will last.

Thank you so much for watching!

Glad you are enjoying it!!

Glad you found it helpful! That is a GREAT idea, although that means you are more likely to draw that auto fail token. . I hate that token with a passion :) Regardless I like the way you play and may end up giving that a shot sometime, thank you for the suggestion!! And thanks as always for watching!

I was going to wait until I painted everything. . . that is never going to happen so expect it soon-ish! :)

@@OneStopCoopShop for a fuller co-op experience, that is better than the app (in my opinion) take a look at Redjak's Automated Imperial Variant (RAIV) Expanded. boardgamegeek.com/article/33432568#33432568

Glad to help out and thanks for watching!

That's the challenge of the game! Might be the reason I scored it so low this year..

Looks like you have great tastes in games!! :) I love Gloom of Kilforth! Thanks for watching!

Thanks Kevin!! I know, Spirit Island was pretty harsh, but I guess sometimes that is how it goes right? It will be hard to push Mage Knight out of number 2, that game is so good! Will never forget learning it over Skype! :) Hope you are doing well!!

Nice list and I love Nemos war!!

I agree - the shadow card mechanic and some unknown just makes games more tense etc. Mage Knight though a lot of times you have to fight and not know what is coming (if it is night, or doing certain encounters) so I still feel like I can get that! regardless thanks so much for watching and commenting!

Nice!! Glad you are enjoying Arkham! I have had a love/hate relationship with that game, but right now certainly in the love category! Good luck on your adventures!

Hi There! This is a bit old, but will give you a snapshot of my collection! Thanks so much for watching!! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Na4wbaVQ15E.html

Makes me so happy to hear this!!

I get you, Gloom is not for everyone but so glad LOTR is up there for you as well!!

Totally agree sorry if that was not explained well. 200 games! I think I have played 50? So not nearly as experienced as you. I just feel like comparing this game to a deckbuilder is a dis-service to it. It is much more an adventure game than a deckbuilder. The progression comes not only as cards, but skills units, hand size, and the way you situate yourself by different buildings that makes the game so good! Thanks for watching!

Nice wargames are NOT my thing but glad you enjoy them!

Yeah the Imperial Assault app provides solo play, although I recommend playing with 3-4 characters for balance. Also you will see a lot of the game is unplayable solo which is a bummer, so watch for that. There are certain expansions that give you more scenarios, but the first campaign is quite fun for the base game only!

Dude I totally get it!! Just the same as me!!

* typo meant "the" solo game videos not ur

Thanks so much Shaina! Hopefully they are helpful and I get it. I play mostly solo as well! :)

Btw, I was really surprised to see Arkham Horror LCG in your top 15! I thought you didnt enjoy it that much. I really love it but I gotta agree with you, I prefer LOTR.

You have all 15?! NICE! you have fabulous tastes in games :) :) Yes Arkham is BACK ON THE MENU as they say in LOTR. I am really enjoying the story and now with a larger card pool it is more fun to deckbuild!

Glad it helped thanks for watching!!

Thanks for watching!! The adventure packs are not available?? SORRY I thought he was selling them on his website. . Thanks for watching!

Enjoy!! Thanks for joining!

Thanks Mr. Shane! Hope you are doing well! And I agree Mike = AWESOME! Appreciate everything he has brought to this channel!

Hope you enjoy it and thanks for watching Ryan!

Nice list and it seems we have similar tastes! I'd suggest trying Renegade first before Nemos War just because of the ease of entry! Both though are great!

Couldn't agree more! So many amazing options!

And a fun fact, the first videos of yours that I watched were of Folklore: The Affliction, and just checked, they are from the 5th of December! Man as time flies!

Thanks for watching! And yes its that arc that makes the game good but also its predictable... thanks again!

My pleasure!! Glad it helps and glad you agree!! 😁😁

Hope it is helpful!!

Is this in the us? I thought it was not terrible to find?

@@OneStopCoopShop - Sadly I have been scouring the land for it for almost two years now with no success, even willing to pay a 3X premium. The only other one I can find is from the UK, but at nearly 4X the retail price once shipping is thrown in. Bummer! But a great list nonetheless!!

I wish you luck in finding one, my guy. I *just* snagged one up locally at a fair price. BGG shows a few have been sold in the past handful of months at ~$100. I just saw one for sale on Reddit for about $100 (included the base), lemme know if you're still in need!

Thanks my man!! And I TOTALLY get it, I never realized it but you are right, I love me some card games haha! Great list btw, Near and Far is a great one!! Have a great one!

Hopefully it is helpful! Thanks so much for watching!

Whoot!

I agree. Missed you Colin! Great video. Keep 'em coming. :)

Get mage knight out!! It's a blast!!

I have played Gaia Project solo, actually have a solo playthrough on the channel! I enjoy a good optimization game but those are not my favorite. Nice on Wargames, thanks for sharing!!

Dang!! I haven't gotta look it up now thanks!!

I get you LOTR is not for everyone. Too many bones I sold after 15 plays. Just not enough variety for me

@@OneStopCoopShop how is the variety with Gloom of Kilforth? Is every play different etc?

As someone who has a lot of TMB stuff, I could see why some people don't have it at the top of their list. The base game alone just doesn't have enough content. Repeating the same Day 1 to Day 3 encounter is the biggest offender, and after I figured out how to defeat the tyrants there is not a lot of incentives to replay the game. I can try a different build for the characters, but the game is punishing that there is not a lot of flexibility to build a character differently. Characters work differently with different lineups, but with just 4 characters in the base game I don't feel like there is enough lineup variety to explore each character in different ways. I play this a lot so I would still consider it a good game, but for $135+shipping it's not a great purchase. To be clear, I have spent close to $400 and I don't regret this, but not everyone is going to feel the same way.

Thanks Matt, and I get that! For whatever reason I am a FFG junkie it appears haha! I LOVE me some Gloomhaven but I play in a group of 4 for the last 6-7 months so no chances to play solo. Thanks for watching!

Great point!

@@OneStopCoopShop In the newer boxes the event cards are the cards adding the most random elements. Too much in my opinion, I liked it better when planning ahead was a big part of the game.

Such a great game!! I just only play it coop because my wife loves it!

Yeah, the solo mode is better two handed (controlling 2 mages) so I prefer playing it with my girlfriend or my niece aswel. We just a 3 players this Saturday it was great. (3p is the max for me. As the 4p is too slow and lose the dynamic fun of the turn order) Anyway I have to say thank you for Runebound solo as it is your review and game play that makes me taking that great solo adventure game. We loves it. Although we adjust some rules to make it even more dynamic and fun to play (mainly making the adventure 2actions cost reduced to 1action, aswell as adding the possibility of giving a trophy to a mate by enveloppe nor for 1action while on the same Hex..) (and as we still lose a lot we're not feeling like cheating at all) I recently re get an arkham horror lcg collection, I hope the bag, setup length and the money ramp will not have reason over me... Also just try few 2p games of Marvel lcg this weekend. And The game is defenatly promessing ! With a better control of what you want to buy. Great to see LOTR lcg here. This game is my 1st lcg and solo co-op game. We are organizing 4 to 5 events (here in small belgium) every year for this game, and have a French channel called SDA JCE TV on RU-vid. Reviewing every pack, with heroes contest once per year, and live gaming (irl nor octgn) such a great deckbuilding and solo game! Defenatly one of the best out there. Even if yes.. It is sooo expansive and hard for new players to get it in. So many games my friend.. So many games! Wich you bring more Arkham horror and solo LOTR playthrough on your channel aswell as some Aeo's end! Would be fantastic! Great work, you're defenatly making my favorite playthrough video to watch! Keep up that very good work! Cheers

Ahh tainted grail nice add!! Just feel like I haven't played it enough to warrant a spot yet. Likely to change next year!

Thanks for watching!!

Whoot!!

One last thing : no Sword and Sorcery on the list and I was thinking of giving it a try. Would you still recommend it ? Thanks again !

Great questions and thanks for watching!! LOTR LCG: What I try and do when I play a cycle is keep my heroes the same and adjust my deck accordingly to try and defeat the specific scenario. But you are 100% right, there are many scenarios you will need to deck-build for which for me personally is a ton of fun. I can understand though how this is NOT fun for others. If that is the case I suggest you check out Arkham Horror LCG as that is not how that one done since you have to keep your same deck. No S&S is just simply the fact I played Act 1 and have not gotten back to it. I think it is quite good albeit heavy in corner case rules etc. I think it is still a great choice and I backed their most recent expansion so excited for that! Hope that helps! Oh and glad you like Dungeon Alliance!! What a GREAT game!

Nice! I really enjoyed Anachrony and Race was pretty good.

Nice!!

Nice great game!

Tainted grail I have not gotten mine yet so hard to put it on the list

DA is much different than CoK and Gloomhaven. I have both and am happy with it! CoK is good, but I get frustrated with it due to random spawns and unbeatable enemies so I have put it aside for now!

Hi Justin! You should check out the channel, I have done a bunch of recent playthrough's! Can't do them as often as before but they are still there :) As for HexPlore It, I sold mine awhile ago. The game was good but there were some fiddly bits I could not get over, such as combat etc. I think overall I LIKED how the game was made, but didn't see myself playing it when comparing it to this list! Hope that helps!

Get those to the table Mark you will not be disappointed!!

Great game!!!

I have! Just not for me, I have shadowrun crossfire and that game to me is still superior. Even though I PREFER the theme of Dragonfire. Of course both are not on this list as I just always seem to have different games that fill the nitch of these 2 games. But I will say they are both STILL GOOD! Just so many good games hahaha!

Any of the Onirim Games, Set a Watch, Oh My Goods, Tiny Epic Defenders,Assembly, Fuse (although real time so watch out for that). Those would be my suggestions for shorter games!

Glad it was helpful!

Haha! Yeah it is my number 1 for a reason! Playing 6 decks solo was pretty epic

Nice!! And good choice on space hulk!

Nice, 2 player is GREAT! I think you mean crazy not brave for collecting 3 LCG's! :) I get you on the chaos bag . . part of the reason I sold the entire game the first time! Thanks for watching!!

AH:LCG is brilliant, I'm the opposite I really really want to try LoTR: LCG but am worried I'd compare it to AH LCG. Ha.

Thanks for the suggestions! I disliked Leaving Earth too much math :) I will look up Sierra Madre thanks!

I think Mike is doing one!

Whoot!!!! Thanks Dan!!

@@OneStopCoopShop hooray for OCD ☺️

Now I just need to find someone to make it 1,001! Haha!!

it will be posted this week! Doug Herring also has a playthrough out of the game if you can't wait!

Thx for that!

More like Tshe-vee-check

@@pinguslol I'm not even sure if he himself says it like that

@@MystiqWisdom I'm polish, trust me :)

Crushing It good point :-/

I agree.. I should have mentioned that too!!

@@OneStopCoopShop it's ok. The instructions tell you to. So it's on them. Anyways I love RB3. Solo it just fine for like 3 years till I finally got all the expansions in a trade. While it's a shame that FFG isn't producing this game anymore, I think there is enough content to achieve a great long lasting experience. The core game alone ($30) gave me years of gameplay. One con for people is the pog system. For which is the best part of the game for me

I'm sure you could but that is not in the rules. You could certainly house rule it though!

We have an entire podcast that explains just how much superior LOTR is to Arkham. But it all comes down to preference. Arkham is at its heart an RPG, and LOTR is a deck construction game. Just because some mechanics have been updated does not make it a better game. For example I HATE the chaos bag in Arkham, WAY prefer shadow cards. Stuff like that :)

HATED that game with a passion beyond all being, but that is just me! :)

@@OneStopCoopShop Interesting. I guess not really being into Lovecraftian theme you just find the stories totally boring. Luckily, Journeys in Middle Earth gives the same sort of experience. I love them both! =-)

Came to the comments to say exactly this. Probably my fave game. I do have LOTR:JiME but not played it yet, though looking through it it does seem like a reimplementation of a lot of MoM's mechanics.

Eldrich horror is better.

Haha!!

Well I gave it another shot playing solo with 2 characters and it got better, especially with a larger card pool that REALLY helped. I am now really enjoying the game, although I hate chaos bag and the 3 action limitation!

@@OneStopCoopShop The funny thing is that those are literally my two favorite things about the design. Love the crunchy problem-solving pressure of the action economy. Love how the chaos bag can be flexibly customized by scenario outcomes, and horrible as the auto-fail tentacles can be, I think the game would lose its tension and cease to be a horror game if outcomes were certain. So, as the saying goes, different strokes. That said, your videos got me to start playing LOTR, and I enjoy that, too (though not as much so far). I started watching your videos about 1.5 years ago, and OSCS has become my favorite channel. Keep up the awesome work.

Haha! So glad you enjoy that and you are right, people like different things! Part of the reason why this world is so cool. Thanks so much for watching and subscribing to the channel we really appreciate it!!

Sure that's awesome!

I know I KNOW!! I am not fast like Mike, he is insane. . :) HA! Thanks for watching David!

Your videos provide way more depth. I admit that I am pretty insane to do top 20 in 6 minutes ;) - Mike Speaking of, my top 20 of 2019 is coming in a few weeks!

There is Imperial Directive: imperial-directive.herokuapp.com/. It provides an Imperial AI that lets you play the campaign from the box. Unfortunately it only supports the base game and a small portion of Return to Hoth and Twin Shadows. There is also RAIV: boardgamegeek.com/thread/2189979/redjaks-automated-imperial-expanded. It's a card based system to handle Imperial behavior. It works with everything. The downside is you have to print/proxy the cards and the way the Imperial operates is less mission specific than the official app and Imperial Directive, so it may feel more generic.

Thanks for this! What @Hey man said :) But I probably should have been more direct that the base game you get one campaign, you need expansions for more than that if you plan to use the app!

​@@heyman458 Ah I was not aware of those. I'll take a look. For us, we're looking for a narrative gameplay - one with a story built in, which the app does provide,

​@@OneStopCoopShop Yeah and the one campaign is not that long, and extending that requires a big box expansion

Sorry no idea you'll have to look on BGG!

Alas..lol..I did.. there is a solo variant mode in their files but it’s not like official or anything like w Everdell’s Solo Mode. So I thought maybe u guys have tried it (solo play) on ur own, part of the house rules? Ok. Thanks

I know I know! Still a great game and so is Nemos war!! Great to hear from you Scott!

@@OneStopCoopShop you too Colin! Hope all is going well.

It is thanks for asking!!

They are just generic ffg tokens. You cab find them on miniature market

Not sure what you are asking about. Which game?

One Stop Co-op Shop My bad. The Arkham horror card game.

Oh team covenant!

Is that a store? Can I buy these from them?

It is a store I found them thank you.

This is a hard one I have no idea what types of games he likes! There are tons of solo games that could work. Doe he like Zombies? Zombicide would be an option. Does he like travelling around a map? There is Eldrtich Horror for that, or Fortune and Glory or even Pandemic for something more straghtforward. One Deck Dungeon is another good option that has a small footprint as well. Or Tiny Epic Defenders. Just some ideas! You can also ask on BGG I think you will get many better answers, I only have a 6 and 3 yr old at home!

I don't think Friday is complicated. It is not easy to win, which might make it unpopular with a 10-year old. Maybe Side Quest will work for him. A simple card-based dungeon crawler. Fantasy Defense is a kind of tower defense game with simple mechanics that he might like, too. Hoplomachus and Darkest Night might work, but they are both a tad expensive.

"Memoir 44" is a really good game for 2 people but can also be played solo if you look for some solo tips online. It's a really easy to learn WW2 combat game.Even if you don't use any special solo rules it can be fun playing against yourself since the randomness of the dice makes it unpredictable. It's of course better playing against a human opponent but sometimes when I'm bored I'll just play a random game alone. There's about 15 different scenarios to play through and it's super simple to learn, set up and play.

Not sure. In only ever play 2+ player and at that player count it is top 5 for me!

@@OneStopCoopShop i love it as a solo! its so good, and tight. also, such a great standard insert.. its a joy to setup and put away. also, i found an app which helps with randomised setup and game management. (like gloomhaven helper but for AE) cant recommend enough. :)

@@cats4president nice, what's the name of the app?

Cool I get that but personally I enjoy them

What is that?

@@OneStopCoopShop xia legends of a drift system with the forsaken star expansion. Your solo playthrough made me buy the game and sub. Love the game and looking for a next solo game

Haha!! Ahh yes that's a good one!! Sorry didn't know if there was another one out there!

I really would like the game so much more without that bag!

Not for me for solo. Gloomhaven I play in a campaign with 3 others and street masters I did not like!

Yeah I know.. I just said it and moved on!

@@OneStopCoopShop And "Stronghold Games"? Yeah Portal Games is publishing a game called Stronghold 😜

Oooooo!! So going to do that! What quest would you like?

@@OneStopCoopShop oh....mmm...I don't know...something like Massing at Osgiliath? Feel free to choose something more thematic or cool! ;)

And of course feel free too if you want to change some card!

I can't wait to give it a shot!! Hopefully before Christmas!

Yoooooooooooo!!!

Nice!

Ok did I say that?

@@OneStopCoopShop I believe so. I was just joking around. Loved the review, recently started Pathfinder ACG and it is pretty great. I bought Mage Knight Last year and it is super intimidating 0 so many things going on. I'll dive into it one day, in 40 years when I retire.

Haha I get that!! PACG is awesome enjoy it!!