Although I am mostly known for solo gaming, I have been slowly cultivating a new gaming partner;  my 6 year old daughter, whom we shall call “E”. E showed a love for games pretty early on and I grabbed onto the interest as fast as I could.  Since then she has become quite a gamer and is almost as enthusiastic as I am! This past summer we both attended our first gaming con together, Dice Tower Con in Orlando, Florida.  I even documented our experiences in a previous article, “A Mother and Daughter Walk into Dice Tower Con…”

The game collection of a 6 year old

E has been exploring many different games in my library and has now started her own collection; a pretty eclectic group of games that she loves.  As I look at her collection, I see one game company with more representation than any other: HABA Games, of the bright yellow boxes.  There is something that continues to draw her to their games over and over again.  From their chunky pieces to the fun art that compliments every one of their titles, HABA caters to kids, and parents as well.  Their games are reliably fun, quick, easy to learn, and…

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If you’ve never attended a board game con, check out our Board Gamer’s Guide to Board Game Conventions for suggestions on where to start.

Part of the Scene

This past Christmas I was given tickets to Dice Tower Con. Located right here in Florida, it was a hop, skip, and a jump for me. I was excited to finally be going to a gaming convention and, as a blogger, to get to meet some people as well. My 5 year old daughter immediately announced that she would not be left behind. Someway, somehow, she was going, too! As the months passed, the excitement began to build.

Then it all came crashing down as I began seeing things that turned my excitement into building dread. Accusations of…

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Whenever you get a group of board gamers together, there is always one question that is inevitably asked. A quick look through my social media feeds will have this one question pop up more than any other.

“What is your favorite game?”

This is no different with solo board gamers, but whenever I see this question I cringe a bit, this is hard, like choosing your favorite child hard. For me the answer to this question is fluid. A few years ago, the pool of games that could be played solo was very small. However, as the solo gamer community grows by leaps and bounds, so do the game offerings. My solo game collection has more than doubled in the last year alone.  This additional content means a wider selection, but more games to choose from makes it harder to pick favorites.

Why play solo?  Let me explain.

After much agonizing, and intensely staring at my collection I present my Top 6 Solo Games.

Oh My Goods! & Longsdale in Revolt expansion

Designed by Alexander Pfister
Published by Lookout Spiele and Mayfair Games

Synopsis:  Oh My Goods! is a strategy card game for 2-4 players out…

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Flashback, more years ago than I am ready to admit to… I was still in school, and like all other kids my age I was trying to fit in and just get through it all.  Trying to fit in was hard for me because I wasn’t like the other girls my age. I had a secret - one that I fiercely protected. It had the power to jeopardize my unstable standing with the social groups with whom I aligned myself.

Weekly I would sneak into the local comic book store to pick up my subscriptions.   If someone did see me, I told them I was picking them up for my cousin. At home, they were hidden in a dark corner of my closet, out of sight of the friends that came over. I would tear through them as soon as I was safely ensconced in my bedroom with the door closed.  I would read them over and over again, waiting impatiently for the next issue to come out. As I grew older, I continued to read comics, and graphic novels. Then one day I discovered video games and board games, and my love for these things grew as well. I never lost this love for comic books, video games, and board games, bringing…

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It was only yesterday that you met up with your friends at the tavern in town for drinks and spent the latter part of the evening poring over an old treasure map that you’d found. Maybe it was the ale or maybe it was bad judgment, but when someone suggested that you join up and go in search of the treasure, it seemed like a really good idea. And so it was that the very next day you and your companions set out on the road in search of fame and riches.

What you got instead was a slaughter. Those ruins weren’t as abandoned as the old map had led you to believe. The sight of your friends being ripped limb from limb and eaten alive are not visions you are ever likely to forget. It was only by some miracle that you survived at all. And now that you’re the only one left, the only thing on your mind is revenge. Of course, picking up a few valuables along the way isn’t out of the question.

Overview

Unbroken, designed by Artem Safarov, is a solitaire game about survival and revenge. Your avatar, having survived a terrible catastrophe, will use their abilities to gather resources to craft weapons, use their wits to outsmart and trick their enemies, and…

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Hello, my name is Wendy, and I’m a board game addict. Yup, I love to play. When I’m not playing, I’m probably thinking about playing, or even writing about playing, as in this case. Unfortunately it’s not always easy to find others willing or able to play as often as I like. That has brought me into the world of solo gaming.

The Rise of Solo Gaming

Solo board gaming is a widely growing area of the hobby we all love. In 2014 Board Game Geek added Solo Gaming to its list of annual awards, with categories such as “Best Solitaire Game”, “Best Multiplayer Game Played Solitaire”, and “Best Solitaire Variant”.  More and more games are adding solo variants to their rules, often offering these adaptations as stretch goals on crowdfunding sites. Many older games have had fan-based solo rules created for them which can be easily found on the internet. Solo play has been one of the biggest considerations for my most recent purchases.

Solo Gaming Options

There are many different ways to solo game. Some games can be played solo by playing two-handed or controlling two different characters, factions, etc. You can play solo games that challenge you to beat a high score, or even beat your own score.…

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