J'ai une âme solitaire: Solitaire Boardgaming Megathread!

Games
521

I pre-ordered First Martians, but I already have Robinson Crusoe. It’s a great game with a lot of content and I’d recommend trying it before trying an app driven game that could take away some of the magic from the system (or not, but I’m also wary, as you).

Enemy Action: Ardennes!!! I mean, I didn’t play the D-Days games, but EA is a very reactive system while the enemy in the D-Day games seem more passive from what I’ve read (they are in my wish list, though). But yeah, this Butterfield guy has an amazing body of work. I’m myself stoked for Spacecorps.

522

tpholt, now that you’ve discovered Zulus on the Ramparts, you’re at the brink of some really awesome games. It gets way way better than Zulus!

I think Robinson Crusoe is a mess, but it’s gotten an expansion and maybe a second edition. I presume some of the issues have been straightened out.

The trick with solitaire gaming is finding a) a game built from the ground up for solitaire rather than a multiplayer game with some half-assed bot scripting, and b) something that fits the level of commitment and detail you want. Going backwards through this thread should offer you plenty of suggestions. Also, keep in mind that 90% of “co-op” games are actually solitaire games!

One problem for me is that I don’t have a lot of patience with the typical solitaire AI of just throwing a flood at the player and tasking him with holding it back using limited actions. Pandemic is godawful for so many reasons, but mainly for this. It’s like rolling a four-sided die against a six-sided die and trying to accumulate a higher number. Ugh. This is how the various states of siege games work, which you saw in Zulus on the Ramparts, but they have a wide range of styles that adapt to the idea that you’ve got a d4 worth of actions to hold back a d6 worth of enemies. I love Ottoman Sunset for its historical strokes and simplicity. It’s about on the level of Zulus at the Ramparts. The zombie theming in Dawn of the Zeds is unparalleled, but it’s super detailed, having been designed by a guy who makes wargames.

If you’re into heavy games, you have a lot of options. You’re probably right to avoid Comancheria, which is really detailed and it requires a serious commitment to learn. It’s got a unique approach to AI, but if the subject matter doesn’t work for you, it’s probably not worth the time it takes to invest.

There are, of course, plenty of good solitaire wargames, but you have to be into wargames. An epic sci-fi game called Struggle for the Galactic Empire is a bit, well, abstract given the scale (each turn is a generation, each space is something like 10,000 light years, and each chit is a massive fleet of thousands of ships), but it’s also got a cool AI system. The abstraction gives it some nifty ways to play with things like alien invasions, rebellious systems, and political intrigue.

Fantasy Flight’s Lovecraft boondoggle, Eldritch Horror, isn’t heavy so much as finicky. I like it a lot as a game about flipping cards and making your own adventure/horror movie. The Aliens Legendary game is another cool card-based approach to making your own adventure/horror movie with a set of cards for each of the four movies. Dan Verssen does a bunch of solitaire games called the Leader series. They’re really good as military hardware porn/campaign games. Hornet Leader is probably my favorite. Steer clear of his Warfighter games, which are a mess built around selling expansion packs. Shadi Torbey’s Oniverse games, published by Z-Man, are all excellent and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone; they’re lightweight and playable in short slices of time, but they’re so approachable and enthusiastic and charming, and they fold in lots of nifty gameplay variations as you ramp up to playing the full game. Start with Onirim.

https://www.amazon.com/Z-Man-Games-49000ZMG-Onirim-Card/dp/B00KU1343E

If you want to find out more, you can read reviews of a lot of these on the front page. I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch, too.

-Tom

523

I’m not so sure. The main difference between 1st and 2nd edition (other than some component quality issues) is a revised, re-translated rulebook. I think I remember the rulebook being one of the big deals for you when reviewing the game, so that’s fixed, I would say (I only have the second edition, but the rulebook is pretty clear with few exceptions and learning the game felt easier than, say, Dawn of the Zeds).

But given that the upgrade pack doesn’t contain much else other than better components, it seems to be the same game with just better organized rules.

524

I thought Dawn of the Zeds was a lot easier to learn than Crusoe. I just sold Crusoe as there was just too much stuff and too much work… I’d rather play Mage Knight.

I’ve tried a large amount of games the past 6 months and come to enjoy many of the coop games solitaire: Viticulture EE, Snodonia, Terraforming Mars. I love Terraforming Mars solo and would love it also multi. Pandemic The Cure is challenging and quick solo. Quick games like Hostage Negotiator and Friday are fun and very challenging. I have some of the solitaire wargames and I used to love computer wargames but just have lost interest in that genre. Just bought a surfing game that is said to be great solo…lots of choices out there.

525

I have the original edition of Robinson. The rulebook was definitely a mess. I printed out the new rulebook and it is much better organized. The only other notable change (than the upgraded components) is that I think the board is slightly smaller to accommodate the more standard box size they used for second edition.

526

Lots of great suggestions. Thanks @tomchick for the great recommendations. I will most definitely be checking those out! WW II, and war games in general, are things I like to tinker with. I agree that a game not written for Solitaire play can be, at best, clunky and, at worst, unplayable…almost like some computer/video games that have a single-player campaign tacked on to the mulitplayer base (and, yes, I’m looking at you Halo 3/4/5).

Thanks again, everyone.

Tony

527

Just to update…

I’m still playing the heck out of Zulus on the Ramparts (and still loving every minute). based on @tomchick’s recommendations, I’ve also ordered Ottoman Sunset and am waffling on pulling the trigger for Onirim and Struggle for the Galactic Empire, but they may be up next. I did, though, pull the trigger on RAF: Battle for Britain 1940, a Butterfield game, and it just arrived yesterday. Will hopefully give it a good go this weekend. I really wanted D-Day at Omaha Beach, but not only is it out of print, I can’t find it for sale anywhere in the U.S. I see a few are for sale on BGG, but only shipping to Europe. Rumor has it it may be re-printed some time this summer. Here’s to hoping…

Thanks again for the recommendations.

Tony

528

Omaha Beach is for chumps. Peleliu is where it’s at!

-Tom

529

Ah, Chesty Puller’s famous quote.

530

If you want to try the D-Day @ system, there is also Strategy and Tactics #265 - Operation Jubilee, though it also seems hard to find. It’s about the only recent issue not available as a back edition on the S&T website! Ebay or your local B&M may be the go, if they happen stock the magazine games.

531

Omaha Beach is for chumps. Peleliu is where it’s at!

-Tom
[/quote]

So why is that? Pardon my ignorance, but is it that Peleliu is a better game or Pacific Theater vs Europe or a Billion D-Day games vs, maybe, this one for Peleliu?

I really like Butterfield’s other game that I have, RAF (though missing the player aid charts (weren’t in the box) has made it…challenging…until I managed to find them in electronic format. Yea Internets!)

Thanks,

Tony

532

Tony, it’s mainly Pacific vs Europe (European Theater is Old and Busted, Pacific Theater is the New Hotness), and a million D-Day Games vs only one Peleliu game I know of. Peleliu was an interesting strategic pivot point, but that doesn’t really come into play in the battle itself. Also, I think Peleliu is the more recent game, so it’s got some minor refinements that aren’t in the Omaha Beach game. Don’t quote me on that, though, as I don’t have Omaha Beach.

Also, also, the weather is way nicer in the Pacific Theater! You’re not going to get a sexy tan in France.

-Tom

533

Actually for Butterfield D-Day designs the general consensus is Tarawa or Omaha Beach (whatever theater you enjoy) then Peleliu. Although nab whichever one you can get your hands on - they are all good.

I have Tarawa and Peleliu but I’ve not touched Peleliu yet because of the brilliant design that Tarawa is. I will play it soon but I want to wring some more fun out of Tarawa first. This year I’m hoping to snag a reprint of Omaha. I also have Enemy Action: Ardennes unpunched waiting to be played at a later date. I need more time in my life.

534

Wait, what? Why? Tarawa over Peleliu? Did I make the wrong call for my first Butterfield solitaire??

-Tom

535

Depending on when you got it - you might not have had a choice. Tarawa is also being reprinted this year supposedly.

They are all good - when I play Peleliu I maybe will agree and can articulate why I think it’s better or worse but generally from people who own all 3 or the last 2 that’s how they rank them. I’ve heard Pel is harder than Tar - which is surprising because Tarawa is hard as hell IMO - there’s also a lot of luck involved with how things are drawn (although like any good game you can mitigate your luck to some extent).

One thing I like about Tarawa is how the terrain is laid out - it looks like a bird and you can say (and read from actual historical accounts) on the mess on “the birds beak” and things like that. That really adds a lot of fun for me.

Ardennes is actually supposed to be his best game but it’s not a D-Day game.

Then there is D-Day at Iwo Jima which is coming out I think in 2018 - get in on that pre-order if you like his games at all.

536

I’ve got this Tarawa game sitting on my desk in consideration for a play. Also solitaire, but with major rules issues (like missing terrain effects chart!) that seem to be resolved and cleaned up with an unofficial revised rules file on BGG. I think I picked it up as it was designed by Mark Seaman of Raid on St Nazaire fame.

Probably still won’t hold a candle to the D-Day series though.

537

Well…decided to buy Zombicied: Black Plague and try some more Z.A. survival.

Took on scenario 0…the tutorial. Never played these games before.

It all started fine…opening doors, killing walkers… but then an inordinate number of Fatties kept showing up…at the spawn and behind the closed doors. The problem with this is that only 1 of my heroes had a weapon to take them out since I did NOT explore enough for equipment and just went forward as quick as possible. I got stuck at the first turn with numerous walkers and fatties in my way with only my sledgehammer’ed female able to do enough damage. I was a bit nervous as everyone had at least 1 or 2 damage. Luckily, my girl evolved quickly with experience and she then used her extra action to take out horde after horde. She also had a longbow and that opened up the way for my other stragglers. The only issue is that her moving quickly up the experience ladder enabled more and more zombies at the spawn point. No problem as I hurried through the rooms and the vaults and got to the exit fairly easily only having to dispatch 4 walkers near the exit door before I fled.

I now understand a few things:

  1. Spend a bit more time searching for equipment.
  2. Try to spread out the killing early on to keep the spawning down to the lowest level for as long as possible.
  3. I did get a bit tired of having to spawn more and more zombies…dont like taking the time and that was only with 1 and 2 spawn points…I’m sure I’ll get tired of that as i move to the next scenarios.
  4. I loved controlling 4 heroes…those hero holders all sit right in front of me with the map above them…fits perfectly on my card table. With 6 holders, I will have to crane my neck left and right and I already see that as annoying. Wish they had at least a few scenarios for 4 heroes…nope.
  5. I hate that there are only a few ways to take out Abominations.

All in all, I enjoyed the game and have set up the next scenario and will try that tomorrow and see how it goes.

If I can just get my kid and/or wife to play, this might be a fun family zombie game…but most likely solo is the only way I will be playing it…yet again!

538

Well, I went to the Zombicied website and it looks like there are 3 medium and 3 hard quests for 4+ players. And, 1 campaign for 4+.

Cool…will be printing out and playing those for sure.

539

So it’s not just me! Towards the second half of a Zombicide game I find that it starts getting really fatiguing spawning and moving oodles of zombies. Especially because, by that point, most of it will likely never matter* as the heroes are usually in a do or die situation in one corner of the board.

  • It still can matter since when the useless spawns eat up enough models, then the ones that matter get tougher…so you still need to do all the board homework.
540

As a few people on BGG have done, I think I’m going to make some tokens to replace some of the larger groups mid/late game. Of course, they have to match the total tokens for the game and some say it would take away from the mass zombie hordes that makes the game look “realistic” but I dont care…anything to make something a bit less annoying is a good thing in my book.