2023 Best Solo Board games Review (BGG's People's choice 2023)
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- Опубліковано 21 лис 2023
- Note: a text version of this list is on my blog at meepleshelter.net/2023-top-10... if reading is more your thing!
Today I'm running through 2023's edition of the Top 100 solo board games of all time, according to the BGG 1-player guild. This is a vote that happens on BGG every year, so keep in mind that this list is not my personal opinion. Also, this goes without saying, but no ranking is unbiased, and at the end of the day you're the one who decides what games you like! You should consider this list as a data point for what games you might want to play next, but there are tons of games, not in this list, that you might personally prefer as a solo gamer. As always, gather as much data as you can, then make your own opinion
By the way, at the time of making this video, it's Black Friday and there are lots of the games in this list being discounted on Amazon and other retailers. Check the links below (these are affiliate links. If you purchase through them you don't pay anything extra, but I get a small commission)
100-Earth amzn.to/3MU9WcC
99-Orchard amzn.to/3unzSXD
98-Aeon Trespass: Odyssey
97-After the Virus
96-Teotihuacan: City of Gods amzn.to/46mqIId
95-Baseball Highlights 2045
94-The LOOP amzn.to/49OyU75
93-Earthborne Rangers
92-Xia
91-Glass Road amzn.to/3MWkWGB
90-Hallertau amzn.to/3RaGkdH
89-Renegade
88-Agricola (Revised Edition) amzn.to/3Gdr8pY
87-ISS Vanguard amzn.to/3SsS1xw
86-Space Hulk: Death Angel
85-Shadowrun: Crossfire
84-Kanban EV amzn.to/3qNyyt9
83-Guild of Merchant Explorers amzn.to/3sJO7FY
82-Nemesis amzn.to/40O9dzA
81-Resist!
80-Castles of Burgundy amzn.to/3MXazSN
79-Gloom of Kilforth
78-Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth amzn.to/3ucinrm
77-Grove amzn.to/3GcVXLc
76-Jump Drive amzn.to/3sC0e81
75-Tainted Grail amzn.to/47ucJ4z
74-Search for Planet X amzn.to/3tVGuMX
73-At the Gates of Loyang amzn.to/3Rc6Hjw
72-Cthulhu: Death May Die amzn.to/3FGB3no
71-ROVE
70-Maquis amzn.to/3LmVMOK
69-Pandemic amzn.to/3GGqhfR
68-Roll Player amzn.to/3usXydm
67-Viscounts of the West Kingdom amzn.to/3MVW2qn
66-Arkham Horror amzn.to/47lUpuk
65-One Deck Dungeon amzn.to/33tvNEj
64-Legendary: Marvel amzn.to/3Gn4lFH
63-Onirim amzn.to/3QOVJyQ
62-Star Wars: Outer Rim amzn.to/3Svf5f2
61-Frostpunk amzn.to/3MQbgxm
60-Oathsworn
59-Concordia amzn.to/3G9mhps
58-Fields of Arle
57-Sentinels of the Multiverse amzn.to/3Rb6FIs
56-Legendary Encounters amzn.to/3L5O0bS
55-This War of Mine amzn.to/3SZLcn0
54-Maracaibo amzn.to/46w1Iym
53-Race for the Galaxy amzn.to/3ARJfhq
52-Tapestry amzn.to/47JoqnB
51-Turing Machine amzn.to/3sBKS3r
50-Bullet♥︎ amzn.to/47qGQty
49-Welcome to the Moon amzn.to/40RrPOX
48-Heat: Pedal to the Metal amzn.to/40WUUJ6
47-Viticulture amzn.to/3MpTm4j
46-Everdell amzn.to/47nwpXD
45-7th Continent amzn.to/45WYX8Y
44-Marvel United amzn.to/40olgTO
43-Great Western Trail amzn.to/3G7wHpT
42-Sleeping Gods amzn.to/3KYI6JU
41-Friday amzn.to/3G97Thh
40-Paladins of the West Kingdom amzn.to/3GbGtHm
39-Legacy of Yu amzn.to/3SQKAQC
38-Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition amzn.to/3Qeh1FS
37-Anachrony amzn.to/3u50iNF
36-For Northwood!
35-Dawn of the Zeds amzn.to/3usYiza
34-Warp's Edge amzn.to/3Qof6yr
33-Eldritch Horror amzn.to/3shnZBU
32-Cartographers amzn.to/3puyBch
31-Pax Pamir amzn.to/3sJP5C6
30-Cloudspire amzn.to/47M3gFq
29-Underwater Cities amzn.to/3G7x2Jb
28-Nemo's War amzn.to/3GaMKDb
27-It's a Wonderful World amzn.to/3R6C2Ux
26-Nusfjord
25-Hoplomachus: Victorum amzn.to/3RbTHKL
24-Scythe amzn.to/3gn1To9
23-Wingspan amzn.to/3Gercpn
22-Hadrian's Wall amzn.to/47GqHjy
21-Obsession
20-Sprawlopolis
19-A Feast for Odin amzn.to/3AIlU1G
18-Cascadia amzn.to/3sOD6mH
17-Under Falling Skies amzn.to/3qDOsG5
16-Lost Ruins of Arnak amzn.to/3FIaEWA
15-Robinson Crusoe amzn.to/47oL0SV
14-Gaia Project amzn.to/40N2xlb
13-Aeon's End amzn.to/3Hl5ejy
12-Final Girl amzn.to/3xeVZhq
11-Gloomhaven amzn.to/3GKE1qc
10-Imperium Classics amzn.to/34ebrPr
9-Terraforming Mars amzn.to/3GQigF8
8-Ark Nova amzn.to/45YsAa7
7-Dune Imperium amzn.to/3QTh22t
6-Too Many Bones amzn.to/47vwqcs
5-The Lord of the Rings TCG amzn.to/3FOYHyl
4-Arkham Horror TCG amzn.to/33Wmuwx
3-Marvel Champions TCG amzn.to/46X3klJ
2-Mage Knight amzn.to/3RafulK
1-Spirit Island amzn.to/3SstJn5
Original results: boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/32... - Ігри
Many of these games are discounted on Amazon at the time of publishing this video: amzn.to/47EIXud (affiliate link). Thanks for Watching!
Thanks for covering our list! :) Great job on this. Some excellent commentary and I love the disclaimer at the top. We do the list for the fun of it and as a way for people to discover great solo games. Also, amazing production in this video.
Wow, thanks for commenting Kevin, this means the world to me! I've enjoyed following the list over the years, and it's been such a curse on my wallet ;)
I hope someone will keep the event going now that you're taking a well deserved break from it :)
@@meepleshelter You're very welcome. I added a link to this video on the list, so hopefully you pick up even more views and subscribers.
@@kevinerskine3299I’m here because of the BGG link :)
This is one of the best Top N lists I’ve watched. The overviews of each game were concise and to the point and I love the 3 alternatives for each game. Nice work! 🙂
Thank you! Your job on researching and editing gives us everything in just 42 minutes. I specially appreciate the alternates you suggest before passing onto the next game on the ranking. Awesome! Thanks again and greetings from Argentina!
I just watch the first 2 games and I have already subscribe and liked. I love... LOVE when people give other options for each entry.
Thanks for going over this list and thanks for the work of the additional suggestions!
Thanks!
Fantastic condensed and 'no fluff' summary. I especially like and appreciate the 'you might also like' comments. Well done, good sir. 👍
Really like the "you may also like" bar on the side. Well done graphics and commentary. Sub'd
Thanks for the Top 100 ... I play a lot of solo games and probably there will be a few on your list which I still don`t know. I only made it to Number 60 so far. "Death Angel" is really a great game. One or two years ago here in Germany you could find it quite cheap. I bought it about 5 years ago and needed some time to find the Expansions. These are quite expensive - if you find them at all. Thanks a again and take care!
Nice list. Thanks for the other suggestions too. My list is something like this :
Dune imperium, Mage Knight UE, Unsettled, ISS VAnguard, Imperium Classics & Legends, Eleven the board game, 51st state Ultimate Edition, Marvel Champions, Shadowrun: Crossfire, Scythe, Euthia.
thank you so much 😊
I appreciate the time and effort put in the video, as well as the short introductory presentations for each game. The photography, music, and pace of your video are great. Your using of the passive voice is appropriate when you can't provide information yourself but base your statement on other player's viewpoint. Yet I can't help but wonder about your criteria for choosing your suggestions. I can see that theme is a thing, but most of the time (at least for the games I know very well in the list) the mechanics between the suggestions and the original game have little, if any at all, in common. I'm not sure they are a great indicator of similarity.
You're making a good point and I didn't explain that clearly in the video or in the description: the recommendations are based on bgg recommendations for each game, while at the same time attempting to *never name a single game more than once*. This usually works pretty well, but in this case this means a lot of great solo games (for example) are excluded from the recommendation because they're either already in the list itself, or in the recommendations for another game. For example, Sprawlopolis is probably a great recommendation if you like Rove, but it won't be in there because it's already somewhere else in the list (either in the top 100 itself, or recommended somewhere else in the "you might like" section)
Or, in other words, the goal here was to have 300~400 different games showcased in a list of 100. This tends to work better when I make lists of 15 games (which are really closer to 50~60).
For more details (and see how weird it can get sometimes), you can click on the "fans also like" links on each game on bgg.
And you definitely need to give Mage Knight a try. So good!
Thanks for similar game recommendations! Just subscribed 😊. Grove, Black Sonata, Maquis, Nusfjord, Food Chain Island, Wingspan, Meadow, Anno 1800, Final Girl, Earth, Floriferous, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective 😊 Resist is out of stock 😢 Pandemic started the hobby
Here's my top 10 list of game that I own and love solo but did not make the list (in no particular order):
- Shadows of Brimstone
- Yggdrasil Chronicles
- Helionox
- Goblivion
- Ils of Cats
- Raiders of scythia
- Atlantis Rising
- Last Bastion
- Dwellings of Eldervale (but with some tweaking of the solo rules to make it harder)
- Sub Terra
Awesome list! I've been willing to try subterra, atlantis rising, and shadows of brimstone for a while
Spirit Island and Arkham Horror LCG are also some of my favorites. I missed Kingdom Death Monster, On Mars and Unsettled
Wanna buy Terraforming Mars base game.Worth it or not?Boring or not?Advices please.Thanks...
P.S:Cascadia,Ticket to Ride,Lost Ruins of Arnak or Tm?
If you want something big and historical: "Europa Universalis: The Price of Power" is my pick!
Red cathedral
Can Star Wars Rebellion be played solo?
Honestly thought zombicide would be on the list.
Zombicide was #109 this year. Very close to the top 100.
Surprised burncycle not on the list.
Burncycle looks excellent. It was #106 in the vote this year, very close to the top 100. I think the price of Chip Theory games is what prevents them from being higher in the votes. Few people can afford these big box games.
@meepleshelter Yeah, that's a very good point.
No time stamps...
You’re correct, no timestamps. What’s your point?
@awaitingbacklash5043 it's lazy and ruins the vid? Obviously the point.
@@awaitingbacklash5043 It makes viewing 40 minute vids a lot easier. I think I've watched a 100 best off/ top 10 videos lately and since I'm looking for new games to add to my list I want to able to skip through some of the ones I already know. Most, if not all of these vids had timestamps btw. And for some weird reason I also like the go backwards on these type of video's. Skip to nr1 and then work my way down the list.
“You may also like these games” recommendations are simply ridiculous…
They are based on BGG's "fans also like" list for each game, so technically, they are reasonably accurate. However, because of my personal rule to not reuse the same game twice in the entire list, it leads to questionable results for large lists like this one (keeping in mind that this means almost 400 games are mentioned in the video). In my other videos, which typically showcase 15 games (for a total of about 45 including recommendations), it tends to work better.
If I skip the idea of not mentioning the same game twice, it's mostly games from the top 100 itself that will keep showing up. Not great either IMO :)
Honestly it's a tough call. Repetitive recommendations, or a list with variety but questionable results in some cases...
But it’s a video for solo gamers and then Nidavellir and others are recommended (not to mention that mechanics, theme and everything is just way different) :)
This doesn't address your concern regarding mechanics but fyi Nidavellir has a solo variant from the publisher. Available on their website for free. Look up "Nidavellir solo challenge".
“Ridiculous” is a stretch.