You're doing a fantastic job, all four of you. Thank you for your impressions! To Dereck : Who care if people disagree with your choices and tastes? I think this top 200 is a testament to how diverse solo boardgaming is and how different people's tastes are. From your thumbs up/down I saw that you and I have very different tastes, and that's fantastic, man!
Imperium scoring is not bad with app. It's not perfect but it makes a big difference. Length can be shortened with the alternative starting setup but the length is just right for me - to build up an engine and finally get to use it over and over. Theme is spot on which encourages reading up more on these ancient civs based on the cards you are playing.
20:50 Liz, I totaly feel with you on this one, but i think it is just our fomo whispering into our ears. To try out games (esp. at games we are unsure of), the base box is all we need and even if we start liking/lovin' it, the replay value will be more then enough for weeks and month to come.
I can’t tell if he was having drinks or just getting tired, but Mike seems to have reached peak silly goose by this third installment. Thanks to you all for the entertaining videos! Even though the top 10 lacked surprises, I really liked the simultaneous thumbs and subsequent discussion of it. Also thanks to Kevin and the proactive community members who kept this great tradition alive.
Great discussion everyone. Thanks for the video. I'll give my suggestion for solo recommendation in two categories: If I'm talking to someone who does not play much overall, I'd go with either Sprawlopolis or Friday. The first one is very light, and the second one has a nice learning curve. If however I'm talking to someone who already plays games as we do but have never really considered playing solo, I think I'd go with Final Girl. Even though myself I've never played the game before, it looks like a nice ambassador to this part of boardgaming. Or maybe For Northwood, which I've played and love. I specifically avoided multiplayer games that you can play solo, since if you're talking to someone who plays already, it's relatively easy to just say "you know that game you like a lot ? You could just try it solo", but at the same time it may sour their experience if what they really like about such games is their multiplayer dna.
Sleeping Gods is a masterpiece of narrative gaming 👍👍 Also love for Nusfjord, Nemo's War, Hoplo, Earthborne Rangers, and Imperium. Thanks for hosting this!
Have both Sleeping Gods’ but always get hung up on managing the crew and the vehicle (though thankfully it’s reduced in SG2). I would play the heck out of a SG game that was solo friendly and had you playing a single character without the vehicle maintenance stuff.
I often wonder if people vote on a game they love multiplayer and maybe don't even play or like solo. Liz your love of It's a wonderful world makes me think I need to look into it. So many I love here. I keep wondering about Heat, I've looked at trades for it so many time. Many of my top 20 in this part of the list (Mage Knight is still King!) but the one I keep thinking about often is Victorum. When I look at my shelf and want to play something different, I have to try not to look at Victorum because I often end up pulling it off the shelf.
Enjoyed hearing from y’all over the past three videos. As far as first solo games, I think the Emissary, which was the precursor to For Northwood, is a great option because it uses a regular deck of cards, has a hard win-loss condition as opposed to BYOS, and isn’t a huge step from solitaire games most people are already used to. But like Dereck said, it really depends what the person is into; my first real solo game was Marvel Champions, which was great for me because I enjoy the theme, it’s not too complicated to learn, and it can produce a lot of drama and tension that people might not be aware is possible when playing solo.
Very excited to see this one, Liz! I'll be curious how many I have on my shelf. I think Marceline lost some solo cred admitting to not having played Mage Knight 😅
Great show, lots of interesting topics. I'll chime in on Dune Imperium. As an owner of the base game, it's exemplary of a big problem with so many titles. This game is great if you get (insert 1+ expansions here). As a solo player, I tend to avoid too many expansion cuz I hate going back and reading through multiple rule books when I go back to a game. I like the idea of what they did with Uprising, but what it really should have been is just all the expansions put together with a single rule book.
50:50 lol, Cascadia is the first thing that popped to mind as best first solo game. Would definitely be my recommandation leagues before anything else. If you play the solo scenarios, its not a BYOS anymore, you need to beat the threshold. And it's a nice difficulty progression.
Voidfall will be in the top 10 next year. It’s so good solo. I think it may even contend for top 3 in the future. Learning and setup is no heavier than Mage Knight in my opinion. Actually, I found Mage Knight a bit more difficult to grasp because there are tons of arbitrary rules
I'm not sure that Uprising will change Mike's opinion too much Dune's solo mode since I think the only real change is the worms, I believe. It's still fairly light on deckbuilding, though I do think it's a pretty important part of it. I personally love it and I think Mike should give it a chance. But I still think Arnak is likely the better game for him.
My Ratings for the Top 10 looks like this: Marvel Champions 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Lord of the Rings 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Final Girl 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🔪 Too Many Bones 👍🏼👍🏼🦴 Dune Imperium 👍🏼 The rest are 👉🏼 for me cause I haven't played them yet.
This is why Brant from Armchair Dragoons and I also do a top historical solo list each year! Gotta find a way to shine light on war and historical games. :)
Regarding the Dune discussion, I'm sticking with the original, no need to get more. I think a game that did a similar thing was Raider of the North Sea / Raiders of Scythia. I do prefer North Sea there due to the art style but Scythia is better value for a solo player. Ark Nova with the Arno app is excellent, the official solo is a nice puzzle but Arno takes it to the next level.
David Thompson and I co-designed a game, Night Witches, that is going to be published by Fort Circle once Ian O'Toole finishes the art. :) We also have a second game, Queen of Spies, that is in the pitch phase. Night Witches is 1-2 player co-op, and Queen of Spies is 1 player only (although you can of course team up and make choices together).
My thumb votes: Spirit Island 👍👍 Mage Knight 👍👍 Marvel Champions 👉 Arkham Horror 👍 Too Many Bones 👎 Lord of the Rings 🤷♂️ Final Girl 👉 Dune Imperium 👉 Imperium Classics 🤷♂️ Ark Nova 👍
@@BeyondSolitaire Haha, I figured a comment like that was probably coming. :) I don't actively dislike it, but it never really captured my excitement like the others. I remember feeling like there were fewer meaningful movement decisions with the melee characters than the ranged ones. But maybe I'd appreciate it with more plays (I've only played it ~4 times). It also weirdly bothers me that the colors are not quite matching across components (at least in my copy). That isn't really weighing in on my opinion, but when else will I ever mention it...
Great panel again Liz. I especially love seeing Mike on this. His knowledge of seemingly every game is astounding.
For real! He plays it all!
You're doing a fantastic job, all four of you. Thank you for your impressions!
To Dereck : Who care if people disagree with your choices and tastes? I think this top 200 is a testament to how diverse solo boardgaming is and how different people's tastes are. From your thumbs up/down I saw that you and I have very different tastes, and that's fantastic, man!
These videos make me want to be a part of the solo community. I've been playing solo but you all make me feel a part of it just by watching
You are part of the solo community! All you have to do is play games by yourself and then come online to tell us about them. ;)
The insights were great, thanks again Liz!
Thanks for watching! :)
Imperium scoring is not bad with app. It's not perfect but it makes a big difference. Length can be shortened with the alternative starting setup but the length is just right for me - to build up an engine and finally get to use it over and over. Theme is spot on which encourages reading up more on these ancient civs based on the cards you are playing.
Great panel! :-D Thanks, gang... also happy to hear Warp's Edge gets some love... fun one. Go Nemo's War! :-D
You have excellent taste. :D
This is a fun team to watch, thank you Liz!
Thanks for watching! :)
20:50 Liz, I totaly feel with you on this one, but i think it is just our fomo whispering into our ears. To try out games (esp. at games we are unsure of), the base box is all we need and even if we start liking/lovin' it, the replay value will be more then enough for weeks and month to come.
You're not wrong. I just get spoiled for choice and then find myself unable to choose!
Such great banter between these hosts! Really fun video.
Thanks for watching!
I can’t tell if he was having drinks or just getting tired, but Mike seems to have reached peak silly goose by this third installment.
Thanks to you all for the entertaining videos! Even though the top 10 lacked surprises, I really liked the simultaneous thumbs and subsequent discussion of it.
Also thanks to Kevin and the proactive community members who kept this great tradition alive.
Agreed, Kevin is the best. Also, yes, it was starting to get late (and we had fully gelled as a panel).
No alcohol, just exhaustion and enjoying being with awesome people :)
Great discussion everyone. Thanks for the video.
I'll give my suggestion for solo recommendation in two categories: If I'm talking to someone who does not play much overall, I'd go with either Sprawlopolis or Friday. The first one is very light, and the second one has a nice learning curve. If however I'm talking to someone who already plays games as we do but have never really considered playing solo, I think I'd go with Final Girl. Even though myself I've never played the game before, it looks like a nice ambassador to this part of boardgaming. Or maybe For Northwood, which I've played and love. I specifically avoided multiplayer games that you can play solo, since if you're talking to someone who plays already, it's relatively easy to just say "you know that game you like a lot ? You could just try it solo", but at the same time it may sour their experience if what they really like about such games is their multiplayer dna.
Sleeping Gods is a masterpiece of narrative gaming 👍👍 Also love for Nusfjord, Nemo's War, Hoplo, Earthborne Rangers, and Imperium. Thanks for hosting this!
Have both Sleeping Gods’ but always get hung up on managing the crew and the vehicle (though thankfully it’s reduced in SG2). I would play the heck out of a SG game that was solo friendly and had you playing a single character without the vehicle maintenance stuff.
I often wonder if people vote on a game they love multiplayer and maybe don't even play or like solo. Liz your love of It's a wonderful world makes me think I need to look into it. So many I love here. I keep wondering about Heat, I've looked at trades for it so many time. Many of my top 20 in this part of the list (Mage Knight is still King!) but the one I keep thinking about often is Victorum. When I look at my shelf and want to play something different, I have to try not to look at Victorum because I often end up pulling it off the shelf.
It's ok to give in to temptation sometimes. ;)
Thank you all for having this discussion to view!
Enjoyed hearing from y’all over the past three videos. As far as first solo games, I think the Emissary, which was the precursor to For Northwood, is a great option because it uses a regular deck of cards, has a hard win-loss condition as opposed to BYOS, and isn’t a huge step from solitaire games most people are already used to. But like Dereck said, it really depends what the person is into; my first real solo game was Marvel Champions, which was great for me because I enjoy the theme, it’s not too complicated to learn, and it can produce a lot of drama and tension that people might not be aware is possible when playing solo.
Very excited to see this one, Liz! I'll be curious how many I have on my shelf. I think Marceline lost some solo cred admitting to not having played Mage Knight 😅
Nah, we all have to approach MK in our own way at our own time or else we become fools who prefer Spirit Island. ;)
Great show, lots of interesting topics. I'll chime in on Dune Imperium. As an owner of the base game, it's exemplary of a big problem with so many titles. This game is great if you get (insert 1+ expansions here). As a solo player, I tend to avoid too many expansion cuz I hate going back and reading through multiple rule books when I go back to a game.
I like the idea of what they did with Uprising, but what it really should have been is just all the expansions put together with a single rule book.
50:50 lol, Cascadia is the first thing that popped to mind as best first solo game. Would definitely be my recommandation leagues before anything else. If you play the solo scenarios, its not a BYOS anymore, you need to beat the threshold. And it's a nice difficulty progression.
Voidfall will be in the top 10 next year. It’s so good solo. I think it may even contend for top 3 in the future. Learning and setup is no heavier than Mage Knight in my opinion. Actually, I found Mage Knight a bit more difficult to grasp because there are tons of arbitrary rules
Great discussion, so many games I need to try! Interesting that my tastes don't align with any one of you specifically, but rather a mix of all.
I'm not sure that Uprising will change Mike's opinion too much Dune's solo mode since I think the only real change is the worms, I believe. It's still fairly light on deckbuilding, though I do think it's a pretty important part of it. I personally love it and I think Mike should give it a chance. But I still think Arnak is likely the better game for him.
I thought the bots were supposed to be different in uprising? But that's based on my buddy playing it a bit so I might be way off!
Thanks for overview and the fun conversations. Are we able to download the list somewhere ?
I'd go to BGG and see if Kevin Erskine has made the spreadsheet available.
@@BeyondSolitaire Thanks Liz
Excellent discussion
My Ratings for the Top 10 looks like this:
Marvel Champions 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Lord of the Rings 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Final Girl 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🔪
Too Many Bones 👍🏼👍🏼🦴
Dune Imperium 👍🏼
The rest are 👉🏼 for me cause I haven't played them yet.
There are no COIN series games in the top 200. As a Fire in the Lake fan, that seems wrong.
This is why Brant from Armchair Dragoons and I also do a top historical solo list each year! Gotta find a way to shine light on war and historical games. :)
Regarding the Dune discussion, I'm sticking with the original, no need to get more. I think a game that did a similar thing was Raider of the North Sea / Raiders of Scythia. I do prefer North Sea there due to the art style but Scythia is better value for a solo player.
Ark Nova with the Arno app is excellent, the official solo is a nice puzzle but Arno takes it to the next level.
bullet i find good but too brainburn for me :/ maybe need more plays
Great panel. Thank you so much for this! ❤
Glad you enjoyed it! This is one of my favorite events of the year.
NIGHT WITCHES??!! What? Ian O'Toole? What?? Do tell . . .
David Thompson and I co-designed a game, Night Witches, that is going to be published by Fort Circle once Ian O'Toole finishes the art. :) We also have a second game, Queen of Spies, that is in the pitch phase. Night Witches is 1-2 player co-op, and Queen of Spies is 1 player only (although you can of course team up and make choices together).
My thumb votes:
Spirit Island 👍👍
Mage Knight 👍👍
Marvel Champions 👉
Arkham Horror 👍
Too Many Bones 👎
Lord of the Rings 🤷♂️
Final Girl 👉
Dune Imperium 👉
Imperium Classics 🤷♂️
Ark Nova 👍
Your opinion of Too Many Bones is concerning, but I suppose we can't all have immaculate taste. ;)
@@BeyondSolitaire Haha, I figured a comment like that was probably coming. :) I don't actively dislike it, but it never really captured my excitement like the others. I remember feeling like there were fewer meaningful movement decisions with the melee characters than the ranged ones. But maybe I'd appreciate it with more plays (I've only played it ~4 times).
It also weirdly bothers me that the colors are not quite matching across components (at least in my copy). That isn't really weighing in on my opinion, but when else will I ever mention it...
I can tell you that I think Elder Scrolls is the better game, even though I love my Gearlocs.