Top Ten Solo Games of 2020

It's that time of year again! That beautiful season when Kevin Erskine from BoardGameGeek runs the People's Choice Top Solo Games competition. I believe this is the 6th or 7th year he's put this on and it is a blast! Anyone who wants to can submit their list of up to 20 solo games to Kevin and he'll rank them all based on how many votes they get. There's usually some minor controversy, but Kevin makes it clear that this is for fun! Well, it's not always so fun for my wallet because I want to buy ALL of the games on the list.

As I did last year for my list, I used Pub Meeple's ranking system to help me get started. Basically you upload the list of your solo games (it easily links to your BGG account so this is easy-peasy) and then it puts two games in front of you and you choose which one you like best. You do this a bunch of times depending on how many games you have and voila! You have a list! This becomes my starting point and I tweak and move a bit after I have this last, but it's usually pretty darn close!

When I look at the list I ask myself the following questions: Do I love this game? Do I love to set this game up? I try not to overthink it too much and just have fun with it. So, without further ado, here is my Top Ten Solo Games of 2020!

The Knights Radiant (Playthrough of Call to Adventure: The Stormlight Archive)

Growing up in an aristocrat's house, Weset's youth was given over to indulgence and excess. When he reached adulthood, however, and reflected back on his life and the priorities of his harsh father, he realized something was missing. He gave his life to religion and joined the Vorin priests, searching for a higher meaning. His father urged him back into the family business by offering him a position of greater authority and control. Reluctantly, he agreed, finding less fulfillment than expected in being an ardent. 

Summer 2020 Update

Wowza! Has it really been so long since I posted last? Time flies when you're playing the same game over and over and over and over... Well, before I get to that, I'm going to start at the most recent news and work my way backward, because it's the most recent news that I'm most excited about!

Cut and Play (Cloud Dungeon)

I was looking for a storytelling or RPG-ish game to play with my seven year old daughter, and so where did I look? That's right, I went to the best source: BoardGameGeek. Whenever I'm having difficulty finding something to play next, I just asked the wonderful BGGers and I always get amazing responses!

One of the games that really stood out to me from their suggestions was one called The Cloud Dungeon. Not only is it a light-RPG for kids, but you also get to cut everything out and colour it! My daughter is very crafty and so I knew that she would love it. I picked up the print and play version for $7 USD and we spent the last three days prepping and playing. I leave for vacation today and so I'd like to gather my thoughts a little bit more before I do a full review, but here are some pictures of the experience!

Starting out on our adventure - my daughter is on fire and I can shapeshift.

What a Finish! (Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated)

Last night we finished our Clank! Legacy campaign and wow, what a finish! About half or our games were spent socially distanced - two through video chat and three in my garage - with me moving all of the pieces. Talking about Clank! Legacy without spoiling anything is SO HARD but I'm going to do my best because I really do want you to play this game on your own.

This last game added some new twists that we hadn't experienced before nor expected. We had to completely change our strategy, but we still wanted to work together to get the best outcome possible for the end of our campaign as a franchise of Acquisitions Incorporated. It was a wild game, but we had a solid plan and we were happy with our outcome. Brennan won again with a ridiculous score. That means (without giving away the exact number of games in the campaign) that he won about 60-70% of the games, I won 25-35% of the games, and Stirling had won 5-15% (are those ranges big enough that you can't tell how many games we played?). So, a not uncommon occurrence in our campaign - Brennan either thoroughly tramples us or we leave his deceased body in the depths of the dungeon (three of his losses were 0 point losses - neither Stirling or I had any of these).

BUT THEN!

END OF CAMPAIGN SCORING!

Wow, this did not go how I expected. I had an idea of what sorts of things would be added up or counted towards the final score and I was sure that Brennan would win the campaign but that I had a slight chance to catch him. Well, obviously, I don't want to give any specifics away, but I was stunned by the scoring categories and results! Who won our campaign? STIRLING DID! Wow! Yes, of course, winning games was important and was counted, by there were a lot of other factors that I didn't think about that ended up giving Stirling the victory. Wowza!

A wild finish to a wild game! Take a look at my final review, coming soon!

The Father's Day Escape (Bandido)

Father's Day comes at a strange time because it comes right around the same weekend as my anniversary (June 18 - nine glorious years!) and my daughter's birthday (June 20 - seven years old this year!). It feels relatively unimportant compared to these days. This year it was even more so because we had my parents and grandparents over Sunday morning for donuts and coffee to celebrate Ardyn's birthday (we had my wife's family over on her actual birthday).

Well, all of this build up to say that my wife did not forget about me! I got some basketball socks, french fry seasoning, chocolate, a key chain made by my kids, and a pocket-sized gem of a game - Bandido! It was only two days before when we were walking around Indigo and I pointed out this game to her saying that it would be the perfect little stocking stuffer or something. She told me later that she had needed one more little thing for my gifts and was going to give up on finding something and just give me some cash to buy what I wanted. When I told her about this game, she went back and picked it up the next day!

Focused Attack (Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated)

Another night of a Clank! Legacy and another wild and unique experience! We played the same strategy we've been playing for quite a while, but again, things did not turn out the way we expected! We're nearing the end of our campaign (I'm trying not to give away exactly how many games there are) and so the steaks are high. Brennan has won like 60% of the games thus far, so Stirling and I are playing catch up. Or, at least, we're playing to try and stop Brennan from winning. Here is the aftermath of our garage gaming session. If you don't want spoilers, don't zoom in, but I doubt you'd see anything anyway. Except maybe you could count how many chips were left in the bottom of Brennan and Stirling's bowls. As much fun as it is to be in charge of shuffling every deck, moving every piece, adding in every secret, it'll be nice to not have to do EVERYTHING anymore. Brennan is an ER nurse, so he's playing it pretty safe in terms of contact with others, so it could be a little while still. So what happened to make this session so wild and unique? Well, let me tell you!

Playtesting Makes Perfect (Donisi)

After a bit of a break from Donisi, the last few weeks have seen Aaron and I getting back to the grindstone. Aaron is doing his part, working on card and character art (see one pictured here) as well as a teaser trailer that will be coming out soon (keep your eyes open for that!). My main job has been the same as it has been for most of the last few months: playtest, playtest, and playtest. Here's a little rundown of my process lately.

Play through a mission with only one character. See how it feels. Too hard? Too easy? Do certain parts of the mission seem too hard or too easy? If something feels off, I'll make an adjustment. The adjustments I go to first are (1) number of enemies spawned and (2) location of spawn points. I'm not going to be changing the maps much at this point and the cards are pretty set, so this is the best place to do the tweaking. With this current mission, I actually tried completely changing the types of enemies that you'd face. It was a fail, so I went back to my original plan and tweaked the story instead.

The Dead Winner (Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated)

Hands down, our ninth game of Clank! Legacy was our collective worst. In a total reversal of the last bunch of games, Brennan perished in the depths of the underworld, not even able to collect an artifact before he was gobbled up. Even though he's won the most games, he's now the only player to die with zero points (and he's done it twice). Stirling was the only one of us that made it out in one piece, but due to the reckless pace he had to set to get there, he ended up with only around 60 points. That means that I, even though I was killed, won the game! I managed to crawl above the deep line before I was taken by the dragon and so I still scored my 77 points. Hurray for me! I move past Stirling into second place with two wins. He has one and Brennan is kicking our butts with six wins. 

So what happened? Why did game nine see our lowest scores yet when we had our highest in just the last game? Well, let me tell you!

Why did I let these clowns into my garage?

Piggy Power! (Harvest Dice)

We've chosen our close friends and neighbours, Clarke and Tara, to cohort with (I may be using that word wrong, but I hear it on the news all the time). Basically, they're the only family that we're really spending time with, going into their house, and playing together. Canada is slowly opening things up again, but we're still trying to be careful and safe.

On Victoria day we got together for a little appetizer potluck. Nothing like pizza bagels, chicken wings, and spinach dip to bring people together! I, of course, brought at least one game along in case the four kids were playing well enough that we could get a game going. This time I brought along Harvest Dice, which is a super simple, super cute roll 'n' write game. 

We Made a Game! (Dungeon Bounty)

It's been hard to hold off on posting this one until it was absolutely ready, but the coolest thing about the last few weeks has been that Aaron (my co-designer) and I made a game! We, like many people out there, have been spending a lot of time at home lately. We've both been missing game night and while I've been working hard to make Clank! Legacy still work with my game group, I was aching for an easier way to do it.

So, Dungeon Bounty was born! Using a standard deck of cards and our PDF, you can delve through the dungeons alone or with one other player. In the co-op or versus mode, each player needs their own deck of cards and you can play it in person, sitting side by side or six feet apart, or via your favourite video conferencing program.

Natal Day News

We all know that birthdays are different this year, so I don't want to try and focus on that. I currently have more board games than I have time to play as it is, but I do like trying new things or adding to my collection, so I did end up with some new games for my birthday or purchased/printed right around the same time. Here's what I've been picking up and playing.

My only real board game gift was Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition. Logan and Jenn (brother-in-law and his wife, regularly gaming chums) have the Deep Blue Edition and I've played that with them a few times and really enjoyed it! It's my favourite kind of competitive game - one where you can't hurt or hinder anyone else. Those type of games are not for me. This game is basically a solo game that you can play alongside others and compare scores. Basically, you roll dice that show a variety of railroad tracks and/or roads. Using a dry erase marker, you add these paths to your board, trying to connect as many as possible and score as many points as possible. This is a very easy to pick up game, but there is a lot of choice and strategy in how you lay out your paths. It's amazing how two people can have the same dice and come up with such different arrangements! Really like this one, excited to try the mini-expansions that come in the box.

So Many Secrets (Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated)

I'm sure I've said this before, but this is a very difficult game to write about without giving away any spoilers. Especially because different people have different ideas about what spoilers are. It's my duty, self-appointed, to find a way to do it. Since I posted last, we've played two more games, both different takes on social-distancing.

For the first of the two games, we did the video chat again. Google is constantly changing and updating their systems to support people during this pandemic, especially for educators. On this night, though, it bit us in the butt because we couldn't get all of us into a Google Meet together with my school account. Luckily, Brennan's wife also has a g-suite account and so we were able to get in there. This time I rigged things up a little bit differently. I set up on the floor so that I could roll my overhead camera more easily and keep my phone plugged in so it wouldn't die. It was also great for the back. Things went pretty smoothly and our game only took four hours, as opposed to the five hours of our first game!

The overhead camera set up.

It Is Alive!

Wow, has it really been that long since I've posted? Trying to figure out this whole teaching and tutoring online thing has been quite the challenge! Plus, April was my birthday, yesterday was my wife's birthday, and this weekend is Mother's Day. Not to mention that I was the April host of the SGOYT (Solitare Games on Your Table geeklist on BoardGameGeek - if you haven't check it out, you need to!). Yup, I'm a pretty big deal now. Oh, also I have a Covid Cut. It was unintentionally performed by my wife.

Here's a little recap of the cool board game things that have going on. I'll do more in-depth posts on each of these as time allows over the next week:

• Aaron and I made a free print 'n' play (PnP) that we will release soon
• Finally got into some playing some PnPs of others
• Played two more games of Clank! Legacy: Socially Distanced
• Got some birthday board games

So, it's been busy. Too busy to post here, but I'll try and remedy that this week!

Together We Game Alone (Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated)

On Monday night I attempted to embody the rallying cry of the 1 player guild on BoardGameGeek: "together we game alone." If you've been following my blog, you know that I've been working through Clank! Legacy with my gaming group. We had previously booked our next game night for April 6, last night. The problem with that is (in case you haven't noticed) that we are currently working in a very socially distant world because of COVID-19.

Well, we decided to forge ahead anyway! I set up a double camera system so that my friends could see what was going on, but basically I was playing "solo" because I was in charge of every component, every card, every secret, every reading, etc... I don't think you can see any spoilers from this distance, so here is my set up.

Return to Middle-earth (Re-Review of The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth)

Just like many of you around the world, I have been cooped up at home for most of the last week or so. I’ll admit, it’s been nice working from home (although teaching grade fours solely online is going to have its challenges) and being with my family full time. That being said, I know this is a very tough time for many people. My heart and prayers go out to the families of those who have lost their lives or jobs or are running into others difficulties. I hope that by standing together as people across the globe, we can slow this thing down and give our scientists and doctors a chance to fight this thing.

Being stuck in the house has given me a good opportunity to get some solid solo gaming in. We’ve played a few family games - my girls (4 and 6) especially enjoy My First Castle Panic and our storytelling cards - but I’ve spent most of my “me” time in my board game nook (my Bud Hole - please watch The Good Place).

Dial 3-1-1 for a Ridiculous Score (Clank! Expeditions:Temple of the Ape Lord)

I received the Temple of the Ape Lord expansion for Christmas, but this weekend was the first chance I had to play it. In fact, I think this is my first solo game of 2020...yikes...

Anyway, this expansion is not officially covered in the app yet, and I could tell that it, at least the jungle side, was not balanced for solo play.

All Roads Lead to... (Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition)

It was my baby's fourth birthday on the weekend. Does it make me sound old to say that I can't believe how fast the time has gone? It was a very fun, teddy bear themed birthday weekend, but Sunday night ended with Logan and Jenn (brother- and sister-in-law) staying after the kids were in bed. Logan and Sharayah got into a deep conversation, so I looked through the games they brought and forced Jenn to teach me one of their newer ones.

Brownies and Blokus (Blokus)

My 6 year old daughter and I were able to sneak away for a little daddy-daughter date on Valentine's Day while my wife took our almost four year old to a party with some friends. We went to a local coffee shop that had some surprisingly amazing brownies.

"But It Is Not This Day!" (Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated)

I'm not sure what happened, but somewhere along the line I missed writing about a game. I thought I was 0-3 going into last night's game, but I was actually 0-4. Yay me! I did write about the last game and it was my least favourite one. Not only because I got destroyed (although that didn't help), but also because as a group we couldn't figure out what to focus on and what our goals were. Since that was the case, Brennan raced ahead (as he does no matter what iteration of Clank! we're playing).

Well, we came up with a team strategy for game number five. I'm trying really hard not to give away any spoilers, but game five was VERY different from the first four. That's all I'll say about that. So, in order to fully explore this newness, we decided on the following strategies.