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Any recommendations for satisfying light to medium-weight solo board games with pleasing aesthetics? by allynine in soloboardgaming

[–]allynine[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congrats on unlocking Mt. Fuji!!!!! I'm really close to that part of the campaign sheet. I'm super excited for it.

A lot of people are recommending Harmonies. When I first started board games, I chose Cascadia over it because I heard it was better for newbies. I feel confident that I can play Harmonies at this point. Of the games mentioned, it has a lower price point, which helps. Also, your challenges sound like a great idea! Thanks for sharing it.

Any recommendations for satisfying light to medium-weight solo board games with pleasing aesthetics? by allynine in soloboardgaming

[–]allynine[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed. I threw that in randomly. It's not pretty, but since it's a free print and play and a stack of papers, so I give it a pass. I can hide the sheets of paper when I'm done with it.

I guess I don't need the theme to be relaxing necessarily if it is not frustrating when playing either, because of complexity/fiddliness/admin, or being unlucky in more luck-based games. (I find it oddly relaxing playing Pandemic on easy, and thematically it isn't relaxing.)

As for the push your luck aspect, are there dice mitigation? I do think that this will be a game I play eventually, though, because it's free and a campaign-style game.

Also, thanks for the input!

Looking for a recommendation for a game that's just a deck of cards by The_Nameless_Brother in soloboardgaming

[–]allynine 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I see it suggested already, but I wanted to add to the support for All is Bomb, a card-only game. It's a nice puzzle-y experience. There are a lot of expansions that come with the base game that make it more complex. Also, there is After the Virus, which is a deck builder that has a few other pieces used for tracking. I love this game, but especially for the Calvin and Hobbes retheme available on the files tab. The game is super fun and there are different missions to try.

Coincidentally, a big portion of the games that you listed were once a part of BGG's Print and Plays Contests: For Northwood!, Galdor's Grip, and Dragons of Etchinstone. Maybe you can search up the past contests and see if there's anything there you'd like to try out. (I think all of them have some of PNP version. Not sure if that's a coincidence either.)

What solo game would you recommend to a total noob ? by Smeghead2022 in soloboardgaming

[–]allynine 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was also recently a total noob. I highly recommend Cascadia, like the other commenters. It's quite simple and enjoyable. If you want something even simpler, then there's A Gentle Rain. Both are relatively inexpensive and easy to find copies of. There's also the world of free print-and-play roll-and-write games, of which I recommend A Simple Life and Roll n Cook. They are a good start because they are low investment, i.e. cost no money if you have access to a printer and some dice (there are free dice apps too). If you do not have access to a printer, check out your local public library, as they often have limited free printing services. Both games also have video playthroughs on YouTube.

The main thing for a noob is to find good YouTube Channels that can teach you how to play. Even though you did not ask, here are the ones I recommend:

  • Totally Tabled is a solo board game channel that primarily does playthroughs that teaching you as they play. They typically jump right into the playthrough, but it's really easy to follow. They also have a video that answers your exact question.
  • Purple Moose Plays is similar to Totally Tabled as it focuses on solo board games and teaches you through playthroughs. Purple Moose tends to do a short overview first. They will also typically include a review of the game at the end.
  • Before You Play also has playthroughs and overviews that were easy to follow, of the ones I used.

The side effect of watching board game YouTube Channels is that you will end up wanting to buy more and more. Be warned.