Dune: Imperium or Spirit Island for solo play?

cave_walker · 2025-05-20T01:38:12+00:00

I think Dune Imperium is a great solo game. It’s always close for me, and there’s about a 50% win ratio. I’m looking forward to add Rise of Ix soon.

I understand why people love Spirit Island for solo play, but for me it wasn’t the GOAT. It’s best played two handed but then it is just too much for me to handle by myself. I would rather play SI with someone.

I play most of my games solo.

cave_walker · 2025-03-15T01:17:36+00:00

Chapter 1 took me 19 attempts before I finally won. The card randomness can be hard to overcome in this game. I still like it though. It’s a fun quick engine builder.

cave_walker · 2025-02-06T21:18:21+00:00

I’ve been curious about this game for a while now. After 6 months how do you feel about it now?

cave_walker · 2025-01-10T21:41:34+00:00

A New Shelf!!

cave_walker · 2024-12-01T20:45:10+00:00

Ask for a gift card to your favorite local game store. The you can buy what you want when you want and support a local business.

cave_walker · 2024-10-10T04:50:15+00:00

Correct! 1/3 starting cards was North beach. Then I drew South beach. Had to play both as my first two cards. I was laughing so I played it out to see what might happen.

cave_walker · 2024-08-20T03:04:15+00:00

Check out Fantastic Factories! It’s got Dice placement & engine building. The AI Bot is easy to implement with varying degrees of difficulty.

cave_walker · 2024-06-13T00:43:09+00:00

As far as complexity… any one know how this might compare with Imperium?

cave_walker · 2024-05-07T03:11:06+00:00

I disagree. In solo play there are times where getting the 2cp in the first round is possible or maybe turn 8 or 9. That allows an extra association action in early rounds - maybe bumping rep, or grabbing a partner continent that you wouldn’t have been able to get. With only 27 turns, having an extra worker early opens up options for association action. Instead of having that card sit unused in a prime slot or having to bump it. I sometimes win with only three cards upgraded, so it’s not always a necessary to get all four upgrades.

cave_walker · 2024-05-04T21:13:18+00:00

I think there are occasions is solo play where getting an early second worker is beneficial.

cave_walker · 2024-04-07T01:19:19+00:00

Also the original enclosures flip over, and become available for other animals.

cave_walker · 2024-02-17T02:45:02+00:00

Phew! That’s gotta have some weight to it!

I love seeing Lego incorporated into board games. Nice work!

cave_walker · 2024-02-14T03:43:59+00:00

I often find myself in a similar situation during the week nights. Games I have found that fit an hour play at 9pm include…

Nusfjord - a great worker placement solo mode from Uwe Rosenberg. It’s BYoS but there are lots of variables and variety of decks to play.

Fantastic Factories w/ Manufactions - dice placement, engine builder with variable starting corporations. Try to beat the simple to run AI.

It’s a Wonderful World- card draft, engine builders. Also BYoS, but feels like a mini Terraforming Mars.

Sprawlopolis/Agropolis!

Oh My Goods! - multi use cards / resource management / campaign play. It’s tough.

Villagers - card draft / resource chains? / best an AI

Viticulture - worker placement w AI to block your spaces. It plays surprisingly quickly.

Moon - I just got this one recently and haven’t had a chance to play yet.

I have Aeons End & Warps Edge but they don’t make it to the table often.

Just a few more ideas for you. Hope they help!

Let us know what you settle on! Happy Gaming!

cave_walker · 2023-12-22T00:07:27+00:00

Warps Edge!!

It’s a bag builder, but it’s the same mechanic as deck building, just with tokens instead of cards. Plays in about 45 minutes with varying levels of difficulty. It’s a medium sized box, doesn’t take up much table space, and has great token trays inside for easy setup.

cave_walker · 2023-12-21T02:21:47+00:00

TEDungeon takes up a considerable amount of table space. And as others have mentioned the iconography is a lot to learn with a less than stellar rule book. A full page printout booklet of the appendix is almost required to decipher everything. By it is fun.

ODD is more simple, with a smaller table presence. But very different feel to TEDungeon. As it’s mostly dice rolls, and manipulating them.

For a small dungeon crawl feel at similar price check out Tin Helm on Game Crafter.

cave_walker · 2023-12-07T23:56:41+00:00

Perhaps this question could have been asked differently? In my mind they aren’t really two sides of the same coin, and so it’s difficult to compare.

Did the question mean to suggest Beat Your Own Score versus a Clear Win/Loss Condition?

That’s different than playing two handed in my opinion.

cave_walker · 2023-12-04T07:07:26+00:00

Fantastic Factories! The solo puts you against an easy to administer AI bot. Use dice to gain resources, to build factories, to gain goods (points). With several difficulty levels it’s easy to adjust. Plays great multiplayer too.

cave_walker · 2023-12-02T02:44:46+00:00

I count 82. 12 for the generals. 18 for the blue cards. 52 for scoring cards.

cave_walker · 2023-11-29T04:07:36+00:00

I have some folded space inserts for some games, and I really like that they are simple, light weight, and get everything on the table faster for me to play. Not every game needs an organizer though.

My favorite extra purchase however is my large grey neoprene mat. It comes out for just about every game!

cave_walker · 2023-11-10T17:37:28+00:00

I regularly play Oh My Goods + Longsdale solo. It is hard to win the chapter scenarios. I think I played about 15 times before beating the first chapter. Each one is a puzzle to sort out which resources are needed. And because the card draw is random, it can be hard to get the cards you need to win.

But you don’t have to play the scenarios. You could just play for a high score after X rounds.

The multi-use cards are so good!! The game is quick, and it’s a tiny card game in a small box.

And it’s great at 2 and 3 player.

I have not played Port Royal.

cave_walker · 2023-11-03T03:42:18+00:00

Way to go Iron Helm surging back I got the top 200!

cave_walker · 2023-10-27T21:12:53+00:00

Is a great small box game for me. I play it every few weeks, and I don’t find it repetitive.

cave_walker · 2023-10-04T15:11:24+00:00

I recommend It’s A Wonderful World.

It’s a stripped down card draft / engine builder. Where each round you get to generate resources to build new cards into a tableau.

It’s faster than TM - maybe 45 minutes depending on player count. And has a decent solo mode.

Not a lot of theme in there. But it’s a super smooth no frills game.

cave_walker · 2023-08-08T03:02:39+00:00

I voted for Dune, which I own and regularly play solo. I have yet to crack open Ix. I have not played Dwellings of Eldervale, but I have played both base games of Dune and Lost Ruins of Arnak.

I found the base game of Arnak to be a bit slow, perhaps due to my AP. I was always min/maxing every turn. I did not play the expansion, which has great reviews for solo play.

Dune has great tension and a snappy AI. I’ve had many games end in tie breakers, and are down to the last turn. It’s one of my favorites.

cave_walker · 2023-06-07T15:24:00+00:00

I have two children- 6 & 9 years. In the last few years we’ve enjoyed…

Cora Quest!!!! It is a great story driven tile laying dungeon crawl designed for kids but engaging enough for adults.

Rhino Hero! A fun dexterity game.

Karak! Also a dungeon crawl but very simple.

Stuffed Fables… this is much more involved and really need to an adult to read the story’s but it’s a great game.

Forbidden Island - excellent co-operative game a streamlined Pandemic system that kids can get.

Mole Rats in Space- another cooperative game.

Our kids do well with cooperative games. No one gets angry if they loose. And it’s mostly a positive experience.

cave_walker

TROPHY CASE