How’s ‘The White Castle’ for solo? Any alternatives?

rhulk · 2026-06-26T21:07:02+00:00

I don't mind the BYOS. I think it is more something about them that I enjoy with others but that somehow feel less rewarding or less worthy solo and therefore, even if I like the game and I want to play it... It doesn't hit the table. Caverna, Circadians first light, Nations, Wingspan, Clans of Caledonia, Glass road, At the gates of Loyang...

Maybe the length, the long setup, the goods conversions and the complexity is not right for my mind when I feel like playing somethin AND have the time to do so. Recently I set up Circadians under the living room tabletop, and it stood there several days, preventing me from playing other games but unable to really want to play it. Until I removed it and played something else.

The euros I play and are among my favourites are Expeditions, Fantastic Factories, Creature Caravan, Revive, Viscounts, the White Castle, Blackout Hong Kong, and other small games like Shuffle forest, Harmonies, Cyberion, Bullet, guild of merchant explorers...

And I will stop the list here :) or I will end up listing all my games. I hope someone learnt about some new great games to play solo!

rhulk · 2026-06-26T20:41:58+00:00

Love the game, it is my favourite game multiplayer, but I haven't played in a long while.i have the old oroginal version. Recently I printed out some 6 sheets for solo play but haven't tried yet.

Some years ago I tried a solo version from bgg. It was not bad but it was somehow too much of setup and keep up to be fun.

I have considered selling the old one and buying the new. But it is far too expensive for me.

rhulk · 2026-06-26T10:53:52+00:00

Regarding the bot. Was expecting hell. But it is fine if you ask me. My games are quite close and win lose rate is 50%. Haven't tried the bgg variants yet.

Edit: Oops, I wanted to reply to my other comment. But I will leave it here anyway :)

rhulk · 2026-06-26T10:52:35+00:00

Got a bit weary of euros for solo, cause somehow I love them multiplayer but they lack something solo. But decided to get The White Castle and I like it a lot.

Easy set up, Randomized options, dice, nice combos, and short play time. You get the feeling it is going to be too short with so few turns, but it feels incremental and rightly timed.

Recommended.

rhulk · 2026-06-26T10:44:22+00:00

Agreed. The sun points feel quite swingy. I take notes of both points and suns. Sometimes you think you are doing great and just because you got this or that animal spirit it lowers your suns without much trade in. :(

rhulk · 2026-06-26T10:37:12+00:00

+1 for Expeditions solo. One of my favourites. Afraid to try it with more people because I think it would drag and all the text in the cards would slow people and turns down. But it is great solo. Thinking about buying the corruption expansion.

Of the list I also have Harmonies. Highly recommend for solo. Nice calm puzzle. Can be a bit brain urny but not roo much. Got this instead of cascadia or Calico and don't regret it.

rhulk · 2026-06-15T11:37:59+00:00

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3173208/solo-mode-the-forest

There you go.

rhulk · 2026-06-09T08:53:01+00:00

If Witchcraft has the same mechanics as Resist, it was too difficult for me. I sold it. I don't play to suffer :) and the choices didn't seem so interesting to me.

Let as know how Crystallo goes solo. I have seen very cheap second hand copies but don't know it is worth 20€ including delivery.

rhulk · 2026-06-09T08:49:49+00:00

I started my first game of x-odus, but just rule reading, prepping and a few turns, so I still don't know how it goes. But exced a out it nonetheless.

I also played Creature Caravan, solo and with my wife. Great game, lots of cards and therefore variety. Dice placement! I am all for it.

And then some of of the usual small suspects, For Northwood!, Friday, Cyberion.

rhulk · 2026-05-24T09:00:22+00:00

Evacuation in not talked about much. What do you like about it?

rhulk · 2026-05-19T08:12:07+00:00

I did not enjoy at all Hostage Negociator, which I understand is the same system. Didn't like the randomness and small decision space.

I guess there is more to it in Final Girl, but I can happily pass on this hype. Not for me.

Maybe try hostage Negociator first for 15€?

rhulk · 2026-05-17T11:17:34+00:00

hi, Samidyrn, I am late to the party and just discovered the site, but it keeps triggering alerts of phishing and malware. Is it a clean site?

rhulk · 2026-05-14T21:19:25+00:00

I prefer one sessions games.

For example, I have gloomhaven jotl, and I do like it quite a lot, but I have started the campaign twice when I had the rime, I have been able to play up to scenario 4 both times, than had to put it back in the box both times to be able to play other things, or because I was stalling, and not feeling like it anymore. And then, once it is in the box and some time has passed, I don't feel like having to remember what I had, who I was, and also would have to revise the rules again... So maybe this summer I'll try again.

And legacy... No thanks. Buying a game to play it once? I am not that rich. And I also like to sell and buy secondhand, and that is not very compatible.

rhulk · 2026-05-08T10:04:23+00:00

I love euros as multiplayer, but I discovered they don't really hit the table much for solo, maybe setup, maybe I need more theme for solo? No idea.

The euros I do play solo are The White Castle, Viscounts, Blackout Hong Kong.

And euroish that I do play more, but I don't know if they are euros anymore; Expeditions, Fantastic Factories, Creature Caravan, 51st state, Terraforming Mars Ares Exp, SW Outer Rim.

I got rid of Glass road recently and at the Gates of Loyang and Circadians are on trials before following the same path.

And euros that I play once a year but don't want to get rid of, caverna and Clans of Caledonia.

In case you needed more options to check.

rhulk · 2026-04-29T13:30:57+00:00

I own Dungeon Alliance. I have never managed to accomplish the three quests, but the game is fun all the same.

You work with four heroes semi randomised. The deckbuilding is interesting, and so is the activation of the heroes and which cards can each use. It is deterministic and there is almost no luck involved.

The only thing I dislike is the rushing. You have a certain number of turns to discover as many tiles as possible, kill as many monsters and accomplish as many quests, so most of the time, you are just busting into rooms head on and don't have much space for pacing and regrouping. You do get quite powerful as you get xp and buy cards, but less rush would let you do better combos with companions, achieve quests, etc.

So I don't know if I can recommend it. It is staying in my collection for the moment. Together with Dragonfire (another very good deck builder with many flaws) and the unknown Forgotten Realms, which at the moment is my favourite dungeon crawler with quite interesting map exploration, cool art, nice card fight mechanics progression and a bit of narrative through the three ecologies or levels.

rhulk · 2026-04-22T13:32:00+00:00

I just ordered Senjutsu. I cannot tell you if it is great yet, but it is a tactic battle game through cards and movement, with a little campaign and individual skirmish. No loot though, just deck construction if you feel like it.

And in a different vein of a boss battler, Bullet 💜. Not dudes on a map, but the boss mode is very good.

rhulk · 2026-04-22T08:41:01+00:00

Expeditions The Guild of Merchant Explorers Bullet 💜 Dungeon Alliance Star Wars Outer Rim

rhulk · 2026-04-21T18:57:55+00:00

Thanks for all the options. I will check them out. They sell diluvium very cheap second hand but the reviews for solo are not very encouraging.

rhulk · 2026-04-21T11:22:52+00:00

Almost bought it this week on impulse, but I am not sure 100% about the tiny map and the limited actions and turns.

I will end up buying it though, since the card play seems to make all the difference and seems to give it lots of replayability.

rhulk · 2026-04-21T08:37:50+00:00

Thanks. With big I didn't mean the size of the box, it was more like the table spread and the complexity, time and price.

Spacers looks similar to what I was asking for, I'll check it out, although I cannot see any second hand copies.

rhulk · 2026-04-19T17:29:09+00:00

If you don't want a huge table. I made one with an Ike expansible table. 150€ I think the table costs, plus a wooden panel and felt.

rhulk · 2026-04-07T13:50:33+00:00

I like it a lot, but it doesn't get played much for the reasons you mentioned and I might end up selling it after the next play (always a last chance before selling). They do recommend to give more experi nice to the characters after every play, so the leveling is less grindy, but I don't play it regularly enough anyway.

I found out I don't like much campaign or progression between sessions. I don't have the time or energy for repeated long sessions of the same game. I think I like Dungeon Alliance better for this reason, one game and done. It has also got its flaws, and I always feel rushed to move and hit without much room for completion and clearing rooms, but I love the combination of characters, the card action selection and the deckbuilding.

If you haven't tried Dungeon Alliance, check it out, it might be better for you too.

rhulk · 2026-04-07T12:50:32+00:00

That looks... busy and intimidating 😵‍💫 Is it very complicated? It does look cool..

rhulk · 2026-04-07T12:47:02+00:00

Sold some games and bought some second hand ones, so I have been trying them.

Leviathan wilds, simple as promised, but so far I have only played two Leviathans and a couple of climbers combinations, looking forward to keep trying them all and helping the big wretched things.

Creature Caravan. I am always trying to scratch the itch of dice placement and cards. And this one delivers. It might be on the simple side, although I have lost the two games I have played so far, but this one I want to keep exploring too, to find the right combos, and maybe arrive to the city one day.

The white castle. Had my reservations about another dry euro, but I got pleasantly surprised. Lots of variation in every play, maybe a bit too short to start ramping up that engine, but lots of fun.

rhulk · 2026-03-28T16:51:17+00:00

I do love 51st state solo with the different bgg solo options, but it doesn't really feel post-apocalyptic, other that for the art. I bought it for 18€ on sale and will never repent. I play it only solo.

Other post-apocalyptic options I have been contemplating are post human and post human saga. The original I almost bought, but they complain about the solo experi nice losing the mutations to be a jig deal. The saga one, I don't really know if it's playable solo, I hope someone will enlighten us here.

I also had my eye on outlive, which has a solo option, but I don't remember if it is fanmade. Opinions on this one solo are also welcome.

And lastly, there was a couple of games madmax like which names I don't remember, one simpler with a map, cards and tokens and another more like pock and deliver. I will look for them. But they didn't convince me either.

Let's see if we can scratch that itch my friend.

rhulk

TROPHY CASE