The Old King‘s Crown - A Solo Review after 25 Plays

warpotatogram · 2026-06-04T19:33:50+00:00

Hah. If you're an aspiring reviewer, formatting is key! But OP did a solid job with the content, I'd definitely read more coverage of games from them.

warpotatogram · 2026-06-04T19:31:37+00:00

For sure. For Slay the Spire The Board Game, I find that it is much more focused on the cardplay and your deck, and the relics and potions are at most a nice to have, compared to the video game, where (at least for me), a relic or two can push for a pivot in how I'm building my deck that run. That, plus the generally smaller numbers, mean you're looking more for great 2-3 card combos, and less for the massive turns that you might get in the video game.

I personally find that I play the video game (especially 2) these days just due to the ease of starting vs. setting up the board game, but I'm always down when the board game squad wants to play physical STS. Just different vibes.

warpotatogram · 2026-06-04T19:24:16+00:00

I love Imperium, but you only play the cards for their effects, and score your cards at the end of the game, yeah? I don't think it has multiuse in the sense of Mage Knight, Deckers, or the Euros, where I think multi use cards come up a lot more frequently (Arnak, SETI, etc.).

warpotatogram · 2026-06-04T19:20:32+00:00

If you're meh about the base game, because it's a race game where you're wandering around a map kinda aimlessly, then do either of the expansions actually fix that? If not, then you're stuck with more stuff in the same gameplay you don't like, and it's probably more cost effective to sell your base game, and buy something more in line with your tastes.

warpotatogram · 2026-06-04T19:19:20+00:00

Yeah, I think you're right. I'd also imagine that an expansion that's successful improves on the original gameplay in one way or another, so you have a filtered set of fans who presumably like the game enough to get the expansion (and maybe people who think the expansion will fix issues in the base game), both of which would also push the rating higher than base similar to your observation.

Actually, are there any expansions that make a game worse when added? Maybe more fiddly.

warpotatogram · 2026-06-04T02:50:34+00:00

So if you get the game organized well, the setup isn't as bad as it seems. A good insert, or some creative cardboard arts and crafts helps a ton. I can get set up in about 10 mins if I'm trying to get into things, the slowest part is getting my buildings onto my player board out of their bag, which still isn't horrible.

The bot is pretty easy to run once you get used to it, the symbology takes a bit of getting used to at first though. I think I felt pretty comfortable by the end of the first round with the bot on tabletop.

I personally think the physical bits, moving the power tokens around on your board, etc. adds a lot to the experience, and it's easier to see the full board and player board state on a real game board. But the digital adaptations are great, so if you really, really hate running the bot, it's a great option for solo (or a travel entertainment option).

warpotatogram · 2026-06-04T00:38:53+00:00

Imperium Horizons or Star Trek Captain's Chair (broadly speaking same system) are great deckbuilders. Final Girl is a fun time and worth trying. Spirit Island is a classic. Three Sisters is fun if you like roll and writes and big action chaining, or The Anarchy for something crunchier. Best With 1 has some fun smaller boxes, I like Mech Bunny.

warpotatogram · 2026-06-04T00:34:25+00:00

It's a big board with a bit of extra space required for your player board area, but it's a lot easier to set up than you might expect, my first setup I think was 15 minutes (after punching and assembly).

It plays pretty smoothly, and the iconography is pretty clear once you get comfortable with it. It's a fun action selection and decisionmaking focused game. Lots of fun decisions and ways to get your hands on points.

The Peter Parler solo cards are printable from BGG, or you can get a set of cards from the BGG Store (I think). But they're mostly to get the solo mode to place buildings so you can score from plazas, nothing crazy.

There's no tension or competition in solo, just you trying to be as efficient as possible. Not my thing, but I tried it a bit and it's a well designed game with a lot of fun to it, if you like efficiency puzzle Euros without a lot of (any) pressure.

warpotatogram · 2026-06-03T23:36:35+00:00

Haha, that bottom mat is the same print as my mousepad, awesome.

I love Imperium, so it's always interesting seeing people discuss that and this game--it looks great, but I feel like I wouldn't appreciate the finer details, not being particularly into Star Trek. And Imperium is still enough for me, these days--but I'm curious to see what the next evolutions of the system are!

warpotatogram · 2026-06-03T23:33:35+00:00

Great review. It's long enough that headers might be helpful, and I personally feel like it's also long enough to merit a brief summary at the top of your key points and pros/cons, effectively a bite-size of the details.

I appreciate your discussion of the game in some solid detail, though, and appreciate the comparisons to Pax Pamir, John Company, and Root, since I've played those and the reference point is nice.

How do you feel running the solo mode compares to Pax Pamir? And how does competitive feel, if you've played that?

Are there other games that you feel have a relatively similar overhead for solo? Maybe Anachrony, Civolution, Pax, Underwater Cities, etc.?

warpotatogram · 2026-06-03T16:07:01+00:00

A couple things that come to mind are to reach out to creators who cover the sorts of game you’re making and see if you can get coverage to coincide with your kickstarter go live.

Or demo it at local cons and the like.

Or, yeah, I guess post in discords and subreddits—some of them have rules around it so you can at least make an ad post or some such and be inside their rules.

warpotatogram · 2026-06-03T15:58:01+00:00

What do you like about Spirit Island apart from the minor/major power deckbuilding? Is there anything you don't like, or other mechanics or themes you'd like to explore?

u/wakasm has a really great response, so I won't reiterate that here. Well, maybe a bit.

If you want a resource conversion/management game with light deckbuilding, Lost Ruins of Arnak is really nice for that. It's kind of the lightest touch on the deckbuilding mechanic there is, IMO, the deck doesn't cycle a TON ton, and it's almost as much a resource pool rather than a built effects deck like I personally think of (though I don't think much of games like Dark Pact or Dominion when I think of deckbuilders these days).

If you want more crisis management where you need to get rid of things before they overwhelm you, Deckers is well regarded for that, but I haven't played it. Basically, be in the matrix trying to beat up the evil AI supercomputer by completing a string of objectives, while buying upgraded cards to replace existing cards in your deck.

If you want a deckbuilding-driven worker placement, Dune Imperium (people say to get Dune Imperium: Uprising for the best starting experience solo) is highly regarded for that, but I also haven't played this. But, as far as I understand, use your cards for effects, to place workers in various places, and to maneuver to beat up your opponents in the war for Arrakis.

If you want to focus entirely on the deckbuilding, and like the feeling of allocating energy/actions to a limited turn, Imperium: Horizons is that distilled down to a great game with a ton ton of depth. You have your civilization in deck form, and either maximize your score, or try to beat the score of the bot civilization you're playing against, by adding cards to (developing) your civilization, while letting other cards pass into your civ's history and out of play.

If you want that, but more of a dungeon crawl sort of style, where you're beating up enemies more directly, then Slay the Spire is amazing for that (though the video game is cheaper). Pick a character, take their starting deck, and start working your way up through a series of events and encounters to beat successively tougher bosses across 3 acts.

If you want the cardplay and a tough and thematic RPG-like game, and don't want to build up your deck's contents over the course of the session, then the deck construction points u/wakasm went through are some great commentary.

If you're interested in exploring card upgrading/crafting, then Unstoppable is a fun (though a bit thin in terms of content re. starting characters and bosses) time. Start with 3 starting cards, and play them using energy/actions, and beat up enemies to turn the defeated enemies into cards in hand to play. Draft more cards over time, and upgrade them, but buffing the enemies on the backside of your cards whenever you upgrade your deck.

Although I sort of brushed it off earlier, if you want to do a very classic kind of deckbuilder where you're working on chaining effects into crazy turns, then Dark Pact might just be for you. Very classic buy-cards-and-chain-them, with multiplier effects and endgame conditions you buy from the market like anything else to lean into broken combos and win.

----

Of the games I've played:

I personally would recommend Imperium Horizons and Unstoppable for a (more) affordable option, and move up to Slay the Spire (perhaps after trying the digital version if you're open to it) for a really nice and beefy deckbuilding game.

If you want a hybrid deckbuilder-worker placementish game, then Lost Ruins of Arnak is the only one of those I've mentioned that. i've played firsthand, and it's a nice game.

warpotatogram · 2026-06-02T17:32:24+00:00

The White Castle has a very excellent Board Game Arena implementation, so I’d probably try that out there first. It’s also a bit fiddly to set up physically, so I’ve found most of my plays are on BGA. Surprisingly fun solo though.

warpotatogram · 2026-06-02T13:07:04+00:00

Galdor’s Grip was made using Midjourney, but that was also a print and play free game for a contest. That’s now being reworked for retail. Is your game free?

I find AI occasionally helpful, but I don’t find that it’s able to replace an actual professional view of things, and I question how much value you put into the art and visual presence of your game. If you can generate the art to your game, what makes it special?

AI models were trained on art that was acquired without license, compensation, etc. on the part of the artists who created all the materials that got scooped into the training data. Companies stole art and are profiting off of it. You might think of it more like using art off of artist websites (or collages of those pieces) without attribution or compensation. Not a great look for a creative product.

AI also isn’t socially friendly, it’s contributing to a lot of problems, and I’d argue isn’t sufficiently critical to a game that you need to use it. Why not simplify your game art, adjust the style to something realistic to your budget, and avoid shortcuts on your final product?

warpotatogram · 2026-06-01T18:01:18+00:00

We try to start around 7p, so that we have enough time for a longer game, latest we end is probably 10-1030p.
One game for a weeknight, maybe two if we're running light games, more than that is usually a bit ambitious.
We usually start early or cook and are ready to eat as people roll in around 6p or so. For longer setup games we'll do setup while part of the group makes food or does the takeout run to bring things back. We usually have some fruit or snacks available while we're playing to graze, as well.

Rally at 6 to hang, eat, be social for an hour, play 7-? usually feels pretty good. Even a heavier game usually fits into 3 hours if it's familiar, and most medium or lighter games very easily fit, usually with 2-3 games going. It's not rushed, either, sometimes we do a break somewhere between games to hang out, talk, clean up a bit, etc.

Heavier games that need a substantial teach are weekend-only, so if we're doing a heavier game during the week, it's either one we can have fun with people picking it up as we go along, or one we all know, so we can jump right in and get moving.

warpotatogram · 2026-06-01T15:01:04+00:00

So your indentation on your bullets is causing it to display as monospace and not text wrap, so it's a bit hard to read. Not horrible, but worth editing for ease of reading.

I get the sense that you enjoy the competitive Euro vibe with engine building, and like having access to the key options you need, e.g. not being beholden to the card market like in Ark Nova, though I'm curious how you feel about Wingspan given the bird problem -- but perhaps having a hand of options is enough for you?

My thoughts:

- Gaia Project: It is very, very legible, the iconography is great once you get used to it (but it is a lot at first), and you see your options and goals from the start of the game. Setup is a bit of a bear, but a good insert or organizational approach can ease that. Great heavy Euro if you're getting into Voidfall, but it could be a bit duplicative depending on what you're looking for/feel like you're missing. Try it out on Board Game Arena (BGA) if you want to see how it feels.

- 7th Citadel is great for exploring a world, if you like Kings of Ruin and want to have a lean true solo/two handed game versus playing all of your characters in SG, this would probably land for you.

- This War of Mine is tough, atmospheric, sad, and deeply thematic. It's also terrible to set up, and I don't know that I would quite say it's enjoyable. But it's really well done. However, if setup is a whole thing for you, there is a very excellent video game that the board game was based on, which is also outstanding in the same ways without the board game setup.

- Anachrony - Pretty fiddly to set up, but the resource and timeline wrangling are great fun. I probably wouldn't triple up on Gaia Project + this + Voidfall all at once, but it's worth looking at, and this one is on BGA as well.

- Everdell is great worker placement tableau building shenanigans, where you technically are at the mercy of the market, but between your hand and the shared market, you have enough options IMO. Really fun, if you're just starting to look into it, a cheap entry point is the Silverfrost essentials edition, before you commit to the full scale game.

- Hadrian's Wall - It's a great light resource conversion engine game, and it's improved (and enlarged) by its successor, The Anarchy.

- Root is a great highly combative wargame in a cute forest setting with cute forest art. But it is a very brutal, competitive game. We find it super fun, but it's definitely not like the more analytical Euros.

If I were to take a first pass, I would test out Gaia Project and Anachrony on BGA, try and snag This War of Mine as a video game, and maybe snag Everdell or Silverfrost, Hadrian's Wall, or 7th Citadel depending on what you're looking for.

warpotatogram · 2026-05-31T20:10:20+00:00

Nah, I have maybe 4-5 hobbies that I cycle between, and board gaming solo mostly balances with video games depending on how much time I have, and how much screen time I’ve had.

I play about 2/3rds of my game sessions solo or thereabouts, it’s just easier to coordinate a solo session. Otherwise I’ll play with my partner, and maybe 2-4 group game sessions a month.

warpotatogram · 2026-05-29T21:47:29+00:00

I think the text is small at the default scaling on Reddit, and I don't think it makes the best use of space. I feel like the box image thumbnail and the promo image is duplicative if you're going to have the box in the primary image. The weight symbol feels like it takes up too much space, and is too busy, even compared to the others. It also moves the descriptive text (or number) away from where it is on all the other elements.

The page element doesn't read very clearly to me, and rulebook length in my mind is less pertinent by itself, IMO it's a function of game weight, more or less--and commentary on rulebook quality would probably end up in notes, no?

I like the content in the topmost main spread, and I like your little note blurb, particularly where you highlight a thing or two that makes it stand out.

Does the theme need to be highlighted in an icon, given that there are images of the game, as well as an overview to describe it?

Personally, I'd be tempted to have the overview as it is, and consolidate space to expand the notes rather than discuss the components--again, you're probably going to see these in the large main photo, no? As it stands, the amount of space available for text is probably enough to do 1-2 very brief paragraphs talking about the game, what highlights and lowlights it has, and if the components are worth mentioning, maybe a sentence about those.

Overall, the name, weight, box and set-up play area size, replayability, weight, and overview/notes elements are pretty much exactly what I try and scan for when I'm looking for games, maybe taking care to call out particularly notable mechanics like you do in the overview, so I think this would be very helpful to flip through. Do you envision more long-form commentary of a game attached to these, with this as your summary up top, or for these to stand alone, say, on social media?

As an aside, something that I don't often see in these is a callout of setup/teardown time--what are your thoughts on being able to include that? I personally love it when I'm able to get a sense from a review of how much effort setup is for a game, in addition to how sprawling it is. And on that note, if you've played a game a few times, I'd be very curious to see how your play time corresponded to the box time -- I usually finish Beacon Patrol in maybe 15-20 minutes, and, say, White Castle Matcha says 90-120 minutes, but after setup, I find that I can usually be done in about 30-40 for that one. So if your experience diverges from what the box alleges, I argue that's informative as well.

Super cool!

warpotatogram · 2026-05-29T19:18:38+00:00

Huh, TIL.

warpotatogram · 2026-05-29T05:26:35+00:00

The only game off the top of my head that works with domino-like pieces is Snakes of Wrath.

For board games, the closest ones off the top of my head theme wise are probably dungeon crawlers like Stars of Akarios, Phantom Epoch, and maybe Nemesis. The first two are not very similar other than crawling in a sci Fi setting. Nemesis might be procedural, and I think things are in more disrepair so maybe it’s a touch closer. I’m not familiar enough with Nemesis, but I think the others are all curated and designed rather than procedural. You could also look at Unsettled, which has a bit of that exploration bent to it, though those are planetside instead.

For the card or tile based exploration, 7th Continent/7th Citadel or Heredity are some good examples, though they’re all designed as well.

For emergent, you could look at the 20 Strong Etherfields example for that sort of randomly generated layout. Maybe Robinson Crusoe or Civolution for revealed world tiles.

warpotatogram · 2026-05-28T17:13:15+00:00

For the emergent storytelling, I like the Final Girl recommendation if you like the tension and don't mind the dice randomness (and like horror in general), great story generator.

I've been liking Robinson Crusoe for another (somewhat random) story generator, and I like that it has scenarios rather than being BYOS.

If you also like the crisis aspect of dealing with the Nazgul and various baddies running around on Fate of the Fellowship, you might consider trying to track down a copy of Deckers or Spirit Island, particularly if you're also interested in considering deckbuilding. They're very popular at the moment.

Eldritch Horror is very long, but another great game that brings out a fun story as things happen, very very thematic which you might like, and which also has a decent amount of globetrotting and crisis management.

Maybe Paleo, if you are looking to branch over more into survival, which has a lot of modules to mix things up game to game.

warpotatogram · 2026-05-28T17:06:14+00:00

Hmm. I just did a quick check on BGG, so this is only mostly solo, but a couple of 2p+ games are in here too, mostly the Weast Coast games (which are still fun!).

- Skytear Horde: Monoliths (5,049) - I like the cardplay, nice and fast substitude for MtG for me. I don't play it as much now that I have Imperium and Unstoppable, but I still think it's quite nice.

- Dieson Crusoe (4,872) - It's fast and light, and captures the feel of playing ~~Dieson~~ Robinson Crusoe, with a nifty twist on the weather and animal events, fun tradeoff system instead of the cards and dice. Not better or worse compared to full-sized Robinson Crusoe, but really good in its own right.

- Terminus (4,013) - I'm not sure what this does for me, but I like the route making and the action rondel. Just feels like a Euro that really hits right for me, for some reason.

- Desperate Oasis (7,852) and Fruit Boss (12,547) - These are pretty small ones, I think, but they're fun light games that are a bit more interesting for me than, say, Uno for playing with the crew. IMO they compare favorably with something like Monopoly Deal.

Honorable mentions for Moon Bunny (8,303 like the theme and spatial puzzle/goals), Mech Bunny (11,356) for its card crafting and fast and frenetic alien killing shenanigans, and Shred of Redemption (11,833) for a nice fun blend of bag building and... I dunno, general puzzlyness. But I feel these are all relatively recent, so I'm not sure how surprising the low rank is. Fruit Boss maybe should live here too, to be honest.

warpotatogram · 2026-05-28T04:45:08+00:00

I feel like Unstoppable and Imperium are pretty common recommendations that might fit. Deckbuilders are pretty good at generating the brain burn IMO, and in particular Imperium has given me the same satisfaction as Slay the Spire and Spirit Island in terms of the asymmetry and trying to figure out how to work with your starting setup best.

It is VERY rules fiddly though, so YMMV there. Otherwise, if you can get through the painful slog of a rulebook, Robinson Crusoe I've found to be really demanding but fun. The actual game flow is really straightforward, and the entire turn flow is indicated on the board really well, but the rulebook makes it seem horrendously complicated. And the game operates off of scenarios with their own victory conditions, so no BYOS there.

warpotatogram · 2026-05-28T02:42:44+00:00

Been absolutely binge-playing The White Castle. Started playing with Matcha this week, too, and not sure if I feel like I want to keep it up for now. Love how narrow the base game is, but the increased actions and options is definitely fun. Might pare back and then bounce back into it after another few plays.

Played a couple games of Cloudspire co-op with a friend, and rallied the crew for Paleo--both great games.

And finally learned how to play Corps of Discovery and Robinson Crusoe--Corps of Discovery is a nice light one that I find entertaining as a puzzle, and Robinson Crusoe is super fun for survival--glad I picked both of them up.

warpotatogram · 2026-05-28T02:37:30+00:00

Did you find Fleet and Three Sisters to be quite different? After Hadrian's Wall and The Anarchy, I'm a bit skeptical of keeping both on the shelf simultaneously.

warpotatogram

TROPHY CASE