To some a board game designed for a single player seems odd. I tried describing the concept to a friend who looked at me as if I were speaking in some alien language. The mainstream idea of board games is still a group of people sitting around a table with dice and cards and having a good time together. The image of a person sitting alone at the dining room table quietly trying to beat the game’s preset mechanics is one most people have some trouble conjuring.
I became interested in solo games after my son was born. I don’t have as much liberty to spend time at friend’s houses and having raucous gaming parties at the house isn’t really doable either. Rather than go without I looked to games that can be played alone, me against the game, mano a juego. Soon the prospect of designing one of these games intrigued me. I began to imagine the differences in designing a game for one person and what those unique challenges may be.
To help me crack into the sub-genre of solo games I ran a survey for solo gamers to weigh in on the aspects of solo gaming that they enjoy. I also interviewed Morten Pedersen, designer of solo variants for Viticulture and the upcoming Between Two Cities. I have a lot of great information to share with you all so let’s get right into it!
Survey Results
Since the results in my player elimination article were such a hit I wanted to bring back the gamer survey to help me flesh out this topic. I had a great turnout with this one: 239 gamers filled out the survey! Let’s see what these solo game players think about the genre.
Probably not surprising to most, but gamers look for a solo experience between 1 and 2 times a week, if not less. While these types of games may not be the main attraction in a gamer’s week there is still a very larger group that play at least 1 solo game a week.
Right off the bat I saw an issue with the results of this question. It didn’t even occur to me that players would want a solo game experience to last more than 30 minutes. So while we don’t have a granular look at the actual duration of these games players prefer, we know that they are more interested in longer games than shorter ones. Taking a look at the titles people listed as games they enjoyed, I can infer that there is a substantial portion of the population here looking for solo experiences up to and above an hour.
With almost 240 people filling out surveys I got a lot of responses for which games players did and did not enjoy; all told there were 201 unique games listed! Topping the Enjoyable charts was Mage Knight (68 responses), Friday (48 responses), and Robinson Crusoe (45 responses). I’m a huge fan of Friday and Onirim, so I was pleased to see those games held in such high regard. I’ve never tried Mage Knight, but after these results how can I not go buy it immediately!
As before I combined these two lists to create one chart of enjoyability. This was especially helpful this time around since the number of responses in the Not Enjoyable category were relatively low, making that chart less than interesting. However, when combined, the top list changed a little.
Eldritch Horror actually sneaks into the number one spot with a 97% Enjoyability. Although Mage Knight had it beat in raw Enjoyable votes, when factoring in the ratio of Enjoyable to Not Enjoyable votes, EH comes out just ahead. Other games at the top of this chart include Lord of the Rings LCG (94%), Elder Sign (93%), and Gears of War (93%). I was also happy to see Harbour on this list. I think we all know how I feel about Harbour at this point.
Types of Solo Games
Let’s dig a little deeper into the genre of solo games starting with the three major categories. First there are games designed entirely for solo play. A popular example of this type is Friday. The game is a strictly solo experience where the player tries to complete the objectives of the game while fighting the mechanics and rules.
Next we have cooperative games that allow the player to play alone or take control of all of the players at the same time. Some of the time these games have special rules for playing alone but most can be played by following the same rules and playing all the roles of the game. An example of this is Pandemic. By using the same rules one player can operate four different characters but play towards the exact same goals.
Finally there are competitive games that have solo variants that allow the player to get the experience of the full game without the need for additional humans. A recent example of this type is Harbour. Another player is emulated by the use of a Training Dummy, a player card that gives you the “order of operations” for his turn. The Dummy will always perform a set of prescribed actions based on the current game state and, despite that predictability, plays the game very well.
Why Gamers Game Alone
Not surprisingly people play solo games because they like them. Also fairly intuitive is the fact that people tend to play games alone when they can’t get their regular group together. What was interesting to me, combined with the results from the game duration question above, was that very few people play solo games because they’re short on time. Gamers still enjoy investing a good chunk of time into a game even if they are alone.
While not a true “type” of solo games in my mind there’s another reason gamers play games by themselves: to learn the rules before playing with a group. These players are not looking to enjoy the game, per se, but rather run through the game alone so they have a better understanding they can pass along when it is time to play the game with other people.
Playing with Yourself
Onirim by Z-Man Games
So what makes for a good solo experience? Most game mechanics can be used in this setting: resource collecting, worker placement, card drafting. What doesn’t translate very well is mechanics that rely on other players. A secret hand of cards is less interesting in a solo game because there is no one to hide it from. If the other “player” in a solo game makes a choice it is usually based on a predetermined set of rules without gut-based decision making.
The rules for a solo game also need to be easy to remember. As the only human the player must remember and enforce all of the rules of the game. While most players may expect this amount of mental work it wouldn’t hurt for you to design your solo experience to be as intuitive as possible and then fill in any gaps with easy-to-use references either in the rule book or on game cards.
When working on a solo game designers will often find that the inherent randomness associated with human players is hard to replace. This is one game element that designers don’t usually have to “put” in the box. If plays are coming up a little flat or predictable try using a randomizer like dice or a deck of cards.
“A common mechanic is having a deck of event cards from which the player draws one each turn. This deck can be completely random or it can have some structure e.g. be divided into three subdecks corresponding to three acts in the game as in several games in the States of Siege series, such as We Must Tell the Emperor. A setup like that allows random variation while still having an overall story arc.” – Morten Pedersen
Creating Engaging Solo Experiences
As with any game design there needs to be a goal the player is striving for and some kind of opposition standing in the way. This can come in many forms, chief among them being other players. In a competitive game you need only set up the system and let the players get in each other’s way. For a solo game you don’t have that luxury but there are ways to create this tension for a single player.
“When trying to simulate human opponents I consider which major effects the opponents have on you. Then I try to mimic just those effects and abstract everything else away.” – Morten Pedersen
You could easily create a “bot” player that has prescribed actions for the player to play and also play against. This is the go-to for most competitive games looking to add a solo mode. The danger here is the solo version may feel a bit tacked on and not as engaging as a wholly designed solo experience. If creating a simulated player doesn’t sound engaging or doesn’t fit your game idea, Morten gives a couple alternative approaches for creating obstacles for the player to overcome.
- Engage a series of enemies: Think of this like tower defense. The enemies aren’t incredibly difficult by themselves but the endless waves of them becomes a challenge. Look for this in games like Friday or Castle Panic.
- Achieve a set of objectives: Their isn’t any direct confrontation here, but rather a series of missions the player must accomplish in a set time frame. Examples include Maquis and Onirim.
Designing Solo Variants
Viticulture by Stonemaier Games
My biggest question for Morten was about his work creating solo variants for other games. Morten, whose past designs include the solo expansion for Viticulture, describes his process of simply getting involved with the game during the early phases of the Kickstarter. He sent rules questions and clarifications in to Stonemaier Games, generally fostering a relationship with the team designing the game. Eventually he was tapped by Jamey Stegmaier to created the solo version.
In my experience so far most designers are very welcoming when it comes to solo variants. Creating solo experiences isn’t for everyone and if they can find another designer to partner with who is well-versed in solo design, they’ll most likely jump at the chance. If you’d like to try out this method of design make sure you get connected with the designer first. This should be an organic process, not you trying to “sell” them your design.
Final Thoughts
After a survey, an interview, and a lot of exposition on the topic, here are my big take-aways for designers looking to craft an amazing experience for the solo gamer:
- Don’t skimp on the game: Solo gamers aren’t necessarily looking for quick and simple games. They still expect a substantial game experience, just one they can play alone.
- Be smart about adding solo play: Not all games will benefit from a solo experience and players will definitely notice if it feels “tacked on”. Make sure the solo game meshes with your game’s theme and overall mechanics.
- Create engaging opposition: Maybe even more so than traditional games, solo gamers crave the challenge. Make sure your game has elements that test the player either by simulating other humans or creating unique obstacles for the player to tackle.
- Solo variants add value to your game: Whether your game is competitive or cooperative adding rules for solo play can increase your games appeal. This is also an opportunity to partner with another designer to make sure both experiences are well made.
Big Thanks Incoming
Kudos to Morten for helping me with an amazing interview. If you’d like to read more, Morten has been writing a solo game blog on BoardGameGeek since early 2013. There is a wealth of knowledge there about his experiences designing and playing solo games. You can find Morten’s free PnP game Endless Nightmare on BoardGameGeek and his solo variant for Viticulture in the Tuscany expansion. Also make sure to look for Morten’s upcoming solo variant in Between Two Cities by Stonemaier Games. It recently funded on Kickstarter and with any luck will be in retail stores by the end of the year.
As always this article wouldn’t be possible without the amazing gamers who took the time to fill out the survey. Here is a list of those gamers who opted into a little public gratitude:
@1stnGoalLeague | adawg85 | Alana (ceraphimfalls) | alogicalfallacy | Apollo Melo | aredash | billgrant | biohazard930 | @BitterCommish | captain | Chris Chiu | Chris S. | Clayton @ Laboratory | Connor McGuire | Deirdre Scolardi | dophin26 | Eugene Shenderov | Gannon J | gray81 | highspeed | Janos Meszaros | Jorgisimo | Joseph Lee | Kevin Wadzinski | Konicki | LH99 | longlivesquare | @maggibot | mankelor | Matt Ball | meh | MRSA_Major | Nolto | Pamela Collins | ralsar | raythe3rd | @robindavid_dice | Ryno Lourens | sneckster | Steve D | SteveCC | subaruchan | @tatertot18 | Tom Wright | Travisdhill | TyrelUK | warboel | wildinferno
What’s Next?
I love running surveys and interviewing designers about mechanics and game types, but I want to know what you would like to learn about. Let me know in the comments what kinds of games, mechanics, components, or anything else you’d like to know about. I’ll use your feedback in upcoming articles. Thanks for reading!