Alright, 2025, here we go! It seems to become an annual tradition that I post a recommendation list for solo games (see 2024, 2023) and using the lull before Essen kicks off in October seems to be a good time for it. Of course a lot of new games will still come out in 2025 after I post this, but as an annual snapshot rather than a “best of year” list, I guess August is as good a time as any.
New-ish Games That I Enjoyed
These are games that either came out in the last 12 months or at least I got my hands on them for the first time in that timespan.
Kingdom Legacy: Distant Lands: Let’s kick things off with the first “big box” (=non booster pack format) expansion for last year’s hit Kingdom Legacy: Feudal Kingdom. In this solo only game, you’ll play cards as resources to then use the resources to upgrade other cards, either by rotate/flipping them or stickering them. As time goes on, you’ll develop your kingdom and decide if you want to focus your efforts on having more knights or discover that land behind those mounts over there. What the base game managed to achieve in emergent narrative without any text is quite astonishing.
The expansion not only managed to extend the experience of the base game without the deck becoming unwieldy large but also added a sort of story arc / narrative that the booster-sized expansions lacked. I was really impressed in how Distant Lands managed to capture the perils and emotional torment of crossing oceans to reach new land. In contrast, the final act of fighting / befriending the native population felt a bit odd to me. But overall, it was still a great experience I plan on repeating a few more times in the future (by using removable post-its instead of the included stickers).
Railways of the Lost Atlas was a positive surprise for me this year, especially when I found out that one of the designers started developing an official solo mode. It’s a lovingly made production in the 18xx train game genre, so players are buying and selling stocks, laying tracks, and trying to earn the most money. Part of the “fun” is that trains rust (=get obsolete) and you can do things like dumping a dysfunctional company onto another player who then has to save it with their private capital. It can get pretty mean.
Especially for someone like me who never really felt that comfortable in an 18xx environment having a solo mode is great. It’s a safe space to explore and get comfortable with the system. While still in development, the solo mode already works really well and the dynamic map building creates the infinite replayability that a lot of solo modes are missing. If the upcoming expansion’s content will be compatible with the solo mode, that might make RotLA even worth a purchase for solo alone!
Tokyo Highway: Rainbow City: Another surprise was that the updated version of dexterity game Tokyo Highway, in which players build daring constructions to have their streets cross over or under their opponents streets or touch certain buildings. I didn’t really see how someone could have done a solo mode for it, but it works quite well. It’s just a small deck of cards that limits the human player’s choices of how to build while having to build with all four colours at the same time and maximise their scoring. It’s quite a lot of fun.
Unfortunately, due to poor communication during the campaign, it wasn’t clear for many backers that one had to add the solo mode explicitly after backing and so many—me included—missed out on it. As far as I know, it was never released as a print and play, but copies of the solo mode have shown up in retail here and there and I was able to get one that way. I wouldn’t recommend getting Tokyo Highway: Rainbow City purely for solo, but having the solo mode is great to get this lovely dexterity game to the table more often.
Heat: Tunnel Vision: No surprise was that the release of the second expansion for Heat: Pedal to the Metal would bring Heat back to my table. In Heat, players race around one of multiple tracks and after usually only 2-3 rounds of course try to be the first. The trick is how to spend and regain Heat, the game’s currency, to be able to go faster or shift more aggressive than others. The automa-based solo mode is super easy to administer and works really, really well.
Tunnel Vision follows the same formula as the previous expansion Heavy Rain in that it provides two new tracks, components for an additional player, and a couple of new mechanisms/symbols. As such, having Tunnel Vision didn’t feel as revolutionary as the base game itself or when its first expansion arrived. Still, Heat remains amazing as a solo game, and so I had a good time with the new expansion as well. I have to note though that having 8 racers on the track felt a bit cramped. I don’t think I would want to race with more cars.
Behold Rome: One game I’ve only recently started getting into but still want to highlight is “Behold: Rome”. Within just 18 cards, designer Joe Klipfel has packed what feels almost like a portable heavy game. It’s a meaty 1h+ experience where over 12 rounds the solo player rotates/flips cards to upgrade them, which might sound like Palm Island or Kingdom Legacy. Behold Rome though is much more of a nail biter! There never seems to be enough of anything. Not enough resources to play cards, not enough controlled territory to produce sufficient quantities of resources, not enough power to conquer new lands, not enough prosperity to combat unrest, not enough time to achieve the things you want, and definitely not enough VP to beat the nation you are rivaling. Where Kingdom Legacy has an amazing flow and quick easy decisions that have a long term effect, here each small decision is agonising and I often find myself thinking about a single move for a few minutes.
Behold: Rome can initially be a bit frustrating though and I still haven’t won a single game. I still have to figure out how satisfying it will be in the long term, but it definitely is a great challenge and there are four different rival nations with different scoring criteria to beat.
To wrap this section up, I want to highlight two fan-made solo modes I’ve enjoyed this year. One is for economic-tile-puzzler Pipeline (featuring an automa called Ludwig), the other for the 2p tug of war Rival Cities (which I designed myself). Both aren’t quite on the level that I would recommend the base games for solo-only play, but they made for a great addition for occasional playing these amazing games when no other players are available.
Interesting, But I’m Not In Love So Far
This section features games where I felt they worked well as solo experiences, but for one reason or the other they didn’t quite grab me so far. But they might with more plays …
Leaving Earth: One of my favourite new discoveries this year is space race simulator Leaving Earth. I rarely call a game thematic, but gosh, if this isn’t it, I don’t know what is! Players need to calculate flight plans to explore the planets in our solar system, return samples, or get the first human into space, all in a race against time as only the first player to achieve a certain goal can claim it’s VP. It’s not easy to get to the table because of all the mental arithmetic required (which will dissuade a lot of players), but I still think it’s a blast. As a solo game though the race aspect is missing (or rather replaced with a race against time instead of others) and it becomes more of a pure efficiency / risk mitigation game. While many prefer this, I like the “alright, let’s wing it” kind of rush when trying to get somewhere before another players does … and inevitably having things go up in flames when rushing things a bit too much. Right now, I’m slowly integrating expansion content to see if that will improve the solo experience for me. If not, I guess I’ll have to design my own solo mode.
Roads & Boats: I definitely haven’t played Roads & Boats as much solo as I had wanted since last year’s list, but the sandbox nature of it starts to grow on me. Somehow moving all those transporters around and timing production has a calming influence when playing solo, much in contrast to the “nothing is safe” attitude of the multiplayer experience. One thing I don’t like about the solo scenarios is that most of them don’t utilise the et cetera expansion content and are limited to 20 turns only. As a result, it always feels like part of the tech tree remains under-utilised. On the positive side though, there are lots of fan made scenarios out there and of course the Scenario Book 1. Over in the BGG forums, someone also posted a new variant that introduces progressive map discovery and variable goals. Anyway, R&B remains one of those games that I to rarely pick off the shelf but whenever I do I’m having fun with it.
Tranquility – The Ascent: I still remain fond of this co-op/solo card game. In it, players co-operatively play numbered cards to build a mount, symbolising climbing it. The trick is that players have to discard cards when the numbers of neighbouring cards don’t share the same number and the card decks of each player are the time of the game.
It’s a nice, chill little puzzle that I enjoy getting to the table from time to time. Its only downside is that it feels like a solved puzzle for me by now after playing it so much. Therefore I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the freshly announced Tranquility the Descent.
Rove: This is another 18 card solo-only game, this time from publisher Button Shy who’s famous for their 18 card format. In Rove, the player uses a limited amount of action cards to bring modules into a prescribed pattern, with each module having a certain way of moving and a one-time use power. Haven’t play it much so far, but feels quite nifty!
I think this might be my favourite Button Shy game I have tried so far. Sprawlopolis was amazing in the beginning but lost its appeal on repeated play for me quite quickly, even when adding expansion modules. Looking forward to try this more, but somehow other games always seem more appealing to bring to the table.
Molly House: Ricky Royal once again created an official solo mode for a Wehrlegig game. I still think John Company 2nd Edition’s solo mode is his best work I’ve seen so far, but the one in Molly House works quite well as well. In Molly House, players act as members of a—the BGG description calls it gender-defying—community in 17th/18th century London. It’s a game about taking risks in the pursuit of joy, represented here primarily by collecting and playing cards to form patterns with other players (e.g. a jack plus a 3-4-5). The room for interpretation and thematic integration is quite astonishing: from players exacting revenge because others didn’t include them, to players trying to foster their community, gossip and raids, up to prosecution and the death penalty, Molly House manages to integrate a lot of aspects of this complex part of history. I put Molly House in this section because I haven’t relayed played it solo much so far. I’ve more enjoyed it as a 2p (or more) experience, but that’s not due to any fault of the solo mode.
Stamp Swap: This is sort of an honourable mention. I’ve re-sold my copy of Stamp Swap by now, but I was surprised how well the solo mode worked for what essentially is a three round I-cut-you-choose game. In Stamp Swap, players draft beautifully illustrated stamps (=cardboard tiles) to then create two piles. When another player picks one of their piles to add to their collection, the creator of the piles gets the other one. There are some additional mechanism build on top of it, but overall it’s rather light.
The solo mode is a clever piece of design, but Stamp Swap was just too light for my taste. I wish there would have been more to it, perhaps more rounds to make it a meatier experience and going for certain strategies would bring more of a pay off.
Galileo Galilei: I enjoyed this because of its theme, the amazing artwork, and the smooth Euro-combo goodness. While it doesn’t have that one aspect that would make go “wow, we have to play this”, it’s just super pleasant to play. The solo mode also worked well but suffered from the same issues as the base game: after a while, it just feels like a solved problem. There seems to be one way how to approach the inquisitors and few alternate paths to explore in this game. As a result, I nowadays only get this out to play multiplayer and only if we are in the right mood. I really hope the announced expansion will breath new live into Galileo Galileo for me so I will get it more to the table again.
Sol: Last Days of a Star: This is another honourable mention. In Sol, players try to harvest energy from the sun before it explodes. It’s a game of share infrastructure, changing special effects, and clever positional play. The solo scenarios/puzzles in Sol worked really well in teaching me as a new player different strategies that I could utilise in the multiplayer game. But the multiplayer experience is such a blast and the number of solo scenarios limited, and so I quickly stopped playing this solo. I put it here because you should take a serious look at Sol anyway, and having a nice solo mode is only a bonus.
Wish I had Played Them Again, But Didn’t
There were some games I really enjoyed playing solo in the past, but for one reason or the other I just didn’t this time. But when I created this list, part of me really wished I had, which I guess also speaks to their quality:
I, Napoleon: I think the main reason why I didn’t play this historic “which choice would you take?” game is that I’m unconsciously waiting for the expansion to get released. With a playtime of 1-4h (depending on how soon you die), it’s a bit of a commitment and I had other games occupy my couch table whenever I was in a mood for a game that I would leave on the table for a couple of days, do the occasional move here and there. Still, looking forward to playing this again.
Dune Imperium: I bought the Bloodlines expansion this year but noticed the other day how I didn’t have a single solo play of DI in the last months. I played it multiplayer a few times and greatly enjoyed it, but I guess my curiosity in the new expansion content wasn’t that big that I would get it out solo for that. Still, really good solo mode and a game that always presents new challenges and opportunities. If I wouldn’t have so many other games that also want to get played, I’d probably play this solo all the time.
Sleeping Gods & SG: Distant Skies: For a while now, I have this idea in my head of replaying Distant Skies and then coming back to the original Sleeping Gods to finally write a review about it. I’ve played so many campaigns of the original, did an interview with Ryan about it, but I actually never wrote about the original Sleeping Gods! Still a fun project I will do someday, but not in the middle of summer when the sun is shining.
If you haven’t heard about Sleeping Gods, it can best be described as a choose-your-own-adventure book type game with an added map, resources, and combat system. A campaign takes about 8-10h and the game is fully resettable. There is so much content in the box, that I’ve by now played 8 or so campaigns and still haven’t discovered a lot of things.
John Company 2nd Edition: Same story as with Dune Imperium. I managed to play it multiplayer, but not really solo. Every time I do though, I have a great time. So it’s also on my list of games to get back to the table soon. In John Company, players represent families who use their influence in the East India Company for personal enrichment. What I really like about this game is how what happens always feels fresh, new events and constellations arise all the time. The amazing part is that this game is all about player interaction and negotiation, and still the solo mode manages to create a satisfying solo experience. Always happy to play, solo or otherwise.
Horseless Carriage: And finally one of my favourites to play solo (using the solo mode I designed) that also didn’t see the table much in the last 12 months. Not really sure why, again probably because so many other new games came in. Every time I see the box, I think “damn, I need to get this to the table again”! And every time I do, I’m having a great time. But be warned, this game isn’t for everyone.
In Horseless Carriage, players build factories and manipulate markets so they can earn the most money selling cars that customers want and hopefully no one else can produce. It’s a complete brain burner, both spatially as well as in long term influencing potential customers so you’re the only one who can fulfil their demands.
This Year’s Not-For-Me
Same as last time, here are also the games for which I tried the solo mode but it didn’t work for me:
- Leviathan Wild, Tidal Blades 2, Turncoats (fan made), Bus (fan made): solo mode worked nicely, but the co-op experience was so much more enjoyable that I stopped playing it solo.
- Tycoon India 1981, New Cold War: the automa had some serious flaws and I stopped playing them solo.
- House of Fado, Kartini, Creature Caravan: Fun for a bit, but lacks reason to play again. Would play multiplayer though.
- Galactic Cruise, Daitoshi, Coffee Rush, Smartphone Inc, Shackleton Base: Base game was okay but didn’t manage to hold my interest, so solo didn’t have much of a chance either. Played solo 2-3 times and then re-sold.
- Sammu-Ramat, Peacemakers, Aelderman, Wondrous Creatures, Civolution, Through Ice & Snow, Freedom!, Gloomhaven Button & Bugs: Game itself wasn’t for me, regardless of solo or not.
Looking Back
Looking over the complete list, I did manage to try out more solo modes than I had thought! What stood out for me in 2025 is that there hasn’t been any one single game that I’ve been particularly obsessed with for solo. And that’s not for want of choice: Many games nowadays come with a solo mode in the box or if not, someone in the community creates one. But most new releases are lacking that thing that would make me want to come back to them over and over again. It also shows that a lot of designers aren’t solo players themselves. Solo modes still often feel like an add-on that’s there because customers expect it rather than something someone felt passionate about.
I’m still a fan of mini-campaigns that mix up the rules (like in the Anno 1800 expansion) because those give momentum go keep playing. Or some form of variable power or characteristic for the automa (e.g. Maracaibo) so the human player has to face a different challenge all the time. Hopefully we’ll see more of these in the future. I wouldn’t bet on it though. I get the feeling people play less and less solo and many players have also reduced the number of new games they purchase in favour of “older” classics. With tariffs, economic pressures, and many other woes, that’s hardly surprising. So the incentive for a designer / publisher to spend a lot of time developing a great solo mode has likely gone down.
I kind of like Railways of the Lost Atlas model: package a solo mode for an already proven game with new expansion content. If the game is already known to be great, having a solo mode as an option only makes it better. Perhaps the decreased willingness to spend on new games will also encourage more fan made solo modes. We’ll see. Either way, there are already tons of great solo games out there to play. Hopefully this list inspired you to pick one of the mentioned games up and if not, check out previous years list!
What’s been your favourite solo experience this year? Let me know in the comments!