Top 5 Solo Games with Small Setup & Big Fun

Many of the best solo board games are huge, epic beasts, and they can be amazing--when you manage to table them. But sometimes you want a top solo board game experience in an easy to setup package. Here are several of my favorite.
Games mentioned:

0:00 intro
1:10 Honorable Mention
2:14 Game 5
3:55 Game 4
7:13 Game 3
12:08 Game 2
20:16 Game 1

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[SteveinJersey]

Just discovered your channel and I am REALLY impressed. Very thoughtful, insightful commentary and your solo game interests dovetail with what I've found to be compelling. So here's wishing you success in growing your excellent new channel and I look forward to seeing and hearing more!

[ronaldbell]

Excellent video. Sometimes you want to play a game but aren't up to a marathon.

[jamesmorgan]

Played Fliptown yesterday and For Northwood! today. Ha! Nice list!

[milesdurkee]

This started off as a five item list, but then I had five honorable mentions, so here are my 10 easy to set up games!

My honorable mention will be For Northwood since you already mentioned it!

10. On Tour (Yeah, you think it will be easy until you're cussing the dice.)
9. My City Roll and Write (Quick polyomino mini-campaign fun!)
8. Orchard/Grove/Forage (My second ever print-n-play!)
7. Ganz Schon Clever (Combo-tastic roll and write.)
6. Super Skill Pinball (I can hear the pinball sounds coming from the page.)
5. ROVE (Really really good puzzle that gives you a cartoon of your adventure when you're done!)
4. Longshot the Dice Game (It's crazy how close every race turns out!)
3. Sprawlopolis (My first PnP. This is where the addiction began.)
2. Maquis (Push your luck with goal oriented worker placement.)
1. Railroad Ink (This game is amazing! Such a crunchy puzzle! And cheap, unless you get every version and expansion like me.)

BTW, love the channel! Keep up the good work!

[pipsinspaaace]

Great list!! For Northwood was the first game I thought of when I saw this video. Other games that fall into the category for me are Marquis and The Lucky Seven.

[MrJmarzetti]

Definitely want to try some of these, thanks for sharing them. I haven't played a ton solo, but It's a Wonderful Kingdom is a fun one and is rather quick to table.

[Mussar]

Thank you again for your content. After your high praise for Fliptown I just got it. Thank you!

[MrG.]

Love to see a lot of games I didn’t see anywhere else. Others I like are Resist! (really thematic) and Sprawlopolis

[Deep_under_the_snow]

Mini Rogue, Ratcatcher, under the hostile sky, unbroken. I'm really into small solitaire games lately, also looking for more adventure style suggestions 😀

[Mussar]

Thank you for interesting content! I have found that Ganz Schon Clever is quick and easy to set up but yet ther eis a depth and satisfication with deciding where and how to allocate the results of your rolls I must have have played it a couple of hundred times. I am finding Cascadia is also starting to fit into this type of category as well as 3 \sisters \roll and write.

[jackrutter]

This is the perfect list for me! Between getting the kids to bed and eating dinner in the evenings, I rarely have time to pull out a big game. Or if I do, I'll leave it set up and play it over a number of days.

I also PnP'd Fliptown but ive not actually tried it, i will now though!

Games i have that would be in my list include Witchcraft!, Grove, and Skyteam.

[jcapo]

My favorite solos with easy set up are marvel united united, final girl (maybe, the set up can be weird of you aren't familliar), and 20 strong. 20 strong is spectacular and i can't wait for more content. I think more people should know about ir

[tfixpju]

I had the same concern with purchasing core box of Dungeon Pages & then purchasing the yearlong subscription, however, I think the core box is not included in the yearlong sub. That alone pushed me "over the edge" to purchase 😊. Thanks for this GREAT video. Love the List!

[SimpsonsRuleForever]

Thanks. Fliptown looks great. Yes on Dungeon Pages and Dangerous Space. Bought both year longs. Print on nice card stock and write with my Blackwing pencils!

[tzgardner]

12:17 There's also a similar game called Night Class from the same designer, Jason Greeno, that is Superhero themed.

[dovidmorris]

Star Realms Frontiers has solid solid play, and is an incredibly fast and easy deck builder. A bigger game with a super quick set up is Sentinels Of The Multiverse (Definitive Edition) you literally take out 5 separate premade decks, shuffle and done. The game itself is considered fiddly, however, but I don’t mind that.

[jonathanantscherl]

Probably aware but Fantasyforme - the spiritual sequel to Spaceshipped - building on the same mechanics but with a fantasy theme - is coming to KS in March from Buttonshy 👌 and yep Spaceshipped is a banger!

[samirjafri]

Wow! Love your list and your channel. You do a great job of presenting the games, and I agree with what you value in games. I will definitely be back for more content.

I have For Northwood, Regicide and Spaceshipped (and agree on all of them) and am close to getting Fliptown.

Other solo or solo mode games that fit this list (besides several other Button Shy games, of course)
- Cascadia (and now Cascadia Rolling...)
- Doppelt So Clever
- Maquis
- there is a PnP solo mode on BGG for Splendor Duel that is very good and free.
- also on BGG free PnP, 2023 in-hand game design winner Fungi of the Phalages Forest by Roshni Patel who has done other good games
- any of the Oniverse games
- Guild of Merchant Explorers which is just a flip and write with cubes and chits instead of a pen (you could put the maps in report sleeves and write)
- Black Sonata might be on this list if the KS ever fulfills (the PnP is too complicated to built for me).
- Orchard/Grove/Forage
- Dr. Steve Finn games (Herbaceous, Floriferous, Snowfall over the Mountains, Sunset over the Water, etc.)
- 20 Strong

Anyway, GREAT content!

Oh, and in contrast to this list, I just checked out A Feast for Odin from our local public library for the winder holidays to try for the first time. It is actually unplayed and unpunched. I look forward to learning it.

[PestiferousJoe]

Try Tin Helm a Gamecrafter game. Yes spend the money 😂. It super small, quick setup, replayability, and fast.

[sirguy]

Good video! It seems that Some solo games are more complicated than doing your taxes-