Best Solo Board Games: Adventures You Can Experience Alone!
It’s not always easy to gather a group to play, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on fun. Solo board games prove that you can challenge yourself, explore amazing worlds, and face relentless enemies, all without needing company.
These games are designed or adapted for players who want to immerse themselves in rich stories, test strategies, and enjoy intense tabletop experiences on their own.
Below, we’ve listed some of the top titles for anyone who loves playing solo and wants to turn every session into an epic journey.
Terraforming Mars
- Number of players: 1 - 5
- Play time: 120 minutes
- Recommended age: 12+
In Terraforming Mars, you lead a corporation responsible for transforming the Red Planet into a new home for humanity. Your goal is to increase oxygen levels, temperature, and ocean coverage before time runs out.
In solo mode, the game becomes a true race against the clock. Each generation, you must balance investments in technology, infrastructure, and environmental projects while staying focused on efficiency.
What makes this game fascinating is its production engine, a system of cards and effects that connect like gears. The satisfaction comes from watching your scientific empire grow as Mars slowly comes to life.
It’s a cerebral and rewarding challenge that rewards long-term planning and strategic foresight.
Marvel Champions: The Card Game
- Number of players: 1 - 4
- Play time: 45 - 90 minutes
- Recommended age: 14+
In Marvel Champions: The Card Game, you take on the role of an iconic Marvel hero such as Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, or Black Panther, and face legendary villains like Ultron, Rhino, or Thanos.
The game uses a card-based system where you build your hero’s deck, combining powers, equipment, and allies to defeat the enemy before they complete their evil scheme.
In solo mode, the challenge becomes even more intense. You must balance your hero’s two sides (superhero and civilian), switching between fighting the villain and recovering from damage.
The pace is dynamic and cinematic, with each turn feeling like an action scene straight out of a Marvel movie. With endless customization options, it’s perfect for players who enjoy tactical depth and heroic storytelling.
Elder Sign
- Number of players: 1 - 8
- Play time: 60 - 90 minutes
- Recommended age: 13+
Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Elder Sign casts you as investigators trying to prevent a cosmic entity from awakening and destroying the world.
The game combines luck, through dice rolls, with meaningful choices. Each museum location presents challenges requiring specific results, and it’s up to you to decide which missions to tackle and which items to use to improve your odds.
When playing solo, you control multiple investigators, creating a tense and immersive experience. Every failure advances the ancient one’s awakening, while every success brings relief.
It’s a race against time filled with tough decisions and that unique touch of psychological horror that only Lovecraft’s universe can provide.
Mage Knight
- Number of players: 1 - 4
- Play time: 150 minutes
- Recommended age: 14+
Widely regarded as one of the best solo board games ever made, Mage Knight blends exploration, deck-building, combat, and resource management into an epic adventure.
You control a powerful warrior-mage exploring a vast empire. Each turn, you use cards to move, attack, recruit units, and conquer cities. These cards represent both your actions and your energy, forcing careful decisions about how and when to use them.
In solo mode, the game becomes a deep journey of discovery. You’ll need to optimize every move, face dangerous enemies, collect artifacts, and expand your power.
It’s strategic, challenging, and highly rewarding; a true test of logic and foresight where every choice shapes your story. For fans of long campaigns and intellectual challenges, it’s an absolute masterpiece.
Sentinels of the Multiverse
- Number of players: 1 - 5
- Play time: 45 - 60 minutes
- Recommended age: 13+
Sentinels of the Multiverse is a cooperative card game where heroes face off against villains in cinematic, fast-paced battles.
Each hero has a unique themed deck that reflects their fighting style, with characters specializing in offense, support, healing, or control. The villain uses an automated deck that generates escalating challenges and unpredictable effects.
In solo mode, you control multiple heroes at once, creating synergies between abilities and powers. It’s like assembling your own team of Avengers, with exciting tactical decisions every turn.
Games are quick, full of surprises, and packed with epic moments. It’s ideal for players who want the thrill of commanding a superhero team in intense combat without needing a group.
Arkham Horror: The Card Game
- Number of players: 1 - 2
- Play time: 60 - 120 minutes
- Recommended age: 14+
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is one of the most immersive tabletop experiences ever created. It combines deck-building mechanics with a campaign-driven narrative to create a truly interactive story.
You play as an investigator confronting supernatural forces and sanity-shattering mysteries. Each session represents a chapter in a larger campaign where your choices and outcomes directly shape the ongoing narrative.
In solo mode, the game truly shines. The tension is constant, and every decision, whether exploring a location, attempting a skill test, or spending a resource, carries real weight.
It’s more than just a game; it’s a narrative experience. Perfect for those who enjoy dark atmospheres, challenging gameplay, and stories that evolve uniquely with every playthrough.
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Scythe
- Number of players: 1 - 5
- Play time: 90 - 120 minutes
- Recommended age: 14+
Scythe is a strategy game set in an alternate 1920s Europe where massive mechanical war machines, known as mechs, roam lands scarred by conflict. In solo mode, you face an automated opponent called the Automa, which skillfully replicates the behavior of a real player.
Your goal is to expand your faction, claim territories, produce resources, and achieve prosperity before the Automa dominates the map. The action system is fluid and requires consistent planning, as every choice affects the game’s progression and determines which options will be available in future turns.
Solo mode captures the same pace and tension as the multiplayer experience. The Automa applies constant pressure with aggressive and unpredictable moves, pushing you to think strategically every round. It’s a mix of area control, resource management, and technological advancement delivered in an elegant and challenging design.
Scythe is perfect for players who want a deep strategic experience with rewarding planning and a constant sense of progress and accomplishment.
Friday
- Number of players: 1
- Play time: 25 minutes
- Recommended age: 10+
Friday is a classic solo deck-building game where you play as Friday, the loyal companion of Robinson Crusoe, helping him survive on a dangerous island filled with challenges.
The game is entirely card-based and plays out as a journey of improvement. At first, Robinson is clumsy and inefficient, but as the game progresses, you refine your deck by removing weak cards and strengthening the useful ones. The ultimate goal is to endure all the island’s dangers and be ready to face the pirates at the end of the game.
The rules are simple, but the decisions are surprisingly deep. Each round forces you to decide whether to risk drawing another card to overcome the challenge or to accept defeat and use the setback to improve your deck.
Friday is quick, clever, and addictive. Watching Robinson evolve from a hapless castaway into a capable survivor is immensely satisfying.
Fields of Fire
- Number of players: 1
- Play time: 180 - 240 minutes
- Recommended age: 14+
Fields of Fire is a complex and highly immersive military simulation designed specifically for solo play. You command an infantry company across various historical campaigns such as World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
The game uses a card-driven system to represent terrain, tactical orders, and enemy activity. Each mission requires careful analysis of the battlefield and realistic decision-making, including when to attack, retreat, call for air support, or reorganize your troops.
It’s a demanding game that rewards patience and strategic thinking. The rulebook is extensive and requires commitment, but once you understand the system, the immersion is exceptional. You feel the weight of command and the chaos of battle with every decision.
Fields of Fire is a rich and authentic experience, ideal for players who seek realism, depth, and the satisfaction of leading a full-scale military campaign on the tabletop.
Deep Space D-6
- Number of players: 1
- Play time: 30 minutes
- Recommended age: 10+
Deep Space D-6 is a science fiction survival game where you are the captain of a starship on a perilous mission. Your objective is to withstand alien attacks, malfunctions, and hazardous events until you complete your mission and return home safely.
Each die represents a crew member, such as an engineer, tactician, scientist, medic, or command officer. Every round, you roll the dice, face new threats, and must balance the chaos aboard your ship with the need to keep it operational.
The mechanics are simple yet packed with tension. A single poorly planned turn can trigger a cascade of failures that threaten your entire crew. You have to decide whether to attack enemies, repair systems, heal the crew, or manage emergencies before it’s too late.
Deep Space D-6 is fast, strategic, and immersive. It’s an excellent choice for players who want a tense, cinematic solo experience that feels like a gripping sci-fi episode.
Gloomhaven
- Number of players: 1 - 4
- Play time: 60 - 150 minutes
- Recommended age: 14+
Gloomhaven is a tactical fantasy adventure played through an interconnected campaign that can be enjoyed solo or cooperatively. You lead a team of mercenaries battling enemies, uncovering secrets, and progressing through an evolving story.
Each scenario presents a strategic puzzle where you select two ability cards each turn but can only perform one action from each. This limitation creates meaningful tactical decisions and makes every move count.
In solo mode, the experience becomes even more focused and strategic. You control two or more characters and must coordinate their abilities to overcome challenging encounters. The campaigns are long, filled with rewards, character progression, and plenty of surprises.
Gloomhaven offers one of the most complete solo experiences available. It combines smart combat mechanics, narrative depth, and total immersion in a unique fantasy world.
Gaia Project
- Number of players: 1 to 4
- Play time: 60 - 150 minutes
- Recommended age: 12+
Gaia Project, the spiritual successor to Terra Mystica, is one of the most sophisticated and challenging eurogames available. You lead a spacefaring civilization seeking to expand across the galaxy by terraforming planets and advancing your technologies.
The gameplay revolves around managing resources and energy, and every decision requires precision and foresight. You must balance expansion, scientific progress, and economic growth to achieve galactic supremacy.
In solo mode, the game uses the Automa Factory system, which simulates an intelligent and unpredictable virtual opponent. This AI keeps the competition sharp and creates a constant sense of urgency, forcing you to adapt your strategy throughout the game.
Gaia Project is a cerebral and deeply strategic experience, ideal for players who enjoy long-term planning, precise decision-making, and the rewarding challenge of mastering a complex system.
Conclusion
Solo board games prove that fun doesn’t depend on having company. All it takes is a good challenge and the willingness to dive into a new story.
From heroic battles to distant worlds, through dark mysteries and epic conquests, these games deliver complete and memorable experiences.
Whether you want to relax, test your strategic mind, or lose yourself in a new universe, there’s always a tabletop adventure waiting for you.
Now tell us: which of these games will be your next solo journey?
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