If you go for Shadowrun: Crossfire, make sure to get the first expansion Shadowrun: High Caliber Ops, because it makes the solo game so much better – mostly due to the new missions it provides. Freefire for all is my favorite to play solo, much more fun than the crossfire one from the base game. And the game rocks as a solo game and as a coop game. You really have to coordinate your actions to really get through the cruel world. The theme itself is only pasted on, though, so don’t expect any RPG feel, it’s mostly just pictures and single lines of flavor text.

Xenoshyft in it’s two incarnations would be another option, I found the Onslaught box a damn good coop deckbuilder, you really did work together in that one. Didn’t like it’s long setup, though, so traded it away, especially since I would mostly play it solo, and it isn’t that great when played solo.

If you go for Shadowrun: Crossfire, make sure to get the first expansion Shadowrun: High Caliber Ops, because it makes the solo game so much better – mostly due to the new missions it provides. Freefire for all is my favorite to play solo, much more fun than the crossfire one from the base game. And the game rocks as a solo game and as a coop game. You really have to coordinate your actions to really get through the cruel world. The theme itself is only pasted on, though, so don’t expect any RPG feel, it’s mostly just pictures and single lines of flavor text.

Xenoshyft in it’s two incarnations would be another option, I found the Onslaught box a damn good coop deckbuilder, you really did work together in that one. Didn’t like it’s long setup, though, so traded it away, especially since I would mostly play it solo, and it isn’t that great when played solo.

A game I really liked for traveling is Valley of the Kings – a compact deck builder with some nice twists. And it is cheap. Solo rules included, but not the most fanciest – but there is a nicer solo variant on Boardgamegeek for this.

Our current travel favorite is Red7, which playes 2-4. Sadly no solo rules available for it. It gives a bit the feel of a “classic” card game like Uno, but with much more depth and variation – and the game play is build in different stages, so you can decide what complexety level you want.

Aside from that, Innovation (already mentioned) is a good one, too. And there are quite decent solo rules on Boardgamegeek again. It is a bit more expensive than the other two, though. Kinda a civ builder with tons of unique cards with powers, very comborific in play.

Oh my Goods would be another one in the cheaper department and again, good solo rules on Boardgamegeek (or even better solo rules in the expansion, but I don’t know if that is available, as I think it was something only sold at Essen). It is a classic engine builder, feeling a bit like San Juan (which btw can be repackaged to be travel-worthy, too, so would be another candidate).

Another long-time favorite of us that might be a bit more expensive would be Paperback, which can be repackaged into a standard deck box for 100+ cards (at least if unsleeved) and plays great 2-5 and the coop variant can be played solo, too. Again a deck builder, but in this case you build words to score and letters have superpowers.

And then there is Guns & Steel and it’s expansion, which work great for travels, too. Sadly no solo play. Hand building with some really cool features and a very small deck of cards. Very tight design.

A last one – a bit more expensive and maybe harder to get, but perfect for travel due to it’s sturdy components – is The Duke, a two-player-only game which resembles a really crazy variant of chess. Pieces have movements printed directly on them, but are double-sided and flip on each move, so the threat-pattern is constantly changing. Pieces are wooden blocks and a smallish board, all very solid and can be easily played wherever you have a flat surface of moderate dimensions.

A game I really liked for traveling is Valley of the Kings – a compact deck builder with some nice twists. And it is cheap. Solo rules included, but not the most fanciest – but there is a nicer solo variant on Boardgamegeek for this.

Our current travel favorite is Red7, which playes 2-4. Sadly no solo rules available for it. It gives a bit the feel of a “classic” card game like Uno, but with much more depth and variation – and the game play is build in different stages, so you can decide what complexety level you want.

Aside from that, Innovation (already mentioned) is a good one, too. And there are quite decent solo rules on Boardgamegeek again. It is a bit more expensive than the other two, though. Kinda a civ builder with tons of unique cards with powers, very comborific in play.

Oh my Goods would be another one in the cheaper department and again, good solo rules on Boardgamegeek (or even better solo rules in the expansion, but I don’t know if that is available, as I think it was something only sold at Essen). It is a classic engine builder, feeling a bit like San Juan (which btw can be repackaged to be travel-worthy, too, so would be another candidate).

Another long-time favorite of us that might be a bit more expensive would be Paperback, which can be repackaged into a standard deck box for 100+ cards (at least if unsleeved) and plays great 2-5 and the coop variant can be played solo, too. Again a deck builder, but in this case you build words to score and letters have superpowers.

And then there is Guns & Steel and it’s expansion, which work great for travels, too. Sadly no solo play. Hand building with some really cool features and a very small deck of cards. Very tight design.

A last one – a bit more expensive and maybe harder to get, but perfect for travel due to it’s sturdy components – is The Duke, a two-player-only game which resembles a really crazy variant of chess. Pieces have movements printed directly on them, but are double-sided and flip on each move, so the threat-pattern is constantly changing. Pieces are wooden blocks and a smallish board, all very solid and can be easily played wherever you have a flat surface of moderate dimensions.

I am more of a “the game play is tne thing” guy, so I am fine with their components. But they have abysmal communications about new releases. And they put out mire duds than great games (but still have some really good stuff)

I am more of a “the game play is tne thing” guy, so I am fine with their components. But they have abysmal communications about new releases. And they put out mire duds than great games (but still have some really good stuff)

well, Kosmos and Schmidt do put out some nice games, but their focus is more on family games and less on what I look for. Sure, they do have some that I am interested in, but with for example Heidelberger, it is allmost every new game I look out for, whereas with Kosmos, it might be one in twenty or so. I’m just not allways in their target demographic.

well, Kosmos and Schmidt do put out some nice games, but their focus is more on family games and less on what I look for. Sure, they do have some that I am interested in, but with for example Heidelberger, it is allmost every new game I look out for, whereas with Kosmos, it might be one in twenty or so. I’m just not allways in their target demographic.

Aside from the usual stuff you already got as suggestions, my suggestion would be to also look at war games. There are a lot of them with very solid solo rules and even some solo only ones, that really play great. Two of the most suggested systems usually are the State of Siege games and the COIN games.

SoS games often feel like a historically themed castle defense, contain lots of dice rolling and card events. The most boardgamer-digestable SoS game probably is Dawn of the Zeds, which is zombie apocalypse done right to me. SoS (except Dawn of the Zed’s) are solo only (DotZ is co-op).

COIN feels more like heavy euro games with thick historical theme – solo is done by flowchart driven bots (a bit like automatically, only deeper in complexity). Additionally some tactical squad level war games showed up with very decent solo AI, like for example Conflict of Heroes with its solo expansion and Night of Man with again its solo expansion. Great fun and adds lots of new thematic experiences.

Aside from the usual stuff you already got as suggestions, my suggestion would be to also look at war games. There are a lot of them with very solid solo rules and even some solo only ones, that really play great. Two of the most suggested systems usually are the State of Siege games and the COIN games.

SoS games often feel like a historically themed castle defense, contain lots of dice rolling and card events. The most boardgamer-digestable SoS game probably is Dawn of the Zeds, which is zombie apocalypse done right to me. SoS (except Dawn of the Zed’s) are solo only (DotZ is co-op).

COIN feels more like heavy euro games with thick historical theme – solo is done by flowchart driven bots (a bit like automatically, only deeper in complexity). Additionally some tactical squad level war games showed up with very decent solo AI, like for example Conflict of Heroes with its solo expansion and Night of Man with again its solo expansion. Great fun and adds lots of new thematic experiences.

Not very enthusiastic about the merger with Heidelberger – now Asmodee has a tight grip on the German market, too, and probably will go a similar route with price fixing as Asmodee NA did. We only have Pegasus as a big publisher aside from them and that doesn’t bode well for prices. Sure, there still are smaller publishers, but for how long?

Not very enthusiastic about the merger with Heidelberger – now Asmodee has a tight grip on the German market, too, and probably will go a similar route with price fixing as Asmodee NA did. We only have Pegasus as a big publisher aside from them and that doesn’t bode well for prices. Sure, there still are smaller publishers, but for how long?