Myself! Board games for one person
There are moments when we sit at home alone, finish reading a book, watch the last episode of the season of our favorite TV series and look for new, interesting entertainment for ourselves. It is for moments like these that solo board games are perfect – that is, designed for only one player.
Anna Polkowska / BoardGameGirl.pl
It would seem that board games are, by definition, a social game. However, designers also think about people who sometimes like to sit alone and play.
Run away!
Have you ever been to the Escape Room? These are specially designed rooms full of hidden mysteries. Usually you go inside and within a predetermined period of time (eg an hour) you must find a key to open the door. Very funny! Recently, a clear and popular direction in the design of board games is just such rooms with puzzles - transferred to the board, cards, and sometimes a mobile application. Such games are perfect for one person!
FoxGames, Escape Room Magic Trick Puzzle Game
The simplest name of this type is the "Escape Room" series. My favorite game in this line is Magic Trick. The whole game consists of one deck of cards arranged in a certain order. There is not even an instruction in the box - this one is not needed, because it is the following cards that explain the rules of the game. Opening card after card, we experience an adventure consisting of many logic puzzles. Our task is to go through the entire deck - not only with the least number of mistakes, but also in the minimum time! We can play Escape Room by ourselves, although I sometimes invite my eight year old daughter to play and we both have a lot of fun!
Rebel, puzzle game Unlock! great escape
Another interesting variation on the theme of quests is the Unlock game. Here, for the game, in addition to the cards in the box, we also need a simple mobile application that measures the time and checks the correctness of our decisions. The package includes three long scenarios and one introductory one that teaches us the rules of the game and how to use the application. Each story is completely different.
The Rite of Awakening is a much more complex and massive game. This game is definitely for more mature players. The ritual follows the conventions of a psychological horror film and touches on really difficult topics. The puzzles in the game are difficult and the game can take up to five hours to play - luckily it can be "saved" so we can split it up into chapters. Here we are also dealing with a mobile application, but the most important element of the game is the story itself. We play the role of a father whose little daughter has fallen into a coma, and in order to wake her up, her father needs to enter the really dark depths of the fairy tale world.
Portal Games, Escape Tales The Ritual of Awakening card game
Read and play
Paragraph games are also an excellent form of entertainment for one person - that is, games that take place on the pages of books or comics. The latter are very popular lately. You can find games designed for kids like Knights or Pirates where the stories are very infantilized but no less interesting! Here we will extract treasures, save (or rob) outlying settlements and develop the characters we play as. These comics make great gifts for kids and teens. They naturally develop the ability to read, think logically, and find cause and effect relationships.
Comic paragraph. Knights. Hero's Journal (Paperback)
Fortunately, adults will also find something for themselves in the colorful pages of comics! Kidnapping is a truly dark story about a police officer who investigates a dark house full of thugs, traps, and the paranormal.
Another game that adult gamers will love is This is a Heist!. During the game, we act as a beginner thief. Here blood flows from the pages of comics in streams, and the moral choice is usually limited to the search for the lesser evil. Keep in mind!
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective will be a real treat for the detective player. In this amazing box, we find a plethora of newspaper clippings, letters, and other clues to solve ten different crime mysteries, four of which make up the entire Jack the Ripper campaign (sort of "mini-series"). You will spend hours looking for clues, interrogating witnesses and inspecting crime scenes. An editorial and translation masterpiece!
Rebel, co-op game Sherlock Holmes: The Advisory Detective
So, when you want to play, and there is no one around, play alone and have fun!
