Larry Levy:  Playing Solitaire Till (the) Dawn of Time

Until recently, I was in no way a fan of solitaire versions of boardgames.  Heck, I don’t even like two-player variants where each player uses two sets of pieces to simulate the effects of a four-player game, so I have even less patience with one person playing those multiple parts.  Without the interaction and the competition, even a great game falls short.  If I really want to play something and there are no opponents available, I’d rather do something on the computer and let it do the work.

All of that changed with Agricola.  Figuring out how to best use the 14 cards that are dealt to you at the start of the game is such an interesting challenge that I fell in love with the solitaire version of the game.  However, after pre-ordering the English language edition of the game from Z-Man, I sold my pasted up German version to a member of my games group who was pining for it.  Like the rest of you, I am now patiently waiting for the new version to appear at my front door.  Until that great day arrives, I’ve found I need a way to satisfy my solitaire gaming fix.

Thankfully, there are some talented fellows out there who don’t mind creating and testing solo variants.  I’ve gotten the chance to try two of them this last month and found both of them to be challenging and entertaining.  The first is a solitaire version of Stone Age by Eddie Balyka, better known to BGG regulars as Osiris Ra.  This sticks pretty closely to the multiplayer rules, but adds some mandatory discarding of cards and huts that increases the tension.  It works very well and I’ve had a lot of fun with it; it’s quite addictive.  You can find the rules for Eddie’s variant here.

The other one is a solo variant of Through the Ages by Geek user David Barry that he calls “Against the Barbarians”.  A few gamers have tried to come up with solitaire versions of TtA, but found it a difficult task.  David decided to overcome these problems by focusing on the military aspect of the game, so your principal goal is to wind up with a higher strength than three “barbarians”, your robotic opponents in the game.  Of course, in order to do this successfully, you have to construct a working economic engine just as in the multiplayer game.  In my comments on the thread, I explain why I think the game is better if there is a concurrent Culture point objective as well.  At any rate, the variant is quite detailed, very well thought out, and plays very quickly once you get the rules down pat.  It really provides the same challenge that you get from the multiplayer game, without an arduous set of solo procedures to worry about.  Here’s the thread that contains the explanation for this game.

I recommend both of these variants for those looking for some gaming enjoyment when no opponents are handy.  If you do try out either of these versions and enjoy them, be sure to post a note to thank the designer.  Here’s to solitary pursuits!

© 2008 Larry Levy

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Feurio! is also a great game with a challenging and fun solo variant. I’ve also played crayon rail games solo occasionally, as there isn’t much interaction in the multiplayer game anyway. Posted by Jeff Allers on Jul 5, 2008 at 10:00 AM | #

I love Agricola solitaire.  There is an computer flash version you can mess with that should keep you occupied till your new copy of Agricola arrives, it can be found under files for Agricola on BGG. I’ll have to check out the solitaire Through the Ages.  BTW your both your links point to the Stone Age variant. I’m not a big solitaire player either but I was having fun for a while playing some of the solo variants for Race for the Galaxy.  I’m looking forward to the exapnsion to see what the official solo is like. Posted by Raymond J. Dennis Jr. on Jul 5, 2008 at 04:26 PM | #

Thanks for pointing out the mistake, Raymond.  I am an eeediot.  The link works now. Posted by Larry Levy on Jul 5, 2008 at 06:46 PM | #

LOL Look at my post, plenty of mistakes there too… That’s what I get for posting after work when I am tired.  I saw my mistakes after I posted but it appears you can’t edit comments(or if you can I haven’t figured it out).  Glad you were able to fix your link.  Looking forward to checking it out.  I love Through the Ages but don’t get to play it very often. Posted by Raymond J. Dennis Jr. on Jul 5, 2008 at 07:38 PM | #

Oooh, a solo version of Through the Ages intrigues me a bit.  (Hard to get folks together for longer-ish games in a regular fashion.) I’m still waiting for the reprint to ship before picking it (TtAges)up but hopefully will remember to give the solo scenario you mention a try. I’ll also chime in on the Agricola flash game as being an excellent solo source to check out the game. Posted by Matt J. Carlson on Jul 10, 2008 at 06:20 PM | #

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