Looking for solo & 2-player tabletop recommendations

[Nytmare]

A couple of new ones that crept up on me over Christmas:

Mysterium/Tajemnicze Domostwo - I've only played the Polish version, and I'm not sure what's changed with the new English release, but it's spectacular even as a two player game. It's essentially co-op version of Dixit meets Clue. Players play the part of a team of investigators solving a murder aided only by the murdered victim's ghost, and who can only communicate with the investigators through dreams and visions via a random handful of awesome dream cards.

Robinson Crusoe - I'm just about to sit down to my first solitaire game, and the read through of the rules has me excited. Playable as solitaire or co-op, you play the part of a cast of shipwreck survivors struggling through a series of challenges and scenarios. Looks to be a really solid hexcrawl/rpg/boardgame.

 

[Jhaelen]

Yep, Robinson Crusoe is brilliant! I especially like how the designer managed to merge Euro-style game mechanics with such a strong focus on story, theme, and random events.

My most-played board-game at the moment is Neuroshima Hex, though. It's from the same company as Robinson Crusoe and also represents a rather unique mix of game styles: It's basically a strongly themed abstract game: Players alternate by drawing 3 hex tiles from a bag, discarding one and placing the other two on a hex-grid. These tiles might be either army units (with different attack modes in one or more directions), modules (which enhance army units in some way) and actions (e.g. to start a battle). When the hex grid is filled or a battle action is played, combat is resolved in initiatove order, typically destroying several units from all players. The goal of the game is to destroy the enemy players' bases which are placed on the hex-grid at the start of the game.
The game plays quickly, supports any number of players (though it plays best with two players), and is very replayable due to the many different armies that are available. The base game comes with four (or five, depending on the edition) armies, and (depending on the edition!) some 'puzzles' for solo players.

 

[Nytmare]

My most-played board-game at the moment is Neuroshima Hex, though. It's from the same company as Robinson Crusoe and also represents a rather unique mix of game styles: It's basically a strongly themed abstract game: Players alternate by drawing 3 hex tiles from a bag, discarding one and placing the other two on a hex-grid. These tiles might be either army units (with different attack modes in one or more directions), modules (which enhance army units in some way) and actions (e.g. to start a battle). When the hex grid is filled or a battle action is played, combat is resolved in initiatove order, typically destroying several units from all players. The goal of the game is to destroy the enemy players' bases which are placed on the hex-grid at the start of the game.
The game plays quickly, supports any number of players (though it plays best with two players), and is very replayable due to the many different armies that are available. The base game comes with four (or five, depending on the edition) armies, and (depending on the edition!) some 'puzzles' for solo players.

Do you know offhand if the current edition can be played with the current stuff?

 

[Jhaelen]

Absolutely! All editions are compatible, the main difference being the graphical design of the tiles. Here's a nice comparison with images.

 

[Cristian Andreu]

I'll second Star Realms as an excellent 2-player game. It's very quick to play and easy to learn, with enough variety to allow for a good lot of strategies without causing analysis paralysis.

Smallworld is a game that I love playing with any number of people, and it's simplicity makes it very easy for anyone to play. It's about a tiny world chock-full of fantasy races fighting for territory, and you'll be constantly changing between them as the game progresses. Empires are created by randomly pairing a Race and a Descriptor, so you'll end up with stuff like Flying Dwarfs, Hill Merfolk, and Merchant Zombies.

 

[Saul Goode]

Hey all ... looking for some recommendations for solo and two-player tabletop games. Yeah, there's BoardGame Geek, and I go there for reviews, but there's just so much to slog through to arrive at something to focus on...

So, here's what I'm looking for:

(1) Solo game. Something I can play when I can't get to the FLGS, and don't feel like a video game or Chess or Go against the computer. Looking for something with an interesting theme and mechanics, preferably something that isn't too fiddly but has complex enough interactions to make it replayable, and is more choice-based than random. My tastes run to RPG, wargame, and adventure games, but I like all kinds of things.

(2) Two-player. Looking for something I can play with the Shiverspouse. She's not much of a gamer -- she'll try some gamer-games but tends not to get into them. She's typically been more into "traditional" roll-and-move boardgames, which I hate. Scrabble she likes but is tired of me beating her; Monopoly has been more her style (blech); wargames haven't been a success (Risk, or even X-wing minis, though at least the minis ); fun beer-and-pretzels games that I like (Wiz-War) have been too complex. Shorter games (under an hour), less complicated is what is needed, but with a good theme and visuals. I've considered card games like Magic but those appear to have too complex mechanics. Cooperative might be a better approach than competitive -- but I looked at a well-regarded thematic solo/coop game (LotR LCG) and it still seemed to have too complex mechanics.

Any suggestions?

1) There are a few small solo games offered by Decision Games. In the Commando! mini game system are Congo Merc and Border War.
In the Cold War Blitz mini game system are Khe Sanh '68 and Suez '56.


2) Run, Fight or Die is a good, easy, quick game with dice rolling and zombies!

 

[Herschel]

Eldritch Horror is fun solo, with two, or however many.

Robinson Crusoe, Claustrophobia and Fury of Dracula are my favorites for two players, and Fury of Dracula is great to add in other players who show up later, also.

 

[Saul Goode]

I recommend the mini game series by Decision Games.
Some are solo designed, but they all can be played solo very easily.
Very easy to learn and are fun. Nice and compact too!

https://shop.decisiongames.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=84

 

[SunGold]

Some co-op recs:

Arkham Horror - I know it's been mentioned a few times upthread, and yeah, it's complex. But it's so fun and thematic, a non-gamer might get into it anyway. When the SO and I play, we make a night of it by loading up a playlist of 20s music from the Library of Congress' National Jukebox and making era-appropriate cocktails.

Defenders of the Realm - Much easier than AH, still super fun. You play heroes who have to defeat encroaching enemy generals while keeping the board from getting too clogged up with their minions. There's also a funny user-made Monty Python and the Holy Grail variant that makes for a good time while watching the movie.

Castle Panic - Cute, quick, easy. A "light strategy" game where you defend your castle from randomized waves of enemies who move closer each round.

I'll also throw in another vote for Pandemic and Forbidden Island.

 

[amadaun]

Let me second the King of Tokyo & Pandemic recs!

Other games to consider:
Duke (small, strategy based game with a distant resemblance to chess)
Tokaido (a deeply aesthetically pleasing journey/experience game with lovely art)