PLAYING WITH YOURSELF
Designers of single-player-only games tell us why more and more people are choosing to enjoy their tabletop experiences alone
Words by Matt Jarvis
“Haven’t you heard? One is the new two,” sings Amy Adams’ Mary in 2011’s The Muppets, as she expounds the benefits of throwing a ‘me party’ and spending some time alone. When it comes to the tabletop, one is also becoming the new two, three, four and more as an increasing number of major games include variants designed for solo players to face off against cardboard-powered opponents or attempt to beat their own high score.
From Scythe‘s detailed Automa rules, which make use of physical decks of cards to simulate rival players, to the connected companion apps of games such as Mansions of Madness‘ second edition that replace the need for a hostile overlord player with a phone, tablet or laptop you can (more easily) lob out the window when they beat you – not to mention the rise of digital adaptations that come with virtual opponents ready to play at the tap of an icon – it’s never been easier to enjoy board games without needing to carefully align crammed calendars or tempt friends over with booze and takeaway.
Of course, playing games on your own is nothing new – there’s a reason Solitaire and Minesweeper have been fixtures of the humble PC and workplace lunch break for decades – but never before has there been such a deluge of thematically diverse and mechanically complex games available to play in their fullstrength forms with little extra investment of time, effort or money required.
Not only are games designed for bigger groups that support solo play becoming more commonplace, there’s also been a rise in the number of titles that go completely the other way and top out at a player count of one to begin with. They’re popular, too – the 1 Player Guild on BoardGameGeek, an online group dedicated to celebrating solitaire gaming, has close to 7,000 members alone.