While most board games require two or more players, there is a growing library of games designed from the ground up to be played solo.

One of the hardest parts of being a board game enthusiast can be finding people to play with. In a world of contrasting schedules and abundant obligations, even close friends can struggle to find the time to get together at the gaming table. Luckily, not all games require a crowd to play.

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Though there are many board games that can be played alone, either with modifications or specified rules provided by the developer, some games are built with the intention to be enjoyed by just one player. Those games stand in a class all their own, as they can't really be compared to the shared experience of multi-player games.

Negotiations are always tense in a hostage situation, but popular media has had many an audience convinced they could take on the task. Hostage Negotiator challenges that concept by placing the player in the shoes of the negotiator.

Each turn they take is a conversation with the perpetrator, fraught with attempts to de-escalate and arrange the release of the hostages trapped inside. Hostage Negotiator's unique deck-building process puts the player in charge of their actions rather than leaving them at the whim of the deck and fate.

Sometimes adventuring parties don't make it. This simple truth of fantasy stories sits at the very heart of Unbroken. The player is the last remaining member of their party fighting to make it out of the dungeon alive.

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The player must use everything at their disposal to dispatch the monsters that conquered their friends and make it back out alive. Character customization allows the player to determine their resources and strategy, as deceit, creative application of skills, and pure violence are all on the table as options to help them make their escape.

Space is not a kind environment, even less so when other travelers decide to go on the offensive. Deep Space D-6 is the solo adventure of a starship captain caught in a trap and struggling to keep themself and their crew alive until the cavalry comes.

The player uses specialized six-sided dice to assign the crew to their posts and mitigate ongoing threats to the ship. The danger could be coming from both inside and outside the ship, so the captain must be wary at all moments in order to survive long enough for help to arrive.

Few horror films are complete without their last surviving character. Final Girl lets board game fans step into this role and make their epic escape from the killer. Each Feature Film Box for Final Girl features one Killer and one Location, which can be mixed and matched to create expansive opportunities for replayability.

This game includes a board to track movement along with dice and cards to play through each unique combination of events, actions, and characters. Final Girl tests gamers' individual skills to see if they can make it out alive.

In Under Falling Skies, the player takes up the mantle of Earth's defender from an underground bunker while an invading alien force attacks the surface. Each mission in the game has the player battle the alien army in a different city, eventually building a team of survivors across the globe to take back the planet.

The player must manage resources and pursue research while also sending out combat robots and attacking alien ships. Every round the aliens' mothership grows closer, so the player must attempt to defeat the invasion before it arrives.

Coffee Roaster is the perfect solitaire game for java aficionados to enjoy over their preferred cup of joe. The player uses their randomly-drawn beans to craft the perfect roast and brew an excellent cup of coffee while dodging smoke and burned beans that block their way.

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Each bean and roast have different requirements, forcing the player to cleverly balance their actions based on the needs of their current resources. Coffee Roaster also has digital resources for the more technologically inclined to integrate into their gaming experience.

One of the greatest literary mysteries of all time is the true identity of Shakespeare's Dark Lady. Black Sonata places the player in 1600s England, on the hunt for the Lady herself. Through their cards, they can determine her location and, with each encounter, decipher a clue about her identity.

With each clue they gain, however, the Lady will become more elusive and harder to trace, forcing the player to truly challenge their skills of deduction. This award-winning game of detection and stealth sees the player pursuing several figures from the era in their hunt for the Dark Lady.

Food Chain Island is a compact card game about predators and prey. In order to win players must match up the animals with their chosen meals until only one hungry creature remains, revealing them as the ruler at the top of the food chain.

If players can no longer match an animal to their corresponding fare, the game ends. With a projected play time of only 15 minutes, Food Chain Island is an excellent choice for gamers to kill a little time, possibly when waiting for their own meals to arrive.

In a combination of Lovecraftian mythos and detective noir aesthetics, the Arkham Noir series of games has players take on the role of private eye Howard Lovecraft as he assists the police in investigating occult-related deaths and disappearances.

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Players must locate clue cards before their mental stability crumbles under the weight of what they've seen in order to solve the mystery and prevent the next wave of violence. Arkham Noir has rules for adjustable difficulty to accommodate players of all skill levels as they dive into the world of Lovecraft's nightmares.

In the style of escape rooms and other puzzle-solving games, Box One seeks to put the responsibility for these mysteries in the hands of just one player. A combination of at-the-table solving and digital connection, Box One was the passion project of actor Neil Patrick Harris and was released in 2020.

This game boasts a play time of two to four hours and involves a wide variety of mechanics to challenge the player's skills. Though any escape room-style game can be played solo, Box One was specifically created as a solitary experience.

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Rebekah Krum is an avid fan of both video and tabletop games; she takes great interest in their history and cultural value as storytelling mediums. They enjoy a good story, regardless of the method by which it is told. She grew up in Northeastern Nevada before moving to Ashland, Oregon for college in 2014 and subsequently settling down just outside of Portland, Oregon in 2019. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Southern Oregon University.

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