Guide
Board Games You Can Play on Your Own
This is a short page, and it is short on purpose. Two of the forty games we cover state a minimum of one player. Those two are worth knowing about.
By Scooter M. · Published · Last updated
How this page is funded: the buy links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change the order of the picks or what we say about them. Full disclosure.
Games we claim to have play-tested: 0. Every gift guide in this category implies a shelf of played games behind it. We do not have one, and we would rather say so. What we do instead is on this page: the publisher’s own player count, playing time and age band for every pick, cited to the publisher; a live price rather than a remembered one; and a plain answer on who should skip each game.
The short answer
Two of the games we cover state a minimum of one player on the publisher’s own page: Cascadia (AEG states 1-4 players, 45 minutes) and Wingspan (Stonemaier states 1-5 players, 40-70 minutes). Both include a solo mode in the base box - you do not need to buy anything else.
People ask this question for two different reasons and they want two different answers. Some are buying for someone who lives alone. Others are buying for a household and want the game to still be useful on a Tuesday when nobody else is free. Cascadia and Wingspan both answer both, and there is no third option on this site, so this is the whole list.
What a solo mode actually is
A solo mode is not the game with fewer people in it. It is a set of extra rules that give you something to play against - usually a small deck of cards or a simple set of instructions that acts as an opponent, taking pieces you wanted and scoring points you have to beat. In Wingspan this is a card-driven automated opponent included in the box. In Cascadia it is a scoring target you are trying to clear.
The practical effect is that a solo game feels like a puzzle with a clock on it rather than a hollowed-out version of the four-player game. That is why we would rather list two games that publish a real solo mode than pad this page with games that merely can be laid out by one person.
Which of the two to buy
If it is a gift and the presentation matters, Wingspan - it is the best-looking box on this site and it does not look like a solo game, which is part of the point. If the recipient wants something quicker and cheaper, Cascadia: AEG states 45 minutes and it sets up in under two.
One honest caveat on Wingspan. Stonemaier publishes the player count and the game length on its game page but does not publish an age band there, so we do not state one. If the recipient is a child, use our age guide, which lists only games whose publisher states a floor.
What we would buy for this
Chosen from the same registry as our roundups, on the publisher's own figures and a live price.
Cascadia
Alderac Entertainment Group · Someone who might end up playing on their own
You build a landscape out of hexagonal tiles and place animals on it to score patterns. AEG states 1 to 4 players and 45 minutes, and the 1 matters: this is a rare gift that a person living alone can actually use.
#ad We do not hold a current price for this product, so we do not show one. How we make money.
What it actually is
A tile-laying puzzle. You take a habitat tile and an animal token together, place both, and score for the shapes the animals end up in.
What the publisher states
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Players | 1-4 | Alderac Entertainment Group, published game page |
| Age | 10+ years | Alderac Entertainment Group, published game page |
| Playing time | 45 minutes | Alderac Entertainment Group, published game page |
Read from the publisher’s own page. Where a publisher does not state a figure, there is no row for it here.
What is good about it
- A real solo mode, printed on the box, not an afterthought
- Calm and unaggressive - nobody takes anything from anybody
- The scoring cards change between games, so it does not go stale
What is not
- Quiet to the point of being solitary, even with four people
- The scoring cards take a first game to understand
- Nothing dramatic ever happens, which some players want
Who should skip it
Skip it for a group that wants interaction or conflict. In Cascadia everyone tends their own board and the winner is announced at the end.
How it scored as a gift
- Easy to explain8.4
- Works for non-gamers8.4
- Group size range8.2
- Repeat plays9.0
- Feels like a gift9.0
Gift fit 8.6 / 10. That is our editorial judgment of how safe and well-aimed this is as a present, read off the published specifications - not a verdict on how good the game is, and not a test result. It is deliberately not marked up as a rating in this page’s structured data. How we pick.
Wingspan
Stonemaier Games · A gift that has to look impressive when it is opened
The prettiest box you can give someone. Stonemaier states 1 to 5 players and 40 to 70 minutes; it does not publish an age band on its game page, so this site does not state one either.
#ad We do not hold a current price for this product, so we do not show one. How we make money.
What it actually is
A card game about attracting birds to a wildlife reserve. Each bird you play makes one of your three actions a little better for the rest of the game.
What the publisher states
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Players | 1-5 | Stonemaier Games, published game page |
| Game length | 40-70 mins | Stonemaier Games, published game page |
| Setup time | 5 mins | Stonemaier Games, published game page |
Read from the publisher’s own page. Where a publisher does not state a figure, there is no row for it here.
What is good about it
- Genuinely beautiful - illustrated bird cards, a dice tower shaped like a birdfeeder
- A solo mode is included in the base box
- The subject matter appeals to people who do not care about games at all
What is not
- Stonemaier does not publish an age band on the game page, so we cannot quote one
- Seventy minutes at the top end, and the first game runs longer than that
- It is the most expensive game on this site by some distance
Who should skip it
Skip it for a household that wants a quick game after dinner, and skip it as a first-ever board game - the rules reward a second play more than a first.
How it scored as a gift
- Easy to explain6.8
- Works for non-gamers7.6
- Group size range8.6
- Repeat plays9.6
- Feels like a gift10.0
Gift fit 8.8 / 10. That is our editorial judgment of how safe and well-aimed this is as a present, read off the published specifications - not a verdict on how good the game is, and not a test result. It is deliberately not marked up as a rating in this page’s structured data. How we pick.
How these were picked
We have not played these games and we do not pretend to have. What we did was read each publisher’s own page, take their stated player count, playing time and age band, check that every pick genuinely fits the constraint in this page’s title, confirm it is still being sold, and pull a live price rather than a remembered one. Every figure here names the publisher it came from, so you can check it yourself in about a minute.
How we pick sets out the full method, including what would change a ranking.
Questions people ask
+−Which board games can you play by yourself?
On this site, Cascadia and Wingspan. Alderac states 1-4 players for Cascadia and Stonemaier states 1-5 for Wingspan, and both include the solo rules in the base box. Every other game we cover states a minimum of two or more.
+−Is a solo board game actually fun?
It is a different activity - closer to a crossword than a game night. A good solo mode gives you an opponent to beat rather than an empty table, which is why we only list games whose publisher includes one rather than games that can technically be laid out alone.
+−Do I need to buy an expansion to play solo?
Not for either of these. Both Cascadia and Wingspan include their solo rules in the base box. Some other games sell solo modes separately, which is worth checking before you buy anything that advertises one.