Any single player miniature games?

[method72]

So I am pretty new to the miniature painting hobby, it's been a blast so far.  As with most of my hobbies... I kind of went over board... and got a nice little army of reaper models to paint.  Should take me a while!

 

I have a long history of playing D&D,  started back in the early 80's while in grade school.  Played for around 25 years on an off, with different groups.  But more recently, due to other life, work, and wife stuff,  I just can't commit to regular game sessions any more.  But I still have a love for fantasy... most modern MMO and video games just don't scratch the same itch, as playing table top games.

 

So, since I can't commit to a group, but I am able to find pockets of time, to paint, and eventually build my fantasy army,  I am curious if there are any solo playable games, anyone is aware of, that uses miniatures.  Since I am a D&D guy, I prefer dungeon crawl style games, vs the Warhammer army battle type games.

 

I figure I can just role my own solo style game, based on some D&D rules, but figured this may be a good place to ask, in case there may be something already out there, that I am not aware of.  Perhaps something that combines, dice, cards, minis etc all into one format.  I have heard Gloomhaven can be played solo, but I have not played that one personally.

 

any feedback is welcome.

 

thanks.

[BlazingTornado]

There's official D&D board games that you can play by yourself, just playing all the characters at once. Wrath of Ashardalon, Castle Ravenloft, Legend Of Drizzt. Those games have no games master and enemies are determined by the scenario, draws of the card and what the monster cards say about their tactics.

 

And with the companion app, you can also just play the new Heroquest solo with the app serving as the "Zargon" player.

Edited December 18, 2022 by BlazingTornado

[strawhat]

Frostgrave and Rangers of Shadowdeep have solo rules.

 

I am given to understand that they're pretty decent, too.

[Glitterwolf]

The Old Warhammer Quest game is a solo game.

It's full of minis also, it is an old game so you would need to find it through resellers.

[zemjw]

Five Leagues from the Borderland, Five Klicks from the Zone and Five Parsecs from Home (fantasy, post apocalypse and science fiction) are worth having a look at. A couple of them are available in print from Modiphius, all of them are PDFs on DriveThru and Wargames Vault

 

Check out Ganesha Games as well, as they do a range of solo/co-operative rules. Sellswords and spellslingers is one I keep meaning to look at. I'm fairly sure there are dungeon rules in their line (I have played an old version of their dungeon one, and I'm sure they've updated it)

 

Fear of the Dark is a solo/co-op horror ruleset.

 

Welcome to the hobby. Going overboard is par for the course

[Froggy the Great]

4 hours ago, zemjw said:

Five Leagues from the Borderland, Five Klicks from the Zone and Five Parsecs from Home (fantasy, post apocalypse and science fiction) are worth having a look at. A couple of them are available in print from Modiphius, all of them are PDFs on DriveThru and Wargames Vault

 

Check out Ganesha Games as well, as they do a range of solo/co-operative rules. Sellswords and spellslingers is one I keep meaning to look at. I'm fairly sure there are dungeon rules in their line (I have played an old version of their dungeon one, and I'm sure they've updated it)

You beat me to it.  Hard yes recommend on all these.

[Cygnwulf]

One Page Rules also has AI rules for all of their games, if you're looking for a more wargame like experience than tactical-rpg.

[Balgin Stondraeg]

14 hours ago, zemjw said:

A couple of them are available in print from Modiphius, all of them are PDFs on DriveThru and Wargames Vault.

Speaking of Modiphius, Their game The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms has a really good solo rules set.

[method72]

thanks for all the suggestions, I will check them out!

[zemjw]

I've just found a note I made a while ago about a company called PPM Games that makes a load of solo games.

 

I don't think I've ever bought any, but they could be worth adding to your list to investigate

[buckyball]

On 12/18/2022 at 1:01 PM, strawhat said:

Frostgrave and Rangers of Shadowdeep have solo rules.

 

I am given to understand that they're pretty decent, too.

 

Rangers of Shadow Deep is a good place to start for solo gaming. I have played a couple of Frostgrave solo/coop scenarios and I think they are more challenging than Rangers of Shadow Deep; both in how hard it is to win and in the complexity of the rules. If you enjoy the Rangers of Shadow Deep rules, you should have fun with Frostgrave. And if you dislike Rangers of Shadow Deep you will not enjoy Frostgrave. The games are written by the same game designer

 

   buckyball

[TheAuldGrump]

Megan and I have played a LOT of Rangers of Shadowdeep.

 

It's SUPPOSED to be a solo game, but we have had a blast with cooperative play - it helped keep us sane during the quarantine.

 

Big thumbs up.

 

The Auld Grump

[Dan S]

On 12/19/2022 at 7:21 AM, Glitterwolf said:

The Old Warhammer Quest game is a solo game.

 

The original Warhammer Quest was my first thought also.  It was the game that introduced me to the world of miniature painting.

 

Whilst best played in a group, the game still worked amazingly well as a single player game, thanks to its randomly generated dungeon design.  It was a dungeon crawler with no need for a DM.  Each time you enter a new room, you draw a card to determine which room tile to place down, whilst a dice roll made against a large event table would determine what the room contained.

 

 

On 12/19/2022 at 7:21 AM, Glitterwolf said:

It's full of minis also, it is an old game so you would need to find it through resellers.

 

Sadly, being around 30 years old now the game is like gold dust, I actually looked into securing a copy to relive my childhood and the going rate for a 100% complete copy was around £700-800 (I am not exaggerating) here in the UK.  Way out of my budget!

 

GW have apparently rebooted the game (Warhammer Quest: The Silver Tower), but I have no idea if it plays the same, and the reviews I have seen from people who grew up playing the original were not very flattering.

 

 

[Zink]

One the plus side with games like Warhammer Quest and Advanced Heroquest is that you can find the rules for free online. So if you already have minis you can try them out without having to sell your firstborn child.

[CaptainPete]

Zona Alfa has single player rules. As does Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse. There's also Perilous Tales, which has free beta rules out.

But, honestly, any game that has any sort of uncontrolled monster can be a solo game. It just takes a bit to figure out what's enough to present a challenge but not too much of one.