I am an exclusively solo gamer because I people all day at work so my time is MY TIME. I am AP-prone and unapologetic about it. I am always on the lookout for niche games of the lighter variety because not every solo gamer can live on Mage Knight alone. These are my thoughts.

I pledged Black Sonata when it first came out on Kickstarter in 2019 simply because I’m in love with all things William Shakespeare (he’s my second boyfriend; don’t worry – my husband doesn’t mind), and the last Shakespeare-themed board game I acquired was less than satisfactory. This was during the early days of my gaming adventures so in retrospect, I realize I was being overly ambitious with this choice. Because it’s a solo deduction game and I’m terrible at deduction. 

But pledge for Black Sonata I did, and when it arrived at my doorstep, I happily punched out the cunning little holes from the location key cards and ooh-ed and aah-ed over the period-accurate clue cards, the adorable little game board, and the pleasantly tactile wooden hint chits. 

Star Wars: Jabba’s Palace (A Love Letter Game)

• Designer: Justin Kemppainen  (Seiji Kanai designed the original version)
• Players: 2-6
• Age: 10+
• Time: 15-20 minutes
• Played on review copy provided by Z-Man Games

Love Letter has been one of my favorite microgames ever.  The original version came in a super small packet of sixteen cards, and that set got a LOT of play when it first came out.  It was the perfect sort of game to play while out (you know, back when you could go to restaurants and bars with friends).  The game fit in your jeans pocket, could be explained in 3 minutes, and just about everyone could understand and enjoy it.  

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The Adventures of Robin Hood

Designer & Artist: Michael Menzel
Publisher: Kosmos
Players 1-4
Age: 10+
Time: about an hour per chapter

On the recommendation of friends, I added The Adventures of Robin Hood to my “interested” list and fortunately my husband Fraser was listening, and delivered with a Christmas gift. Since then, we’ve played it seven times, completing our first full play through.

Robin Hood is a cooperative, heavily story-driven game for 1-4 players, who take on the role of the notorious outlaw and his band of Merrie Men (including one woman, Maid Marian, ably played by my beloved, and Little John, played by our adult daughter The Bigster). It’s a highly scripted game that nevertheless gives the players a very open set of choices, and that offers some innovative gameplay features. I’m going to focus on three of them which, I find, make the game interesting as a set of mechanisms as well as as an unfolding story – the board design, the story, and the movement – before I talk about the game as a whole. There’s one spoiler about an advanced rule for subsequent playthroughs but otherwise I have been careful to avoid giving anything away.

MAN IN BLACK: All right: where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and we both drink, and find out who is right and who is dead.

The shortest and easiest way to describe the newest game from publisher La Boite de Jeu and designer Frédéric Guérard is “It’s like their previous hit, It’s a Wonderful World, only with a ‘you cut / I choose’ mechanic in place of drafting.” That’s fair – as far as it goes – but it misses the full flavor and breadth of this two-player game design.

Yes, I know there is a solo mode as well – I promise I’ll get to that in a minute.