1 Player Podcast

This week Julius tells us about Fromage, a simultaneous worker placement game about making cheese in France where a four-quadrant board rotates every round and your workers only come back once they are facing you again. Older, more valuable cheeses keep a worker busy for up to three turns, so the spinning board quietly handles all the timing for you. Julius loves how smooth and clever that is, and compares it to Bordeaux.

Fromage (BGG)

Bordeaux (BGG)

This week I tell Julius all about Hercules and the 12 Labors, a small-box solo dice game from Envy Born Games where you work through each of Hercules' legendary labors, rolling and adjusting dice to wear down each monster's track. Every labor you complete flips over to give you new equipment, like the Nemean Lion's impenetrable hide, adding more ways to tweak your dice as the challenges get tougher. Julius compared it to Proving Grounds from Renegade's Solo Hero series and wasn't convinced there's enough challenge here without the timer.

Hercules and the 12 Labors (BGG, Envy Born Games)

Proving Grounds (BGG)

This week Julius tells us about Enchanted Ivy, a solo-only small-box game from Allplay where you build a magical fantasy inn (reminds me of Ugly Gryphon Inn from Buttron Shy) by placing cards as ivy-covered walls and guest balconies, then score for how well the ivy connects and how happily each eccentric guest ends up settled. It's got roughly 30 scenarios, a sticker-unlock system that gradually adds new doors to future games, and plays clocking in around 15-20 minutes.

Enchanted Ivy (BGG)

This week Julius and I tackle tile placement as a game mechanic, each bringing three favorites from what turned out to be a surprisingly deep category. Julius had a list of more than thirty solo-friendly tile games to choose from and still had enough left over for a long honorable mentions run at the end.

Show Notes:
04:55 A Feast for Odin (BGG)
10:25 Steam (BGG)
14:19 Habitats (BGG)
18:30 Limes (BGG)
21:16 Fit to Print (BGG)
26:21 Castellion (BGG)

 

The honorable mentions

Clip Cut Parks
Cities (2024)
Overboss
Nmbr 9
Mechanica
Machi Master
Caverna: Cave vs Cave
Luna Capitol
Oros
Power Plants
Stamp Swap
Harmonies
Cascadia
Honeybuzz
In the Hall of the Mountain King

This week I tell Julius about Shred of Redemption, a 15-minute solo bag-builder from Best With 1 Games and part of their Solo Game of the Month series. You play as a corrupt feudal lord racing to redeem yourself before death, spending virtue tokens across three phases to align dice on a play area and clear regret tokens before a final reckoning.

Shred of Redemption (BGG)