Have you ever really wanted to play games, but, for whatever reason, your friends, spouse, or family don’t feel up for games that night? Today’s article is for you. I’ve been there before. As much as my husband loves board games sometimes, after a long day of work, he is just not up for another mental activity like a game. He’d much rather watch a movie or television show to relax. On days when I still really want to play a game I can always occupy myself playing solo. In today’s article we’ll be discussing some of my favorite games to play solo. So, let’s jump right in . . .

1. Railroad Ink

My first and favorite game to play solo is Railroad Ink. Railroad Ink is a roll and write game. I didn’t know when I bought it just how much fun I could have playing it solo. Since every person in the game writes down the same roadways or railways, it’s easily adaptable to a solo game. It’s highly enjoyable to roll the dice, try to find optimal ways to position your roadways and railways, and then write them down for points. This solo variant allows you to take your time and really think about optimization. There’s no one person pressuring you to roll the dice again. My personal best for the game is 62 points scored (I even took a picture of this which i’ll place below.) It’s now become a competition against myself. I’ve spent many a night playing solo trying to beat my previous high score.

2. Set

Set makes the #2 slot on my list. In this puzzling game you have to find sets of patterns in groups of cards. It’s fun to play this game solo because you can take your time with finding the sets, and it gives you practice for when you play against other people. Since it is not always easy to find the sets it takes a relatively long amount of time to play. Even if you go through the entire deck quickly, you can just reshuffle and start again. It’s true, I’ve spent many times playing set all by my lonesome, but that doesn’t make this game any less fun. I’d suggest this as a great solo game.

3. Ricochet Robots

Ricochet Robots is another game that is extremely fun to play solo. Much like set, it’s just a series of puzzles you’re solving on the board. You can flip the discs up and find where the robots go all on your own. It takes a while to play this game solo so it will take up some time if you’re bored.

Playing Solo Is Still Fun

Another huge advantage to playing solo is that it is calming. I’ve often found that games give me that nostalgic feeling of my childhood. I still get this feeling when I play solo. It doesn’t make these games any less fun to play by yourself. At least that’s my opinion. Please keep in mind that before I was married, I’d go to movies and out to eat by myself. I love my own company haha.

The One Downside To Playing Solo

There is one downside to playing solo and that is that sometimes you get so good at a game that you have an unfair advantage when you play others. Sometimes people don’t want to play some of these games with you anymore after they realize you’ve been playing solo. My husband for instance says that I win Set because I simply practice more than him.

Final Thoughts

So remember, even if you’re solo that doesn’t mean you have to give up games for the night. There are plenty of board games out there you can play all by yourself. It’s not depressing to play solo–it’s actually fun. I encourage everyone to play solo now and again. Again, these are just the games I play solo. If you have any games you love to play all by yourself I’d love to hear about them in the comment section below.