You wake up and go downstairs for breakfast. You download some sandwiches, pet your electronic dog and get in your hover-car to work, reading traffic information on your glasses. At the office, the doors open as you approach – they recognise your heartbeat. You are personally greeted by the building’s operating system as it finds you a vacant spot for you to start work at your custom holographic screen. The future is now! Welcome to 2019!
Hello all and welcome to Stidjen Plays Solo! The future is here and it’s called 2019! Last year, I did a lot of cool things – for one, I started this blog, as well als my Facebook-page and Instagram-page. I think 2018 is the year that I really got into this hobby as both player and content creator. I used to play, but now I’m playing – if that makes sense.
For 2019, I hope to continue that trend – play more and also review and write more!
Anyway, 2019 lies ahead of us with a lot of games to look forward to. Here’s my top 10.
10. Heroes of Tenefyr
By Pepijn van Loon (Broken Mill)
Play type: deckbuilding, dungeon crawl
Estimated delivery: May 2019
This Kickstarted game takes a dungeon crawl experience and casts it in the push-your-luck mold of solo favorite Friday. I was happy to jump in on this project, not just because this is a Dutch project I want to support. I think this game offers a lot of variety with different characters, and I like the basic deckbuilding core of the game, which looks really simple yet functional and flavorful.
9. ‘Sand’ / ‘Clay’
By Jamey Stegmaier (Stonemaier Games)
Play type: civilization building
Estimated release: somewhere in 2019
This game is not announced yet. It doesn’t even have a name. I don’t even know it’s codename (that’s probably either Sand or Clay). What I do know is that Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games is working on a civilization-building game that comes with a solo (Automa) mode. That’s all I need to get excited over. Looking forward to more info, Jamey!
8. Metal Gear Solid: the board game
By Emerson Matsuuchi (IDW Games)
Play type: stealth, survival, exploration
Presentation: June 2019 (at E3)
One of the defining games of my youth, Metal Gear Solid had my heart beating in my chest more times than I can count. Sneaking around, killing enemies – but rather evading them if at all possible – the game tried to go out of the box numerous times (plugging your controlling into Port 2, playing in the Game Over screen, finding information in the game manual) and changed the way storylines and games were connected. I am skeptical for this boardgame adaptation, true, but I am hoping that this game will allow me to make me feel like a sneaky spy again like when I was a teen.
7. Castle Itter
By David Thompson (Dan Verssen Games)
Play type: wargame, action point system
Estimated delivery: June 2019
The battle for Castle Itter was perhaps the strangest battle in World War 2, as it was the only battle where Nazi and Allied troops joined forces to overtake Castle Itter, a Nazi prison overthrown by its French prisoners. In this game, you take the role as the defenders of the castle, trying to hold the enemy off long enough. The wargame-genre is one I have not played solo and is something I would love to try.
6. Seize the Bean
By Andy Couch, Dylan Howard Cromwell (Quality Beast)
Play type: resource management, deckbuilding
Estimated delivery: June 2019
Sadly, this Kickstarter has been delayed for a second significant amount of time, but luckily enough, my excitement hasn’t waned. Seize the Bean combines two loves of mine – coffee and deckbuilding – into a game of making great coffee and managing customers, all for those coveted positive reviews that can gain you even more customers. I can’t wait to stir up a cup of coffee and play this game – even if, by the looks of things, the coffee will be an iced one since I should receive this game early this summer.
5. Unbroken
By Artem Safarov (Altema Games)
Play type: resource management, role playing
Estimated delivery: March 2019
Another Kickstarter, another delay. Humbug! Again, I cannot wait to play Unbroken, which was designed as a solo-only game. The premise? You’re the only survivor of a dungeon-crawl-gone-wrong and you have to survive long enough to get out! Unfortunately there’s a few boss fights between you and the exit, so you’re gonna have to manage your time in order to stock up on weapons and scout the enemy. I backed the Kickstarter and love to dive into this game with its gritty dark art style.
4. Wingspan
By Elisabeth Hargrave (Stonemaier Games)
Play type: engine building
Estimated delivery: March 2019
Terraforming Mars with birds and cute egg tokens! That’s basically it, but from the looks of it, you’re doing the game a terrible injustice. Wingspan is more family friendly than Terraforming Mars, attracting birds to your aviary in order to gain new resources for future turns. Wingspan is coming out in Dutch as well – not only am I excited for the solo mode by the Automa Factory, I think I can bring this game to the (family) table too. Since it’s a Stonemaier Games production, we can expect A+ component and insert quality.
3. Nemo’s War
By Chris Taylor (Victory Point Games)
Play type: press-your-luck, exploration, dice mitigation
Estimated delivery: April 2019
As I rule I don’t like dice games unless they’re small and short games, like Clever. On the other hand, Robinson Crusoe is one of my favorite games and that one definitely has dice that can really screw you over. So I decided to check this game out and was convinced by the One Stop Coop Shop playthrough. I was lucky the Kickstarter for some new expansions was still rolling, and I’m glad I’m gonna be able to review this game when it reaches my doorstep.
2. Robinson Crusoe: Mystery Tales
By Ignacy Trzewiczek (Portal Games)
Play type: exploration, adventure, survival
Estimated delivery: March 2019
It’s hard to pin down one game as my best acquisition for 2018, but if I were a gambling man I’d put my money on Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island. The game is a tense experience that combines seemingly dry mechanics into a coherent and flavorful whole. I just can’t get enough! To be honest, I don’t even need an expansion – but I sure do like one! This expansion plays over multiple scenarios and has you searching for Percy Fawcett and The Lost City of Z: El Dorado.
1. The 7th Continent
By Ludovic Roudy, Bruno Sautter (Serious Poulp)
Play type: hand management, storytelling, survival
Estimated delivery: mid 2019
When I was making this list, it was no surprise this behemoth would show up in first place. Sadly, this campaign got delayed to mid 2019 (from Q1 2019). I guess that’s good names for other Q1 games, of which my list has a lot. In The 7th Continent, you are going back to explore a mysterious continent that cursed you the first time around. The game is based on flavor, has a clever saving system, and looks to be usurping a lot of time from yours truly. That is why I cannot wait to play it, and why The 7th Continent is the rightful number 1 of this list.
Bonus!
While writing this list I thought of a lot of other games. Since most of them are out already, I decided to do a bonus section of existing games I want to play, own, or just don’t know it yet.
Let me know what games you’re looking forward too and I’ll see you soon!
Honorable mentions
Games I would like to buy in 2019
- Orléans (+ Invasion expansion for solo play)
- Azul
- Patchwork
- Tuscany: Essential Edition
- Aeon’s End expansions
- Imperial Settlers expansions
- Kingdomino: Age of Giants
- Apex Theropod Deck-Building Game
- 7 Wonders: Duel
Stidjen Plays Solo 
That’s funny, I’m on the same fence apparently. I think Heroes of Tenefyr will grow stale after a few plays. I printed the pnp version (the colour one, paid for), but after having played the b&w I just don’t feel the urge of making the colour version. Given your Aeons preference it will be too simplistic for you.
Black sonata – same thing. Pnp for free, printed it, never built it.
Maquis now THAT is interesting. I have the pnp, let me know when they start, I’ll back it all the same. Love the atmosphere.
I’m looking forward to Jagged Alliance, Diceborn Heroes, and D-Day Dice.
Do yourself a favor and get Patchwork yesterday, it’s brilliant, every time different. There is a very cheap automa deck ($2) so you can play solo too. DO NOT BUY LIGHT.
As for Azul, I hate it, hard to explain, it feels incomplete all the time, as if I’m playing a board game without the board…
I played Tuscany and found it fiddly, ugly and far worse that V:EE, so I would suggest print those Rhine visitors if you want diversity.
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Thanks for your elaborate response!
I think Heroes will be pretty interesting. It actually reminds me more of Friday than Aeons End, so I think it will be okay for me. Did you also back Unbroken?
I will be receiving review copies for both Maquis and Black Sonata! I haven’t printed anything yet – I don’t like PnP – but am excited for these games nonetheless.
I actually traded for Patchwork in a Math Trade recently! Haven’t played it solo yet, but I already had the Automa deck since someone brought it to me from Essen.
Do you feel you don’t get to do all you wanted to do in a game of Azul? I played only once but really enjoyed myself, puzzling each turn.
You seem to be in the Tuscany minority. I like it a lot! The area control is still a bit fiddly, but the rest; I like all of it! More options, special workers, combos, more varied wake up bonuses… you should try again!
Again, thanks for your long response. Always nice to hear from readers 🙂
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Unfortunately my prediction on Tenefyr came true..
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9)
It kind of looks like it’s #projektkoberec to be released by Moderní hry od ALBI in Czech localization
Albi’s info (which works with Stonemaiergames on Scythe and Chartrestone, for example) is:
-civilization game
– 1-4 players
– complexity comparable to Scythe
– price 1199 CZK
– to be released in November 2019
0:24
It’s just an estimate. Not sure !!!
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