Stidjens boardgame extravaganza 2019

As the year 2019 winds to a close I can look back at a great year. I’ve played and acquired fantastic games, went to Spiel in Essen for the first time, and more and more people find their way to Stidjen Plays Solo. On the personal side, my girlfriend and me bought our first house together and we made a beautiful trip to Bali. Now is the time to look back – what were my most played games? What games do I still need to play? And what will 2020 bring? All of those questions shall be answered in my final post for 2019.

Top 10 games of 2019

There’s a lot of ground to cover today, so without further ado: let’s go to my top 10 most played solo games!

10. Mageling

Fresh from Essen, this dice game packs more punch than the small box would suggest. It’s quick to play with lots of combos and ways to leverage the randomness of the dice. I love that the solo mode comes with a campaign!

9. Wingspan

Yes, you better believe the hype is real. Well, at least for me. I believe Wingspan deserved quite a bit of its hype (though not all of it). There’s a real smooth game in here.

Read my review here.

8. Terraforming Mars

Wingspan’s big brother is certainly Terraforming Mars. I just love how you start to envision how your game will play out before the first turn based on the cards you’re dealt. Even more so with Prelude, which is a mandatory expansion in my opinion.

Read my review here.

7. Finished!

A small game which is part memory exercise, part combo maker. This straddles the line between a game and a puzzle but I don’t care – I love playing Finished!.

Read my review here.

6. Gaia Project

One of the heaviest games in my collection but with a surprising depth-to-play-time ratio. You can get a game in under an hour if you keep a brisk pace. One of the many reasons why I love Gaia Project.

Read my review here.

5. Aeon’s End: The New Age

My first Aeon’s End Kickstarter, I played the heck out of this when it arrived at my doorstep ahead of schedule. The Expedition Mode allows you to chain these epic games together. I should really play it again! (Note: when I play Expedition Mode, I log those games as The New Age.)

Read my review here.

4. Viticulture: Essential Edition

I got this game for Christmas last year and as a result I started the year with a long streak of Viticulture. I also got Tuscany since then, but have yet to win a game on the new board. Another game to get back to the table.

Read my review here.

3. Imperial Settlers

I was almost dissatisfied with Imperial Settlers’ solo mode – until I found the official campaign mode, which has you play three games in a row without noticing it. I wonder how this game fares next year, when I will have played Empires of the North as well.

Read my review here.

2. Aeon’s End: War Eternal

This was my introduction to Aeon’s End and I can’t get enough of it. It just is the perfect deckbuilding game! Every battle feels epic and tense. Every decision counts as you craft your deck and envision how your future turns will play out. When it all comes together, it’s just such a glorious feeling. (Note: when I play regular Aeon’s End, I log those games as War Eternal.)

Read my review here.

1. Palm Island

This game went wherever I went this year – I have played it at social gatherings, on public transport, at the beach, hotels, or just on my own couch. The depth you get in just a bunch of cards is baffling – it even has an easy, normal and hard mode, cooperative play and various modules. I should expect this game to be somewhere at the top of this list again next year. Palm Island is the first game I pack wherever I go.

Read my review here.

Honorable mentions

I omitted three games from the list since I do not own them anymore.

• The 7th Continent – I really wanted to like The 7th Continent but it was not meant to be. This pulp exploration adventure game is by no means bad; it was just not to my tastes. Read my review here.
• Heroes of Terrinoth – at first I really dug this adventure-esque game, but eventually I came around and I sold it. Read my review here.
• Castellion – the games I played of Castellion could be over really fast, which is why I played so much of it. I wanted this puzzler to be something it was not, and the frustration was why I sold it. Read my review here.

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Bonus: my top 5 most played multiplayer games

Stidjen doesn’t always play solo! These games – with the exception of Codenames Duet – were almost all exclusively played with my female counterpart. We really like our roll/flip-and-writes!

Something worth noting is that I have played neither of these games solo, although all but Codenames allow solo play. Part of that is because of their supposed solvability, part because I love these as a multiplayer experience. I don’t want to solo these games only to become too good to ruin our precious gaming moments. (Welcome To excluded… that solo mode just looks too good, challenging, and different from the regular game to pass up.)

1. Clever – ever since I surprised my girlfriend with this game for Christmas last year, this game has been the archetypical ‘one mor game’ game.
2. Twice as Clever – we couldn’t not get this game but it’s a tough nut to crack for sure. I really like the challenge!
3. Welcome To… – after a demo of this game we were sold on it. We even used this game for our moving notice card!
4. Codenames Duet – an amazing way to take an amazing party game to the next level. The cooperative nature takes away the biggest problem of the first game; blackouts and brain farts.
5. Azul – easy to learn, hard to master. I like games like this, especially when playing them can be done in less than half an hour.

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2020 games radar

For next year I have my eye on way too many games. Some are already secured via Kickstarters, others are barely more than internet whispers. Still – these are games that have my attention come next year, or the year after that, and probably deserve a closer look from you too.

• Tainted Grail (waiting for pledge manager to reopen) – by know you should know why I want this game…
• Anachrony (backed) – this one too…
• Unbroken (backed) – I wish I owned this game already, but I don’t. Let’s not point fingers or anything. I just want to try this interesting solo-only game that offers a unique twist on standard dungeon crawl fare.
• Frosthaven (on Kickstarter in 2020?) – big guy gets a baby brother! Well, baby… this won’t be an easy birth but I will definitely be watching. Well, not the birth… just the Kickstarter.
• Hour of Need (backed) – the Sadler brothers go superhero as they take their Modular Deck System to pay hommage to old school heroes and villains.
• The Great Wall (backed) – another Awaken Realms project! This time it is their spin on worker placement while you defend your people behind the Great Wall from forces beyond it. I’m happy they added a meeple version on Kickstarter.
• Final Girl (on Kickstarter Spring 2020) – the makers of Hostage Negotiator bring you a similar game of that one girl that just won’t die!
• In too Deep (on Kickstarter Q1 2020) – you are an undercover cop that is constantly torn between loyalty and credibility. I like the futuristic noir vibe this game gives of, although not much is known beyond that.
• Palm Galaxy (???) – Palm Island designer Jon Mietling has stated he is working on a bigger ‘Palm’ game in space. He dubbed it Palm Galaxy and that’s it. As you might expect, a game that looks to improve and expand upon my most played game of this year is something I have my eye on.
• Veilwraith (on Kickstarter Q1 2020) – I haven’t played a single Hall Or Nothing Productions game (yet; see below) but I feel this might be the start of a love affair. Why? For one, the artwork. For two, the acclaimed designer. For third, it’s a solo only deckbuilder. You had me at ‘solo only’, but a deckbuilder too? That’s just gravy. Like, really good gravy…
• Ratcatcher (on Kickstarter soon) – another solo-only game that has you, well, chasing rats! Don’t let them overwhelm you or you might succumb! Looks like a genuine labor-of-love project from a first-time designer.

As of yet unplayed games

I went to Essen; a week later, I was ripping old floors out of my first home. I haven’t gotten a lot of time to play my new acquistions (except for the small and quick games like Sprawlopolis, Mageling, Fire! and Cartographers) – but I’m getting there. Here’s a friendly reminder to myself of the games that are as of yet unplayed, some even still in shrink. The horror!

• This War of Mine: Days of the Siege – I bought the base game and first expansion for my birthday. At Essen I picked up a review copy. I currently have played the base game intro scenario three times and one other scenario once. I have some catching up to do.
• Mystery Tales – part of the reason I haven’t played Robinson as much as of late is because I want to play this expansion first (spoiler: I cracked under the pressure last weekend and played a new scenario – and died horribly, of course). For which I still need sleeves, of which I’m postponing ordering to accommodate for possible Christmas gifts that need sleeves too.
• A Feast for Odin – me and my friend both got second hand copies of Odin at Essen and he already solo’d it! Me, I just put together the Folded Space insert I got at Essen. Happy I did though; this looks like a genuine beast and I want to crack my head at this game soon.
• Empires of the North – the more I read about this game, the more excited I get. This might really be Imperial Settlers 2.0 and that is just too good to pass up. It made #1 at Zee Garcia’s Top 10 for 2019 and was #1 on Anthony’s list (from the ENGN podcast) strategic card games along with its older sibling. I have those guys in high regard (well, Portal Games too) so I think this game will be right up my alley.
• Coffee Roaster – talk about ‘ up my alley’… a solo only game about coffee making? I just unpunched it this weekend and will try to play it somewhere this week. It’s a well regarded solo game for a good reason. It wasn’t reprinted for nothing!
• Age of Civilization – I backed this for $1 on Kickstarter and only upped my pledge at the very last moment because that’s when they released the solo rules. On top of the regular beat-your-own-score solo mode, this pocket-sized civilization builder has its own solo booklet with different scenarios for you to solo your way through!
• Gloom of Kilforth – this was my Black Friday gift to myself. No, not retail – just a second hand as-good-as-new copy, already sleeved, and with the expansions still in shrink. I still need an adventuring game in my collection. At least until Tainted Grail arrives, though I suspect Gloom packs the right ingredients to last beyond that.

I am really grateful for every one of you who take the time to read my articles and comment on them, be it through here, Facebook or Instagram. I’m glad to share this wonderful hobby with you – I am convinced a solo player is never truly alone but always part of an amazing community.

I wish you happy holidays and a great new year with lots of gaming. Just remember you can always play games alone, which is not by yourself. The solo community has your back.

Thanks for reading, see you next time!

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