One Stop Tabletop

This post is truly fun for me. I get to revisit games that I haven't played in quite some time. These are the games that really got me into Tabletop gaming. The ones that bridged the gap from simpler board games like Monopoly and Scrabble into a whole new world of strategy and fairness. Thus the reason I call them "bridge games." These are the games that made me realize the gameplay in Monopoly boils down to one thing...luck of the dice. And don't even get me started on Chutes and Ladders. I don't completely loath those games. Well, Chutes and Ladders maybe. It's just that I've seen the light now. The "simpler" games are often completely dependent on luck instead of strategy. I've since learned that dice should enhance an experience, not completely drive it. Otherwise, a game can feel hollow. A win doesn't feel truly rewarding because you didn't do much to get it. Victory isn't supposed to taste like an unripened strawberry,

I have many friends who I like to game with. I'm so popular! No, I actually say this to showcase the fact that despite all these tabletop friends, I love me some solo gaming. In fact, when choosing a game these days, it's extremely important for me that the game have some kind of solo element. Most of the time, I want this to be a built-in solo element. But at the very least, I want a solo variant. So what's a solo variant? Well, that's when a gamer has created a variant that allows one to adapt a multiplayer game into a solo version. This is easiest when the game is a cooperative style, but can certainly be applied to games that are competitive. See for yourself. Go ahead. Pull up Google, type your favorite game into the search bar, followed by "solo variant." Chances are you'll find a link to Board Game Geek, where a user has posted a carefully crafted way in which to play your favorite game all by your lonesome, and then posted it to share with the

Robinson Crusoe is a bumbling buffoon. There, I said it. And if you've played the solo deck building game called "Friday," you're nodding your head in agreement right now. Me? I've played it enough times to know that Robinson can barely hold his own drool in his mouth, much less survive on a deserted island without our help. But while Robinson himself may be completely and utterly moronic, this solo deck building card game is nothing short of brilliant. In "Friday," you play as a man appropriately named Friday. You are stuck on an island with your pal, Robinson Crusoe. You are tasked with keeping him alive, which is easier said than done as again, Robinson is a complete dunce. For one, he has no attention span. And when he's not chasing butterflies, he's often simply too weak to contribute anything. All of Robinson's shortcomings are represented by a starting deck of cards, each with a numerical value and possibly an ability. For instance