The 10 best solo board games

Slay the Spire: The Board Game is a co-op deck-building dungeon crawl where you craft a unique deck, battle bizarre monsters, and die—then learn from your mistakes and try again. Perfect for fans of strategic card play and roguelike challenges.

Slay the Spire: The Board Game turns the hit video game into a co-operative deck-building, dungeon-crawling adventure. You and your friends each pick a character with unique abilities and a simple starting deck, then set out to climb the Spire. Along the way, you'll encounter bizarre creatures, discover relics of immense power, and constantly improve your deck by adding new cards and removing weak ones.

Lead a cosmic quest to find alien life using real-world tech in this strategic sci-fi board game. Compete to upgrade equipment, launch probes, and decode signals—perfect for space fans and science-minded strategists.

In SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, you’re the leader of a cutting-edge research team racing to uncover proof that we’re not alone in the universe. Launch probes to explore nearby planets and moons, choosing between landing to gather samples or orbiting for wider surveys. Use telescopes to scan distant star systems for cryptic alien signals or hidden exoplanets, then analyze your findings back on Earth.

Gaia Project is a deep strategy game for fans of Terra Mystica who crave even more variety, where fourteen unique factions compete to terraform planets and colonize a variable galaxy. It’s a brain-burning race to master six technologies and claim the best worlds before your rivals do.

In Gaia Project, fourteen distinct factions vie for control of a modular galaxy, each bound to their own home planet type. To expand, you must terraform neighboring worlds into environments your species can inhabit, all while competing against other groups for the same limited space. Unlike its predecessor, Gaia planets are neutral ground open to any faction for colonization, and Transdimensional planets can be converted into Gaia planets for even more strategic options.

Dive into a streamlined, story-driven Gloomhaven adventure perfect for newcomers and veterans alike — no map tiles, just a book, four unique heroes, and a mystery to unravel.

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is a standalone prequel that eases you into the world of tactical dungeon crawling without the heavy setup. The game ditches the cardboard map tiles entirely — instead, you play directly on the scenario book, with fresh artwork for every mission.

Spirit Island is a complex co-op game where you embody a nature spirit, unleashing elemental powers to drive colonizers off your island alongside the native islanders. Perfect for experienced gamers who love deep strategy, asymmetric player powers, and a thematic fight against colonialism.

In the far corners of the world, magic still thrums through the land, sky, and sea — and the spirits of nature are awake. When European colonizers arrive to claim these shores, the island itself fights back, and you are one of its elemental spirits, each with unique powers and a distinct playstyle. This is a deep, thematic co-operative game where you and your fellow spirits must defend your home and the native islanders from the relentless Invaders.

In the 2400s, you and your rivals compete to transform Mars into a habitable planet, balancing corporate greed with terraforming progress. Perfect for strategy lovers who enjoy deep card play and engine-building.

It's the 2400s, and humanity has set its sights on turning the Red Planet green. Giant corporations, backed by the World Government on Earth, are racing to raise Mars's temperature, oxygen levels, and ocean coverage until the planet is truly habitable. In Terraforming Mars, you play as one of those corporations, working together with rivals to terraform the planet — but secretly competing for Victory Points (VPs) earned not just from terraforming, but from building infrastructure across the solar system…

Dune: Imperium blends deck-building with worker placement for a tense, strategic fight for control of Arrakis. Perfect for fans of the Dune universe who love deep, competitive gameplay.

In Dune: Imperium, you lead one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad, combining classic worker placement with deck-building to create a game of hidden information and shifting strategy. Each round, you draw a hand of cards and take turns placing your Agents on the board by playing a card—your deck literally determines where you can go and what you can do.

Balance military might and political intrigue while deploying spies, signing contracts, or riding sandworms in this standalone deck-building and worker-placement game for fans of Dune and strategic board games.

In Dune: Imperium – Uprising, you must continue to balance military might with political intrigue, wielding new tools in pursuit of victory. Deploy spies to shore up your plans, secure vital contracts to expand your resources, or learn the ways of the Fremen and ride mighty sandworms into battle.

Gloomhaven is a tactical, co-operative dungeon-crawler for players who love deep strategy, evolving stories, and permanent consequences—perfect for groups ready to commit to a sprawling campaign.

Welcome to Gloomhaven, a world of shifting motives and dark ruins where you and your friends become wandering adventurers, each with unique skills and personal reasons for braving this treacherous corner of the map. This isn’t just a one-off game—it’s a persistent, ever-changing campaign ideally played over many sessions, where every decision shapes the story like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book.

Design a futuristic zoo and outsmart rivals with strategic card management in Ark Nova — where conservation, science, and creativity collide for 2-5 players.

In Ark Nova, you’re not just building a zoo — you’re engineering a global conservation empire. Use action cards to grow your domain, with each card’s power shifting based on the slot you play it in. The Cards action pulls fresh animals, sponsors, and projects into your collection; Build crafts enclosures and attractions; Animals populates your park; Association deploys workers for specialized tasks; and Sponsors boosts funding or influence.