12 Board Games and Tabletop RPGs You Can Play Alone While Social Distancing

Social distancing may have pushed many game nights into hibernation, but it also introduced a surprisingly delightful truth: some of the best tabletop experiences do not require a crowd, a snack committee, or that one friend who reads half the rulebook and then declares themselves “basically ready.” Solo board games and tabletop RPGs have grown into a rich, creative corner of the hobby, offering everything from quick card puzzles to sprawling fantasy campaigns and journaling adventures that feel like writing your own novel with dice.

The best solo tabletop games are not watered-down versions of multiplayer games. They are designed to give one player meaningful choices, tension, surprise, and a satisfying sense of progress. Some feel like clever puzzles. Others feel like survival stories, superhero comics, or private creative retreats. Whether you are stuck at home, taking a break from screens, or simply enjoying the sacred luxury of playing at your own pace, these 12 board games and tabletop RPGs are excellent companions.

Why Solo Board Games Became So Popular

Solo gaming was once treated like the side salad of tabletop gaming: technically available, but rarely the main reason anyone showed up. That has changed. Modern solo board games now include dedicated automa systems, branching campaigns, clever card decks, and scenarios built specifically for one player. Tabletop RPGs have also evolved beyond the traditional group-and-game-master structure, with journaling RPGs and oracle-driven systems letting players create stories alone.

During periods of social distancing, solo games became more than entertainment. They gave players structure, imagination, and a sense of ritual. You could set up a game, make tea, move tiny pieces around a map, and briefly forget that your living room had become your office, gym, cafeteria, and emotional support cave.

12 Board Games and Tabletop RPGs You Can Play Alone

1. Friday

Best for: quick solo card-game fans

Friday is one of the classic solo card games, and it proves that a small box can still cause big “how did I lose again?” energy. You play as Friday, helping Robinson Crusoe survive on an island by improving his deck, fighting hazards, and slowly turning a hopeless castaway into someone who might actually make it through the day without falling apart.

The game is simple to learn but surprisingly tactical. Every bad card in your deck feels like a tiny gremlin you must manage. You decide when to take damage, when to push your luck, and when to accept that Robinson is not having his best morning. It is affordable, portable, and perfect when you want a satisfying solo board game without covering your entire table in cardboard geography.

2. Under Falling Skies

Best for: puzzle lovers and sci-fi fans

Under Falling Skies turns the classic alien invasion premise into a smart dice-placement puzzle. Enemy ships descend from above while you assign dice to underground rooms, gather energy, research weapons, and try not to let the planet become intergalactic toast.

What makes it shine as a solo game is how every die creates both opportunity and danger. High numbers give you stronger actions, but they also make alien ships move faster. That trade-off keeps each turn tense. The campaign mode adds new cities, modules, and challenges, giving the game impressive replay value. It feels like a compact arcade game translated into cardboard, except you are the arcade cabinet and also the panicked defense commander.

3. Spirit Island

Best for: strategic players who want depth

Spirit Island is widely loved among solo board gamers because it offers complexity, theme, and strategic freedom. You play as powerful island spirits defending your land from colonizing invaders. Each spirit has unique powers, growth options, strengths, and limitations, making every game feel different.

Solo play works beautifully because you can control one spirit for a focused challenge or manage two spirits for a richer strategic puzzle. The game rewards planning ahead, combining slow and fast powers, and understanding how fear, blight, and invader actions interact. It is not the easiest game on this list, but once it clicks, it becomes the kind of game that makes two hours disappear like snacks at a game night.

4. Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition

Best for: epic fantasy strategy fans

Mage Knight is a heavyweight solo board game with the soul of a fantasy campaign and the brain of a tactical puzzle. You explore a modular map, recruit units, learn spells, conquer cities, and build your character through deck-building and careful resource management.

The solo experience is famous because the game gives you a huge adventure without needing a group. It is demanding, rules-heavy, and not exactly a “play while distracted” game. But for players who enjoy mastering systems, it is deeply rewarding. Every card matters. Every movement point matters. Every decision feels like choosing between “bold heroism” and “oops, I forgot mountains are hard.”

5. Cartographers

Best for: relaxing puzzle players

Cartographers is a flip-and-write game where you draw terrain shapes onto a map, trying to score points based on changing royal decrees. Forests, villages, farms, water, and monsters all compete for space on your little kingdom map.

Solo mode uses score thresholds, making it easy to measure your performance without needing opponents. It is also highly approachable. You only need a sheet, a pencil, and enough confidence to draw shapes that may or may not resemble responsible urban planning. The game is peaceful but still strategic, and its short playtime makes it ideal for a lunch break or a quiet evening.

6. Railroad Ink

Best for: quick thinkers and route-building fans

Railroad Ink asks you to roll dice and draw road and rail routes on a personal board. Your goal is to connect exits, avoid dead ends, and create a transportation network that looks efficient rather than like a raccoon designed a city after three espressos.

As a solo game, it is fast, replayable, and easy to reset. Different editions add lakes, rivers, lava, meteors, and other twists. The joy comes from making the best of imperfect rolls. You rarely get exactly what you want, but that is the point. Great solo games create problems worth solving, and Railroad Ink does that in about 20 minutes.

7. Final Girl

Best for: cinematic horror fans

Final Girl is a solo-only board game inspired by classic horror movie structure. You play the last survivor trying to rescue victims, manage fear, collect items, and defeat a dangerous villain in a specific location. Each feature film box mixes a killer and setting, creating different story combinations.

The game is tense, dramatic, and full of wild moments. Dice rolls can save the day or ruin your perfect plan with theatrical cruelty. It is best for players who enjoy strong theme and do not mind luck playing a role. The appeal is not just winning; it is watching a miniature movie unfold on your table, complete with desperate choices and “why did I go into the basement?” regret.

8. Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Best for: superhero fans and deck-builders

Marvel Champions is a living card game where you choose a hero, build or customize a deck, and battle villains with their own schemes and encounter cards. It plays well solo because the hero system is flexible and the scenarios are easy to set up compared with many campaign-heavy card games.

Each hero feels distinct. Spider-Man dodges and responds, Captain Marvel blasts through problems, Black Panther builds upgrades, and other heroes bring their own rhythms. The game balances comic-book energy with tactical card play. True solo can be swingy, while two-handed solo gives more strategic variety, but either way it is a great pick for players who want action without scheduling five adults with calendars that look like war maps.

9. Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Best for: narrative campaign players

Arkham Horror: The Card Game blends deck construction, roleplaying choices, and branching scenarios. You take on the role of investigators facing eerie mysteries, dangerous locations, and consequences that carry from one session to the next.

Solo players can run one investigator for a focused challenge or two investigators for a fuller experience. The game is especially strong if you enjoy atmosphere, story, and campaign progression. Your deck becomes part of your character’s identity, and failure does not always mean the story ends. Sometimes it simply means the story gets stranger, darker, and more personally insulting.

10. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion

Best for: tactical combat and campaign fans

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is a more accessible entry point into the massive Gloomhaven universe. It includes a guided tutorial, scenario book maps, and character-driven tactical combat. While it supports groups, it also works well for solo players willing to control two characters.

The game shines because each character has a unique hand of cards that controls movement, attacks, initiative, and special abilities. You are not just rolling dice and hoping politely. You are planning turns, managing stamina, and trying to defeat enemies before your cards run out. It provides a strong campaign feel without requiring the storage space of a small furniture store.

11. Ironsworn

Best for: solo tabletop RPG beginners

Ironsworn is one of the best-known solo tabletop RPGs because it was designed from the ground up for solo, co-op, or guided play. Set in a harsh low-fantasy world, it uses vows, moves, dice rolls, and oracle tables to create dramatic stories without requiring a game master.

The magic of Ironsworn is that it gives you enough structure to avoid staring at a blank page, but enough freedom to create your own saga. You might swear an oath to protect a village, hunt a beast, recover a relic, or survive a political betrayal. The oracle system answers questions and introduces twists, so the story can surprise you. It feels part game, part writing exercise, and part personal myth generator.

12. Thousand Year Old Vampire

Best for: creative writers and journaling RPG fans

Thousand Year Old Vampire is a solo journaling RPG about memory, time, identity, and immortality. Players respond to prompts, record experiences, gain and lose memories, and watch a character change across centuries.

Unlike tactical board games, this one is quiet, reflective, and literary. The rules guide you through a personal story that may become tragic, strange, beautiful, or unsettling depending on your choices and prompts. It is excellent for players who like creative writing, character development, and atmospheric storytelling. You do not need miniatures, maps, or a party. Just the book, something to write with, and a willingness to let the story wander into unexpected places.

How to Choose the Right Solo Game for You

The best solo board game depends on what kind of experience you want. If you want a quick puzzle, start with Friday, Cartographers, or Railroad Ink. If you want a deep strategic challenge, look at Spirit Island, Mage Knight, or Under Falling Skies. If you want story and campaign play, Arkham Horror: The Card Game, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, and Ironsworn offer long-term investment.

Also consider setup time. A game can be brilliant and still not fit your Tuesday night energy level. Some solo games require 10 minutes and a pencil. Others require table space, token sorting, multiple decks, and the emotional readiness to read 28 tiny rulebook paragraphs. Neither style is better; they simply serve different moods.

Tips for Enjoying Solo Tabletop Games

Create a Small Gaming Ritual

Solo gaming feels more rewarding when it becomes a ritual. Clear your table, put your phone away, turn on background music, and give yourself permission to focus. Treat the game as a real activity, not a backup plan because nobody was free.

Start Small Before Going Epic

If you are new to solo board games, begin with shorter titles. A 20-minute game can teach you what you enjoy without burying you under rulebooks. Once you know you like solo play, then you can invite Mage Knight into your home like a large, complicated wizard.

Use Two-Handed Solo When Needed

Some games work better when you control two characters or decks. This is common in campaign games and living card games. It may feel odd at first, but it can make the game more balanced and more interesting. Think of it as playing chess against yourself, except with monsters, superheroes, or suspiciously dramatic investigators.

Keep a Play Journal

A simple notebook can make solo gaming more memorable. Record scores, campaign choices, funny failures, or favorite moments. For solo RPGs, journaling is often part of the game itself. Over time, your notebook becomes a record of tiny adventures you created entirely on your own.

Personal Experiences: What Solo Gaming Feels Like in Real Life

The first thing many players discover about solo board games is that they feel different from multiplayer games in the best possible way. There is no waiting for someone else to finish analyzing their turn like they are negotiating a peace treaty. There is no pressure to play quickly. There is no awkward moment when one player understands the strategy better than everyone else and accidentally becomes the table’s unpaid professor. Alone, the pace belongs entirely to you.

A solo game night can be surprisingly cozy. You set up Cartographers, draw a kingdom that looks almost respectable, and slowly realize your mountains are blocking everything useful. You play Friday and lose three times, then win once and feel like you personally invented survival. You open Under Falling Skies, roll the dice, and suddenly your quiet evening becomes a dramatic defense of Earth, starring you and a row of increasingly rude alien ships.

Campaign games create a different kind of attachment. In Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, you may start by thinking of your characters as tactical tools. After several scenarios, they become “your people.” You remember the time one character barely survived, the turn where a perfect card combo saved the mission, and the moment you made a terrible decision because it seemed heroic for approximately four seconds. Solo campaign gaming turns cardboard into memory.

Solo RPGs go even further because they ask you to become both player and storyteller. With Ironsworn, you might begin with a simple vow and end up with a complicated story about loyalty, revenge, weather, and one village elder who was definitely hiding something. The dice and oracle tables prevent the story from feeling too controlled. You ask a question, roll, and the answer may send your character in a direction you never planned. That surprise is the secret ingredient.

Journaling games like Thousand Year Old Vampire can feel almost meditative. You are not trying to beat an opponent. You are watching a character change through time. You write memories, cross them out, replace them, and realize the game is quietly asking big questions through small prompts. It is less about winning and more about discovering what kind of story emerges when you follow the rules honestly.

Another real benefit of solo tabletop gaming is that it gives your brain a break from endless scrolling. Screens are convenient, but they can turn free time into a blur. A board game creates a beginning, middle, and end. You shuffle cards, make choices, move pieces, and see consequences. That physical interaction matters. It makes leisure feel intentional instead of accidental.

Solo gaming also builds confidence. You learn rules on your own, make decisions without group approval, and experiment without embarrassment. If you misplay a rule, nobody has to know except you, the rulebook, and possibly one judgmental meeple. Over time, solo play can make you better at teaching games, planning strategies, and appreciating design.

Most importantly, playing alone does not feel lonely when the game gives you a world to inhabit. A good solo game offers challenge, atmosphere, and companionship in the form of systems that respond to your choices. It turns a quiet table into an island, a haunted city, a superhero battle, a fantasy frontier, or a map waiting to be drawn. Social distancing may have made solo gaming more visible, but the hobby has lasted because it is genuinely rewarding.

Conclusion

Solo board games and tabletop RPGs are no longer niche curiosities hiding in the back of the game shelf. They are some of the most inventive, satisfying, and flexible experiences in modern tabletop gaming. Whether you want a short puzzle, a strategic brain-burner, a campaign adventure, or a journaling RPG that turns your notebook into a strange little masterpiece, there is a solo game ready for your table.

The best part is that you do not need to coordinate schedules, clean the whole house for guests, or explain rules over the sound of someone opening chips. You can simply sit down, choose your adventure, and play. For social distancing, quiet weekends, creative breaks, or peaceful nights at home, these 12 games prove that one player is more than enough to make the table come alive.

Note: This article is written as original, publish-ready web content based on real solo board game and tabletop RPG information, with no source-link section included.