When you need a little “me time” and a game sounds like the perfect way to chill, you might want to play solitaire, which offers more complexity than the standard card game. Well, these games like Solitaire offer solo play, simple rules for easy and quick play, and loads of interesting themes. So, grab your copy (or your deck of cards) and start learning some new solo-play games.
Introduction to Solitaire Alternatives
If you’re looking for a change of pace from classic Solitaire, there are numerous alternatives to explore. These games offer unique twists on the traditional Solitaire formula, providing a fresh challenge for players of all skill levels. From mathematical puzzles to strategic card games, there’s a Solitaire alternative out there for everyone. Whether you enjoy the simplicity of solo play or the complexity of strategic decision-making, these alternatives will keep you entertained and engaged. So, if you’re ready to expand your horizons beyond classic Solitaire, dive into these exciting card games and discover new ways to enjoy your solo gaming sessions.
Classic Solitaire Variations
While classic Solitaire remains a beloved favorite, there are several variations that offer a new spin on the traditional game. These variations often introduce new rules or gameplay mechanics, making them an excellent choice for players looking to mix things up. For instance, Spider Solitaire challenges you to clear multiple decks by arranging cards in descending order of the same suit. FreeCell, on the other hand, requires you to use strategic thinking to move all cards to the foundation piles, utilizing free cells to temporarily hold cards. Each variation brings its own set of challenges and strategies, ensuring that you never get bored of playing Solitaire. So, if you’re a fan of classic Solitaire, why not try out some of these variations and add a new dimension to your card game experience?
Solitaire Games for All Skill Levels
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced player, there’s a Solitaire game out there for you. From easy-to-learn games like Pyramid Solitaire to more challenging games like Scorpion Solitaire, there’s a wide range of options to choose from. Pyramid Solitaire, for example, involves pairing cards that add up to 13 to clear the pyramid, making it a great choice for those new to solitaire games.
On the other hand, Scorpion Solitaire requires a higher level of strategy as you aim to build sequences of cards in descending order with the same suit. No matter your skill level, you can find a solitaire game that suits your preferences and provides the right amount of challenge. So, whether you’re looking for a relaxing game or a strategic challenge, explore these solitaire games and find the perfect match for your skill level.
The 10 Best Solitaire Games
Herbaceous
Age: 8+ (Community 6+) Players: 1-4 Time: 15-20 minutes
Plant lovers and gardeners will love this game like Solitaire that’s known as Herbaceous. Players aim to collect the most valuable gathering of herbs (or compete if you decide to let someone else play with you!). You start out with four containers (each) that have different grouping actions:
Group different types of herbs
Group herbs of the same type
Group any three types of herbs (different or same)
Group pairs of herbs
On each turn, players draw an herb and then decide if they’ll keep it in one of the collections or discard it. If the player keeps the herb, the next card gets discarded into the communal pile – or if they discard this one, the next goes into the personal collection. Then the player must decide which container to use for the newly acquired herb. Will you collect different types, pairs, groups, or the same herbs in that container?
Solo mode offers some twists on the game, but generally speaking, the “best collection” (highest combined value) wins the game. The game play involves strategic decisions about grouping herbs to maximize your score.
Regicide: A Strategic Game
Age: 10+ Players: 1-4 Time: 10-30 minutes
Set in a fantasy world, Regicide works for solo play or cooperative play with up to 4 players. The game uses a standard deck of cards to defeat 12 powerful enemies within the world. At each turn of the game, players place a card to the table to attack the enemy. When enough damage is dealt, the enemy is defeated. And when the final of the 12 kings is defeated, the game ends. But, of course, during each turn, the enemy strikes back – you don’t just automatically win (what fun would that be?!). Players have to discard to deal with their own damage – and if they can’t discard enough, the player(s) loses. Ultimately, Regicide is a tactical card game that provides a solo or group game challenge. After each turn, players must manage the remaining cards to plan their next moves strategically.
For extra fun, try the Regidice game version, brought about thanks to a typo that inspired an April 1st fun time.
Deckula
Age: 12+ Players: 1 Time: 5-10 minutes
Looking for a vampire-themed game like Solitaire? Well, here you go! Deckula positions solo players as the vampire awakens from a century-long nap. And, of course, that castle you went to sleep in is now a complete wreck. Your fine way of life is under threat with all the muck and dirt about the place, so you’ve got to renovate and clean and populate your halls with ghoulish servants to meet your needs.
The darkly comic game challenges players to find the balance between a decadent lifestyle of great wealth and opulence and keeping wannabe vampire slayers and treasure hunters at bay. Deckula is a quick and easy game that allows for scalability in difficulty. Ultimately, your objective in the game is to make it to the end of the deck without getting killed off by visitors intent on looting your castle. On each turn, you make a simple decision: draw a card from the draw pile and keep or discard it. Some cards are worth victory points and tricky effects, while others (visitor cards) put you in danger. Defend yourself with those tricky cards and survive to the end or, well, meet your fate at the end of a wooden stake.
Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls
Age: 12+ Players: 1-2 Time: 10-15 minutes
An expansion of the game, Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls contains three difficulty levels (basic, expert, and advanced), making it even more enjoyable for folks who love a good solo game. Technically, it can be played by one or two, but folks say solo mode is best. The dungeon in this version is larger, the dangers more terrifying, and the treasures and magic more enticing. The objective is to clear the entire board, navigating through a suite of mazes, companion characters, a dragon, heavenly gemstones, a potion of invisibility, a magic sword, corruption cards, and many other exciting features that make this game like Solitaire a winner every time. You’ll also find stretch goals up the ante, with extra game modes (including the two-player mode), campaigns, and a mega dungeon. You’ll also find alternative rules that account for undead monsters and heaps more magical items.
The Bogey
Age: 8+ Players: 1 Time: 5-10 minutes
Grab a standard deck of cards and take on the game of The Bogey. The traditionally-based solitaire game is named after the fey creatures known as bogeys, the nasty creatures in mythology that account for everyday frustrations and challenges.
Your aim in this solo game is to play all 52 cards in as few columns as possible. After every turn you take, The Bogey “takes a turn” by playing the next card in the deck to the table, no matter how inconvenient that placement is for your gameplay. Turns continue until you make it through the deck or have to give up.
Cursed!?
Age: 10+ Players: 1 Time: 3-10 minutes
For a fast-playing solo game, grab your copy of Cursed!? to push your luck in the fantasy world. The premise of the game is that you’ve been cursed by a witch and the only way you can free yourself from the terror is to battle the beasts in the nearby forest – and gather their souls as a sacrifice to the witch who can cast spells with them to lift the curse.
So what is the curse? Well, everything you touch turns to ash – so the weapons you can use must be ancient arms found on long-dead warriors and adventurers. In gameplay, this means that every weapon you draw is random and often hidden among face down cards, adding a layer of complexity and decision-making. Some of the items are extremely powerful – and others not so much – but they’ve got to be used at the right time to battle well. Good luck!
Onirim: A Solo Game
Age: 8+ Players: 1-2 Time: 15 minutes
Another game that can be played by one or two, Onirim makes for a great replacement for Solitaire. In this game, you play a Dreamwalker who’s lost in a labyrinth where oneiric doors await before your dreamtime runs out. You’ve got to find those doors or you’ll be trapped forever. So, wander through the chambers and find ways to trigger the appearance of the doors – or linger in the rooms to discover more. But, of course, while you Dreamwalk, you’ll encounter Nightmares haunting the hallways.
You must work together or on your own to race against the clock and gather 8 Door cards before time runs out (or, well, the deck runs out of cards). You’ll collect the cards by playing cards of the same color three turns in a row or by discarding your powerful Key cards under the right circumstances.
The deck for this beautifully appointed game comes with
8 Door cards (2 red, 2 blue, 2 brown, 2 green)
10 Nightmare cards
58 Labyrinth cards
14 green chambers: 4 moons, 7 suns, 3 keys
16 red chambers: 4 moons, 9 suns, 3 keys
15 blue chambers: 4 moons, 8 suns, 3 keys
13 brown chambers: 4 moons, 6 suns, 3 keys
To extend the play, use the mini-expansions that also work as standalone or expansions compatible with each other (and are included in the basic game). “The Towers” adds new card types that allow more deck manipulation and searching; “Happy Dreams and Dark Premonitions” adds time bombs; the “Book of Steps Lost and Found” adds minor game mechanic changes that impact play. The initial layout includes face up cards, allowing players to plan their moves strategically.
Ragemore
Age: 10+ (Community 12+) Players: 1 Time: 20 minutes
Using only 18 cards for gameplay, Ragemore is a unique strategic game like Solitaire that allows the player to complete quests, engage with deck management, and resource collection. The premise for this unique solo game: Evil has descended upon a village and you, the player, are the last hope for their survival in this battle. This final quest, this final hope, left you alone in that final battle of one against the darkness…
In this 20-minute solo game, you must complete the quest laid before you using the two-sided cards which contain a demon on one side and a hero on the other. At the start of the game, you must set up 2 piles of demon-sided quests and a collection of 3 hero-sided cards. An immediate threat is then revealed from the draw deck. If the demon is killed, the demon then moves onto the quest pile; if it is defeated it is flipped over and another hero is added to your party. You can opt to ignore the demonic threat and go on a quest instead or you can parlay with the demons to turn them into heroes – if they will let you – at the cost of your hero’s morality.
Ultimately, you win this quick-paced game when the hero gains the set number of quest cards through the combination of 4 symbols drawn on each card. If, however, the graveyard contains 2 deaths (or all heroes are gone) and a quest pile has 4 demons or the demon deck is empty, you lose. Basically, there is 1 winning condition, and an assortment of 5 losing conditions – meaning this solo game actually presents a real challenge for the player, every time it’s played.
Puzzle Dungeon
Age: 13+ (Community 8+) Players: 1 Time: 10-20 minutes
Using solitaire hand management, set collection, and a modular board, Puzzle Dungeon offers a fantastic alternative to Solitaire. In the game, which plays in about 10 to 20 minutes, you must control the monster hunter as they make their way through a dungeon filled with monsters and their lords. The limited cards in your hand and the cards dealt into play from the deck, help you defeat enemies which are dealt as random to form the modular board. You must play only with the order in which your cards are dealt and in which the monsters are dealt. This means you’ve got to engage in a heavy strategy to even have a chance at winning.
Also Read: Best Puzzle Board Games for All Ages
In the game, you’ll discover 20 double-faced cards for the monsters. On one side, the monsters appear: vampires, goblins, or haunted armor. On the other side, the monsters appear in their monster king iteration. You’ll find four kinds of every monster – and when the third monster of that type is defeated, the fourth is flipped over to become the monster king. You must then defeat the monster kings to win, with all cards face up to strategize your moves effectively.
SOS Titanic
Age: 8+ Players: 1-5 Time: 30 minutes
You can play SOS Titanic as either a solo game or in a cooperative format with up to 5 players. The game visits the disastrous day in history – April 14, 1912 – when the R.M.S. Titanic sank beneath the waves after crashing into an iceberg. As water pours in from every direction, panic ensues, and you must do your best to save as many people as possible from this tragic accident.
The cards in SOS Titanic represent passengers on the ship. They must be arranged into proper decks and then placed into lifeboats to save their lives. As a crew member, you – the player – must move these and arrange them as quickly as you can to rescue them. Each section of the ship holds a pile of cards of which only the top card is available.
As you play in turns, you draw a few cards from the main deck and attempt to move passengers into the lifeboats. But every shuffle of the deck – or the inability to place even one passenger into a boat – results in the loss of certain parts of the ship. This means you keep losing the ability to save more lives. You’ll need to use action cards to turn the tides… The game ends when the ship has completely sunk or you’ve managed to save the remainder of the passengers.
Conclusion
With this collection of games like Solitaire, which are perfect for those who prefer to play solo, you’re sure to never get bored again. Just grab copies of the most appealing (or keep a standard deck handy) and play whenever boredom strikes. They’re a much better use of your time than doom scrolling, that’s for sure!
FAQ
1. What are some games similar to Solitaire that offer solo play?
Several games like Solitaire offer solo play, including Herbaceous, Regicide, Deckula, Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls, The Bogey, Cursed!?, Onirim, Ragemore, Puzzle Dungeon, and SOS Titanic. For example, the game ‘Devil’s Grip’ requires three rows of eight cards each placed face-up, establishing a starting tableau for gameplay. These games provide unique themes and mechanics while maintaining the simplicity of solo gameplay.
2. Can any of these games be played with more than one player?
Yes, some of these games can be played with more than one player. For instance, Herbaceous and Regicide allow up to 4 players, while Onirim and SOS Titanic can be played by 1-2 and 1-5 players, respectively. These games offer both solo and cooperative play options.
3. Are there any quick-play options among these games?
Yes, several games offer quick gameplay, such as Deckula and Cursed!?, which can be completed in about 5-10 minutes. These games are perfect for short sessions when you’re looking for a quick solo challenge.
4. What themes can I expect from these Solitaire-like games?
The games feature a variety of themes ranging from gardening in Herbaceous, fantasy battles in Regicide, and vampire adventures in Deckula, to historical events in SOS Titanic. Each game provides a distinct setting and narrative, enhancing the solo gaming experience.
5. Is there a game that combines card management with strategic gameplay?
Yes, Puzzle Dungeon combines hand management, set collection, and strategic