After playing the solo mode of Flamecraft Duals, I fell down a rabbit hole of investigating which other 2p games in my collection can actually be played solo. I’ve been testing them so you don’t have to. Here they are, ranked by how much I enjoyed each!

🧑‍✈️ Sky Team 🥇 

There are various solo variants but these are the rules I use: each round roll all dice for the pilot taking the first turn and place one as normal. Then roll a single die for the other pilot and place it. Place another dice for pilot 1 and so on. So simple but SO 👏 GOOD 👏. I may even enjoy this even more than the 2p game (control freak 👋). No notes. 5 stars. Chefs kiss. 

👑 Splendor Duel 🥈

Uses a fan-made automa available on BGG. Flip a card and take the action shown. Each card has 3 actions: take the top one the 1st time through the deck, then the middle etc. Increase difficulty by reducing deck size. It took a minute to get the hang of the iconography but then I really enjoyed this. I did win for once though, which may influence my view!

🪡 Patchwork 🥈 

Requires a copy of the automa deck. Flip a card telling you how many buttons the automa has to spend. Pick a patch from the next 3. If it can afford multiple, check the filters on the card. 5 difficulties available. There’s a tactical variant where the card back shows its next button-budget, so you can plan ahead. Good fun and nicely mimics the decisions of a real opponent.

⚔️ 7 Wonders Duel 🥉

Requires a print-and-play automa deck from the Asmodee website. There are 5 opponent cards (pick 1 – each has a different strategy) and 12 decision cards that dictate which card the automa prioritises taking each turn. This was fun but didn’t quite mimic a real opponent well enough to make me reach for it often at solo.

🔥 Flamecraft Duals 🥉

Solo mode included as standard, which is always appreciated . It’s a fun puzzle; complete a shop or fountain card every turn or it’s game over. But for me, the replayability isn’t quite there, and it leans a little too heavily on luck.