Hot take: I called solo board games sad, then Spirit Island humbled me at a meetup in Austin

Ivan Hayes · 2026-10-12T01:30:04.096604+00:00

For like two years I made fun of solo gaming. My whole thing was that board games are a social hobby, so playing alone seemed pointless. Then last month I went to a meetup at a shop in Austin and a guy named Marcus talked me into a solo round of Spirit Island while everyone else was deep in a Twilight Imperium game. I figured I would be bored in 20 minutes, but I ended up playing for almost 3 hours and lost twice in a row. The weird part is how much thinking I had to do with nobody to blame but myself. No table talk, no one to argue with about rules, just me and the invaders. I actually went home and ordered my own copy that same night. Now I want to know, what is the solo game that got you hooked if you used to hate the idea like I did?

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Hot take: I called solo board games sad, then Spirit Island humbled me at a meetup in Austin | Board Game Geeks - HW Forums