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Over the past twelve months my gaming time has taken a big hit. Renovating a farmhouse has been taking up every spare moment. But, to help my brain and body from exploding as I ricochet between work and wheelbarrow, I have been sneaking in solo games. And my favourite theme of all is nature.
Granted, nature is a big umbrella term (and so lets me sneak in many sub-themes). But even just sitting and staring at cool waterfalls, beautiful birds, and fantastic forests is enough to reduce my racing heartrate and relax my mind. I don’t have the patience for a zen lifestyle, but I can actively meditate by puzzling over a pretty game.
So here are 5 top nature themed games that you can play and enjoy solo too!
Cascadia
Cascadia is a tile laying area majority, placement optimisation game which is beautiful to look at and play. In Cascadia, you are trying to create habitats that suit 5 different indigenous species who call the Pacific Northwest USA home. Each animal type has its own preferences, and you get points for keeping them happy as well as building out connected territory types.
Rounds in solo mode are fast and simple. Each turn, you pick a pair comprising a habitat tile and a wildlife token from the pool. The rightmost pair then get discarded and two new pairs are then drawn randomly from the bag and added to the pool. When the tiles run out, its time to score for territory corridors (areas) and the 5 separate spatial-based wildlife scoring objectives chosen at the start of the game.
There’s no complex AI to manage or complicated set up. Just you, your tiles, and your scoring objectives. Balancing what you want to take right now against what could be discarded is the perfect synapse sizzle for a game that plays in under 30 minutes. Cascadia is one of my top nature themed games to play solo.
Village Green
Village Green is one of my oldest and most loved solo games. Such a simple premise – draft Green cards to complete your 3 x 3 village green and score as many points as possible using the Award cards laid around the top and left edge. But you can’t just place them anywhere – each new card must be placed in such a way that the flower symbols on orthogonally linked cards match by colour/type or both.
Village Green is so quick and so puzzly that I usually find myself playing 4 or 5 games in a row. And it’s a good thing each game plays fast because I always want to beat my last score! The artwork is lovely (although yellow symbols can be hard to see), and with just two small decks of cards, this game can be played anywhere.
Bonsai
Bonsai is a new game to my table and it is lovely to play solo. In fact, I have been enjoying it as a #greedygamer so much that I haven’t let anyone play with me yet!
Just 2 actions to learn and apply: meditate or cultivate. And just 20 minutes to carry them out. But what a decision it is each turn! Do I go for tiles in preparation for building my beautiful bonsai? Or do I lay bonsai tiles because I am fast running out of space in my storage? But what about the helpers and masters who could give me extra options? Now that might sound pretty programmable but it’s not. You see, each turn cards get discarded, and those leaving depend on which action you are taking. Bearing in mind you need to achieve 3 scoring objectives to beat the game, Bonsai fires up my mind whilst cooling down my temperature for sure!
Sunset Over Water
This game couldn’t have been named more aptly. Picking cards from a tableau of gorgeous cards depicting sunsets over water, I am transported far from the dust, dirt, and my desk. And solo play is super straightforward and really enjoyable. With a special deck, you play an artist collecting cards to complete compositions to sell for points. But each turn you must choose the time you wake up. This sets which direction you walk in, as well as how many cards you can collect on your way. Collecting the perfect cards (illustrated by Beth Sobel) and maximising your own icon bonus feels super satisfying, and I will happily play Sunset Over Water solo any time!
Floriferous
I love wandering through a beautiful garden. And Floriferous takes me on a solo journey resplendent with beautiful, watercolour blooms! Played over 3 rounds, each round I am picking flowers, bouquets, and scoring objectives that will turn petals into points by end game. Some cards have bonus stones (which are useful for scaring off the Pesky Crow who is intent on stealing the cards I want as well as those I have collected).
Floriferous solo is excellent – it has all the fun puzzliness of the multiplayer but with a big dollop of direct interaction. And that Pesky Crow I mentioned? Well he is the AI who comes to mess with your garden gathering using a very simple to operate automa deck.
I love the light but thinky decision space and sense of push your luck as I forgo flowers for desire goals in the hope that I’ll collect enough to make it worthwhile! The artwork is manna for my tired soul and a feast for my worn-out eyes. 20 minutes with this game and I feel ready to face what tomorrow has in store!
