What's on your table right now?

[bayonetbrant]

Have you checked on BGG for a solo variant?

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

There is a solo variant but it doesn't really work that well.  A major component of game play is the edge-battle.  It's a bluffing/gambling system and if you know what your opponent has in his/her hand, it removes all element of risk.  By removing the secret hands and the gambling aspect, the rest of the game can be broken down into straight math and it becomes to easy to defeat the AI flowchart logic.

[bayonetbrant]

It's a bluffing/gambling system and if you know what your opponent has in his/her hand, it removes all element of risk.

Can you randomize some w/ card draws or die rolls to replace that 'bluffing'?
I don't know the game, so I'm just spitballing here.

[Bison]

Not really because you have to give up cards from your hand and each card has a "force" point total 1-5 (or so).  This means you have to think through the cost benefit of using a card for the edge battles, which are determined by the most force points, or saving them to play during the deployment phase.  Also there are certain cards called fate cards that can only be played during the edge battle that have an effect on the current skirmish.  So unfortunately there isn't really a way to simulate the edge battle with dice and a random pulling of cards would sort of mess with the planning part of the game.

Lord of the Rings is designed to play solo or co-op.  You play against a Mordor deck, which is randomized with some limited placement of cards in the stack.  It works really, really well.  If someone is a Tolkien fan, the game is outstanding.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I suppose it would be possible reserve vital cards, remove them from the edge battle and then turn the AI player's remaining cards face down, shuffle them, and then roll a die to determine how many he'll be willing to commit to the edge-battle but as the human player, you're still going to have foreknowledge of his card's values and what, if any, edge spoilers he's got in his hand and then adjust your commitments accordingly. 

Might work to randomize it a bit.

[Cyrano]

1:  Finally finished the three-map Memoir '44...Germans pushed the Allies back into the sea rather decisively...Utah Beach was particularly grim, but the Panzers also achieved what Rommel did not, viz.:  driving a wedge between the airborne divisions at the next of the Cotentin and Utah Beach.  A steady run of "Their Finest Hour" cards did not, of course, hurt.

2:  Played first couple games of Smash Up...je ne regrette rien, but it's no King of Tokyo so far...

3:  Catacombs 3e.  This silly, absurdly-drawn, puck-flicking dungeon crawler is what D&D should always have been.  My goodness this is a fun game.  First game in an age that both my wife and my son wanted to play again immediately after getting pantsed the first time by the easiest of the boss monsters.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Just found out about this little program while looking at a tutorial video for Lord of the Rings LCG.  It looks like it might have better functionality that Tabletop Simulator when it comes to card games.

http://octgngames.com/

[Bison]

Yeah I saw that too. There is a Star Wars lcg simulation too.  I've never dealt with octgn before so I'll have to look into it as well.  Vassal has a net runner module but no Star Wars lcg.  Basel does have the. Wing game but you need the physical pilot cards to play the game.

[BanzaiCat]

I found Star Wars Risk at GameStop for $24, the cheapest I've seen it anywhere (the friggin' Disney store wants $35 for it), so I grabbed it. I'll post pics of it when I have a chance.

[Nefaro]

Star Wars lcg -  I really like it but my opponent doesn't like card games so it wasn't much fun.

I was never really into card games but I won a copy of Star Wars LCG and I think it's fantastic.  I ended up buying all the expansions for it.  I don't bother building my own decks but prefer to play a "theme" pack.  Very challenging game and the various factions offer up a lot of variation in how they play.

There are some fun card games out there nowadays. 

Before some of these more recent ones, I had only really got into MtG but that was only for a number of years way back in the 90s.  Now there are even good co-op ones you can play solitaire & are heavily themed to boot.  They're great for quick setup & play.  You also don't have to constantly refer to a rulebook or move a horde of small pieces around since most of the special rules are printed on the individual cards themselves.

In the last few years I picked up & played these good card games:
Sentinels Of The Multiverse
Thunderstone
Shadowrun Crossfire
Marvel Legendary / Legendary Encounters,  Alien + Predator
Lord Of The Rings LCG
Mistfall

..and those are just the ones with solitaire rules.  Also have Doomtown, Yashima, Netrunner, and both versions of Mage Wars for more advanced head-to-head stuff.  A smattering of other more casual family friendlier ones like Smash Up, Boss Monster, Epic Spell Wars Of the Battle Wizards, etc.  I think there are a couple more, even.  :o

Prior to four or five years ago, I'd never have expected to own this many card games.  Much less be able to choose from so many to pull out & play on a whim.

[Bison]

Thunderstone and marvel legendary are on my list to purchase.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I downloaded that octngames program.  It's a real hassle to set up and get running.  It doesn't give you an option for an install directory which is a minus for me as my C drive is a small SSD and I want to keep space on it free as much as possible.

Anyway, you install the program and then have to go through a bunch of submenus to subscribe to the game library.  Once that's done you go through a few more menus to select the games you want from their library.  Then you have to go to various websites to download the artwork for the cards in the game.  It'd be nice if they just downloaded them all but you have to select each DLC expansion individually and then download that art.  Once that's done you have to look through the individual cards to find which ones have been censored (their way of avoiding copyright infringement, I guess) and then scan in the art from your own card.

I don't think it's worth it.  The interface is nice enough but it's not a huge leap above VASSAL or TTS.

[Bison]

Well that sounds like a pain in the ass.

[Nefaro]

Well that sounds like a pain in the ass.

That was my impression when I started reading about the setup.  Never messed with it.

[bayonetbrant]

A couple of games of 7 Wonders Duel last night.  Fun game; feels right for a 7 Wonder game.  Definitely playing some more this week.