Most of my games have been solo. I’ve seen people mentioning 2 hand solo. This is probably obvious, but is this just treating everything as a 2 player game, and you’re controlling both players?

That’s about the gist of it yes. My own opinion of it is that it’s my least favorite way to play the game by far. But a lot of other people here swear by it so if you’re at all curious what the play experience is like you should give it a try.

My preferred way to play.

I find solo to be too easy to manage, hard to get overwhlemed by anything. 2-player solo allows the game to run amok from time to time, makes side schemes more dangerous, and also makes for more interesting plays to combine heroes/cards. And it isn't too much admin or work to keep in mind a second hand. I find it to really hit the sweet spot.

@PastrySandwich Well yeah it’s easy. Unlike Arkham Horror your encouraged to share hand info to better work as a team. It’s no different than playing a turn based squad game.

1 hour ago, Hyperjayman said:

@PastrySandwich Well yeah it’s easy. Unlike Arkham Horror your encouraged to share hand info to better work as a team. It’s no different than playing a turn based squad game.

Talkin about single hand solo vs. two handed solo. I find only having 1 hand to take baddies cards makes the game far too easy to manage. By adding a second hand it helps by making it more possible for some stuff to start to overwhelm (adding tension) as well as allows you to make more fun combos and more interesting turn to turn decisions.

I really enjoy two-handed solo, I probably play two-handed 75% of the time and single-handed 25% of the time. And it’s like you said, simply playing for two players.

The only downside is if you like playing like Team Covenant does with the rule that you can’t explicitly name cards in your hand, that’s not possible in two-handed solo.

I would say I may prefer one-handed as a pure and quick solo experience, but two-handed allows for so many interactions you only get in multiplayer, which is great.

I've only ever played it 2 hand solo. I think the game is awesome but I can't imagine playing with only one hero.

On 4/3/2020 at 12:43 PM, PastrySandwich said:

My preferred way to play.

I find solo to be too easy to manage, hard to get overwhlemed by anything. 2-player solo allows the game to run amok from time to time, makes side schemes more dangerous, and also makes for more interesting plays to combine heroes/cards. And it isn't too much admin or work to keep in mind a second hand. I find it to really hit the sweet spot.

This is an interesting take.

It seems the consensus that I've seen has been that true solo is more difficult than 2 handed.

I mostly play solo and haven't played single handed yet. I have done 2 and 3 hand solo. 3 is a lot to keep up with at first, but I had more fun with it than I thought I would. I'll eventually give single handed a shot, but I don't think I'll like it as much as 2 handed which is how I always played LotR LCG as well.

Sorry, I couldn't resist...

@Mon no Oni Touché good sir! Touché!

22 hours ago, Hyperjayman said:

@Mon no Oni Touché good sir! Touché!

I know

On 4/6/2020 at 2:48 PM, 2morrow said:

This is an interesting take.

It seems the consensus that I've seen has been that true solo is more difficult than 2 handed.

There is no "true solo", there is "solo" and "not solo"

You are right though, playing two heroes will always give you an advantage over two players playing a hero each
The fact you can plan out your entire turn based on the knowledge of knowing all the cards in hand

On 4/3/2020 at 6:48 PM, Hyperjayman said:

@PastrySandwich Well yeah it’s easy. Unlike Arkham Horror your encouraged to share hand info to better work as a team. It’s no different than playing a turn based squad game.

I don't agree on this however, where are you encouraged to share?
We like to play where we just hint we can take care of certain situations and such (similar to the FFG guys themselves), makes it much more fun

24 minutes ago, cheapmate said:

We like to play where we just hint we can take care of certain situations and such (similar to the FFG guys themselves), makes it much more fun

I love doing this, too - makes it a little more challenging and prevents alpha gaming.

I’d rather play an easier villain and you can only hint at your cards than a harder villain with shared hand knowledge.

40 minutes ago, cheapmate said:

There is no "true solo", there is "solo" and "not solo"

You are right though, playing two heroes will always give you an advantage over two players playing a hero each
The fact you can plan out your entire turn based on the knowledge of knowing all the cards in hand

Sorry, what I meant by this is one handed solo vs two handed solo.

You guys are making me realize that playing solo 2-handed might get a wee bit more delicate as we get cards with the Peril keyword, which is mentioned in the Reference but which no cards have been using as of yet. In solo play I think I would be inclined to just surge it.

3 hours ago, Ascarel said:

You guys are making me realize that playing solo 2-handed might get a wee bit more delicate as we get cards with the Peril keyword, which is mentioned in the Reference but which no cards have been using as of yet. In solo play I think I would be inclined to just surge it.

Fascinating. For all the times I’ve been through the reference guide I don’t think I have ever noticed the peril keyword.

wonder what else I’ve missed...

49 minutes ago, The Team said:

Fascinating. For all the times I’ve been through the reference guide I don’t think I have ever noticed the peril keyword.

wonder what else I’ve missed...

I believe it was recently added, and no revealed cards use it yet. Exciting though!

Just now, andynorton said:

I believe it was recently added, and no revealed cards use it yet. Exciting though!

Wow I realize the poster above said the same, I may have misunderstood you!

I will be interested to see how it affects solo two-handed.

Only way I play by myself

4 hours ago, andynorton said:

I believe it was recently added, and no revealed cards use it yet. Exciting though!

It was there from the very beginning. I distinctly remember reading it in paper form, and I remember it as a matter of fact because it was not in the core set -- this made it stand out to me!

Oh yeah, 2-hand solo is a great time. The game, just like the others, doesn't work as well solo, which of course makes sense in a card game, you can only be able to handle a certain amount of aspects of the game.

23 hours ago, cheapmate said:

I don't agree on this however, where are you encouraged to share?
We like to play where we just hint we can take care of certain situations and such (similar to the FFG guys themselves), makes it much more fun

This is in the Rules Reference under Table Talk:

Quote

Players are permitted and encouraged to talk to one another during play, and to work as a team to plan and execute the best course of action. Players can discuss anything they would like, including cards in play and cards in their hand

14 hours ago, Ascarel said:

It was there from the very beginning. I distinctly remember reading it in paper form, and I remember it as a matter of fact because it was not in the core set -- this made it stand out to me!

Wow ok yes I never noticed that.

41 minutes ago, rees263 said:

This is in the Rules Reference under Table Talk:

I think you could argue:

1) Collaboration is encouraged.

2) Discussing cards is allowed (and since discussing cards is allowed and part of collaboration, discussing cards is encouraged).

I love collaboration but I enjoy the challenge of not playing completely open hand - it’s like the kind of table talk you wish you could do in Euchre (but you can’t, don’t do that people). Basically, if my wife says “I’ve got Daredevil, I can take care of that threat and finish that minion,” I’m great with that, but I don’t want to know her whole hand otherwise I may be tempted to play it for her to play most efficiently. And it’s fun to see cards come out from your teammate that surprise you. 🙂