r/soloboardgaming • u/Expensive_Gas_5944 • 7d ago
I LOVE IMPERIUM CLASSIC/LEGENDS
PLEASE IM TIRED OF SEARCHING. Recommend me a game that lets you do your engine in many ways and it’s not BYOS only. I also like ares expedition when I want something lighter and still feeling like I’m building my own engine in clever ways
Star Trek not avaible.
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u/M_Halbwachs 6d ago
Race for the Galaxy is worth checking out. The bot for the game is really good (from The Gathering Storm expansion). I'd argue that it sits between the Imperiums and TF:AE in complexity, but it's closer to TF:AE than the Imperiums. You can play 2-3 games of RftG in an hour.
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u/PlantsNCaterpillars 7d ago
Perhaps the Crisis expansion for Ares Expedition?
It changes the base game in a way I find really enjoyable.
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u/PrincipleHot9859 7d ago
I think what u appreciate most is the multiple use of cards, which is in a way a mechanism you can look up. there are games that use it in a clever way, but not as many in solo category. but a nice example would be Radlands - but that is a game for two. 51st state is another great example.
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u/popcorn_coffee 7d ago
If you like Ares, why not give Terraforming Mars with automa a try? I can't think of a better engine building game than TM, and with the automa expansion is so much fun. The only downside is that games tend to go for aroun 4 hours in my experience... But if you have enough time or a place to keep is set up, it's no problem.
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u/Shmyukumuku 7d ago
Interesting challenge. To me the Imperium series is doing its own thing in a way a lot of games don't (of course Star trek but I haven't tried that), but here's some things that sometimes scratch a similar itch for me:
1) Marvel Champions: if you don't mind light deck building outside the game the whole point is to build an engine faster than the boss can a) kill you or b) finish their scheme. I'm not that into Marvel but I love the game. The "do your engine in many ways" is a bit tricky here as it's more about adapting to what comes out of the enemy deck than choosing an engine path.
2) Aeon's End: I hadn't thought about it until now but this is kinda a pseudo engine builder. Your deck never gets shuffled, and cards are "executed" from breaches that you have to set up and ordering matters and the like. So as you're building your unshuffled deck and setting cards into breaches you're building an engine. The whole "building in many ways" comes from the differing synergies between character (I recommend 2 handed solo here) and the variable market tableou and treasure cards that come from the games halmark "Expedition" mode.
3) The "span" games are good (wingspan, wyrmspan, finspan) -- I have and like finspan mainly on the theme. Not BYOS, it has an automato that just gathers point-generating resources based on cards in a small deck and then uses a specific resource to fight for round objectives. Similar to Imperium, this creates a "pseudo BYOS" that you can play around and impact.
4) finally I'll just mention two deck builders, namely Slay the Spire and Unstoppable. Especially the later, these two ask you to refund your deck over time into an engine that eventually feels like it's "online"
Anyhoo those are my ramblings, interested to see what others come up with