We keep a regular pulse on the realms of solo war gaming, but as happens in this hobby, there are now more games, and, in particular, more excellent solitaire war games. The mix below covers a collection of titles that came out within the last couple of years, all different and all worth a look. Solo war gaming continues to grow into its own—as opposed to simply two-handing many games, which remains an excellent way to handle many war games—with more distinct themes, simpler admin, and dynamic systems meant to be both fun and challenging. As ever, your Want List is your friend here, as many solo-only games are made in limited quantities (but are often traded in after they’ve been played out), so you’ll be able to jump on one of these games when it comes back in stock.
I’ll add, too, that if these sorts of games are in your wheelhouse, then put Noble Knight’s pals at The Player’s Aid on your reading list for more recommendations, reviews, and reveals in the war gaming world.
Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War Two
Impeccable art, clear objectives, and a dynamic narrative all come together in Okinawa, tasks you as the Americans attempting to take over the titular island
towards the end of World War 2. This is a card game, where you’ll lay out your forces, use dice to battle against the opposition, maneuver, and so on. The tension comes from deciding how best to use your time – upgrading soldiers, healing, pushing forward, or making sure to eliminate enemies so they don’t come back and surprise you later. Surprises like enemy tanks can up-end your tactics, forcing a scramble to keep your troops alive.
The relatively low complexity here and hour-long play time makes Okinawa a great travel game, easy to slap on a hotel coffee table after a day in the comparatively mild office or beach battlefield.
Operation Dragoon 1944
We’ve written about Worthington’s growing line of travel-sized, solitaire-specific war games, and they’re continuing to find fantastic quality with lesser-known settings. Operation Dragoon 1944 sets you as the Allies during the August invasion in the south of France. Unlike many solo war games that cast you as defending against an assault, Dragoon puts you on offense, giving you points for capturing territory and obliterating German units before they escape. Like all of the games in this series, the rules are simple, with the Germans using a dice-driven action system, keeping you engaged for the whole 30 minute play time. Quality components, coffee table ready, and designed with a solid command of the history on offer, Operation Dragoon 1944 is a worthy next chapter.
Onoda
Salt and Pepper Games has bounced onto the solo scene in the last few years with gems like Resist! and Witchcraft! (sadly, Onoda doesn’t continue their trend of an exclamation point in every title), games that emphasize character and emergent narrative as much as nuts and bolts strategy. Onoda, putting you in the shoes of its titular character, who continued ‘fighting’ for the Empire of Japan on the island of Lubang long after World War Two’s conclusion. Like a mix of Rambo and 
Robinson Crusoe, you’ll tangle with survival and sabotage. Six rounds, each with a mission to complete, along with feeding your friends, repairing equipment, and more. You’ll traipse about the island doing all these things, with every action ending in a drawn event card (usually, er, bad). Getting things done where you’ve already wreaked some havoc requires drawing tokens (as opposed to dice rolls, which gives you a bit more agency as you can evaluate odds) to see whether you succeeded or, well, blew it.
Onoda tells a story with every game, and plays best if you ride the ups and downs to see where they take you. Like any adventure, it won’t all be sunshine and roses, but that makes surviving to the end that much more rewarding, no?
Pocket Air War: Definitive Edition
Often, it’s a game for multiple players retrofitted to work for solitaire. Pocket Air War: Definitive Edition (and its predecessor) are the opposite – games designed with great solo modes that can expand to grab everyone at the office break room when they inevitably find themselves intrigued at the plane counters zipping around the play mat. Pocket Air War is exactly what you think it is – a small box stuffed with counters and flair, ready to send you on all manner of World War Two flying duels lasting from 30 minutes to an hour and a half.
You’ll fly those duels with simple turning tools and range rulers, like a miniatures game, and chuck a couple of dice for damage and hitting rolls. It’s breezy stuff, but that’s the point: we’re focused on the tactics here, not minutiae. The Deluxe edition does, though, add altitude modeling and a few other tweaks to improve verisimilitude.
With both campaign and scenario options, solo AI difficulty modes, and a plethora of theaters from the Battle of Britain to the Korean War, Pocket Air War: Definitive Edition is stuffed with good times, and if that proves hard to find, the original is no slouch either.
Cuba Libre – The Calixto Bot Pack
This one’s a bit different, but for solo players, GMT’s efforts to create real bot options for their COIN series is too enticing to ignore. COIN games like Cuba Libre, with their wide decision space and varying victory conditions, are daunting options for solitaire play. Multi-handing four or five players is an administrative
burden, not to mention the lack of deceptive maneuvers when, well, every faction has the same mind behind their moves. Enter the Calixto Bot Pack, which brings the Jacquard bot system to Cuba Libre. This adds a small separate card deck that triggers the bot(s) to do different things based on the game state, making for a more dynamic opponent than the flowchart systems included in the game. Definitely something to look into if you’re a Cuba Libre or COIN fan and want a different way to play the game.
This isn’t GMT’s first foray into the bot system either – you can find similar bot packs for Fire in the Lake and Ghandi too.
Plum Island Horror – More of a Bad Thing
Hermann Luttmann’s delves into horror war games continue to bring delight, as 2023’s Plum Island Horror, a sort of tower defense/siege game with a passing resemblance to Luttmann’s own classic Dawn of the Zeds, gets a nice expansion. More of a Bad Thing does what good expansions should, adding in more factions and difficulties modes, but without introducing huge rules overhead or zillions of pieces that would make it hard to table. For solo players, the improved difficulty (nightmare mode, naturally) is likely the highlight, addressing the main Plum Island critique: it simply wasn’t scary enough, man. Now, you can be properly terrified in this 1-2 hour game about evacuating a city in the midst of a deadly outbreak.
Action efficiency, unique faction powers, the need to play to strengths while getting citizens out as the zombies assault makes for a compelling stew. I’d put Plum Island as a bit lighter than Dawn of the Zeds, making it an excellent starter for solo players looking to dig into this genre. Bonus, of course, that it expands readily into co-op play too.
La Der Des Ders
Bots, rather than two-handing a game, continue to grow as more war game publishers and designers put in the energy to make them work. La Der Des Ders, which 
puts you into a strategic-level view of World War One. Whichever side you pick, the other gets played by the ‘Athena’ bot (or another player – this game isn’t solo-only). You’ll have to manage expensive, in both lives and resources, assaults, technological improvements, and responding to your opponent’s efforts in Blitzkrieg-like tracks, bringing a zoomed out narrative to the global conflict. Dice drive much of the action, but are modified by your choices in tech and resources, turning luck into more of a dance than a pure gamble. It’s a good mix that allows for those great roll highs and the emergent narratives they create.
Hexasim brings their usual quality production here, with dual-layered boards, a clean map, and accessible rules. La Der Des Ders is a great starting war game for solo enthusiasts (or serves as a good introduction for non-war gamers) that plays in an hour or two, perfect for week night sessions.
Overall, this smattering shows two things: war games continue to improve their bot offerings, enhancing solo play beyond just asking solitaire players to play both sides. They’re also getting more and more diverse in their solo-only designs, offering narratives and juicy tactical play in travel-ready sizes. It remains a great time to be a war gamer, at all player counts.
