Debate: Are modern board games too focused on solo play now vs 10 years ago?

I was looking at my shelf the other day and realized over half my games bought in the last 2 years have a solo mode. Compare that to stuff like Settlers or Ticket to Ride from the 2000s where solo was barely a thing. Is this because publishers saw a market shift or are designers just giving in to people who dont have regular groups? I get that life gets busy but I feel like games are being designed with solo first in mind and group play second. My friend swears by it and says solo modes saved his hobby since his group fell apart in 2020. But I miss the days of buying a game that was strictly a multiplayer experience. What side are you on?

2 comments

2 Comments

richardh449d ago

You hit it with "solo modes saved his hobby since his group fell apart" and that's the whole thing right there... everyone I know has at least one group that just dissolved after 2020. It's like how nobody cooks big dinners anymore unless it's a special occasion, everything's shifted to the smaller scale.

mitchell.nancy9d ago

My buddy actually started a cooking club with just three guys and it's way more fun than any big dinner party I remember from before. I don't know if it's really that deep, people's groups fall apart all the time for different reasons. My old group broke up in 2018 and I just found another one a year later. I guess I just don't see the point in getting too worked up about it, life changes and you adapt.