Solo RPGs: Gloomhaven
A huge board game/co-op RPG hybrid, Gloomhaven can be played solo. The game has an story line with scenarios to achieve the main goal. Players choose among the scenarios and unlock more. Characters are pre-generated, but players have some choice for power/ability cards.
- Rule book, scenario book, cards, counters, dials, and tokens.
- #Characters: 1 to 4.
- Dice: None (cards are used as dice).
- Key Features: Scenario play or random dungeons.
- Sample Character: Inox Brute: 10 hp, Uses 10 cards–these cards are key to the character describing actions, attacks, etc.
- Oracle: Not used.
- Quest Generation: The game has an overarching story line and many scenarios you choose between to play out.
- Dungeon Mapping: The scenarios have pre-made maps in the booklet that you set up, but you can make random dungeons by pulling one card from two random dungeon creation decks. One card shows the area map with foe locations and possible traps and treasures marked; the other card specifies those foes, traps, and treasures.
- Monsters/Traps/Room Contents: Either set by the scenario or by the random dungeon cards.
- Magic System: Cards represent character powers/abilities. Magic themed characters and monsters have magic themed powers/abilities.
- Character Growth: Characters earn XP to grow in power, find items, etc.
Gloomhaven may be better classified as a solo/co-op board game, but it can certainly be played solo and has a number of RPG features. It has even more pieces and types of pieces than the D&D solo/co-op board games and the rules are more diverse as well. The campaign has a main story and scenarios/quests you undertake can each be a game session. A random dungeon system is also included.
But it definitely isn’t a free-form solo game with an Oracle where the player(s) can take the story in any direction. There is a lot of choice, but the game is closer to an evolution of the D&D solo/co-op board games with additional rules, pieces, and a long-play story line than it is a role-playing game.