Top 10 Most Entertaining Single-Player Card Games

Single-player card games are one type of entertainment that helps you find your inner peace and appreciate time alone. Whether you’re an old-timer and want to play all games with a standard deck of cards or purchase a special pack of cards for a game you’ve never heard of, you’ll find options for both.  

Is there any drinking? We can’t spoil that now. But we can tell you that Sip & Challenge definitely includes drinks.

1. For Northwood;
2. Forty thieves;
3. Sprawlopolis;
4. Arkham Horror;
5. Pyramid;
6. Devil’s Grip;
7. Ragemore;
8. Wish;
9. One Deck Dungeon;
10. Skyway;

1. For Northwood

Ages 12+ | Gametime of 20 minutes | 65 cards;

Don’t let the innocence of the box fool you. For Northwood! can get pretty tricky. There are eight rounds of gameplay and three levels of difficulty. During the game you must visit eight animal fiefs, and deal with the rulers, aiming to put them into tricks. Your adventure will start with four alliances, and then, there’s an exact number of tricks to allow you to join another alliance. And don’t forget. Keep your eye on the target score!

2. Forty Thieves

Uses 2 full 52-standard-decks of cards;

To play Forty Thieves, you will arrange all cards into 10 columns of 4, and keep the remaining cards as your draw pile. Make a row of Aces, the start of your foundations, and continue to stack cards up. You might move the top cards from one foundation to another if it follows the rank. Cards from the pile can be moved to foundations or columns, as long as the suit and the rank match. The goal indeed, is to make stacks of cards, from Ace to Kings, in the same suit. 

3. Sprawlopolis

Ages 8+ | Gametime of 15 to 20 minutes | 18 cards;

Cheers for the game that is never the same twice. In each round, you have a hand of 3 cards to work with. You will play a card aiming to score points, and then draw another card, so you always have 3. In other words, you’re a planner, and you will develop large city areas. Depending on the circumstances, you could lose points for each road in your city, or gain them per block in specific zone types. When all cards have been played, the city’s built up. It’s all about how it’s built.  

More on the rules can be found in the rulebook. 

4. Arkham Horror

Ages 14+ | Gametime of 1 to 2 hours | 239 cards;

Are you up for a game that can last up to 2 hours? Arkham Horror it is. In the game, you’ll choose which of the investigators of Arkham City you’ll be, and that comes with its weaknesses and strengths. While exploring places and their clues, you’ll fulfill the game’s goal: reveal the ancient secrets. And let me tell you, with the forces of evil interrupting, that isn’t as simple as it seems. It is absolutely a much more complicated game, so, I bet you’d like to read the full rules.

5. Pyramid

Uses one 52-card deck;

Pyramid Solitaire (shortly, Pyramid), is best when you need a game to simply clear your head. You start by building the pyramid of seven rows, with one card on top, and seven cards on the last row, and leaving the remaining deck aside. Pairs that add up to 13, are discarded. Once you remove cards from the row, the top card of the pile gets turned over, and that can be used to make a pair. But bear in mind: only open cards can get discarded. If you remove all cards from the pyramid, you win! 

6. Devil’s Grip

Uses 2 decks of classic cards, with aces removed. 

Devil’s Grip starts with you arranging 24 cards face-up, in 3 rows of 8 cards. The trick is that each row has its sequence: it’s 258J in the first row, 369Q in the second, and 4710K in the third row. You can move and stack cards on top of each other, if they match the suit and sequence. Whenever there’s an open space on the grid, you can draw cards from the remaining pile. The game ends when no more moves can be made. 

7. Ragemore

Ages 10+ | Gametime of 20 minutes | 18 cards;

Speaking of top-tier solo games, Ragemore shouldn’t miss. In this card game, you will complete quests, and aim to help the hero gain the strength it needs. Each card has the hero and demon side, and you will use the one you need, depending on the situation. Enemies will trigger your activities if they’re not removed at the right time. There are 5 losing conditions and only 1 winning condition. If you’d like to know more about that, check the rules. 

8. Wish

Uses a deck of cards with 2s to 6s removed;

Well, we like quick & simple games as well. Not only complicated board games. You must create 8 piles of cards, with 4 cards each, and turn the top card of all piles over. You can remove any 2 cards that make a pair, and when a card is removed, the next card in the pile gets flipped over. If you remove all the cards from the table, you win. If you don’t have any moves left, you lose…

9. One Deck Dungeon

Ages 14+ | Gametime of 30 minutes | 62 cards + tokens;

In One Deck Dungeon, you’ll build your character up from scratch, which will go through many challenges to survive. Cards will bring both the obstacle, and the power that overcoming that obstacle comes with. While you explore the dungeon, you’ll see that the deeper you get, the harder One Deck Dungeon becomes. You might get special abilities along the way, use heroic feats, and claim loot, but of course, there’s much more about that. The rules page explains it all.

10. Skyway

Uses a standard deck of cards, jokers excluded;

Let’s get back to being a city planner. On your playing table, there will be the market, round markers, play area, discard, and draw pile. Each turn of gameplay consists of resetting the market and drafting & playing blueprints. There will be three full passes through the deck, and once these are done, you’ll carefully check the cards in the play area. If there is at least a 5-card increasing sequence for all suits, you win. 

It isn’t your typical card game, but, if you need all details explained to Skyway & 9 more single-player card games played with a standard deck of cards, read Isaludo.

Conclusion

No matter if you’re a fan of exclusive card games or ones that can be played with just a random deck of cards, here you’ll find both. Reading the descriptions of card games you can play alone, you’ll understand the main pieces of information about the gameplay, rules, and complexity, so, you have an idea of what game to play next!