Roland Wood
United States
Visalia
California
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Necessity is the mother of invention. I got RftG over Thanksgiving holiday and only got to play a multiplayer game once. So I tinkered a bit and came up with this solitaire game that is amusing and has helped get me more familiar with the cards.
Setup
Shuffle together all 28 of the standard action cards (leaving out the extra Develops and Settles) and place them face down in a single stack.
Randomly draw a starting world
Shuffle the deck of playing cards, draw the top six, and discard down to four.
Gameplay
1) Draw three cards from the top of the action card deck and turn them face up so that only one card is showing. Do not look at the other two cards hidden beneath the exposed card.
2) You may choose to carry out the exposed action or not. If you choose to pass on the action then turn over another three cards and stack them on the first three cards so that they form a single stack with only the top card showing once again.
3) If you choose to carry out an exposed action, you gain the bonus. After you have played out the action, discard the action card to the box. It is out of the game. Now you can choose to carry out the next newly exposed action. You may continue to carry out actions in this way until you get to an action you do not want to do or until all action cards have been played.
4) Whenever you carry out an action the card is removed from the game, whenever you choose not to do the action, draw three more cards and turn them face up so that only the top one can be seen.
5) When you have gone through the entire action card deck, flip it over and repeat. Once you have gone through the deck three times the game is over. Count up your victory points to see your score.
Notes
Whenever you flip over another three cards in the action deck you must discard down to 10 cards in your hand.
If you play through all the action cards before you have gone through the deck three times then the game is over as well.
You must carry out the action completely before removing the action card from the game thus revealing the next available action.
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good idea !
It's like a real solitaire...
But I don't know if you will become better in a 4 players game using this method?
my solitaire :
play the normal game but after you select your action card in the action deck, draw 2 other action cards at random (also from your deck) and use them has if they played by other players without using bonus.
Calculate your victory points after 11 turns !
D
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Chris Dorrell
England
Leicester
Leicestershire
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I was about to start a solitaire discussion so thanks for kicking it off.
I too have been trying to keep as close to normal play as possible.
My first attempt at solitaire was similar to the above but I used the two player variant as a base ie with the two extra cards:-
- Usual setup but cut the play deck and remove about half? the cards from the game. Set out 24? VPs worth of tokens
- "Opponent" has action cards
- On a turn play two actions and turn over one? at random from opponents deck.
Play as normal but opponent only plays the action cards and does not build a tableau.
End Game: See how many VPs you have when 12 cards, all VPs used or deck runs out.
I will be tinkering with the parameters marked ? above.
Any thoughts?
Cheers
Chris
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Richard Rutten
Netherlands
Nijmegen
the spunk plus the bomb plus the pump plus the torture instrument times frankie equalling the bang is an exclusive piece of ZTT exploitation
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Some good ideas here!
Roland, I like the solitaire feel that your idea gives to the game. But I'm also worried that it might change the game too much from the multiplayer rules.
Chris, I also like that you took the two player game as a starting point. Letting the oponent only play one card should account for the fact that in a normal game your opponent chooses the same action you do. I'm not sure why you would limit the playing deck or stop the game when it runs out. As for VP's set out I would go for 18 to start with as this would allow for a VP strategy as well as a building strategy.
I will defenitely try both variants! Thanks guys!
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Roland Wood
United States
Visalia
California
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Davestar2 wrote: good idea !
It's like a real solitaire...
But I don't know if you will become better in a 4 players game using this method?
my solitaire :
play the normal game but after you select you action card in the action deck, draw 2 other cards at random and use them has if they played by other players without using bonus.
Calculate your victory points after 11 turns !
D
You are most likely correct that my variant won't be good practice for a regular multiplayer match. I was trying for something that felt like a solitaire game of regular playing cards and didn't require me to have to re-randomize the other player's action cards in between each turn. I will definitely try yours as well since it will probably feel more like the actual game. Thanks. 
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Jon W
United States
Aurora
Colorado
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Thanks for starting this thread! I've tried about five approaches now, and I think I'm narrowing in what I prefer. I don't like the idea of randomizing your available actions, as it veers too far from the real game. I'm also not fond of the distraction of choices on behalf of "AI" opponents. So my approach so far (now two test runs) has been pretty simple:
- Use a normal start (random world, draw 6, discard 2)
- Use 18 VPs
- Choose 2 actions per turn, per official 2p "advanced" game
- Draw one card after each turn and set it aside for your "opponent"
- End after 10 turns (use set-aside cards as a clock)
OR
- End normally (12 cards or VP pool gone)
- Double the score achieved by the set-aside cards to win, otherwise lose
So far this feels about right. There aren't enough VPs to turn the crank too many times (as in the real game), but enough to finish them off, and you have to strain some to get to 12 (good) cards. So far I've come up just short in each game, which again feels right. It's just about maximizing points, so it doesn't feel right in terms of taking advantage of opponents' actions and so forth, but it's quick and clean.
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Francesco Grimaldi
Italy
Milano
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This is my solitaire version!
-Keep in front of you all the seven basic actions of a single color.
- setup as normal (random starting planet, draw 6 and keep 4)
- at the beginning of the game shuffle the other 21 basic actions and keep out 3 at random without look at them.You have now a 18 cards "action deck".
- each turn, select an action from your deck, then reveal the first one from the action deck and carry out them in order, as you were playing the normal game.If the same action is selected, perform only one.
- the solitaire ends as soon as the vp pool is empty (start with 18), otherwise, it lasts exactly 18 round.
My personal record:47 (starting planet:earth's lost colony)
Note: mining conglomerate: draw two cards...if you produce 2 rare elements.
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James Cheevers
United Kingdom
Liverpool
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This has been interesting.
My variant that I used to teach myself the game was:
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Use 3 action decks (without 2 player extra cards). One for yourself and two 'AI' players. Shuffle the 'AI' decks.
18 VP chits.
Choose your action first then turn over the top action card from each other player. Play the round as normal. Put the 'AI' cards to the side at the end of the round but take your own action card back into your hand.
Play each new round the same way except at the end of every 5th round (two AI cards remaining in each deck). Reshuffle each deck and continue.
Continue until you have built 12 cards, drained the VP pool or somehow ran through the deck.
[Forgot to add. Remove opponent cards as normal. For example when Explore action taken, take your cards then draw and discard the correct amount of cards from the deck.]
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I've enjoyed this as I have to keep my eye on what opponent actions have been played and adjust (ie. if both opponent Settle actions have been played in the 1st round then I know that I have to play that action if needed over the next 4 rounds).
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Richard Rutten
Netherlands
Nijmegen
the spunk plus the bomb plus the pump plus the torture instrument times frankie equalling the bang is an exclusive piece of ZTT exploitation
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Chriss Dorrell wrote: My first attempt at solitaire was similar to the above but I used the two player variant as a base ie with the two extra cards:-
- Usual setup but cut the play deck and remove about half? the cards from the game. Set out 24? VPs worth of tokens
- "Opponent" has action cards
- On a turn play two actions and turn over one? at random from opponents deck.
Play as normal but opponent only plays the action cards and does not build a tableau.
End Game: See how many VPs you have when 12 cards, all VPs used or deck runs out.
I tried Chris' method twice tonight. I added a few tweaks of my own (most importantly adding a scoring mechanism for the opponent) and it was very enjoyable.
I set up with 24 vp's. Every turn I or the opponent consumed I took my own vp's and gave the opponent 1 vp (2 if he played the double vp consume action himself). Then I played until vp's ran out or 12 cards were in the tableau. At the end of the game I scored my points normally and gave the opponent 2 vp's for every turn played (count action cards played by the opponent).
Both games lasted 9 turns and were ended because of vp's running out. Both times I went through half the deck. In the first game I ended up with 9 cards in my tableau the second game I had build 11. The scores were 29-25 and 41-26, both wins for me.
Further playings will have to ensure that the game is difficult enough to win when playing solitaire this way. The first game was close enough but the second game was won by a landslide. Allthough I must say I was extremely lucky in drawing just the right cards throughout the whole game. I will defenitely try this again and report back. Any comments on the scoring are welcome as well!
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Jeff Kunkel
United States
Smithtown
New York
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Here's my solitaire variant for everyone's consideration. It's got ideas from others that posted here, with a few of my own thoughts. I tried to keep it true to a multiplayer game. You only choose one action per turn, your opponents each 'choose' an action and your actions may help your opponents.
1. Set up for a three player game. 36 victory chips, your own action deck and two complete action decks for two 'AI' players.
2. Randomly select a homeworld for yourself and one for each AI player. For the AI players, these homeworlds are only good for points and counting toward 12 cards in their tableaus.
3. Give yourself a normal starting hand - six cards and discard two.
4. Each turn, select your own action and flip over the top card of each AI player's deck. The AI players VP chips and tableau cards based on the actions played.
- When ANY player reveals a "Consume" action, each AI player gains 1 VP chip. If an AI player reveals "Consume/Trade" it gains 2 VP chips instead. If an AI player reveals "Consume x2 VP's" it gains 4 VP chips instead.
- When YOU play Settle or Develop, the AI player with the fewest cards in their tableau gains a tableau card. If there's a tie, the AI player with the fewest VP chips gains the card. If there's still a tie, the AI player with the fewest VP's showing (cards + chips) gains the card. If there's still a tie, just give it to whichever you like. 
- When an AI player plays "Develop" or "Settle", it gains a card in its tableau, even if it gained a card from your action. These cards count ONLY for points. The powers/texts have no effect. The only exceptions are the "6 point" development cards, which grant bonus points as normal.
5. You may play each revealed phase as normal, gaining the advantage only of action the card you played.
6. The game ends as normal - the round when one player has 12 cards in their tableau or when the VP chips run out.
7. Tally the points for yourself and each AI player as usual. You must beat each AI's score individually in order to win the game.
I've played this solitaire version twice. The first time I lost, with 11 cards in my tableau, with a score of 23. The AI's had 27 and 26. The second game I won with 9 cards in my tableau, with a score of 28. Each AI had 24 points.
The games were satisfyingly close, and I needed to carefully consider my action choices - any action that gave me points would also give points to at least one AI player. It also got tense when VP chips were running low, since a single "Consume x2 VP's" played by an AI would end the game abruptly.
The one potential problem I can think of is that it might be too easy to win for experienced players (which I am not). In that case you might need to give cards to BOTH AI's when you play a Settle or Develop action.
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Jeff Feuer
United States
Long Island
New York
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jeffk wrote: Here's my solitaire variant for everyone's consideration. It's got ideas from others that posted here, with a few of my own thoughts. I tried to keep it true to a multiplayer game. You only choose one action per turn, your opponents each 'choose' an action and your actions may help your opponents.
When do the AI players get their role cards back? Do you shuffle each AI deck after every turn or let them do a few roles that are guaranteed different and then reshuffle?
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Jeff Kunkel
United States
Smithtown
New York
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YankeeFan wrote: jeffk wrote: Here's my solitaire variant for everyone's consideration. It's got ideas from others that posted here, with a few of my own thoughts. I tried to keep it true to a multiplayer game. You only choose one action per turn, your opponents each 'choose' an action and your actions may help your opponents. When do the AI players get their role cards back? Do you shuffle each AI deck after every turn or let them do a few roles that are guaranteed different and then reshuffle?
Oops! I forgot to add that the AI role decks get reshuffled every 5 turns, as per James Cheevers' solo variant.
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Jeff Feuer
United States
Long Island
New York
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That's what i thought. I tried it last night and lost by 1 point. I found that at the end of the game, the AI opponents had reasonable looking tableaus and VPs but it doesn't simulate a real MP game. You are sitting there thinking about what roles have occurred before but not what roles a real opponent would do. It was enjoyable, though because it's just a great game.
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Jeff Kunkel
United States
Smithtown
New York
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YankeeFan wrote: That's what i thought. I tried it last night and lost by 1 point. I found that at the end of the game, the AI opponents had reasonable looking tableaus and VPs but it doesn't simulate a real MP game. You are sitting there thinking about what roles have occurred before but not what roles a real opponent would do. It was enjoyable, though because it's just a great game.
True, you can't look at the AIs' tableaus and try and figure out what they're likely to play, but I'm not how that could be accomplished without a lot of effort when you play.
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Jeff Feuer
United States
Long Island
New York
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agreed...unless you want to actually keep track of the number of cards and goods for them (and remove unlikely roles from the deck for the turn...like removing production when they have goods on their words or explore and trade when they are near hand limit, etc.).
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Alexander B.
United States
Austin
Texas
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jeffk wrote: ...The one potential problem I can think of is that it might be too easy to win for experienced players (which I am not). In that case you might need to give cards to BOTH AI's when you play a Settle or Develop action.
I just played this several times. It was too easy, but it was fun! I was getting around 35, and they were getting around 25.
I'd guess that even with the above tweak, it might still be too easy. I'd suggest giving 2, 4, and 6 VPs instead of 1, 2, 4. That way, you get more time pressure... I'll give both variants a try 
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Jeff Kunkel
United States
Smithtown
New York
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Thanks for the feedback. I had also been thinking of increasing the VP chip awards for the AI players, though not as much as you're suggesting. My main concern was that it would really hamper a player using a produce-consume strategy since the VP chip pool would empty much more quickly. Perhaps the VP chip pool would need to be increased in addition to the payouts you're suggesting.
Then again, adding the extra settle/develop cards to the AI's tableaus could make a big difference. If you play about 8 cards in your tableau during a game, that's 4 extra cards for each AI player, which works out to an average of around 8 points each (possibly much more). That, combined with a more modest VP chip increase for the AI's, could make for a challenging game. Plus, there's a much better chance that an AI will trigger the endgame with a 12 card tableau.
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Raymond J Dennis Jr
United States
Meredith
New Hampshire
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jeffk wrote: Here's my solitaire variant for everyone's consideration. It's got ideas from others that posted here, with a few of my own thoughts. I tried to keep it true to a multiplayer game. You only choose one action per turn, your opponents each 'choose' an action and your actions may help your opponents. 1. Set up for a three player game. 36 victory chips, your own action deck and two complete action decks for two 'AI' players. 2. Randomly select a homeworld for yourself and one for each AI player. For the AI players, these homeworlds are only good for points and counting toward 12 cards in their tableaus. 3. Give yourself a normal starting hand - six cards and discard two. 4. Each turn, select your own action and flip over the top card of each AI player's deck. The AI players VP chips and tableau cards based on the actions played. - When ANY player reveals a "Consume" action, each AI player gains 1 VP chip. If an AI player reveals "Consume/Trade" it gains 2 VP chips instead. If an AI player reveals "Consume x2 VP's" it gains 4 VP chips instead. - When YOU play Settle or Develop, the AI player with the fewest cards in their tableau gains a tableau card. If there's a tie, the AI player with the fewest VP chips gains the card. If there's still a tie, the AI player with the fewest VP's showing (cards + chips) gains the card. If there's still a tie, just give it to whichever you like. - When an AI player plays "Develop" or "Settle", it gains a card in its tableau, even if it gained a card from your action. These cards count ONLY for points. The powers/texts have no effect. The only exceptions are the "6 point" development cards, which grant bonus points as normal. 5. You may play each revealed phase as normal, gaining the advantage only of action the card you played. 6. The game ends as normal - the round when one player has 12 cards in their tableau or when the VP chips run out. 7. Tally the points for yourself and each AI player as usual. You must beat each AI's score individually in order to win the game. I've played this solitaire version twice. The first time I lost, with 11 cards in my tableau, with a score of 23. The AI's had 27 and 26. The second game I won with 9 cards in my tableau, with a score of 28. Each AI had 24 points. The games were satisfyingly close, and I needed to carefully consider my action choices - any action that gave me points would also give points to at least one AI player. It also got tense when VP chips were running low, since a single "Consume x2 VP's" played by an AI would end the game abruptly. The one potential problem I can think of is that it might be too easy to win for experienced players (which I am not). In that case you might need to give cards to BOTH AI's when you play a Settle or Develop action.
I tried this out today a couple of times and had a blast with it. My first game I scored 41 pts to 39, & 31. I had World 1 Epsilon Eridani and went for a Develop/War strategy that payed off nicely. I managed to get Galatic Imperium & Galatic Federation played for my 6 Cost Developments and also pulled off the Rebel Homeworld on the last round which is the 7 cost 7VP Rebel world. It was a close game and a lot of fun.
Second game I took the 2nd world Alpha Centauri and did a Produce/Trade Strat and scored: 36pts to 32, & 29. Very enjoyable. I agree that you can't look at the tableau and determine what the AI players are going to choose and there is a Memory component to the AI actions but I don't think you can do it any other way. And this allows me to learn the game(and get familiar with all the cards) and get a feel for some of the strategies. I've done the first two worlds(I am using the starting hands), now I need to do the next two and then finally world 0. Thanks for the good Solo rules guys. I'll proably try some of the others but I think Jeff's are the closest we can get to the regular multiplayer game.
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Raymond J Dennis Jr
United States
Meredith
New Hampshire
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Ok just finished the two other games.
World 3: New Sparta I went for a Military strat only. I built and explored like crazy and it really was a fast game. Final score(I lost) Me 22, 23, & 21. I did not build any lvl 6 developments. I can see if you are going to go this route you have to do more then just build Military worlds, you need to combine it with some 6 developments, or some consume phases for VPs.
Last game world 4: Earths Lost Colony using a Consume strategy. Final scores 27(me), 22, & 22. This was a very strange game. Sense I was producing and consuming a lot the VP chits were used up very quickly, the AI's also seemed to play a lot of Consume action cards so they soaked up a lot of them too. I did get out the Free Trade Association and the COnsumer Market which did the trick for me. Not sure if this is normal with the AI's using a lot of Consume actions and the solo player doing a consume strategy or if it is just an anomaly for this one game, but it might be one failing of the Solo rules that Jeff made. Still it was a great game and this might be perfectly normal. Just thought I would throw it out there. I'll try it again sometime and see what happens.
I've only played 4(two 3player & two 2player games) face 2 face games so I don't have enough experience yet to tell if these solo games are good indicators of a multiplayer game but they have been helpful in me learning the cards and some of the strategies and combos.
Man I wish there was a way to play this online!!!
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Jeff Kunkel
United States
Smithtown
New York
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FuzzySilk wrote: Sense I was producing and consuming a lot the VP chits were used up very quickly, the AI's also seemed to play a lot of Consume action cards so they soaked up a lot of them too. I did get out the Free Trade Association and the COnsumer Market which did the trick for me. Not sure if this is normal with the AI's using a lot of Consume actions and the solo player doing a consume strategy or if it is just an anomaly for this one game, but it might be one failing of the Solo rules that Jeff made.
A lot depends on which cards come up for the AI's. There are two cards that the AI's will give themselves VP chips with and 2 cards to give themselves cards with (Develop & Settle). If lots of consume cards come up, the AI's will suck up VP chips very fast. If one or two are at the bottom of the draw piles, chips will last a bit longer. If both Consume x2's are buried one turn, that's 10 extra VP chips.
This is part of my concern with upping the VP awards too much for the AI's consume actions. The VP pool will drain very quickly, especially if the player is going for a consume strategy. I think the VP awards (and possibly the VP pool) still requires some balancing to give a satisfying game.
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Alexander B.
United States
Austin
Texas
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Agreed. Giving more cards is better, now that I've tested it more. The game is too short when you up the VPs.
Perhaps give BOTH AIs a card when I play settle, and BOTH AIs a card when either of them plays a settle... that would make it pretty tough
It might even be worth using the above and going to 1, 2, 3 on the VPs, instead of 1, 2, 4. Don't forget that on many Consume->trade plays, the player gets ZERO VPs since they are going for cards.
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Jeff Feuer
United States
Long Island
New York
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Having played about 4 games of Jeff's solitaire, I think the AI players earn too many VPs and not enough cards in their tableau (unless I'm not paying attention to giving them cards all the time and just thinking of my own tableau). But I think giving them both cards when you develop or settle is too much. Perhaps when one of them does it, they both do. Seems likely that 2 out of 3 players would settle or develop during a typical settle or develop phase.
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Jeff Kunkel
United States
Smithtown
New York
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I tried a solitaire game with the following changes:
II. Develop Phase
-If I played develop, both AI's got a card in their tableau
-If an AI played developed it got a card in its tableau, but did not get an additional card if I developed.
III. Settle Phase
- Same as the Develop Phase
(Edit: Note that if I played develop and an AI chose Settle, or vice versa, it would get two cards)
IV. Consume Phase
- If I consumed in any way, each AI got 2 VP chips
- If an AI chose Consume/Trade, it got 3 VP chips, but no additional if I consumed
- If an AI chose Consume x2, it got 5 VP chips, but no additional if I consumed
I lost this game, 31-35-35. I had a full tableau, and both AI's had decent tableaus. This much was a good result. However, there were only 3 VP chips left in the pool. I was Sparta so went with a military strategy - I had no VP chips at all. Had I tried a Produce/Consume strategy, the game would have been VERY short.
Surprisingly, giving both AI's cards when I Developed/Settled was not a big problem. It simply meant that I needed to "leech" when either AI chose Develop or Settle to prevent this from happening too often.
The VP chip awards to the AI players remains the biggest challenge. My next experiment will be to keep the awards as they are but increase the VP pool to 48 chips. This will hopefully allow the game to continue long enough for a Produce-Consume player strategy to get going.
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Jeff Kunkel
United States
Smithtown
New York
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YankeeFan wrote: Having played about 4 games of Jeff's solitaire, I think the AI players earn too many VPs and not enough cards in their tableau
The rates don't match a "real" player, but I think that's necessary to keep the game a challenge (once the balance is found, at least). Giving the AI players more cards will make it too easy because the AI's don't build intelligently. They may get 12 cards in their tableaus, but those cards won't be maximized for points. VP chips are the most reliable way to give the AI players points.
Quote: But I think giving them both cards when you develop or settle is too much.
Surprisingly, its not. You just need to leech more than the "easier" version requires you to.
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Jeff Kunkel
United States
Smithtown
New York
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OK, I made a tweak or two to my solitaire variant and gave it a try. It gave a very satisfying score of 34-32-39. I lost, but not by a lot. Even better, the VP chips ran out on the same turn that an AI player hit 12 cards in their tableau. I did some consumption myself (10 VP chips total), so the initial indications are good. Here's the complete description.
1. Setup
Put out 48 VP chips. There are two AI players, each getting their own 7 card role deck. You get your own role deck as well. Each player gets a random starting world.
As per the normal game, deal yourself a hand of six and and discard two.
2. Play
Each turn you choose one role as normal. Then, flip over the top card of each AI player's role deck. Play out the three revealed phases as described below. If, at the end of a turn, each AI player has only two cards left in their role deck, reshuffle both AI role decks.
Card texts and powers in an AI's tableau have no effect, with one exception. The 6 point developments do grant bonus points to an AI at the end of the game as normal.
3. Phases
All cards played by you or an AI player affect you as normal. i.e., you play all revealed phases, but only get the bonus for the role you chose. How each role selection affects the AI players is outlined below.
I. Explore
Explore cards have no impact on AI players.
II. Develop
Played by you - Each AI player gets a random card added to their tableau.
Played by AI - That AI player adds a random card to their tableau. If you also played develop, the AI player only gets one card added, not two.
III. Settle
Played by you - Each AI player gets a random card added to their tableau.
Played by AI - That AI player adds a random card to their tableau. If you also played settle, the AI player only gets one card added, not two.
IV. Consume/Trade
Played by you - Each AI player gets 2 VP chips
Played by AI - That AI player gets 3 VP chips. If you also played a Consume card, the AI still only gets 3 VP Chips.
IV. Consume x2 VP's
Played by you - Each AI player gets 2 VP chips
Played by AI - That AI player gets 5 VP chips. If you also played a Consume card, the AI still only gets 5 VP Chips.
V. Produce
Produce cards have no affect on AI players.
4. End Game
The game ends as normal - the round when the VP chips run out or when any player has 12 or more cards in their tableau. Score all players normally. AI players do gain the benefits of the 6 cost development cards, as noted above. The player with the highest score wins.
[EDIT: Added the starting hand rules for completeness]
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