Single player games

One thing you hadn't mentioned yet was the notion of a time limit or deadline in which to accomplish your goals. Many successful solo games use this as a way to apply pressure, add tension/immersion, and supply and end-game state for those players who happen to be dragging their feet or over-thinking/over-prepping their turns.

It may benefit your game to come up with several failure end-game states, and running out of time should be one. The classic Chainsaw Warrior uses this to great effect. "One hour to save New York...Can you do it?" The more recent, well-received Hostage Negotiator also uses a timer. When the Terror deck runs out, the failure gauge continues to rise and will most likely lead to a failure end-game.

Finally, you can have an "end boss" type encounter. Not sure how you thematically want to present this - like Captain Turducken's nemesis, Butcher Boy - but another recent solitaire game called Deep Space d6 has a final boss made up of several encounter cards connected together, available once the player has cleaned out the rest of the deck. Chainsaw Warrior uses the end boss "Darkness" to present a final hurdle for the player, defeated successfully only with exclusive types of equipment - that could easily be stolen or destroyed along the way.

Hope these suggestions are useful...Incidentally - as a vegan - I think your game idea is excellent. :)

Hi Sean,

I am an extreme newbie here but just had a few thoughts that you might consider.

How about replacing the d3 and d5 die rolls with a deck of cards containing various shoppers AND register line(s) to go to? (i.e. 2 shoppers, register line 3 an 5)

Maybe you could use the running out of this deck as an end game event.

Also you could maybe introduce extra cards like "Register 3 Closed", "Register 2 Needs Assistance" (would need to think about further game rules for these though.)

Just some thoughts.

Tony

Hi Sean,

This was the first thought that came to my mind, too:

Time constraints are an interesting mechanic that can really rev up the tension in a solo game. Hostage Negotiator executes this mechanic very well, along with Robinson Crusoe (maybe a little too well). Play the latter solo and you'll be on pins and needles the entire play session.

Just a head's up ... Deep Space d6 is available as a free PnP on BoardGameGeek. You can also download it from the Steam Workshop for Tabletop Simulator.

Love the concept of your game! My mind keeps wanting to combine all pieces of poultry to create a Super Turducken that gives you a one-time-use special ability (I'm thinking Captain Planet style. Ha!)

Allow the player to do something beneficial each time they use the Turkey:
- earn VP that increases their end-game score
- earns them a single re-roll token, usable when determining customer types or aisles
- each use charges up an energy meter of some kind that activates a special attack/move/tactic when it's full

There are lots of ways to use the Turkey, especially if it's more distinct from the other two actions/forms the player can choose.

Just a couple of ideas/ comments i thought of while reading this.

Running out of cards is a more easily balanced method of timing. The game will end after 50 cards instead of 15 minuites ensures that the player definately has enough actions to complete the goal, whether they are a slower player or not.

I would put the customer cards as the deck. You could state on each card which card is going where (till 1/ shortest queue) each turn draw 3 customers. I dont see why additional round cards are needed as customer distribution would be well balanced.

These customers could all go into the same queue or spread out. In some cases overwhelming the player randomly.