We’ve had a lot of calls for a solo mode for Unfair over the years... and the first of several Unfair solo modes has now been released with the Unfair Comicbook, Hacker, Kaiju and Ocean expansion live on Kickstarter on until Feb 24 2022. So, how is Unfair suited to solo play?
Unfair offers a fantastic framework for solo play. Here’s why:
- It’s a modular, hugely replayable engine building and card comboing theme park tableau building game. It's the biggest theme park building game on the market today.
- Solo players like a challenge, and one that changes game to game. Unfair is a challenging game to begin with, as the game first helps, then later challenges you with its Funfair & Unfair city events.This makes for an interesting puzzle against which to build the best theme park possible.
- There are different strategies to explore every time you play, and you sometimes need to interact with the Unfair AI Quinn in order to beat its variable and ever changing points goal.
Huge solo replayability
The 4 new modular theme packs in the Unfair CHKO expansion takes us to a total of 14 themes. In solo games of Unfair you play with any 2 of those 14 theme packs mixed in to create a very different game, with unique mechanisms and cards and a range of new strategy combos to try. The 14 theme packs you can pair together offer an incredible 91 variant solo play experiences you can explore as many times as you like.
And each game asks you to beat a number of points from those 2 chosen themes' points values' total. So each game has a built in variable score requirement that will change as the game progresses.
How does the Unfair solo mode play?
This first Unfair solo mode introduces Quinn, a reclusive billionaire AI player who hoards theme park attractions, upgrades and staff in a vast warehouse by following a routine that adapts to the current game state. This AI uses Quinn's simple flowchart to determine its various action sequences, and tells you what cards Quinn collects and when, and even when they might choose to stockpile events, or use them on you. You compare your guest star totals to determine the column Quinn uses this round then you play as normal with Quinn's card selections just going to their warehouse, with minimal organization required.
It’s like playing against a player whose actions can shape your decisions. However, you don’t have to make decisions for Quinn, so you can focus on what they’ll do next as you try to stay a step ahead of them while they hoard card after card from the market. You must outmanoeuvre them to build the things you need in order to beat this game's target score goal defined by the theme packs you are playing with, and things that might happen in the game.
An interactive solo AI
Much like Unfair, this solo mode offers you the chance to play defensively or aggressively as your mood or your strategic need takes you.
You can attempt to close attractions in Quinn’s warehouse to lower your target score on the Goal Adjustment Tracker by 5 points. And you can attack certain cards they have collected with your events, in order to build them for free into your park, IF Quinn cannot successfully defend against your attack with its own events. But be warned, Quinn’s defence protocols may then lash out at your theme park with its own events in order to deter future intrusions.
Or you can play defensively to keep them passive while you work to achieve your goals... but each event Quinn discards through disuse later in the game adds 5 points onto your end game target score.
So much strategy
So, you really need to work out the best way past Quinn’s flexible target score based on the theme pack combo you’re playing, the strategies in those themes, any attack and defence interactions in the game, your theme park build, your Blueprints, their current score, and the cards you get throughout the game.
This interactive flexibility comes while exploring a huge range of build strategies and card combos across 91 theme pack pairings possible with all the Unfair content available to date. It’s potentially hundreds of solo games’ worth of puzzle. This is unparalleled replay value for solo players against a reasonably interactive AI.
And with 3 more expansions and 12 theme packs yet to come, things will only get bigger.
Take a look yourself!
The new Unfair solo rules Print & Play files are temporarily available for you to use with the basic Unfair and Unfair ABDW expansion sets.
You can buy either of these games in retail today if you don't have them, and use the P&P files to help you decide whether to go all in on the most epic theme park building game on the market.
But don't just believe us...
Jeremy Howard from Man vs Meeple takes you on a preview of the new Unfair Solo experience.
And some wonderfully detailed solo reviews and game report details can be found in Neil Thomson's excellent written BGG content.