Bounced off solo board games in the past? Consider The 7th Citadel

Given the nature of the work that I do here as Polygon’s tabletop editor, I end up playing an awful lot of board games by myself. Not board games that you should play by yourself, mind you. Instead of luxuriating with the cardboard equivalent of the Times’ Sunday crossword, I look more like Bugs Bunny playing baseball. That’s why I’m excited to get my hands on The 7th Citadel, among the best modern solo board games. It’s also pretty great as a cooperative experience.

Published by Serious Poulp, The 7th Citadel is the descendant of The 7th Continent, a Cthulhu-inspired board game that made waves back in 2015 with a €1.2 million campaign. That one I’ve played quite a lot, and I admire its depth and complexity. Players take on the role of explorers who must use their survival skills to prevail against otherworldly odds. But the game itself is just a big box of numbered cards. The system, inspired by Choose Your Own Adventure books, uses those numbered cards — nearly 850 of them in the base game — to tell an elaborate story. Then, at the end of the adventure, you end up with a table covered in a charming isometric map made from the cards you’ve drawn.

Not only does the game work exceedingly well as a solo experience, I’ve also played it more or less hot-seat with other members of my family. While I have the attention level to see it through to the end, I’ll often be joined at several points along the way by other explorers. It’s a delight.

Meanwhile, Serious Poulp kept on publishing. It blew the doors of its next campaign in 2018, which included a reprint and a big expansion. All told, it earned over $7 million dollars. That effort was later followed up, in 2020, with The 7th Citadel, a dark medieval-inspired tale with nearly identical mechanics. That one pulled in more than €3.2 million.

Now the design team of Ludovic Roudy and Bruno Sautter are back for another reprint. This one includes a lavish new version of The 7th Citadel and, like the reprint campaign for The 7th Continent from 2018, also includes a hefty expansion, as well as the promise of more stretch goals as the campaign progresses.

Here’s a bit from the press release about how it differs from its forebears:

The 7th Citadel differentiates itself from its predecessor by bringing lots of new elements to the table. First of all, it has its own original universe to explore: The 7th Citadel’s story takes place in a post-apocalyptic medieval world called “The Collapsing Lands”. Players will step into a dark world filled with mysterious Necrodruids, monstrous plants, and the even more dangerous Burrowers, in a fight for survival spanning multiple adventures called Threats. In terms of mechanics, The 7th Citadel offers exciting new additions such as an evolving world map, customizable Action decks, the possibility for players to develop their own Citadel between scenarios, and much more.

While I may not pony up for the campaign myself, it’s certainly on my radar once it hits retail. But if you’d like to get yours sooner, move fast. The campaign only runs from today until June 19. Copies start at about $54, with delivery expected by Nov. 2025.