Trying Solo Board Games: Heritage Farms Review from Galen's Games
🚜 Heritage Farms | 🏢 Publisher: Galen's Games
🧑🏻💻 Designer: Galen McCown 🎨 Artist: Jonathan Carnehl
👥 1 to 2 players | ⏳ ~20 minutes | 🎲 Strategy, puzzle, solo
📢 Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a copy for review. We do not receive compensation for our reviews, and all opinions are our own
I want to play games, but sometimes introversion wins. For the longest time I have been reading and recently I got into Murdoku. I have some friends who really enjoy solo gaming. I've tried it before, mostly with roll and writes, but I'm starting to give solo board games another shot. I decided to start with the Mint Tin First Series from Galen's Games. The boxes are small enough to fit in a pocket, so they take up almost no room in my bag. First up was Heritage Farms
Small Box, Bigger Puzzle
One of the first things I noticed about Heritage Farms was how much game fits in that little tin. It reminds me a little of what I like about Oink Games. Not because the games are similar, but because I'm always impressed by how much they can fit into such a small box without making the game feel stripped down. The tin is easy to toss into a bag or pocket, but don't confuse small box with tiny footprint. Once it's set up, you need about the size of a placemat to play. An airplane tray table? Probably not. A hotel desk? Absolutely. An airport table while waiting for a flight? Sure. Playing in bed after a long day of work? That's more what I had in mind. I'm a bif fan of small box games. I can bring one along without giving up any space in my luggage or bag, but still have something that feels like an actual game when I sit down to play
What Is Heritage Farms?
Heritage Farms takes a riddle I've never heard before and turns it into a race to get your goods across the river to the market before your opponent while trying to minimize mistakes.
Things to keep in mind: fox will eat the chicken, chicken will eat the corn, so don't leave those unattended. You're moving your farmer and goods between farms and markets, trying to get everything where it needs to go without leaving behind a combination that causes problems
Every time you move, you're thinking about what you're leaving behind. You only have so many actions available, which means you can't fix every problem at once. A move that gets one good closer to market can create a completely different problem somewhere else.
And that's where the puzzle starts to get interesting
Playing Solo, hello Elmer 👨🏽🌾
The solo mode has you playing against your incompetent cousin. You aren't just playing your own game and trying to beat a score. You're trying to get your goods to market before Elmer does, while also making sure neither of you loses two or more goods
Elmer is controlled with a die, which determines what he does on his turn. I liked this more than I expected because it gives you something to react to without requiring you to make decisions for both sides. After 3/4 of his meeples are on one side, he moves to the opposite, so he's constantly either going to the market or to the farm. You have to keep an eye on what Elmer is doing, but you don't know exactly what his next move will be, and Elmer? Well, he's not helpful. Lost your third good? Elmer got two sets of goods to the market? Well, you lose!
Learning to Play Solo
The instructions are detailed, and I had the information I needed, but I wasn't quite getting how everything would play out until I watched the playthrough video. I think part of that was because I had never played a game against an automated opponent before. When I'm playing with my wife, I can watch what she's doing and try to figure out what she's planning. Even when I'm learning a new game, there's another person across the table making decisions
With Heritage Farms, I had to learn the rules and figure out how to deal with Elmer at the same time. I lost A LOT. I kept trying different approaches, and eventually I finally got him. It took me four attempts to get my first win. I'm definitely not close to mastering the game yet, but I could see myself coming back to it specifically because of that. Once I started understanding how Elmer works, I could see where I had made mistakes instead of just feeling like I had gotten unlucky
Once You Get Comfortable
There's somewhere to go once the basic puzzle starts feeling familiar. The Advanced Mode adds Zombie Chickens and Poisoned Corn, which changes how the goods interact and makes the Nature's Law rules even more complicated. Zombie Chickens can eat foxes, while Poisoned Corn can take out chickens. I'm nowhere near ready to tackle that mode yet. Right now, I'm still trying to consistently beat Elmer
Pros
🧳 Tiny box that's easy to pack
⏱️ Quick enough to play again after a loss
🧠 A satisfying puzzle with meaningful decisions
🎲 Solo mode has enough randomness to keep Elmer unpredictable
🔄 Advanced Mode gives you somewhere to go once you've figured out the basics
Considerations
📏 The game needs more table space than the tin suggests
⚠️ The stickers for the advanced mode were very difficult to work with
🧩 There is a learning curve when you're figuring out both the puzzle and Elmer
📖 I found the playthrough video helpful for understanding how everything works together
Who Is This Game For?
If you like small games that give you more to think about than their size suggests, Heritage Farms is worth checking out. It's especially good for someone who wants to try solo gaming without committing to a giant solo box that takes over the table. The game is quick enough that losing doesn't feel like you've wasted a long time, which is important when you're still figuring out how solo gaming fits into your routine. It's also a nice option for travel, as long as you have somewhere bigger than an airplane tray table to play
If you enjoy two player games, Heritage Farms fits that bill, too. There’s no die and no incompetent Elmer to deal with, but you do get a head to head game where you're trying to get your own goods across the river while making a mess for your opponent
Bottom Line
Heritage Farms has been a pretty good first step into solo gaming. I like that I can pack it without giving up much space in my bag, then sit down and work through a puzzle that actually makes me think. Sometimes I just want something to play when I wan to be alone. I'm still learning, and Elmer has made sure I know it but getting my first win felt good. Galen Games is new to me, I have three other games to try, and I'm really curious about their latest Kickstarter campaign. If I get hooked, I'll have to decide how many little tins is too many to fit in one single bag 🙈
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