Solo: Alfred
Playing alone against Alfred: setup changes, Alfred's board and tracks, how he chooses and resolves each action, rewards, cleanup and the end of the game.
Short tag: [Solo] — the official solo mode, designed by Dávid Turczi.
Setup changes
Set up the board as for two players, then (setup checklist):
- Choose Alfred’s level by the board you flip: white easy, blue medium, yellow and green advanced. Put it above your own board.
- Only 4 Special Action tiles (bottom row empty) and 1 silver + 1 golden Objective on display.
- The 2-player Turn Order Action token covers the Turn Order track; Alfred is first.
- You draw 5 Crew cards and keep 3; you pick one of two Starting Objective pairs.
- Alfred: workers on A, B, C and D, his 5th worker on the left end of his Bonus track, his 2 Bonus Track cards above its 5th and 10th spaces, one Coin on his Coin track, and the 8 Alfred Action cards shuffled face down below your board.
Alfred’s board
Bonus track
When an action shows the bonus icon, Alfred’s bonus worker moves right that many spaces. Each time it lands on or passes the last space Alfred scores the victory points shown, and it loops back to the start. Landing on or passing the 5th or 10th space, Alfred does the action of the Bonus Track card above it, on the row for the current round (both, in order, if one move crosses both).
Coin track
Alfred’s Coins are a Coin on his Coin track: move it left when he pays, right when he gains. He holds at most 12: each Coin above that moves his bonus worker one space instead. At 0, put the Coin off the track.
Alfred’s turn
It plays like a two-player game: placement penalty 3 Coins, Alfred always places first each round, then you alternate. Alfred’s workers never gain distinctions.
- Draw an Alfred Action card and lay it face up beside the previous ones. Before drawing, if both cards showing the Delivery icon are face up, reshuffle all eight into a new deck.
- Do one action: try the top option; if Alfred cannot legally do it, try the next. The bottom option is always Rest.
- Your turn.
Rest action
Alfred’s lowest available worker goes to a free hammock on his board. He gains 7 Coins and moves his bonus worker 2 spaces.
Main Diary action
The card lists the workers A–D in priority order. Alfred places the first available one that can legally go to a Main Diary (Exploration, Navigation, Correspondence, Academy). Occupied sections cost him 3 Coins; if he cannot pay, he cannot go there.
Strongest location
Alfred goes to the strongest location his worker qualifies for: the lowest unlocked, empty space for which the worker has at least one matching seal. Missing seals are bought as Temporary Knowledge at 3 Coins each, as many as needed; if he cannot afford them, try the next strongest space.
- Priority cost: between equally strong spaces, the one needing fewer Coins for Temporary Knowledge.
- Priority colour: still tied, the one matching the worker’s leftmost seal.
Actions Alfred resolves differently
| Action | Alfred |
|---|---|
| Gain Objective | Discards one Objective from the display (the golden one if both are there) and moves his bonus worker, even if nothing was discarded |
| Gain Temporary Knowledge | Gains 3 Coins per token instead |
| Academy | Takes seals from the cheapest Scroll; prefers the colour of the row’s leftmost seal unless the row already has 3 of it, otherwise the leftmost seal; never a 4th seal of one colour in a row. Places in the top row with an empty space left of its bracket, then right of the brackets. Pays the Scroll cost; a seal covering an action triggers it |
| Correspondence | Takes Stamps from his top stack and places on: the top Envelope where he steals the majority from you; else the top Envelope without his Stamps; else the one with fewest of his |
| Navigation | Moves the full distance by the longest route and does every action he passes or lands on, in order; silver banners place Explorers as usual |
| Exploration | Moves his Explorer on the rightmost island (if at its end, the next island left) the full distance by the longest route, researching every specimen passed and taking golden ribbons; then does the last two actions he crossed or landed on (skipping a research) |
| Establish a Campsite | Places his top Tent on the cheapest space he can pay; then the campsite’s and his board’s actions. No Tent or Coins: skipped, no replacement |
| Special Action Diary | Only if no worker is there yet: the left or right top space as the card shows, no seals needed, no action — he moves his bonus worker 4 spaces |
| Small Diary | Only if no worker is there yet: puts a Lens on the top locked Main Diary space his top worker can satisfy and pay for (priority colour first, then most of its seals, then the leftmost seal); else the next worker; else the cheapest, leftmost locked space. Then does that space’s actions. Never unlocks Special Actions |
| Deliver Specimens | Up to two (the second costs 3 Coins): first specimens you have also researched, then the ones earning most Coins, then top-left; you break any remaining tie |
| Prolific Correspondence | One Stamp on each of the three Envelopes |
| Add Explorer | An Explorer on the leftmost island where he has none |
Reward phase and cleanup
- Envelopes are scored as usual between you and Alfred.
- You score the Beagle Goal tile as usual; Alfred ignores it and scores the value on his board × the current round, minus his own lagging penalties.
- Cleanup as usual, but only 1 silver and 1 golden Objective come out. Slide both Bonus Track cards so the lowest visible row is the next round.
- There is no Turn Order phase: Alfred always starts.
End of the game
Both score final points as in the multiplayer game. You win with more points; ties go to the Theory of Evolution track, then Coins; if still tied, Alfred wins.
[Fireland] Solo with Fireland has extra rules for Alfred’s Adventures, Explorers, Ships and Time (Fireland solo).