Solo: the Homunculus

Solo setup, difficulty and opponent turns using Board&Dice's separate 2026 solo rules.

Scope and setup

The solo game uses the complete two-player setup and the separate Homunculus board, 12 Decision cards, Study tiles, Theory tiles and Experiment markers. Follow the publisher’s Solo Rules PDF for the full placement diagram and difficulty adjustments. The Human acts first. Give the Homunculus your discarded starting Experiment and Artifact as instructed.

Choose one of three difficulty levels. Easy reduces its Experiment markers in round three and uses lower Theory values; Normal uses the standard setup; Hard raises Theory values and changes Patron and starting marker placement. Use the solo rulebook’s exact diagram for these placements.

Homunculus turn

At the start of a round, ready its Artifact and move unused Experiment markers as the solo rules direct. On its turn, reveal the top Decision card. If it has no active die, draft according to the card’s priority. Resolve icons from top to bottom and left to right. It can complete eligible Experiments and spend Gold for Knowledge. The Homunculus ignores most normal resource costs and does not collect Essences, Aqua Regia or Metals other than Gold; it may consume Extra Potency.

Resolve Experiment markers as directed at the end of its turn. Its scoring uses Books, Mastery, complete Publication sections and remaining Gold/Extra Potency. Compare totals: you must score more VP than the Homunculus to win.

Modules in solo

The Solo Rules PDF includes additional setup and resolution for Batteries, Events and Expert Study. Apply those pages alongside the matching module rules, Events and Expert Study pages. Do not use multiplayer module setup unchanged for the Homunculus.