Solo Apps for COIN Games

I do not like video games. I do not like apps. Yet this latest piece of news from GMT Games’ monthly newsletter (Nov. 2025) is probably worth sharing:

If you play COIN games solo, GET THESE! They are Free Solo Apps for Several of our COIN Games! I want to make you all aware of some free apps, created by Prabha Pillay, that you can download to your phone or tablet. These excellent solo apps (for both iOS and Android):

- implement the game's flowchart bots, greatly reducing the workload for a solo player,
- present only valid choices, reducing the time the player needs to compose their move

You can get more info about these Apps from Prabha's posts on BGG, linked below.

If you like what you see, you can download the apps directly from either the Apple or Android store.

I hope these apps add value and enjoyment to your solo plays of our COIN games. And a huge thanks to Prabha for creating these apps for all of us to enjoy.

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Twilight Struggle, Solitarianated

fan-made card I love playing Twilight Struggle . Well, not as much as playing COIN games, but almost on a par. And whilst I can indulge in playing COIN games even when I can’t find a partner thanks to the bots or the Jacquard cards, the same isn’t true for Twilight Struggle for want of a dedicated solo system. I’ve obviously scoured the internetz to find one, and while some are interesting ( Stuka Joe’s and its variants), some others are simply delirious, verging on pseudocode. The one I’m currently working on has been inspired by Fort Sumter ’s solo rules and by Jason Carr’s blog entry about designing a solo bot for Twilight Struggle: Red Sea — but not by the solo bot itself. The most notable influence from that blog post is the Solo Opponent’s ability to play Opponent-Aligned cards for Ops without triggering the event. Anyway, without further ado, here are my (WiP) Solo Opponent rules for Twilight Struggle . ⁂ Preliminary note: Realignment Rolls (6.2) are not used in t...

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Stats & Analysis of COIN bots for Liberty or Death

The year is 2020. Because of the lockdown, I have played quite a few solo games of GMT Games’ excellent series of COIN wargames. And since Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection by Harold Buchanan is my favourite COIN game (or at least one of my favourite ones), I have played a lot of solo LoD games. And since “British Return to New York” is my favourite scenario set-up, I have played it a lot. Twelve times, actually. Which I think warrants an analysis of the results. With four Winter Quarters cards and French preparations at 9, “British Return to New York” guarantees that the French are in the war at the end of the first campaign or at the beginning of the second one, meaning the game is going to be meaty soon enough. The length of the game also makes sure that many if not all Brilliant Stroke cards will be played (something I haven’t seen in the sorter scenarios). Here are the statistics from the twelve games I’ve played; four as the British player, three as the Pa...

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