Solo Variant for Shinjuku

(Originally posted on BoardGameGeek.)

In this variant, I hope to provide a similar-feeling puzzle to multiplayer Shinjuku without simulating an actual opponent – instead, you’ll get opportunities to grow the network every turn while also adding speed bumps in the form of non-player stores.

Setup

Set up the game as normal, set aside two colors of components for the non-player “urban growth” side, and take the first turn. After each of your turns, set your hand aside and play an urban growth turn:

Play

Take the next card on the queue (placing the customers, shifting the queue, and replacing new customers as normal) and one card off the top of the deck. At one card’s ward, place a store. At the other’s, place 1 or 2 (connected) track. Then, take another player turn. NOTE: Whenever customers are delivered to non-player stores, put them back in the bag.

If you can’t place a non-player store in a card’s ward (because all of the slots are taken), choose:

• Upgrade a non-player store in that ward to a department store, place one of the next set of wild customers on the next card in the queue, and remove the rest of that set of wild customers from the game, OR
• If there are customers there, move customers from that ward however you like. Take a free income action if these customers use your track.

In this way, you can get some non-player stores back to extend your time limit.

End

If you run out of non-player stores or track, or you otherwise can’t place a track (because all of the slots in those locations are taken), the game ends. Running out of customers ends the game as usual, but this is unlikely. Count up your score and post it here! Because the non-player side isn’t taking up any of the points, the primary restriction you’ll be fighting is the time limit imposed by their components.