Hostage Negotiator

The concept is excellent, but victory depends on chance. A few bad rolls and the body count starts to rise...

This game is very thematic. You truly feel on edge as the abductor asks for demands, starts picking off hostages, all while managing the situation and trying to save as many people as you can. Highly recommend!!

This game can be frustrating, The reliance on Dice means you will lose most of the times as of no fault of your own. I don't know how fun that is solo. If you like Gambling, this may be it for you. This and One Deck Dungeon are definitely not staying in my collection.

Hostage Negotiator is a card game with an interesting premise. Someone has taken people hostage and you have to find a way to talk them out of killing their hostages and talk them into giving themselves up. It's a tough game the first few times you play, until you figure out a winning strategy for each abductor. Sometimes it's as simple as figuring out their demands and giving them what they want, while other times, you just need to get the hostages out and have snipers take the abductor out. There are a lot of expansion packs, so it isn't quite so bad that the base game only comes with three abductors. There are also challenges listed in the rule book, to add a bit of extra replayability if you only get the base game.

If you're looking for a great card game to play solo, look no further than Hostage Negotiator. With easy-to-learn rules and quick setup, it's the perfect game to bust out when you are itching for a short, yet strategic solo experience.

This game is quick and snappy! Normally, I’m not the biggest fan of my success or failure coming down to dice rolls, but because of how fast this plays, it adds to the tension without feeling unfair. It also doesn’t take up a lot of table space, which I love for a 1 player game. Definitely recommend if you’re looking for a tense and quick little game!

Hostage Negotiator allows you to make tense life and death decisions when you only have 15-20 minutes to spare. Manage your conversation through your cards and measure you're success with the dice. Can you cool it down enough to get the hostages released or do you need to call in an extraction team and warm up the sniper? Easy to go right in a 2nd play even if you only planned for one. Not many games illicit real world emotions. Hostage Negotiator forces you to think about the lives of so many that have been impacted by similar events.

I keep finding myself coming back to this game. I’m not one for luck based games and I don’t care much for dice, but this game does it well. Shines the most when you have some expansions and can build up your options and variety. The strategy comes from not relying on luck and not going all in. It takes a bit to get the hang of but you can discard 2 cards to give yourself a success (on a 3-4) or just discard other cards to build up conversation points for buying better cards. Often your game does rely on taking a chance, but make it the best chance. If you don’t mind a bit of luck and can put up with dice, this game is a solid solo go-to and gets better with expansions.

I keep finding myself coming back to this game. I’m not one for luck based games and I don’t care much for dice, but this game does it well. Shines the most when you have some expansions and can build up your options and variety. The strategy comes from not relying on luck and not going all in. It takes a bit to get the hang of but you can discard 2 cards to give yourself a success (on a 3-4) or just discard other cards to build up conversation points for buying better cards. Often your game does rely on taking a chance, but make it the best chance. If you don’t mind a bit of luck and can put up with dice, this game is a solid solo go-to and gets better with expansions.

I keep finding myself coming back to this game. I’m not one for luck based games and I don’t care much for dice, but this game does it well. Shines the most when you have some expansions and can build up your options and variety. The strategy comes from not relying on luck and not going all in. It takes a bit to get the hang of but you can discard 2 cards to give yourself a success (on a 3-4) or just discard other cards to build up conversation points for buying better cards. Often your game does rely on taking a chance, but make it the best chance. If you don’t mind a bit of luck and can put up with dice, this game is a solid solo go-to and gets better with expansions.