Player count scaling

Now that the scaling and static variables were listed, let’s examine how they affect the difficulty when player count changes.

Most of the scaling effects makes the game harder at lower player counts.

• Flat tax due to scenario actions: trying to climb the mountain with all the expedition supplies in To the Forbidden Peaks requires 14 actions. For a four-player group, that’s a little more than a turn. For a solo investigator, that’s close to five turns.
• Map exploration: even if most campaigns don’t use an explicit exploration mechanic (the exploration deck in Forgotten Age is pretty much a flat action tax), a large number of scenarios feature unrevealed locations (sometimes trapped) that are randomized. In a group of multiple investigators, one can reveal the location without all the others losing actions to enter the location if it’s not the right one. This effect is minimized on linear maps with little backtracking (such as the Essex County Express).
• Clue getting actions compression: most cards that accelerate clue getting drop down in value in true solo, as there is often only one clue per location. Cards like Fingerprint Kit, Rite of Seeking and their upgrades loses their value in true solo. It is somewhat campaign dependent, as some campaigns feature more single clue location than others. As a funny note here, this effect is also somewhat increasing the difficulty of 4 player play versus 3 player play, as most of the clue grabbing effects caps out at 3 clues per effect.
• Deck efficiency: with multiple investigators, each investigator can be built around its best stats and role, while team composition ensures every ask of the game is covered. In true solo, the investigator must cover every aspect of the game. This often involves using multiple skills of lesser value and cards to boost them, or using less efficient cards that let you go around a skill test.
• Cultist hunt: while in multiplayer a cultist is often not a very challenging task, in solo play it can even be worth ignoring. A cultist that spawns in a location you had not intention to get back to is a full turn worth of actions (move in the location, kill the cultist, move out).

There is however a silver lining for solo players, that can enjoy a few benefits.

• Mythos phase variance: in multiplayer, the variance in the mythos phase is high. Each player draws a card, which means there is two sources of variance. What was drawn, and who drawn what. A turn where a treachery lands on the cluever mystic and an enemy on the fighter will play quite differently than a turn where the distribution is reversed. Drawing multiple enemies in a single mythos phase can also overwhelm the team fighter. In solo, you only get one treachery and enemy a turn, and the required versatility in solo play means you should be geared for both.
• Treacheries scaling: some treacheries apply to “each investigator at your location”. This creates a scaling effect that adds up to the number of mythos card drawn to make the mythos phase slightly more punishing for multiple players.
• Evasion/Disengage effectiveness: being alone on the map, you do not have to worry about an enemy reengaging another investigator after the upkeep phase. It makes evasion strategies more viable in True Solo.
• Scenario Bonus actions: some scenarios have bonus action you can take, often on locations, that have a “group limit once per game”. These favors the solo player its impact is not diluted among multiple investigators.

Finally, some effects scales difficulty in either direction.

• Story Assets: assets handed by campaigns are often powerful tools to work with. A solo player can carry all of them, but does not necessarily synergize well with each of them, while with more investigator, each will receive fewer assets but likely better fitted to them.