I’m posting about a game every day in September! Here’s a link to yesterday’s post.

It’s Friday so that means it’s time for a game of Friday. This was the first solo-only game I picked up a few years ago and I still enjoy it, despite the fact that I never play it anymore. Actually, I never play the physical game anymore. I play a lot of the app version.

Friday is a solo deck-builder in which you’re Friday, good ol’ Robinson Crusoe’s sidekick. Crusoe doesn’t know what he’s doing on the island so it’s up to you to teach him how to hunt, gather, and make weapons since he’ll have to eventually fight off some pirates.

Your starting deck represents Crusoe: weak and not very smart. There are hazard cards that you’ll have to defeat and this is where the beauty of the game lies. Every hazard card is multi-use, with two halves; one half is the hazard and the other half represents Crusoe learning and improving his survival skills. If you defeat a hazard, you turn the card around and it goes into your deck as a helpful card. It’s a welcome change from the standard center row/open market of cards to add to your deck.

Like other deck builders, you’ll want to trash the weaker cards to steadily improve and streamline your deck. I love the two pirate cards at the end, which are randomly chosen from about a dozen or so. These effectively serve as boss monsters, ready to test your deck-building skills.

One thing about Friday: it’s not easy. I could never imagine scoring over 100 points when I first got the game, but tonight I scored 131. All of the games I’ve played on the app definitely helped me improve my game, since I now know the cards better and I can strategize more effectively.

For my fellow solo and deck-building fans I’d highly recommend Friday, whether it’s the analog or digital version.