Of Solo Puzzles and Chess Studies in Bestiary of Sigillum
Work through an interconnected campaign of solo puzzles in tense battles across a character’s storyline in Bestiary of Sigillum.
Another new arrival! I actually didn’t think Bestiary of Sigillum would arrive after its crowdfunding campaign was cancelled. This seemed to fall within the realm of my husband’s tastes with the fantasy battles and all… But I was still curious about this solo mode. Hold on, for this was not at all what I was expecting with some very neat puzzle scenarios!
Game Overview
Game Name: Bestiary of Sigillum: Collector’s Edition
Publication Year: 2023
Designer: Peter Vibe
Artists: U. Grebeneva, D. Preobrazhenskaya, & G. Vostrikov
Publisher: CrowD Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
On a small battlefield, teams battle each other with abilities. However, this is a game that features no randomness and no hidden information. It’s more about understanding all of the abilities and how they might interact. And the solo mode? A series of puzzles that are solvable, but very tough!
First Play
March 17, 2025
Complexity
2
Latest Play
March 23, 2025
Expansions
0
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
13
Play Time
10 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
28" x 20"
Low Score
N/A
Characters Galore
The solo campaigns utilize teams of 2 to 4 characters out of an enormous stack of 36. Whoa! And they’re not just slightly different: Each character features 3 entirely unique skills.
Gameplay is quite straightforward, too, since these abilities have cooldowns. The back of the rulebook features a lovely quick reference guide that showcases almost everything.
I was impressed! After a few other new solo games left me a little disappointed, there was real excitement brewing!
Some hesitation caught up with me regarding the solo mode and how it used puzzles… But I’ll get there in a moment.
Fantastic Storage
Everything fits into the included insert nicely, yet I have to pause and admire this character token tray for a moment.
With 36 characters and 3 tokens each, that could easily get really messy to keep track of. Not with this tray! Tokens stack underneath a character’s main token perfectly.
Just one tip: Store every token in the game upside-down. This means the “flat” edge faces up. They fit much better!
Look closely, and each character is numbered, along with the slots. Identification is made so easy, although part of me wishes everything was in alphabetical order. Oh, well!
A Connected Campaign
This game includes a bunch of campaigns that feature 15-20 puzzles each. An overarching story is there to tell the tale of one of the characters and go further into their backstory.
Is this for everyone? Nope: These puzzles set up enemies, but there is no solo opponent to operate them.
Instead, there is a goal to achieve while seeing what moves the enemies might complete to prevent victory. It’s kind of like playing dual-handed, but trying to win on only one side.
Reading through the rules, I was cautious about this solo mode. It was more like a puzzle book… Yet I was intrigued!
Vinctum’s Campaign
The first set of puzzles focuses on Vinctum and delves deeper into his backstory. Pretty interesting, actually!
And here, the simplicity of the system can be seen. His main ability was at the top, which could be used to maneuver into an adjacent, unoccupied hex or use his special attack.
Secondary abilities made him even more unique, and I could choose the order to use every ability on my team.
Maybe it looks fairly limited with longer cooldown times, but I was immediately struck by how cool this was! I sat there puzzling through the possibilities of the first puzzle.
Discovering Solo Fun in Unexpected Places
I remember seeing this project on crowdfunding years ago, and it was unfortunately cancelled. My husband was more upset than I was because this is definitely his kind of game! Me? I wasn’t quite as drawn to it, although I was rather interested in finding out about the solo mode. Everything seemed to be different from a standard sort of solo mode.
A-ha! I’ve talked about going outside of my comfort zone with new games before, and how that sometimes leads to some lower ratings. But every now and then, I find something totally different that I enjoy a lot. This has a lot of abstract elements at its core and the world is pretty dark and dreary. Yet the joy in solving each puzzle is turning out to be great!
Maybe this won’t stick around forever with the way the puzzles are single-use and solvable. At the same time, I don’t think that takes away from the experience. With my current track record, I’m likely looking at upwards of 80 plays before I complete every scenario, with each one lasting around 10-15 minutes. That’s pretty awesome and worth it!
I still haven’t had a chance to play against my husband, yet I guess this solo experience will put me at an advantage. Ha ha! This might not be the best choice to buy purely for the solo experience, although I can see it being a hit for those who enjoy these kinds of puzzles or even Chess. For now, I’m glad I took the chance and found something pretty amazing!
Tracking Cooldown
Another neat component! This board tracks castle health, although I’m not certain if this is used in the solo mode. No matter: The castle miniatures were too cool to not use!
More importantly, though, are the ability cooldowns. This might look complicated, yet rotating the middle section counts down a round for both sides at the same time.
Technically, this isn’t needed for many of the solo puzzles, as they all appear to have a goal to reach in 1 or 2 turns.
But I still liked using it for the visual aspect, and turning the dial was very easy. Definitely a nice use of a board!
Marching to Victory
Every solo puzzle has a single solution, but no spoilers here! I think I may have won the first one initially, yet I was unclear about whether the enemies could take a final turn.
So, I simply did it a different way to ensure I had a proper victory! The back of the campaign book has the solutions in a coded fashion so the answers aren’t known at a glance.
Pretty neat! This puzzle system is similar to Chess studies… And having never played it, I was impressed and interested.
There is no way to play through these again, but there are over 50 scenarios to solve. Plenty to have lots of fun with!
Character Backstories
I was concerned that the campaign might take the same teams through a bunch of scenarios, but the second puzzle immediately swapped out and added characters. Nice!
The back of each character card features a quick backstory. These may not be extensive, yet I liked the unique tales.
I’ll also note that swapping out a single character changes everything so much. Since there is no randomness, it’s about seeing the best order to utilize every ability.
And, of course, there is the need to understand how the enemy team will react to try to prevent victory. Tricky!
Brand New Abilities
Even with some of the same characters in play, it wasn’t like I automatically had an advantage. Solving these puzzles is about the whole picture, and this was a challenge for me!
The goal was to defeat the 3 enemy characters on the map in 2 turns without Vinctum losing his last health point.
Easy? I thought so, and then slowed down to see how I wasn’t going to be able to defeat the last enemy. How?!
I had to puzzle through this a couple of times. The first scenarios aren’t designed for guaranteed, easy victories. But I finally figured it out by using an ability differently. Cool!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-4
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Vinctum’s Campaign Puzzles 1 & 2
Outcome: 2 Wins & 2 Losses
Iratus was a tricky customer on the enemy’s side in this second scenario! He started with a single health point, but he was the one piece of the puzzle I couldn’t solve at first. This may not be a game to pick up solely for the solo experience, although I’m having a lot of fun with these little challenges. I can’t wait to see what sorts of characters come up in the next puzzle as I play through Vinctum’s campaign!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
8
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
4
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- All 36 characters play very differently and feature their own 3 abilities, making each team function a little differently.
- There is no randomness in play, as everything is open information and depends entirely on utilizing abilities.
- Every token fits neatly and easily into the included insert, although tokens should be stored with their flat side up.
- Scenarios may seem simple at first glance, but they take a clever eye to spot ability synergies and the enemy’s plans.
- Not much table space is required and nothing spreads out since all of the tokens fit on the boards or character cards.
- Setup is very fast, even for different scenarios with other characters, and there is lot of fun in the gameplay.
– Cons (Negatives)
- There are a few typos on a small number of character cards, although these are more annoying than game-breaking.
- Figuring out how to solve a puzzle requires seeing ahead to future moves without always moving the components.
- Although there are a lot of scenarios, these are single-use and have a fixed solution so they can’t be played again.
- Some parts of the solo mode aren’t as clear as they could be when first learning, but these are quick to understand.
Victory Conditions
Solve the Puzzle
- Overall Goal Progress 13%
Goals and Milestones
Complete Vinctum’s campaign. (2/16)
Continue the Conversation
Have you played Bestiary of Sigillum? Are there other solo games you enjoy that feature puzzles or solvable scenarios? This has certainly surprised me so far in how varied the characters are and the depth of the different sorts of puzzles. I may very well keep this out to finish up this current campaign… And possibly more! Finding these solutions is an awesome feeling!
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