Solo Grand Austria Hotel: A Viable Option?

The Grand Austria Hotel board game does not have its own solo mode, but solo players can play against a fake opponent: the Automa. The Automa follows a separate set of rules, allowing the human player to focus on their own game. The Automa is essentially a points generator, rather than an AI that makes meaningful decisions. There are three difficulty levels: easy, normal, and hard. The expansion pack, Let's Waltz, also includes a solo mode.

Grand Austria Hotel solo rules

Grand Austria Hotel can be played solo against a fake opponent: the Automa. While you play according to the standard game rules, the Automa follows more straightforward rules, allowing you to focus on your game only. Here are the detailed rules for playing Grand Austria Hotel solo:

Setup

You will need the standard game and the Automa deck, which consists of 20 cards. If you are playing in EASY mode, skip the rules in the box. First, take all assistants with final game effects from the staff deck, shuffle them, and draw the first five without looking at them. Place these cards in a separate deck near the Automa's hotel. Then, reshuffle the remaining staff cards and the Automa deck. Prepare a standard game setup for two players with the following exceptions:

• The Automa doesn't receive the 4 cubes, the money marker, or the initial guest.
• The Automa doesn't open the first three rooms.

Choose randomly who will be the starting player.

Difficulty Levels

There are three difficulty levels: EASY, NORMAL, and HARD. In the EASY and NORMAL modes, ignore the icons on the automa cards within square parentheses. In HARD mode, apply the effect of all icons shown on the automa cards.

Automa Rules

The Automa:

• Needs no money to acquire new guests or open new rooms.
• Fulfills all guest requests immediately without managing the cubes.
• Doesn't need to open a new room before placing a guest inside.
• Never passes the turn.
• Doesn't gain victory points for completing the blue regions of their hotel.
• Is unaffected by the Emperor's bonus/malus.

Playing the Game

At the beginning of each of the Automa's turns, draw two automa cards and apply the effects of the icons depicted on them. Once the automa deck is finished, reshuffle it. The icons on the automa cards indicate:

• The guest colour taken by the Automa. In case of ties, take the guest providing the most victory points. If there is still a tie, follow the hand icon direction and take the first guest with the specified colour.
• The die taken by the Automa. If two dice are shown, take the die from the area with the greater number of dice. Ties are broken by following the hand icon direction. DMAX means taking the die from the area with the most dice, while DMIN means taking the die from the area with the fewest dice.
• If the grey guest icon is shown, the Automa takes the guest providing the most victory points, regardless of colour.

If there are no corresponding guests or dice on the automa card, discard it and draw a new one. If the Automa's hotel has no free spaces for the guest they are about to take, discard the current automa card and draw a new one. After the Automa acquires a guest, they gain the associated victory points and place the guest in their hotel by adding a closed room tile. Benefits depicted on the guest card are not applied.

Placing Closed Room Tiles

The Automa does not need to pay to place room tiles and is not restricted by the limit on room adjacency. They are also not obliged to place the first room in the bottom left corner. If the acquired guest is BLUE, RED, or YELLOW, the Automa will place the closed room tile to complete rows from bottom to top and left to right. If the guest is GREEN, they will complete columns from right to left and bottom to top. When the Automa places a tile on a room with victory points, they gain those points as usual.

The Automa's Score

The Automa gains Emperor points based on the current round number. If they fulfil an award, place a marker on the corresponding award (A/B/C) and give them the associated victory points. If the Automa hires an assistant, draw an assistant card from the common staff deck. During the Emperor phase, the Automa gains victory points based on their marker position, just like a normal player. The Emperor benefits and punishments do not affect the Automa. The Automa's final score includes points gained during the game, from room tiles, and from assistants with end-game effects.

Playing against the Automa

Grand Austria Hotel can be played solo against a fake opponent: the Automa. While you play according to the standard game rules, the Automa follows a simplified set of rules, allowing you to focus on your own game without spending much time on the Automa's movements or strategies.

To play against the Automa, you will need the standard game and the Automa deck, which consists of 20 cards. If you plan to play in EASY mode, skip the rules within square brackets on the automa cards. First, take all assistants with final game effects from the staff deck, shuffle them and draw five cards without looking. Set these aside as a separate deck near the Automa's hotel. Then, reshuffle the remaining staff cards and the automa deck, placing them near the Automa's hotel.

Prepare a standard game setup for two players with a few exceptions: the Automa does not receive the four cubes, the money marker, or the initial guest, and it does not open the first three rooms. Choose the starting player randomly.

The Automa includes three difficulty levels: EASY, NORMAL, and HARD. In EASY and NORMAL modes, ignore the icons within square brackets on the automa cards. In HARD mode, apply the effects of all icons shown. The Automa:

• Needs no money to acquire new guests or open new rooms.
• Immediately fulfills all guest requests without managing the cubes.
• Does not need to open a new room before placing a guest inside.
• Never passes their turn.
• Does not gain victory points for completing the blue regions of their hotel.
• Is unaffected by the Emperor's bonus/malus.

Each automa card details the actions taken by the Automa. At the beginning of each of the Automa's turns, draw two automa cards and apply the effects of the icons. Once the automa deck is finished, reshuffle it. The icons indicate:

• The guest colour taken by the Automa. In the case of a tie, take the guest providing the most victory points. If there is still a tie, follow the hand icon direction and take the first guest with the specified colour.
• The die taken by the Automa. If two dice are depicted, take the die from the area with the greater number of dice. Ties are broken by following the hand icon direction. DMAX means taking from the area with the most dice, while DMIN means taking from the area with the fewest dice.

If there are no corresponding guests or dice on the automa card, discard it and draw a new one. If the Automa's hotel has no free spaces for the guest, discard the current card and draw another. After the Automa acquires a guest, they gain the associated victory points and place them in the hotel using a closed room tile. Additional benefits from the guest card are not applied.

When placing closed room tiles, the Automa does not need to pay and is not bound by the limit on room adjacency or the rule of placing the first room in the bottom left corner. If the acquired guest is BLUE, RED, or YELLOW, the Automa completes the rows of the hotel from bottom to top and left to right. For a GREEN guest, they complete the columns from right to left and bottom to top. The Automa gains victory points for room tiles with victory point symbols, just like a normal player.

Automa deck setup

To set up the Automa deck, you will need the standard game and the Automa deck, which consists of 20 cards. First, take all assistants with final game effects from the staff deck, shuffle them, and draw the first five. Set these aside in a separate deck near the Automa's hotel. Reinsert the remaining staff cards into the common staff deck and shuffle it. The Automa deck should then be shuffled and placed near the Automa's hotel.

The Automa in Grand Austria Hotel follows a set of simplified rules, allowing you to focus on your own game strategy. It does not require the four cubes, the money marker, the initial guest, or the first three rooms to be opened. To determine the starting player, choose randomly.

The Automa deck cards dictate the actions taken by the Automa during the game. At the beginning of each of the Automa's turns, draw an Automa card and apply the effects of the icons depicted. The icons indicate the guest colour and die taken by the Automa. If there is no corresponding guest or die available, discard the card and draw a new one.

When the Automa acquires a guest, it immediately gains the associated victory points and places the guest in its hotel by playing the corresponding closed room tile. The Automa does not need to pay for placing room tiles and is not restricted by the usual rules regarding room adjacency. It aims to complete rows from bottom to top and left to right for blue, red, and yellow guests, and columns from right to left and bottom to top for green guests.

Once the Automa deck is depleted, reshuffle it to continue playing.

Automa gameplay

Grand Austria Hotel can be played solo using the Automa variant, which involves playing against a fake opponent or AI. This mode features three difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, and Hard, with the Automa following a separate, simplified set of rules.

In the Easy and Normal modes, the icons on the Automa cards within square brackets are ignored. In Hard mode, all icons on the Automa cards are applied. The Automa does not require money to acquire new guests or open new rooms and immediately fulfils guest requests without managing cubes. It is not obliged to open a new room before placing a guest inside and does not pass turns. The Automa also does not gain victory points for completing the blue regions of its hotel, and the Emperor's bonus/malus has no effect.

To play, you must set up a standard game for two players with a few exceptions. The Automa does not receive the four cubes, the money marker, or the initial guest, and it does not open the first three rooms. During gameplay, you must draw two Automa cards each round and apply the effects of the depicted icons. The first icon indicates the guest colour, and the second icon indicates the die taken by the Automa. If there are no corresponding guests or dice available, the current card is discarded, and a new one is drawn.

When the Automa acquires a guest, it gains the associated victory points and places a closed room tile. The Automa does not pay to place room tiles and is not bound by the usual limits on room adjacency. It aims to complete rows from bottom to top and left to right for blue, red, and yellow guests and columns from right to left and bottom to top for green guests. The Automa gains victory points for room tiles with victory point symbols. Additionally, the Automa gains Emperor points based on the current round number and may fulfil awards or hire assistants, drawing staff cards as indicated on the Automa cards.

Solo mode expansion

The base game of Grand Austria Hotel does not have its own solo mode. However, the expansion pack, Let's Waltz, introduces a solo mode where players can play against an AI opponent called the Automa. This mode is easy to learn and manage, as the Automa follows a separate set of simplified rules, allowing players to focus on their own strategies.

In the solo mode, players will need the standard game board and the Automa deck, which consists of 20 cards. The Automa does not require certain elements of the standard game, such as cubes, money markers, or opening initial rooms and taking the first guest. The Automa deck is shuffled and placed near the Automa's hotel. The staff deck is also prepared by taking out assistants with final game effects, shuffling, and drawing five cards, which are set aside near the Automa's hotel.

The solo mode offers three difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, and Hard. In the Easy and Normal modes, certain icons on the Automa cards are ignored, while in Hard mode, all icons are applied. The Automa has unique rules, such as not requiring money to acquire guests or open rooms, immediately fulfilling guest requests, and not needing to follow the usual rules for placing guests in rooms.

To play the Automa, draw two cards for each game round and apply the effects of the icons depicted. These icons guide the guest colour and die taken by the Automa, with specific codes indicating various options (e.g., DMAX and DMIN for die selection). If there are no corresponding guests or dice available, the current card is discarded, and a new one is drawn. The Automa gains victory points as indicated on the cards and by completing rows or columns on their hotel board.

The Automa's final score is calculated based on points accumulated during the game, points from room tiles, and any end-game effects from assistants. This solo mode provides a challenging and engaging experience for players who want to enjoy Grand Austria Hotel on their own, allowing them to focus on their strategies while competing against a simplified AI opponent.

Frequently asked questions