In Solo Mode, you play against a virtual player. Alexis is the game designer of Small Islands and he will be your opponent in this game. He has his own cards: Alexis Cards and Expedition Cards.
Your goal is to beat Alexis at his own game. You can play in Normal Mode or Advanced Mode. Rules are identical but for a few changes, notably in the Set Up phase.
Setup
Do a regular set up, with the following changes:
You are the First Player.
Choose 1 Alexis Card. It will determine the difficulty level and the Al behavior. Watch out: Alexis is not a morning person. Take him by surprise during that time of day and you might have a chance of beating him.
Among the Expedition Cards, pick at random the number of Explore Cards and Land Cards indicated on the Alexis Card. Shuffle these to create the Expedition Stack, face down. Put the remaining cards back in the box.
Pick a color for Alexis and grab the 8 matching Houses at the start of the game (Purple is Alexis' favorite).
Next to the Navigation Tile, place your Ship Tile and 3 Grey Ship Tiles.
Alexis does not have any Objective, Landscape Tiles, or Bonus Tokens.
Game Sequences
Preparation
No Change, except for Alexis who does not take any Objective Card.
Exploration
On Your Turn:
Play as you would normally in a multi-player game, whether for the Explore or Land actions. You can place either your Ship Tile or the Grey Ship Tiles.
Alexis' Turn
When it is Alexis' turn, perform the following actions:
- Draw 1 Expedition Card. If the stack is depleted, shuffle the cards again to form a new stack.
- Perform the action indicated on the Expedition Card. This will either be an Explore action or a Land action.
- Then, discard the Expedition Card.
Alexis Card
1 Difficulty level (1 star = easy).
2 Number of Explore Cards for the Expedition Stack.
3 Number of Land Cards for the Expedition Stack.
4 Prestige Points earned by Alexis at the end of the game. Here: 40 PP + 1 PP for each House he placed.
Expedition Card
1 Type of card: Explore 
or Land 
.
2 List of available action for Alexis. Here:
- Action A: Land.
- Action B: Explore.
3 Possible locations where Alexis will place his Tile.
4 Alexis' Mission. Here: Alexis must place 1 House on each island with at least 2 Flowers.
Tile Placement Rules for Alexis
In addition to the usual Tile Placement Rules, Alexis places his Tile in the spot indicated by the Expedition Card:
As close as possible to the Tile (Landscape or Ship) that you have placed in the previous turn.
On the same horizontal or vertical line as your Tile.
As a priority, in direction 1 as indicated by the Expedition Card, if not possible, then in direction 2, and then in direction 3 if neither 1 nor 2 are feasible.
Alexis never places a Landscape Tile if it would grow an island that already contains a House of his color.
If several orientations are possible, you can choose the orientation that suits you.
Explore
- Grab the Landscape Tile indicated by the Expedition Card among the 3 face up Landscape Tiles.
- Place the Landscape Tile in the spot indicated by the Expedition Card.
- If it is impossible to place the indicated Landscape Tile then remove it from the game.
Alexis does not place a Tile, but receives 1 Prestige Point.
If the indicated Landscape Tile is not available among the face up Landscape Tiles, then move immediately to the last Reward Phase, starting with Alexis.
Land
The Land action is only available on the Land Card type.
Alexis can only Land if the Navigation Stack is depleted. If not, he performs action B: Explore.
- Grab a Grey Ship Tile. If your Ship Tile is the last one available, then take it but flip it on the Grey Ship side!
- Place the Ship Tile in the spot indicated by the Expedition Card.
- If it is impossible to place the Ship Tile, then Alexis performs action B: Explore.
Reward
When Alexis has to perform his Reward phase:
Draw a new Expedition Card.
Place Alexis' House on all the islands that fulfill the Mission indicated by the card, using the House Placement Rules (see page 6).
If multiple islands or locations are possible, you choose for Alexis.
Shuffle all the Expedition Cards to create a new Expedition Stack.
End of the Game
Ending conditions remain the same. Add all Prestige Points for Alexis:
- His Prestige Points earned during the game.
- + 1 Prestige Point for each Port located on the 8 Landscape Tiles around the Gray Ship Tiles.
- + the Prestige Points indicated on the Alexis Card.
Example: During your turn, you have placed the Landscape Tile A.
During his turn, Alexis performs action A: Explore. He takes the 2nd Landscape Tile available face up. He cannot place it in direction 1.
In direction 2, he cannot place it next to your Tile but he can place it a little further. You can choose the orientation of the Tile.
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