My most recent purchase was Sid Meier's Civilization. I found it for $40 on Facebook Marketplace locally, and it was brand new. I even had to punch the pieces out when I unboxed it!
I grew up playing (and still enjoy) the PC games, and after reading the reviews and forums on BGG for the tabletop version, I decided it was a great deal (and I saved $25 or more that way). I was blown away by how well it transferred to tabletop, how many components come with it, and the artwork.
The only negative is it's a long game. But that's ok because I really feel time flies when you play it. I'm excited to try some fan made solo variants for it soon as well. :)
Yesterday I was itching to play Civilization - I still have yet to play with anyone since purchasing it :( I was looking more closely at the handful of fan made solo-variants, but nothing caught my eye. They were either too complicated or didn't interest me gameplay wise.
I decided to just play two Civilizations myself. I used 2-less tiles (so a 6-tile map rather than 8-tile). An actual solo variant is always more fun to me, but at the very least, playing this way allows me to slowly run through the game, learn the rules, and figure things out in various situations that may pop up. I played for almost 3-hrs before the game ended.
In true solo fashion, I was in no rush, no time restrictions, dug into the manual when necessary and even had to jump on the BGG forum to check a couple rule questions. It was a good afternoon building my Civilization. :)
Wow, I had no idea this one had solo variants. Let us know if you enjoyed it when you play!