GMT has long been a supporter of Stuka Joe’s CDG Solo system, which we highlighted in an insideGMT article way back in 2016. So, making an official GMT version that supports our CDGs and CDG players just made sense. When GMT One head Jason Carr reached out to Stuka Joe to see if he would like to see an official version made for GMT, it was immediately obvious that it was a great idea. While our main goal in developing this official set of rules and playsheets was to make the system more accessible and available to a wider audience, it we also wanted to give the system back to the community. So, we are proud and excited to reveal our Print and Play kit for the GMT CDG Solo System, but more on that in a minute.

I was introduced to the Method in early December of 2020 and knew right away that it was something special. As we started talking through what a revised edition should look like, our highest priority was to honor, not only the core mechanics of the Method, but also the community of gamers and creators that supported and rallied around Stuka Joe through playtesting, assisting one another in the forums, and writing up tweak sheets so that the method could be used with a multitude of games.

In order to reinforce and enhance the original Method, we laid out a product map that focused on unifying language, streamlining the user experience, and updating the component package, while maintaining and clarifying the core mechanics and design goals that Stuka Joe originally established.

One of the most clever parts of Stuka Joe’s original Method was its universal nature. In other words, the way in which it could easily be adapted to almost any standard CDG. This inspired many gamers to try their hand at creating a list of tweaks to tailor the Method to their favorite CDGs, which included many of GMT’s most popular CDGs, but also CDGs from many other publishers.

Right around the time, we started talking about this project, Caesar: Rome vs Gaul shipped and Shane Avery was one of those first-time community contributors to the Method, who wrote up a sheet so he could play solitaire. After seeing the great foundation he had laid out with his C:RvG tweak sheet, I contacted him and together we polished it up and included it in the CDG Solo System.

Community contributions from the likes of Chris Crane, Shane Avery, and many others helped to make the Solo System what it is and since the beginning of this project, it has been our plan to continue to encourage and empower the community to stay involved and to keep innovating. To that end, we urge you to continue to create and share new Playsheets for our games, and other publishers’ CDGs too, online on the BGG page or in other forums.

In an effort to make that as easily accessible as possible, we’ve put together a Print & Play Kit that will allow you to digitally download and print everything you need to construct your own CDG Solo System component set. There are further how-to instructions included in the kit, but I want to note that the kit is formatted for letter-sized paper and printers, but is A4 friendly for our friends overseas. You can find the files posted on the CDG Solo System’s GMT Webpage as well as in the files section on BGG.

With that, I’m proud to say that we’re extremely pleased with the way it turned out and believe that the CDG Solo System offers a solitaire gaming experience that will excite and inspire both players familiar with the original Method and new players, alike. Keep an eye out for another Playsheet coming your way later this year and in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the CDG Solo System and I look forward to the next era of innovation that the community creates.

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