Eight bosses, one beaver: solo-viable boss design

Lumberjack Party is a four-player game. The boss arenas are where that shows most: one player rings bells while another gets ready at the weak spot, one sets the bait while another waits on the jetty. But we made a rule early on, and recently made it stricter: every boss has to be beatable by one beaver on their own. Friends make it better. They should never be required.

No solo mode, just one set of numbers

We did not want a separate solo mode with its own bosses. Each boss has one table of numbers (health, how long its weak moments last, how long its attacks hold you) with a column for each crew size. Playing alone reads the first column. One boss, one design.

The rules we hold every boss to

• Beatable with basic gear. You do not need any mastery upgrades to win. Mastery makes a fight faster; it never unlocks it.
• One after another instead of at the same time. When a crew has to be in two places at once, a solo player can do the same steps in sequence. The boss waits for you, or its opening lasts longer when you are alone.
• No helpers. No computer-controlled partner and no machine that does a job by itself. If a crane drops something on the boss, a player set that crane up.
• Grabs are shorter when you are alone. Bosses that grab you, root you or stun you with a roar still do it when you play solo, so the danger is still there, but the hold lasts half as long.
• Failing is a retry, not a punishment. If you go down alone, the fight resets after a short pause, and the phases you have already beaten stay beaten.

A few examples

The giant catfish only shows its head when someone empties the bait bucket. With a crew, one beaver baits and the others strike. Alone, you bait, then run and strike yourself, and the head stays up long enough for that. Its swallow attack is still there when you play solo, just shorter, and once it spits you out it gags for a moment, which is your opening.

The tortoise has to be tipped over. A crew can use dynamite, a sled and a crane at the same time; alone, any one of those is enough. The crane no longer works by itself: you wind it up, and it drops when the tortoise walks underneath.

The stone guardian wants three bells rung in the right order before its seal opens. A crew splits up; alone, you ring them one by one and then go for the seal.

How long should it take?

Our target is that a solo player with basic gear can beat each boss in under ten minutes, in two or three good openings. A crew of four should be faster and much louder. The picture above shows the Yeti, one of the eight bosses.