Tarawa 1943 Travel Edition
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FroGames — Moments You'll Remember
09:13 AM, November 20, 1943. Your marines land under fire. In half an hour, someone will decide whether to continue island hopping or stop everything. Every battalion you activate wears down. Every card you play can save you. Or condemn you. Now in a backpack-sized box.
WHAT IT IS ABOUT
The Assault on Tarawa, now in travel format
Tarawa 1943 Solitaire is the travel version of the classic solitaire wargame by Grant and Mike Wylie, recreating the invasion of the Japanese atoll by the 2nd Marine Division in November 1943. It is the first real test of American island hopping in the Pacific: if you fail or lose too many men, the campaign stops. This compact edition replaces wooden blocks with counters and adopts a revised map, but retains full-sized cards and the same identical gameplay.
You command 8 marine battalions landing under fire. Each turn you activate a battalion: it moves, attacks, tries to reorganize. Each action reduces its cohesion — fatigue, losses, confusion. You have a hand of 3 cards that give you naval support, air support, tanks, engineers. You play one on your turn, one on the Japanese turn. Then you flip an event card: banzai, bunker, crossfire, infiltrations. Tarawa 1943 Solitaire doesn't need a human opponent. The card engine is enough — and now it follows you everywhere.
FroGames' Opinion
A wargame that forces you to choose between winning quickly and surviving long enough. Historical pressure, in a backpack-sized box.
The secret of Tarawa 1943 Solitaire in one line
Each game tells a different story: the card engine never repeats the same battle. Thirty cards, infinite Tarawas.
From the game experience
Tarawa 1943 Solitaire
Designed from scratch for solo play. The Japanese card engine simulates banzai, bunkers, crossfire, and infiltrations without the need for a human opponent. Each game tells a different battle thanks to the event deck. The experience is complete, and here it gains a very quick setup and the minimal footprint of the travel version.
FrogScore · FroGames editorial rating · based on rules, international reviews, and play sessionsYour command deck
The cards that keep you alive
Naval Support
Offshore battleships cover you with heavy fire. You use this card to soften a bunker or stop a banzai before it arrives. But you have few support cards and many threats.
Air Support
Planes bomb Japanese positions. They give you tactical breathing room, but consume one of your 3 hand cards. And the Japanese turn comes right after.
Engineers
Engineers open breaches in bunkers and defenses. Crucial for advancing, but if you use them too early, you risk running out when you really need them.
Push Your Luck
You can force an attack beyond the battalion's limit. It works, but it erodes even more cohesion. Push too much and the battalion collapses. Don't push enough and the battle drags on.
What's new in this edition
The same game, wherever you go
Tarawa 1943 Solitaire is the travel version of the classic Tarawa 1943. Setup in seconds, minimal footprint, but the tactical core remains intact. Here's what has been rethought for the compact format.
Counters instead of blocks
The wooden blocks of the original edition are replaced by die-cut cardboard counters. Lighter, thinner, perfect for the compact box.
Revised map
The Tarawa atoll board has been redesigned for the new format, keeping cohesion tracks and combat tables close at hand.
Full-size cards retained
The cards remain full-sized: no hard-to-read mini-cards. The card-driven gameplay is identical to that of the original edition.
In 60 minutes you'll have taken Tarawa. Or you'll have lost too many Marines to continue island hopping. It always happens like that — even on a train table.
A game in five acts
What happens at the table
Not the rules. The experience.
The Landing
Choose which battalion to activate first. Land under fire. The dice determine the first casualties. Cohesion drops immediately. You think: "Maybe I should have landed south". Too late.
The First Banzai
You turn over the Japanese event card. Banzai. The defenders charge one of your front-line battalions. You lose men. Cohesion plummets. You have a support card in hand, but do you use it now or save it for later?
Advance or Reorganize
Mid-game. You have 3 depleted battalions, 2 fresh, 3 still offshore. The Japanese bunkers don't yield. You have to decide: push the attack and risk collapse, or stop everything to reorganize. Every turn lost prolongs the battle. Every forced turn consumes cohesion.
The Die That Changes Everything
You attack a key bunker with your best battalion. You play the Engineer card. You roll the dice. A perfect result comes up. The bunker falls. The way is open. But the battalion is at cohesion 1. Another Japanese event card and it collapses.
Counting the Dead
The island is yours. You count the turns. You count the losses: 845 marines. You count the collapsed battalions: 2. History says fewer than a thousand were needed to continue island hopping. You did it. Barely. And you put everything back in the box in thirty seconds.
How to play
The flow of each turn
Each turn is a cycle: you activate a battalion, then Japan responds.
Choose one of the 8 marine battalions. Reduce its cohesion by 1 (activating it wears it down). Now you can move it, attack with it, or try to reorganize it. You can play 1 card from your hand for support.
If you attack, you roll dice modified by the battalion's cohesion and the strength of the Japanese defender. You can choose to "push your luck" (force the attack beyond the limit) but you lose more cohesion. Result: you eliminate the defender or you stop.
Draw 1 card from the Japanese event deck. The card activates: banzai (counterattack), bunker (static defense), crossfire (multiple damage), infiltration (sabotage). You can play 1 card from your hand to mitigate.
Any battalion with 0 cohesion collapses (out of play). You draw new cards if eligible. You check victory/defeat conditions. Then proceed to the next turn.
Why it's different from others
Six mechanics that make the difference
Japanese Card Engine
There is no human opponent, there is an event card deck that simulates banzai, bunkers, crossfire, infiltrations. Each card has different effects. Each game tells a different battle. The engine doesn't cheat, but it doesn't forget.
Cohesion System
Each battalion has a cohesion value. Activating it reduces cohesion. Taking attacks reduces it. Forcing an attack reduces it. At 0 it collapses. You must manage wear as a resource. You can't attack with everyone, all the time.
Hand of 3 full-size cards
You have a hand of 3 cards — in full size even in this travel edition — that provide naval, air, tank, and engineer support. You play 1 on your turn, 1 on the Japanese turn. Choosing when to play them is tactical. If you burn them too early, you're left exposed.
Integrated Push Your Luck
You can force an attack beyond the battalion's limit ("push the attack"). It works: you add dice, increasing your chances of breaking through. But you lose extra cohesion. Push too hard and the battalion collapses. Don't push hard enough and the battle drags on beyond the turn limit.
Two Invasion Scenarios
The historical landing is in the north. But the game includes the alternative southern scenario, which the Japanese expected and heavily fortified. Everything changes: defensive layout, timing, difficulty. Two different battles on the revised map.
Travel format, quick setup
Counters instead of wooden blocks and a compact map: you set it up in thirty seconds and put it away just as quickly. Same tactical depth as the original, minimal footprint. Fits in a backpack.
How it ends
How to win and how to lose
Tarawa 1943 Solitaire ends when you take the island or when you lose too many marines to continue.
Victory
- You conquered the key Japanese objectives within the turn limit
- You kept losses below the critical threshold of the 2nd Marine Division
- You have enough operational battalions (cohesion > 0) to continue
Defeat
- You exceeded the loss threshold and the island hopping campaign stops
- Too many battalions have collapsed: you no longer have the strength to break through
- You ran out of turns without conquering the island and command loses confidence
Tarawa 1943 Solitaire asks you to win a historical battle with limited resources, under fire, against an opponent who never misses the worst moment to strike you. It's pure solitaire wargaming, wherever you are.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ about Tarawa 1943 Solitaire
Is the travel version worth it compared to the original Tarawa 1943?
It depends on what you're looking for. The gameplay is the same as the classic (rated 7.6 on BoardGameGeek): same mechanics, full-size cards, same tension. The components change — cardboard counters instead of wooden blocks — and the map is revised for the compact format. If you want an identical experience that fits in a backpack and sets up in thirty seconds, this is the right choice. If you love wooden blocks and a large board, the original is still more visually impressive.
Isn't it just dice rolling and luck?
There's a real luck factor: combat dice and event cards bring chaos, and that's part of the design. But choices really matter — which battalion to activate, when to push the attack, when to burn a support card and when to save it. Luck raises the stakes; tactics decide if you survive. Those looking for a purely deterministic wargame will be more comfortable elsewhere.
Is it a difficult wargame to learn?
No. The basic rules are: activate battalion, move, attack, reduce cohesion, draw Japanese card. The rulebook is short and after the first turn, the flow is natural. The complexity isn't in the rules, it's in the tactical decisions. It is often recommended as a first solitaire wargame.
Is the Japanese engine predictable after a few games?
No, because the event deck is shuffled every game. You never know when a banzai, a bunker, or crossfire will come. You can prepare tactically (keeping support cards in hand) but you can't predict the order. Every battle is different.
Does it require a lot of table space?
Less than ever, and that's precisely the point of this edition. The map is compact, battalions are counters, cards fit in a hand of 3. You can play it on a coffee table, on a train, or on vacation without problems.
Is it available in Italian?
No, this edition is in English. Texts on cards (events, support) and rulebook are in English. Language dependency is medium: once you learn the card effects, the game flows smoothly. A translated glossary helps a lot.
Tarawa 1943 Solitaire is the travel version of the card-driven solitaire wargame for 1 player, set during the amphibious invasion of Tarawa Atoll in November 1943. Designed by Grant and Mike Wylie and published by Worthington Publishing, it puts you in command of the 2nd Marine Division with 8 battalions to manage. Each game lasts 30-60 minutes, recommended age 14+. This compact edition uses counters instead of wooden blocks and a revised map, maintaining full-size cards and identical gameplay to the original (rated 7.6 on BoardGameGeek). The Japanese engine is simulated by a deck of event cards (banzai, bunker, crossfire) that makes every battle unpredictable. Mechanics: battalion activation, cohesion management, tactical push-your-luck, hand of 3 support cards. Two invasion scenarios (north and south). Victory by speed and contained losses. Available on FroGames.it.
Tarawa 1943 Travel Edition
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