Game mindset: some dungeons can't be soloed

In games

In games, you can solo most of the time.

Grind mobs alone, level up alone, push through the main story alone. A lot of players actually enjoy soloing. No coordinating schedules, no waiting on anyone, just play whenever you want.

But games have this thing called dungeons.

Dungeons are designed to require a party. Some bosses need one person to tank damage, one to heal, one to deal damage. Some puzzles need two people standing on switches at the same time. Some bosses cast crowd control on the entire room, and without teammates to break you out, you just stand there and take it.

It’s not that you’re too weak. The dungeon’s rules simply don’t allow solo clears.

Many games also have guild systems. Join a guild and you unlock raids and events that only guilds can access. Guild members share strategies, trade gear, help each other level. When someone gets stuck, there’s always someone in the guild who’s been through the same thing.

And guilds have an energy you can’t get from soloing. Seeing others grinding makes you want to keep going too. Pushing progress together, getting stronger together. That sense of belonging and momentum is something solo play can never give you.

You could be the strongest player on the server, holding every solo record. But some content you just can’t experience alone.

Some dungeons are designed to require a party.

In reality

Human babies are among the most helpless creatures in the animal kingdom.

Sea turtles crawl to the ocean the moment they hatch. Foals stand and run within hours of being born. Human babies? Can’t walk, can’t roll over, can’t even hold their heads up, and this lasts for months. Completely dependent on others just to survive.

We relied on others to stay alive long enough to become independent. Then once we’re independent, we start thinking we should do everything ourselves.

But no matter how capable you are, we’re wired to depend on each other. Humans need connection. Connection makes us happier.

Some things are simply designed to require more than one person.

Look at the credits of any book, film, or game. It’s a long list of names. Books need editors, proofreaders, designers, publishers. Films need cinematographers, lighting crews, editors, composers. Games need designers, artists, programmers, sound engineers. These are multiplayer dungeons by design. It’s not that anyone is weak. The task just requires different people in different roles.

Creating also requires feedback. You can write alone, build alone, but before you put your work out there, you don’t really know if it’s any good. Something you thought was crystal clear, someone reads and says, “What is this even about?” Work in a vacuum too long and your direction drifts without you noticing.

Some opportunities are also impossible to reach alone. Collaboration invites, introductions, recommendations. Many doors can only be opened from the outside. No matter how good you are, if people don’t know about you, the opportunities won’t come.

The power of guilds works the same way in real life. Writing communities, startup circles, book clubs. Others tell you about the pitfalls they’ve hit, saving you months of detours. Seeing your peers producing makes it harder to stop. One person gives up easily. A group keeps going.

And some dungeons are truly impossible to solo. Having a child takes two people. Raising one takes more. When you’re too sick to get out of bed, you need someone there. When you’re in a low place, having someone pull you up, even just to listen, makes all the difference.

Soloing is freedom, but not everything is meant to be soloed.

Know which things you can do alone, and which ones need a party.

Some dungeons can’t be soloed.

Player notes

I’m an extreme solo player.

Not that I can’t work in a team. When I worked at a company, my communication skills were fine, I could survive in team environments, performed well, and eventually became a tech lead running a team.

But being able to do it doesn’t mean I liked it. Meetings, coordination, waiting on others, matching someone else’s pace. To me, all of that was more painful than grinding mobs.

So after I quit, I committed to being a one-person company. Code it myself, design it myself, handle support myself. After AI came along, it got even more extreme. Even things I might have outsourced before, I just did myself. One person, one whole team.

For a while, I genuinely thought I didn’t need anyone.

Then my kid was born.

That was the first dungeon in my life I truly couldn’t clear on my own. Night feedings, diaper changes, rocking to sleep, on repeat until you start questioning your entire existence. My wife was exhausted too. We were both barely hanging on. It wasn’t until our parents came to help and we hired a nanny that we could finally breathe.

It wasn’t that we weren’t strong enough. This dungeon was just designed to require support.

Writing a book was the same. Write alone long enough and you end up in a blind spot. Reader feedback is how you learn which ideas actually landed and which ones only made sense to you. Then there’s editing, proofreading, cover design, distribution. Getting a book from “finished manuscript” to “on shelves” involves a mountain of things one person simply can’t handle.

But I have a lot of respect for indie creators. Stardew Valley was made by one person over four years. Tunic, Inscryption, both essentially solo projects. These games are incredible. But you can also see that the scope was intentionally kept small. One person can pull it off, but it takes longer, and you have to accept the limits of scale.

Want to make something like God of War or Death Stranding? That takes a team of dozens, sometimes hundreds. Neither approach is better. They’re just different ambitions.

I think AI will make it possible for one person to have an entire team. Solo-made films, solo-made games, solo-made books will only become more common. The era of indie creators is just beginning.

But even with AI as the ultimate solo companion, we can still choose when to solo and when to run a multiplayer dungeon. I choose to solo whenever I can. But when I’m facing a dungeon that genuinely requires support, it’s better not to brute-force it alone.

Leveling tips

□ List the things you’re stubbornly doing alone right now. Which ones actually need a party?
□ Find one person who can give you honest feedback. Not someone who flatters you, but someone who can see your blind spots
□ Join a community related to your goals. Seeing others in motion makes it harder to stop
□ Imagine this: if you were creating on a deserted island with no internet, would it still be as fulfilling?
□ When you hit a low point, ask for help. It’s not weakness. It’s using the right strategy for the dungeon