I'm a solo gamer. And this is a solo gaming website.
Yet sometimes, one multiplayer-only game catches my attention on KS. One of the latest was Iconoclash. It's the board game adaptation of 2D brawlers such as Super Smash Bros Melee: you move your character around and fight against each other. Add in questionable anime-inspired aesthetics, Bullet💖 character cameos, and you start getting an idea of what the whole thing may look like.
Rulebook cover
The game tempts me a lot, to be honest. It has this arcade feel I like on board games. There are lots of characters to choose from. It provides fast-paced, simple gameplay.
But it's a multiplayer game. I can't see any situation where I'll be able to play this game. Therefore, I had planned to go with only two boxes (the core one and the Bullet one), but somehow I forgot to switch from the All-In to a more reasonable pledge, and the campaign ended. Well, it wasn't too expensive for all that you get, and I'm happy to support a small publisher with crazy ideas and goofy artwork decisions.
Now there is Arcs. I have been a backer of all Leder Games KS save the first Root one (I didn't know KS at the time). I'm happy that you have a minis-free option which, for once, is a significant saving of your money. It is guaranteed to be a well-done campaign, given Leder Games' experience in this matter.
But $100 is still a hefty sum to put in a board game that may just be piled up with a mountain of other unplayed games. I already own plenty of multiplayer strategy games that I enjoy a lot but never play (Warcraft, Root, Risk 2210 A.D.), and even more that I would love to play and discover, but have never been given the opportunity (Inis, Battle for Rokugan, Nexus Ops, Oath, Dune). Besides, Space Biff wrote a rather negative review of Arcs (which surprised me considerably as he always raves about Leder Games designs), and the pedantic attitude of the company, the arrogance and aggressivity of the Leder Games players community, don't sway me emotionally so that I can set all rationality aside and plunge into it.
Ah! Damned these alluring multiplayer games that are but worthless and unfulfilled promises of elusive fun!
I think many of the best Solo games may well be multi-player games that have an excellent Solo Mode. I'm still doing well this year with avoiding new multi-player games (trying to stick with the Solo and 1-2 Players only plan), but it's a little bit of a challenge to watch some cool lookin' multi-player games go by. So now, when I see a Campaign (or hear about it here at ST, usually) I first check-out the Player Count. If it's 1-4 (or more), I try to look no further. It helps me resist the temptation when I don't see all the spiffy components, cool cards, and beautiful boards combined with interesting gameplay. Your last sentence summed it up pretty well, Z.