After 40 days in total isolation, Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) breaks down at the end of Pluribus episode 7 and asks the hivemind to come back. When her chaperone, Zosia (Karolina Wydra) answers the call, Carol weeps in her arms with relief. But in episode 8, the reunion turns awkward. Carol doesn’t know what to talk about, and Zosia suggests a board game as an icebreaker, revealing that Carol has a sizable collection, though not one that makes a lot of sense for the character.
A peek into Carol’s cabinet reveals a bunch of party games like Hues and Clues, Cranium, and Balderdash. Maybe they were aspirationally purchased by Carol’s partner Helen (Miriam Shor), but given that Carol’s a curmudgeon who doesn’t seem to have had any close friends before the events of Pluribus’ pilot, it’s unlikely these saw much use. Monopoly is a game mostly played with young kids; Carol doesn’t have any, and isn’t in contact with her family. Maybe Helen and Carol enjoyed playing board games together, but Risk and Settlers of Catan don’t work well with only two players. Only Bananagrams and chess feel like games the couple might have actually played with each other.
You can do better, Carol! We’re here to help, with suggestions for games that are thematically appropriate to Pluribus’ world, that are perfect for two players, and that tap into Carol’s few joys.
Pluribus kicks off with SETI researchers discovering a space-borne recipe for an RNA sequence that alters nearly everyone on the planet — which is revealed in episode 8 to have come from the nearby star Kepler-22. Researchers also scan Kepler 22 to look for alien life in Tomáš Holek’s SETI, which was voted the best board game of 2025 at Germany’s SPIEL Essen board game fair. The highly complex strategy game has an excellent solo mode, so Carol could spend hours studying and making contact with alien species.
5
Ticket to Ride
Episode 8 also reveals a secret even Helen didn’t know — Carol loves trains because she appreciates the lonely sound of a train horn. Ticket to Ride doesn’t have the sound effects, but you could always imitate the sound to signal your triumph after successfully connecting the cities on your ticket card. The Speil des Jahres-winning board game has spawned numerous spin-offs since its 2004 release, including a legacy version, so there are lots of options to choose from. It’s one of the best gateways to Eurogames, so we’d recommend trying it before diving into SETI. We think Carol would find building the longest road very satisfying.
4
Love Letter
Carol likes to belittle the hit romantasy novels she writes and the fandom that enjoys them, but she also gets pretty excited talking to Zosia about the latest pages she’s written. Love Letter, a quick game about trying to deliver a love letter to a princess looking for the perfect romantic partner, might give her a little inspiration. As an added bonus, the game is focused on social deduction, and could test how good the Others are at reading her intentions and hiding their own.
3
Forgotten Waters
Carol made her fortune writing fantasy pirate stories that she doesn’t take especially seriously, so she might enjoy immersing herself in the goofy world of Forgotten Waters. The app-assisted game has players take on the role of different pirates with their own goals and potential story arcs, through strange adventures that involve high-stakes battles at sea, interacting with the rest of the crew, and searching for mythic treasure.
2
Sky Team
Scorpion Masqué’s Spiel des Jahres-winning game Sky Team is the perfect game for Carol and Helen to take on their book tours — though Carol would probably complain it made her afraid of flying. Two players must coordinate their actions as pilot and copilot to land a plane in scenarios based on real airports around the world. The box is small, and each game is short, scaling up in complexity as you go by introducing new complications like wind and ice.
1
Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game
Carol owns the party game Partners in Crime, but we think she’d enjoy doing some actual detective work instead of effectively playing Pictionary. Detective, which can be played solo, might satisfy the same instinct that saw her snooping in food-processing plants and writing clues on her whiteboard by letting her immerse herself in five different interconnected cases. The game tasks players with using their time carefully, while giving out information whose importance might not be obvious until much later. It’s a mystery worthy of Carol and Pluribus fans.
