I think many here would agree that the most difficult part of solo gaming is emulating something that feels like a more traditional play situation. How do we avoid knowing that the NPCs are going to do in advance? How do we generate a world that we can still be surpirsed by? How do we avoid revealing the man behind the curtain, when we are the man behind the curtain?

I think many here would agree that the most difficult part of solo gaming is emulating something that feels like a more traditional play situation.  How do we avoid knowing that the NPCs are going to do in advance? How do we generate a world that we can still be surpirsed by? How do we avoid revealing the man behind the curtain, when we are the man behind the curtain?

This blog post over at The Gentle Art of Gaming isn't necessarily the full answer. For one it's aimed at solo wargamers (which I do also when an opponent isn't available) but I think it is a better way to tackle solo roleplaying. The gist of the post is this: Regardless of what ruleset or theme we use, ultimately we're playing a game of pretend. 

Looking at it that way, we may be able to get around the emulation problem. Perhaps knowing it all in advance won't break the game, and their is enough inherent randomization in the dice rolls to surprise us and force us to adapt and discover new options. 
http://shiftymushrooms.weebly.com/getting-the-most-out-of-solo-wargaming.html