by wgerken
In my opinion 2 is the ideal count. 3 is also quite good, but 4 is a bit too long so I'd only do that with the right crowd (everyone knows the game, everyone is a fairly prompt player and everyone will stay focussed and not start fiddling with their phone).I have played the game solo to learn it and in doing so played as 2 players. I haven't tried any solo variants as I didn't know about them, but it was fun simulating two players and exploring unique strategies with each. Quick too.
In summary from best to worst, in my opinion:
2 players
3 players
1 player
4 players