2 Player Games?

[TheMarti]

Hey guys,

I know, I rarely come over here unless I'm asking about Hearthstone, lol. But, I've been looking for 2 player games that I can enjoy with other people - many times, I'm just hanging out with one person at a time, so it'd be nice to add some 2 player games to my collection. Any suggestions?

~Marti

[YourMathTeacher]

Star Reams is ideally suited for 2 players.

[browarod]

If you like Catan, there's a 2-player card/tile version called The Rivals for Catan that my friend and I really enjoy playing. The base game comes with 3 "expansion sets" already that you can add 1 at a time or all 3 together to spice up game play, and there are 2 actual expansions that add 3 more sets each (for a total of 9 sets that you can mix and match).

Android Netrunner is a fun 2-player card game, though a bit complicated to pick up initially, if you like sci-fi/futuristic themes. The base set has 7 different decks (from the 2 alignments) so lots of variety there and it's an LCG so you can easily add to your collection without spending a ton of money.

Along those lines there's also the Star Wars LCG which is a 2-player head-to-head game, or the Lord of the Rings LCG which is a 1+ player cooperative game (if you want to try playing WITH your friend instead of AGAINST, or even if you want to have a game you can play by yourself).

There's always the classics like Cribbage, Guess Who, Yahtzee, etc.

[soul seeker]

My wife and I enjoy the following 2-player games when we are on a date or the kids have gone to bed.
Lost Cities  (our #1 favorite 2 player game)
Rack-O  (can expand up to 4 players)
Ticket to Ride: the card game    (can expand up to 4 players)
Settlers of Catan: the dice game  (can play more but we think 2 players is best)
Boggle
Settlers of Catan: the card game  (however, a table is definitely required for this one...playing on a couch will not cut it.)

Most of the above allows you to chat while you play too.

Bonus Suggestion: "Cover Up" is a 2 player game that it is pretty self-contained, but my wife doesn't like it.

[TimMierz]

I've played a wide variety of 2-player games - I play a ton of them with my wife - so I'll try to hit a few different genres here.

High-strategy, 30 minute duels
Neuroshima Hex
Summoner Wars
Pixel Tactics

These games are pretty intense, highly tactical games that are nevertheless easy to pick up. They can be pretty competitive, and each of them is asymmetric - each player's "army" will have its own advantages and disadvantages compared to the opponent.

Abstract strategy games
The GIPF series (especially YINSH)
Blokus Duo
Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War

These games are heavy on the thinking and light on storytelling - think more Chess than Magic. These are fairly modern games that have few rules but great depth.

Family-style light strategy
Kingdom Builder
Metropolys
Thurn and Taxis

This assortment is still quick to play - about a half hour - but are more casually playable than those in the previous groups while still maintaining a good amount of strategic decisions. All of these support up to 4 players as well.

Games that Tim has made that support 2 players well
Simply Adorable Slugfest - https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/simply-adorable-slugfest
The Golems of Ymhet - https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/the-golems-of-ymhet (a 3- or 2-player game)

Support one of your favorite Tims!

[TheMarti]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I definitely saw some of these when I was derping around on BGG, and some of them I haven't seen at all. Keep them coming!

[LukeChips]

LCG's (living card game) made by FFG are very entertaining and fun. My favorite is Star Wars LCG, but I am trying to sell all my cards due to a lack of interest in my area.

[TheKarazyvicePresidentRR]

LCG's (living card game) made by FFG are very entertaining and fun. My favorite is Star Wars LCG, but I am trying to sell all my cards due to a lack of interest in my area.

For a fun asymmetrical LCG Android net runner is great

[YourMathTeacher]

Smash Up is still fun with two people, especially with the Pretty Pretty expansion coming out next week! My daughter has been waiting for this expansion for months. 

Lords of Waterdeep works well with two people, too.

[gray0013]

I don't play a lot of two player games but here are a few I am familiar with, ranked with my most favorite at the top.

Rosenkonig (War of the Roses) (OOP) My wife and I's most favorite two player game
Jaipur
Lost Cities
Duell (OOP) but so worth tracking down
The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (plays well as  2 player)
Wings of War (plays well with 2 players)
Hey! That's my fish (not a true two player but plays well with 2 players)
Forbidden Island & Desert ( not true two player but plays well with one or two players)
Hive
Balloon Cup (OOP) - later released with a slightly different mechanic as Pinata

Hope this helps. Happy hunting on some of the OOP stuff. If you are interested in Hive, I would sell it to you for $15 + shipping.

Doug

[TheJaylor]

I've heard Redemption's pretty cool.

[EmJayBee83]

Star Reams is ideally suited for 2 players.

Is that the game where you play the manager of a Staples located near the Tanhauser Gate?

[YourMathTeacher]

Star Reams is ideally suited for 2 players.

Is that the game where you play the manager of a Staples located near the Tanhauser Gate?

 

Since Doug included out-of-print games, I will include one of my favorite 2-player CCGs... Hot Wheels Acceleracers.

[Master Q]

Star Reams is ideally suited for 2 players.

Is that the game where you play the manager of a Staples located near the Tanhauser Gate?

 

Star Realms =/= Star Reams. Spelling saves lives

[YourMathTeacher]

Star Realms =/= Star Reams. Spelling saves lives

It's a shame that so many lives were lost over the past five days before MJB caught my grievous error.   

[EmJayBee83]

Star Realms =/= Star Reams. Spelling saves lives

It's a shame that so many lives were lost over the past five days before MJB caught my grievous error.   

Sorry, YMT, I was just goofing on you.  If it makes you feel better, I misspelled Tannhauser.

[YourMathTeacher]

Star Realms =/= Star Reams. Spelling saves lives

It's a shame that so many lives were lost over the past five days before MJB caught my grievous error.   

Sorry, YMT, I was just goofing on you.  If it makes you feel better, I misspelled Tannhauser.

It makes me feel better that  you used the word "goofing. "   

[Captain Kirk]

Thanks for all the suggestions. This is a really good topic.

My wife and I really enjoy playing games together. Typically Emily does not want to play games that take longer than 1 hr and under 45 min is preferred. Emily does not appreciate cutthroat games.  We play at least 3 nights a week together and sometimes 6 nights a week.

Here are our favorites:
- Dominion: Emily's favorite game. We have all the expansions and this never gets old for us. It is a great 2 player game but the deck ratios are very different than with 4 so it can be tough to switch fri playing 2 all the time to 4 (or even 6 players!)

- Splendor: this game was the runner-up for Spiel de Jahres in 2014 and it is a great game. The game flows really well with 2 but like Dominion has different strategy when switching to 4 players. The game feels kind of like Ticket to Ride based on the actions you can take but other than that it is a much different game. Great aesthetics as the tokens feel like poker chips. The theme is jems/jewelry, a plus for women.

- Lost Cities: this only plays 2 players and is great. This is my go-to game when I am exhausted as we can cruise through 3 or 4 hands in 20 min. This is a 2 player rummy-esque game with risk/reward for each suit you choose to play. This game is essentially 5 suits of regular playing cards so we made our own 5th suit by combining 2 identical card decks. You don't lose anything from the $30 version you would otherwise buy.

- Castles of Burgundy: this game thrives in 2 player and is ranked one of the top 2 player games on Board Game Geek. You each vie for tiles to complete your city most efficiently. The tiles give you points or "build your engine". With 4 players the game takes 2 hours but 2 player is just under an hour. In 2 player only half the tiles come out so there is a lot more press your luck play as you don't know if your early choices will pan out in the end. You roll 2 dice each turn and they are your actions for the turn, with different numbers allowing you to pick up and place different tiles. You can also get worker tokens that modify the dice. You have a total of 50 die to use throughout the game. This is the best worker placement game I have seen for 2 player. The theme is very dry.

- Patchwork: brand new game for us that I bought this week for Emily's birthday. Only a 2 player game. You each have a Tetris board and try to fill it up first with Blokus/Tetris pieces. The  differences that make this game awesome are that each piece costs different amounts and you can get residual income (buttons) based on which pieces you choose at check points in the game. There is also a great catch-up mechanism to allow players to take multiple turns. You are quilting a patchwork quilt. Great aesthetics and theme for women.

- Star Realms: this is the most cutthroat game we typically play as 2 player so sometimes Emily doesn't like it (if I win the previous game or 3 handily). This game is prone to landslide victories and is best played several games in a row to even out the score.

- Monopoly Deal (OOP): this game gives you your Monopoly fix in 15 minutes. It plays great with 2 but is probably the most luck dependent 2 player game we play regularly.

- Hanabi: one of the few cooperative games I regularly enjoy playing. Each player cannot see their own hand and must rely on their teammates to give them clues on what to play or discard. This is a team rummy game where cards must be played in the right order across 5 suits. It works best with 4 but 2 is also really fun. You almost never fully win (max score is 25) but instead aim to get the highest score possible. This won Spiel de Jahres in 2013.

- Pente: Classic 2 player tic-tac-toe type game. You either win with 5 in a row or by capturing 5 pairs of your opponent's pieces. We made our own board out of matte board and tokens from Dollar Tree instead of paying $20.

- Carcassonne: it plays really fast with 2 players. The field battle usually decides the game.

Let me know if you have any questions, we love playing 2 player games!

Kirk

[Josh]

I'll echo Kirk's votes for Dominion and Carcassonne - both make excellent 2 player games.  The drawbacks to these is the cost of expansions; for both, if you play just the base game, you are definitely not experiencing the best that these games have to offer. 

7 Wonders is a game that my wife and I just discovered this past Christmas.  We both love it - it has become our favorite game to play.  I personally think the game gets better with more players (you can play 2-7, and increasing the number of players does not materially increase the time to play the game, due to game mechanics); but I love the game so much, the 2 player variant is still a lot of fun.  Each player has a "wonder" they get to build (Lighthouse of Alexandria, Pyramids of Egypt, Colossus of Rhodes, etc), and through the 3 "Ages" of the game, you also get to set up resource production and build buildings for points.

Qwirkle is a fun one we discovered recently.  It's basically Scrabble, except you are making sets ("words", to stick with the Scrabble metaphor) by playing similar shapes and colors.  Never tried it 2 player, but it should be fun. 

Agricola is a unique game (2-5 players) that is the most complex one I've ever played.  I haven't played it much, simply because no one will play with me    But once you become familiar with the cards and strategy, it offers a fantastic experience for strategically-minded players.  You and your opponent(s) are building farms.  Sounds silly, but don't let that turn you away from this game.

Malta is another fun game (2-6 players).  I'm not sure how much the game depends on skill or luck; it's one of those games that you just play for fun. 

Smallworld is a great game for 2 or more players.  Each player is commanding hordes of troops like Giants, Orcs, Amazons, etc., which have their own special ability; and each has a game ability paired with it.  However, the game ability pairings are random, so you never know what combinations you are going to get.  You are both vying for space on a board that gets crowded all too fast (hence the name of the game  ), and soon you are attacking your opponents to win the most coins.

A Few Acres of Snow is an asymmetrical game for 2 that I have never played, but if you read the comments on Amazon, it sounds like the best game ever invented for 2 players.  One person is France and one person is Britain during the French Indian war.

[TheHobbit13]

Is there a way to get lotr lcg for cheap?

[EmJayBee83]

If you want cardboard--probably the cheapest way (outside of watching on eBay for a player leaving the game) is from Cool Stuff Inc. You can get most sets for about 1/3 off MSRP.

If you would be satisfied with on-line play only, there are both LackeyCCG and Octagon plugins available.

[New Raven BR]

i can't believe this suggestion is actually coming from me knowing myself years ago but i admittedly enough have been playing magic the gathering and i must say I've had the wrong impression about it and it's actually a lot of fun to play. so i just thought maybe magic the gathering? i mean it's obviously 2 player and just thought it might be a good suggestion, it's either that or clue, monopoly, guess who, or battleship