Two Player Board Games, Please!
October 1, 2021 4:59 PM Subscribe
What are some great two player board games? Preferably ones that take under two hours and don’t have a massive rulebook. Equally interested in luck vs skill, and especially games that become more interesting or fun the more times you play them. Most interested in games designed specifically for two people rather than games that kinda work ok with two but are better with more people. We love games where it could go either way right up until the end.
Carcassonne & Ticket to ride. Especially the go either way until the end. (With both you find out with the scoring at the end)
posted by beccaj at 5:04 PM on October 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by beccaj at 5:04 PM on October 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
Weiqi / Go / Baduk
posted by matkline at 5:06 PM on October 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by matkline at 5:06 PM on October 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
Patchwork is specifically designed for two, is fairly simple, and only takes about 30 minutes to play, but has enough of a luck element that it doesn't get boring. I don't know about "becomes more interesting or fun the more times you play", but I think it hits all your other criteria.
posted by number9dream at 5:19 PM on October 1, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by number9dream at 5:19 PM on October 1, 2021 [4 favorites]
Jaipur is my favorite. It has a lot of interplay in a satisfying way.
Codenames duos is my favorite cooperative game.
Undaunted Normandy is a great campaign-style serious game that still takes under 2 hours. It's fun for a long time. It's a serious strategy game.
Morels is a happy game that's not super competitive that's like a walk in the woods, collecting mushrooms.
Hive is a game that's a lot like chess but 50% more fun, with no board and bugs!
Gloomhaven jaws of the lion is a great coop strategy game. It is the only game here that's technically playable with 4 players but I preferred it with 2.
Cubitos also plays 4 but is excellent with 2. It's a brand-new magical game that's awesome for 10 different reasons but it's push your luck racing games with a growing dice pool that changes every game.
posted by bbqturtle at 5:59 PM on October 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
Codenames duos is my favorite cooperative game.
Undaunted Normandy is a great campaign-style serious game that still takes under 2 hours. It's fun for a long time. It's a serious strategy game.
Morels is a happy game that's not super competitive that's like a walk in the woods, collecting mushrooms.
Hive is a game that's a lot like chess but 50% more fun, with no board and bugs!
Gloomhaven jaws of the lion is a great coop strategy game. It is the only game here that's technically playable with 4 players but I preferred it with 2.
Cubitos also plays 4 but is excellent with 2. It's a brand-new magical game that's awesome for 10 different reasons but it's push your luck racing games with a growing dice pool that changes every game.
posted by bbqturtle at 5:59 PM on October 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Oh! I swear I searched for recent asks, but only found ones from 2011. Thank you! And also for the already great suggestions here.
posted by Bottlecap at 6:03 PM on October 1, 2021
posted by Bottlecap at 6:03 PM on October 1, 2021
Girl Genius: The Works is loads of fun, and actually works best with two people.
posted by sourcequench at 7:42 PM on October 1, 2021
posted by sourcequench at 7:42 PM on October 1, 2021
It's a bit of an up-front investment, but there are good reasons why Crokinole is ranked so highly among Family Games at BGG. It's fast and fun, trivial to teach and learn, and there's a great mix of luck and skill, but it has a high skill ceiling and can go either way in the end even with a noticeable experience gap.
posted by Wobbuffet at 7:57 PM on October 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Wobbuffet at 7:57 PM on October 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
We’ve had a lot of fun with Illimat. It’s portable, artistic, easy to learn, and gets better as you learn it.
posted by blurker at 8:31 PM on October 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by blurker at 8:31 PM on October 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
We really enjoy Qwirkle. It goes pretty quickly, and gameplay depends on a combination of luck, skill and powers of observation.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 8:45 PM on October 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 8:45 PM on October 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
Battle Line is quick to learn, a lot of fun, and has a lot of scope for skilful play.
posted by dudekiller at 4:58 AM on October 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by dudekiller at 4:58 AM on October 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
A Little Wordy is fun and designed for 2 players! (You could also make up your own version with bananagrams or scrabble tiles and your own hint cards.)
posted by shortyJBot at 7:02 AM on October 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by shortyJBot at 7:02 AM on October 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Strategist: The Best Two-Player Board Games, According to Experts. HTH!
posted by conscious matter at 7:04 AM on October 2, 2021
posted by conscious matter at 7:04 AM on October 2, 2021
patchwork
posted by umbú at 7:08 AM on October 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by umbú at 7:08 AM on October 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
Kingdomino and Quest for El Dorado are both 2-4 player games, that work great for 2 players.
posted by aint broke at 10:37 AM on October 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by aint broke at 10:37 AM on October 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
another vote for Qwirkle!
posted by spinturtle at 4:44 PM on October 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by spinturtle at 4:44 PM on October 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
Watergate, Raptor, Jaipur, Battleline, Codenames Duet, 7 Ronin, 7 Wonders Duel, War Chest, The Shores of Tripoli, Kingdomino.
posted by ridogi at 5:32 PM on October 2, 2021
posted by ridogi at 5:32 PM on October 2, 2021
I played one called Ingenious recently which was really satisfying if you like strategy type things.
posted by lookoutbelow at 11:13 AM on October 3, 2021
posted by lookoutbelow at 11:13 AM on October 3, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by alex1965 at 5:03 PM on October 1, 2021 [2 favorites]