s/o What's your favorite two person game?

[PeterPan]

I was looking at @hjffkj's game pics and saw some 2 person games we haven't played before. It's usually just me and my now 15 yo teen ds. What are your favorite two person games these days? 

[JustEm]

Kulami, 60 Second City, Rock Me Archimedes, Chaos, 32 Dice, Dice Throne. We also like the two player versions of games in the Tiny Epic series, particularly Tiny Epic Defenders, Tiny Epic Pirates, Tiny Epic Blast Off, and Tiny Epic Zombies. My dd really like Tiny Epic Dinosaurs. 

Edited December 2, 2023 by hjffkj

[PeterPan]

5 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Kulami, 60 Second City, Rock Me Archimedes, Chaos, 32 Dice, Dice Throne. We also like the two player versions of games in the Tiny Epic series, particularly Tiny Epic Defenders, Tiny Epic Pirates, Tiny Epic Blast Off, and Tiny Epic Zombies. My dd really like Tiny Epic Dinosaurs. 

Oh wow, all those are new to me!! Off to look! 🙂

[JustEm]

What type of games do you like to play? If I know I can give more suggestions or tell you which ones I've already mentioned are like the type of games you like playing 

[PeterPan]

4 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

What type of games do you like to play? If I know I can give more suggestions or tell you which ones I've already mentioned are like the type of games you like playing 

Ds has taken avidly to playing chess online and almost never plays board games with me anymore. He tends to like increasingly complex games, and I have had multiple concussions and get brain fatigue. 😂 

Rivals for Catan is his favorite he will play with me. He tends to like tower defense type games (Castle Panic, Survive Escape from Atlantis) that I find wearying. The Epic games look like they'd be a winner with him. Anything that goes UP in complexity will probably suit him these days, all while fritzing my brain to the point where I can't, lol. However I think if I got them, he could play them with others. The tiny/epic series looks particularly conducive to taking places to play with others. We've been in some settings recently where he was bored, where people were bringing games to pass the time. Those would be perfect and they're complex enough probably to interest him. My brain is sort of at Ticket to Ride level these days. 😁

[Pam in CT]

All of these *can* be played with more players, but our go-to family games are Quiddler (word game), Scrabble (word game), Rummikub (numeric patterns) and Set (visual patterns and processing speed), all of which work very well as 2 person games -- Quiddler, I think, is *best* as a 2-person game.

[Miss Tick]

@Kareni Introduced my dd and me to Quarto and we have really enjoyed it.

Edited December 2, 2023 by Miss Tick
object pronouns!

[JustEm]

13 minutes ago, Miss Tick said:

@Kareni Introduced my dd and me to Quarto and we have really enjoyed it.

I love quarto! 

[GailV]

Younger DD belongs to a board game group that meets weekly to play. She gave us Kingdomino last year as a game she thought worked well for 2 people.

[4kidlets4me]

Monopoly, Azul, Ticket to Ride-we have numerous editions, Sh!t Happens-this one is rated 18+ but my 16yo plays it too, Unstable Unicorns, Chronology.

[lynn]

I like the classics,  connect 4 and yahtzee

[SHP]

There are 2 player versions of many of the popular games. I enjoy those. Lots of game play in a small box and play area. Example Cave vs Cave instead of Cavera. 

[PeterPan]

30 minutes ago, SHP said:

There are 2 player versions of many of the popular games. I enjoy those. Lots of game play in a small box and play area. Example Cave vs Cave instead of Cavera. 

Ooo, that looks good! I like the two person Agricola All Creatures Big and Small. I'm realizing I just haven't kept up with many of the newest games. And maybe ds has come into liking a game style that isn't mine.

[Storygirl]

We like Patchwork and 7 Wonders Duel. Carcassonne is fun. Sagrada (dice) is not hard but benefits from some strategizing. Quixx is a fun dice rolling game (Yahtzee-like but different). Century Golem is fun and pretty (you can get the same game play with a different look with Century Spice Road).

Cartographers (strategically draw symbols of rivers, trees, etc on a map to complete tasks that earn points), The Crew (trick taking card game), and Arboretum are small sized games that are fun.

I might suggest The Crew for you and your son as my first choice. It's a cooperative card game that requires strategy, but the rounds are short. And there is a different "mission" to complete each time you play, so it's never the same twice.

Edited December 2, 2023 by Storygirl

[KidsHappen]

My hubby and I have traditionally played tons of cribbage throughout our marriage. My mother in law used to owe a very large table size board that we played on and recently my dd bought one for us. Now we just need to teach the kids how to play.   

[Kareni]

Games we've enjoyed playing as a twosome ~

Quarto 

SET

Bananagrams 

Love Letter

BLINK 

WORD SPOT  

Morels (also released as Fungi)

Quiddler 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I also forgot to mention that my husband and I play a two handed version of American mah jongg.

Regards,

Kareni

[SanDiegoMom]

Second Love Letter, my daughter and I like Play Nine (though my son finds it boring!) The Mind is kind of silly, Crew, Set, bananagrams, Qbitz, Hanabi, Casino and cribbage (card games). 

[theelfqueen]

Patchwork has been our recent go to.

I'm also fond of Paris:city of lights, Onitama, Quoridor, Mr Jack Pocket, Jaipur.,  Hive. 

 

[wintermom]

I love backgammon and cribbage. Labrinth duo is also really fun, but dd kicks my butt every time. 😄 

[East Coast Sue]

My favorite is Goblet

[bookbard]

My 100% favourite 2 player board game is Tak (Tak | Board Game | BoardGameGeek)

If your son is into chess he'll like Tak. It's a strategy game. What I like is that it can be really quick, set up is basically nil, and even if you're not super smart you can still win occasionally. I find it interesting to play because you can see the other person thinking. 

[Starr]

We like cribbage for two of us.

[Forget-Me-Not]

Splendor can be played 2 player 

[PeterPan]

13 hours ago, KidsHappen said:

My hubby and I have traditionally played tons of cribbage throughout our marriage. My mother in law used to owe a very large table size board that we played on and recently my dd bought one for us. Now we just need to teach the kids how to play.   

I forgot about cribbage! My dad played it in the Navy and taught it to us as kids. I haven't played that in a long time!!

[Laura Corin]

Lol. Wellllll....

[Pam in CT]

8 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Lol. Wellllll....

Do go on, please.

[Meriwether]

If he likes Chess, he'd probably like Onitama.

Edited December 3, 2023 by Meriwether

[Grace Hopper]

On 12/2/2023 at 10:16 AM, 4kidlets4me said:

Monopoly, Azul, Ticket to Ride-we have numerous editions, Sh!t Happens-this one is rated 18+ but my 16yo plays it too, Unstable Unicorns, Chronology.

Does ticket to ride really work well with two people? Dh and I both enjoy playing that with friends but don’t own it and can’t decide if it would be as fun with just the two of us. 

On 12/2/2023 at 1:16 PM, Kareni said:

I also forgot to mention that my husband and I play a two handed version of American mah jongg.

Regards,

Kareni

A friend has invited me to join her mah jongg group, said she would teach me, but I’d be more comfortable learning a bit first. Now I’m thinking I can learn it with dh and will have a practice buddy!

 

Anyone play Wingspan? It appeals to me and says it can be played with just two but I’d like a first hand opinion if someone has experience with it. 
 

Great spin-off question, many times here it’s just dh and me to play and not all games work well for less than three. 

[mom31257]

7 Wonders Duel

Patchwork

Azul

Upwords

Carcassone

 

[strawberries]

13 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

Anyone play Wingspan? It appeals to me and says it can be played with just two but I’d like a first hand opinion if someone has experience with it. 
 

Wingspan is my family's favorite game and we frequently play with only two. We have all the expansions.

[PeterPan]

30 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

Does ticket to ride really work well with two people? Dh and I both enjoy playing that with friends but don’t own it and can’t decide if it would be as fun with just the two of us. 

We have several versions and they've all been fine with two people. You might try with a version you haven't played before, so it will be fresh and fun. I'm currently a fan of the London version. It's short/sweet, not too $$. Or if you want to go more complex, there's India, Europe, etc. I think somewhere we have a US one too. Some of them have reversible boards so you flip and it's a different game play. 

[PeterPan]

35 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

mah jongg group

Would it be the kind like in Crazy Rich Asians? I thought I could learn it using the apps, but the game in those seems completely different. I have no clue, lol. I see groups of people playing it when I travel but I've never invited myself in. If I had even a rudimentary knowledge, I probably could. 

[Grace Hopper]

23 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Would it be the kind like in Crazy Rich Asians? I thought I could learn it using the apps, but the game in those seems completely different. I have no clue, lol. I see groups of people playing it when I travel but I've never invited myself in. If I had even a rudimentary knowledge, I probably could. 

When I mentioned I’d like to try to learn a little online first my friend told me to be sure to go to the <XYZ> website to learn the right version of the game, so I imagine different groups vary. 
 

I say <XYZ> because I don’t remember the site off the top of my head, I wrote it down and will have to check my notes. I think she wanted to be sure I didn’t just download some random game app and think I was actually learning it properly. 

[Kareni]

@Grace Hopper and @PeterPan, yes, there are many versions of mah jongg. I play the American version which has 152 tiles including eight jokers. Many versions use 144 tiles with no jokers. 

@Grace Hopper, I'd recommend visiting to see your friend play. Playing with two omits part of the game but is still a lot of fun.

Regards,

Kareni

[knitgrl]

Air, Land and Sea. My kids have been loving it. I liked it, too, because I beat dh, which is highly unusual. 😁

Here is a review -- https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/games/airlandandsea/

[Mom_to3]

4 hours ago, strawberries said:

Wingspan is my family's favorite game and we frequently play with only two. We have all the expansions.

My youngest loooves this game, but I've been reluctant to play, because the couple of times we've played it, it took forever. Perhaps we are just not playing it correctly, or is it a long game?

[Mom_to3]

Yahtzee, Trivial Pursuit, Rummikub, Scrabble etc. are fun for two at any age, and not too taxing on the brain. Loving these threads about games...will have to look up some of the suggestions when I find the time next weekend.

[Storygirl]

41 minutes ago, Mom_to3 said:

My youngest loooves this game, but I've been reluctant to play, because the couple of times we've played it, it took forever. Perhaps we are just not playing it correctly, or is it a long game?

Wingspan is not a short game. But you can speed it up by using the Oceania expansion set, which includes wild food tokens. Part of what takes a long time with the base game is collecting the food tokens needed, but adding a wild token that can stand in for any other food, the game speeds up significantly.

[happypamama]

6 hours ago, Meriwether said:

If he likes Chess, he'd probably like Onitama.

I was just coming to suggest Onitama!

[Red Dove]

Fox in the Forest

[strawberries]

15 hours ago, Mom_to3 said:

My youngest loooves this game, but I've been reluctant to play, because the couple of times we've played it, it took forever. Perhaps we are just not playing it correctly, or is it a long game?

It's not Monopoly long, but it's not quick. It takes us about the same amount of time as Ticket to Ride. 

[goldberry]

On 12/2/2023 at 11:17 AM, Storygirl said:

 

I might suggest The Crew for you and your son as my first choice. It's a cooperative card game that requires strategy, but the rounds are short. And there is a different "mission" to complete each time you play, so it's never the same twice.

This sounds really cool, but the two player variant looks kind of complicated?

[Storygirl]

7 hours ago, goldberry said:

This sounds really cool, but the two player variant looks kind of complicated?

I forgot that the 2 player instructions are different. DH and I have played it, and we like it, but it's been awhile, so I don't remember details. I think that you deal out a hand for a third invisible player, among a few other changes? It's not too complicated, but it might make it less ideal for PeterPan, after all.

[Twolittleboys]

We just got Splendor Duel and really like it.

[Indigo Blue]

Bananagrams. Chess.