Hi all, not sure if there’s a better place in the fediverse to ask, but I’m looking for suggestions for a 2 player game. Something that is pretty quick in terms of set up, learning, and play. My go to for this scenario right now is the Tacocat game by the makers of Exploding Kittens, but I’d like to branch out and try some others if they fit the bill. Doesn’t necessarily have to be for 2 players specifically but preferable if that’s what it’s designed for. Heck doesn’t necessarily have to be a board game really, just something to play face to face (I mean, I don’t really know what the alternative would be other than a straight up card game but that’s why I’m asking for recommendations).
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Hive / 2 players / Requires basically zero setup. Game is easy to pickup and a bit strategic
Star Realms / 2 players / Requires shuffling, separating some cards out and dealing out a few cards. Rules look daunting at first, but it’s pretty straight forward after a few games. There’s a mobile app if you want to try the digital version.
Fox in the Forest / 2 players / minimal setup
Play these with my wife and they’re all good for a relatively quick game. We’re not a big fan of largely random games and prefer something a bit more strategic.
Star realms is amazing! The mobile app is really good too! They have another game called Hero Realms which I highly recommend if you love Star realms! It’s the same gameplay but you have a hero as well. It takes a little to get used too the new mechanics but it’s a blast to play online haha
I second Fox in the Forest for competitive 2 player, and also recommend Fox in the Forest Duet for cooperative 2 player.
These are all really good options 👍🏼
Hope you enjoy your future game sessions!
Thank you, you too. What are you playing ATM?
I’ve been playing Evolution with the family which has been fun. Aside from that I’ve been playing mostly the base game of Star Realms with the wife.
Did you end up deciding on trying any games?
Seven Wonders has a two person game called Seven Wonders Duel that’s really easy. It comes with expansions and it’s my husband’s and my favorite game to play ^^
I love Seven Wonders Duel but I wouldn’t call it super accessible compared to something like Hive. There’s quite a lot to keep track of for the first few playthroughs. But for two people who are experienced with other games it has a good amount of replayability!
As the certified Dumb Dumb of the relationship, I’d quibble, but to each their own!
Patchwork! Nicely balanced and very replayable. Out quilt your opponent!
My wife and I have played a game of patchwork practically every night since we got it during pandemic. Love it!
I agree that patchwork is a good simple 2-player and the theme is kinda funny but man did I think that game was boring. We played two times and now its collecting dust.
Space base is pretty fun! It’s for 2-5 players. What I like about it is it’s a base building game where you don’t really hinder your opponents, and there’s stuff for you to do when it’s not your turn.
I love Space Base. The designer is a mad genius. But I will say it’s more fun with more people and it has a lot of setup. Mystic Vale is another by him that works well for two and is slightly less piecey. There’s an app if you want to try it for cheap.
But if you want extremely easy to learn, not too hard to set up, and quite fun to play, Santorini is phenomenal. It’s literally about as easy to learn as checkers. The instructions are basically one page for the core game and then you can spice it up by adding special powers. But the core mechanic is so elegantly simple it’s hard to believe how little there Is to learn.
+1, a majority of my play has been 2P. But I agree it’s better with more. Pretty easy to learn too.
Definitely give Parks a try, it’s a personal favorite of ours. I also recommend Cascadia and Tiny Epic Galaxies.
Radlands - my personal favourite 2 player game. Tower defence with cards. Design a mix of borderlands meets Mad Max
Aeons end - not two players but works really well at 2. coop card game against a nemesis. Multiple expansions available. Many characters and card combinations. This game is a close second in my two player list.
Shadows of Kyoto - a game from emporers4, and I have to admit I like their games. Two player slightly asymmetrical trying to get your spy to your opponent site or try to catch their spy.
Hanamikoji - trying to get the favours on the right site with only four possible turns. Kosmos has it too, and it is language independent, no need to get it from Taiwan if you have better access through them. Geisha‘s road is pretty similar.
Shottentotten - name could be more sensible but a quick to learn Poker with multiple games one plays at the same time
A few from my closet: Castle Panic (with expansion set), Labyrinth (Ravensburger), Classic card games: Crazy 8s, Go Fish, Hearts and Old Maid. Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, Mille Bornes, Pirate’s Cove, Stratego, Battleship, Chess, Checkers, Chinese Checkers, and Laser Khet 2.0.
And story dice are fun with any number of people.
I love 2 player games and the vast majority of my plays are with 2 players. My top recommendations are:
Azul—plays 2-4 players, and I love it with 2. Tile placement in patterns. Quick to learn and plays fairly quickly as well
Beer and Bread—you are playing as 2 rival towns using the same ingredients to make a variety of beers and breads. At the end of the game, your final score is whichever of the 2 is lower between beer or bread. A slightly longer time to learn than Azul, but still plays in under an hour
Splendor Duel—a tableau builder —you’re collecting gems to buy cards that count like permanent gems in your hand. Time to learn and play falls between the other 2, in my experience
Second Azul. Fun. Easy to learn and quite quick.
I think out of those, splendor duel is the best one. We play it a lot for a quick session. While Azul is fine and easy to learn, it is kinda heavy on math if you want to be good.
The great thing about Azul is that it works well at all player levels. For beginners it’s easy to teach, it has great table presence and you can have a lot of fun playing it completely casually. For experienced players it can turn into a cutthroat duel of probability calculations and mind games.
Beer and Bread rules!
Something that is pretty quick in terms of set up, learning, and play.
You had many recommendations, but I think very few beats Sea Salt & Paper in term of setup, learning and play.
This is really strange because I’ve been googling this exact question for the past two days. So, I guess it’s my turn to return the favor.
My wife and I play games constantly, and the kids are getting older and leaving us playing one on one more often. The ones that we play the most are Silver, Boss Monster, Machi Koro, Heckmeck, and Dungeon Mayhem.
They are all pretty simple games, quick set up and tear down. That seems to be what we lean into.
Oh, as for my search, the consensus seems to be that the best two player game is Jaipur. I can’t vouch for it yet, as I haven’t played it, but it should arrive tomorrow. 😁
Jaipur is very good. I’m always down to play and wife usually wins so it’s a bonus
It is. I’m a big fan, but have lost my copy.
Catan Duell/ the cardgame. Great Strategy game.
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Targi - Cards are displayed in a 5x5 grid. The “outer” square of the grid are action spots while the “inner” 3x3 grid are resources/objectives. During your turn you will place one of your 3 workers in one of the available action spots. Then your opponent places their worker but they cannot place their worker in the same column or row than your wokers. After both players have placed their 3 workers, you place tribe markers (the cilinders) on the cards where your workers intersect. At the end of the round you get all the resources/objectives where you have cilinders and perform all the actions where you have workers!
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Hanamikoji - This is a “I split, you choose” 2 player game with some area majority in the mix. I honestly think this game is fantastic but I have had very low success in introducing it to other people. The game is very quirky, very different than everything I’ve tried. You force players to make hard and unintuitive decisions and I think that turns off some people. “Why would I split these cards, I want them all. How can I have them all?”. Split wisely! I guess the art work and box doesn’t help people get excited about it either.
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MicroMacro: Crime City - There is some debate about wether this is even game or just an activity but I don’t really care about that. This game is absolutely brilliant. It’s basically a “Where’s Waldo” but with all timelines printed into a single map. Each mission points you to a crime and you have to trace back the map to understand what actually took place there. Where did the victim come from, what were they doing, who looked at them funny? I would put this game as the best 2 player game but it have felt weird for the best 2 player game to be a game where you can play with an infinite number of players. Wouldn’t recommend more than 2 players tho! Get it!
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I always liked Kahuna. Quick to set up. Easy to explain even to casual gamers. Has a lot more depth than it appears at first glance.
If you want to go with the classics, the only form of Chess I enjoy is Xiangqi. It’s a faster-moving and more dynamic game than International Chess, but if you’re good at the latter the skills, after you get past a few little “gotchas”, transfer well to this. Related (very distantly: it’s more closely related to Stratego in that it inherits from the same parent) is Junqi, though you’ll want to play the refereed version (either a human referee or the various mechanical/electronic referee systems out there) for the most enjoyment.
For card games, well in traditional cards there’s (literally) hundreds of choices, perhaps thousands. For commercial card games I really liked the Star Realms series of games when I got them.
I would recommend micro macro
My favorites for two are Carcasonne, Seven Wonders Duel, and classic Cribbage. Those first two aren’t exactly simple to learn though.
Another suggestion is to play a cooperative game with two. This can be really fun to talk about thr strategy together since you are on a team. For simpler, I like Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert.
