# Two Person Board Games?



## CombatWombat51 (Oct 11, 2004)

I'm looking for a game that can be played by only two players. My girlfriend and I need something to actively do together around the house. I don't know many board games aside from the classics like Risk, Monopoly, chess, etc. And most of those games are much more suited to a group of people (except chess).

Any recommendations?


----------



## Arbiter of Wyrms (Oct 12, 2004)

Mancala, Pente, Othello, Mastermind, Backgammon, & Tic-Tac-Toe (and 3d ttt)
are all great two player games that my wife and I enjoy pretty often.

Life, Parchisi, & Sorry work at least as well as two player games as they do with more than two players.  Trivial Pursuit (any version) tends to be a lot more laid-back with just two players - make up rules as you go along, cheat for one another's benefit and just skip the questions you know the other player won't know.  It's really just an excuse to read trivia to one another and move tokens around on the board, but it can be fun too in a way almost entirely dissimilar from 'real' Trivial Pursuit."

Finally there're cards: I recommend Five Crowns & Skip-Bo.


----------



## cybertalus (Oct 12, 2004)

Hoyle puts out a computer board game collection every year, mostly of two player games.  The one I have (from 2003) includes Mahjong, Gravity Tiles (a 1 player game), Double Cross (Scrabble I think), Word Yacht (Yahtzee with words; haven't tried it), Wordox (or maybe this one is Scrabble), Reversi (Othello), Backgammon, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Master Match (some kind of peg in a board game), Rummy Squares (which I haven't tried), Mancala, Battling Ships, Yacht (Yahtzee), Dominoes, Checkers, Pachisi, and Bump 'Em (a Pachisi variant).

The Hoyle set can usually be found pretty cheap, and is good way to learn new games without shelling out loads of money up front.

Though if you have loads and loads of money to spend, I strongly recommend the new Star Wars Minatures game.  It's lots of fun, but also requires a pretty hefty investment.


----------



## Angcuru (Oct 12, 2004)

Dungeon Dice is a little known, but fun board game.  Basically you're prisoners who have to tunnel out with spoons and stuff, and you roll dice to see how well you do.  Sounds dumb but it's a lot of fun.


----------



## Dark Jezter (Oct 12, 2004)

One word:  *Battleship.*

Love that game.


----------



## diaglo (Oct 12, 2004)

Dark Jezter said:
			
		

> One word:  *Battleship.*
> 
> Love that game.




You sank my battleship


----------



## Riverwalker (Oct 12, 2004)

I've heard the new War of the Ring is very good (made by Fantasy Flight Games) and works well for two players.  

My wife and I have enjoyed a little game called 'Hector and Achilles'.


----------



## Maerdwyn (Oct 12, 2004)

The two player variant for Puerto Rico is quite good, plus you then have one of the best 3-5 player games on the market now. 

Hera and Zeus, and others in its series, (I think Hecotr and Achilles is one, but I'm not sure), are good, short, two person card games.


----------



## devilish (Oct 12, 2004)

CombatWombat51 said:
			
		

> My girlfriend and I need something to actively do together around the house.





Must.......resist......typing.....what....I'm.....thinking.   

Sorry - had a juvenile moment (as opposed to a senior moment). 

I would recommend  Dracula's Revenge which was at GenCon.

A nice 3-D board game of vampiric mayhem.


----------



## CombatWombat51 (Oct 12, 2004)

devilish said:
			
		

> Must.......resist......typing.....what....I'm.....thinking.




That's why I said "actively" instead of "obsessively"


----------



## Samothdm (Oct 13, 2004)

Fantasy Flight Games' Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation is a fun game - a friend recommended it and my wife and I have played it a few times.

There's a fun game called "Set" that's playable with any number of players.  It's cool because you can play it solo, too.  

I believe that there is also a 2-player card-based version of Settlers of Catan, although I've never played that.  

For a good list, check out the 2-Player Games List on Funagain.com.


----------



## reapersaurus (Oct 13, 2004)

Angcuru said:
			
		

> Dungeon Dice is a little known, but fun board game.  Basically you're prisoners who have to tunnel out with spoons and stuff, and you roll dice to see how well you do.  Sounds dumb but it's a lot of fun.



*looks left and right*

umm, that's a kid's game.





I had it way back when, liked it, and won an auction for it out of nostalgia's sake.
It's not exactly a game adults would be playing....


----------



## reapersaurus (Oct 13, 2004)

CombatWombat51 said:
			
		

> I'm looking for a game that can be played by only two players. My girlfriend and I need something to actively do together around the house. I don't know many board games aside from the classics like Risk, Monopoly, chess, etc. And most of those games are much more suited to a group of people (except chess).
> 
> Any recommendations?



Again, any request for recommendations would be greatly enhanced by mentioning what are some other games you like, so people would know what your tastes run...


----------



## Threedub (Oct 13, 2004)

Battlecry (American Civil War) and Memoir '44 (World War II).  Both my wife and I love them.  She is neither role-player, video gamer, or war gamer.  The scenerios can be played in an evening.  War Game Lite.


----------



## Mistwell (Oct 13, 2004)

For reference, for multi-player games I like the german-produced recent games, such as Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan, Amun-Re, Ra, Power Grid, etc... 

So, here are my favorite 2-player games:

Carcassonne: the Castle 
The Settlers of Catan Card Game 
Starship Catan 2-player

Blink is also a lot of fun, but it's very short.

I've seen and been interested by, but have not played, the following:

Lost Cities
Caesar & Cleopatra

I've never seen, but would really like to try:

DruidenWalzer


----------



## Arnwyn (Oct 13, 2004)

I don't know what you'll like, but I'm a sick, sick fan of Stratego.

Two-player goodness, that.


----------



## Eeralai (Oct 13, 2004)

*Filthy Rich*

The game Filthy Rich by Richard Garfield is a game for up to 5 players that actually plays really well with two players.  My husband and I used to play it frequently.  The pre-made Magic decks also make for a fun evening if you both like the fantasy genre.  And for couples night, there is Once Upon a Time which is a great story telling game.  My best friend and I have played it as a two player game and it was pretty fun still.


----------



## Guilt Puppy (Oct 13, 2004)

diaglo said:
			
		

> You sank my battleship




Red wizard shot the meat!


----------



## Samothdm (Oct 13, 2004)

Mistwell said:
			
		

> For reference, for multi-player games I like the german-produced recent games, such as Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan, Amun-Re, Ra, Power Grid, etc...
> 
> So, here are my favorite 2-player games:
> 
> ...




Not to derail this, but I was just thinking the other day that about a year ago or so I think you were looking for a new job here in L.A.  Where did you end up?


----------



## Klaus (Oct 13, 2004)

Go to www.fierydragon.com and look for the Counter Strike series of mini-games. They're designed for 2 players. Out so far:

Arriba España - A wargame that follows the Spanish Civil War
Autumn Mist - Relive the Battle of the Bulge, the last desperate battle in WWII between Allies and Nazi
Battle for China - China vs. Japan in WWII.
Out soon:
Freikorps - A hypothethical attack on Soviet Union by German soldiers in WWI.
Atomic City (2-4 players) - All the excitement of comic-book-inspired slugfests, from the mind of comic book creator Jay Stephens!

Each comes in a handy tin box and includes everything needed to play!


----------



## Hypersmurf (Oct 13, 2004)

Fightball! 

-Hyp.


----------



## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 13, 2004)

Not board games, but book games: the Lost Worlds/Runequest/Knights of the Dinner Table/Battletech combat games, as well as the conceptually similar Ace of Aces game from Nova Game Designs.  Each player uses an illustrated book that has a POV that shows his opponent and a card detailing his possible maneuvers.  Like countless other games before it, the object is to kill your opponent.

Nova Game Designs' Lost Worlds was a fantasy combat game, and the same system was used by later companies to put out the fully compatible RuneQuest and KODT combat games.  There are a couple dozen books in the assembled games.

NGD's Battletech game, while using the same system, never caught on.  AFAIK, there were only 4 books ever produced.

Ace of Aces was probably the best of the bunch, simulating air combat in WW1.  Truly a classic.  "Leatheroid" covers, early 1900's style illustration...simply cool.

Any of these games could be played in minutes, but two skilled or wary opponents could last a half-hour.

Unfortunately, all are out of print- but you should be able to find copies relatively easily.

Ace of Aces 

Lost Worlds 

THIS JUST IN!  Flying Buffalo, Inc has become the successor to Nova and Chessex to both reprint the old and print new Lost Worlds combat books!

Flying Buffalo, Inc


----------



## Mistwell (Oct 13, 2004)

Samothdm said:
			
		

> Not to derail this, but I was just thinking the other day that about a year ago or so I think you were looking for a new job here in L.A.  Where did you end up?




I ended up working for my families company (now third generation), which is at www.academicapparel.com and www.buyclassrings.com .  I also still have my own law firm on the side 2 days a week, where I represent some gaming and comic book related companies, and a few others.  Thanks for remembering! Where do you work?


----------



## Samothdm (Oct 13, 2004)

Mistwell said:
			
		

> I ended up working for my families company (now third generation), which is at www.academicapparel.com and www.buyclassrings.com .  I also still have my own law firm on the side 2 days a week, where I represent some gaming and comic book related companies, and a few others.  Thanks for remembering! Where do you work?




I got laid off from my old ad job but am now currently freelancing at another ad agency on Wilshire right next to the Los Angeles County Art Museum.

[corporate schill]Buy Nestlé products!  You know you want some tasty, delicious... something.  What am I working on again? [/corporate schill]  

I remembered because my friend is an Assistant United States Attorney in downtown L.A. and I think I had posted in your thread when you asked for job leads to check out over there and see if they were hiring at the time.


----------



## Hopping Vampire (Oct 19, 2004)

theres also a 2 player card game called Dungeoneer by Atlas games, really fun stuff.


----------



## KnowTheToe (Oct 19, 2004)

Scrabble is a great two layer game
Yatzee (or however it is spelled)
Cribbage (card game with a peg board to track scoring)
boggle
Gin Rummy


----------



## Fieari (Oct 21, 2004)

Give Go a try.  Now that's a game with some depth to it... man it rocks.

Monopoly can have some new life breathed into it with varient rules.  Try this one a shot: you both control two tokens, and roll two dice.  You can either apply one die to each token, or both dice to one or the other.  Makes things quite interesting, and the statistical value of various properties becomes more obvious.  Works reasonably well with two people.

Ever hear of the Sugar Packet Game?  Try it with a deck of cards.

Cheapass games have a LARGE amount of... well, very cheap, but very fun games.  I highly reccomend them.  Stuff like the Great Brain Robbery (Zombies+Western), Unexploded Cow (Stampede cows over a minefield to clear mines), U.S. Patent Number 1 (obtain the patent for a time machine before the other inventors of the time machine throughout the ages)... that sort of thing.  It's GREAT.


----------



## haiiro (Oct 21, 2004)

I'll second Scrabble and Mastermind, both classics for me.

Outside of the family game realm, Out of the Box has a line that includes several cool two player games: Columns and Quadtria are both excellent strategy games, very fast to play but with good depth. They're fun to play several times in a row.

Another abstract strategy favorite of mine is Abalone, which has won all sorts of awards. Definitely a thinking game.

My ex and I used to really enjoy sitting down in front of the computer and playing Text Twist, a Yahoo! word game, together. It's free and very addictive.

And, much as I'm glad my 12-step program cured me of this particular addiction, I really miss Magic: The Gathering as a quick, fun two player game. That road leads only to ruin, but it's a pleasant sort of ruin.


----------



## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 21, 2004)

Seconding the recommendations of M:TG and Cheapass games, and also suggesting this-  If you like the Cheapass games, check the OoP games stores for things like:

1) The old MetaGames (now Steve Jackson games) like Ogre, G.E.V. and the watershed Melee/Wizard/In the Labyrinth RPG- 3 stats, design a PC in 5 minutes.

2) Old TSR boardgames like SAGA or Revolt on Antares

3) Old Task Force Games minigames like Ultrawarrior and Robots!

4) RoboRally

5) Crimson Skies (the original, not the WizKids version).  Not that I'm knocking the WizKids version- I haven't played it.

6) Avalon Hill games like Acquire, Feudal, Starship Troopers (the original- I heard they changed it), and the various Empire Builder-system train games like Iron Dragon (AFAIK, the only fantasy RR building boardgame out there).

7)  Flying Buffalo's Nuclear War series of games.  Quite simply the funniest game ever made about armageddon!

8)  Star Fleet Battles and Starfire are both classic starship combat games.

9)  Frag!, Munchkin, and Lunch Money are all classics.   Also check out Modern Art, Lord of the Rings (boardgame), Quarto and Cathedral.

10)  I'm also a big fan of Chainmail, which became D&D miniatures game, and its European competitor, Confrontation.  And a buddy of mine just presented me with HeroScape, a new, Chainmail-esque boardgame that looks pretty cool!


----------



## haiiro (Oct 22, 2004)

Dannyalcatraz said:
			
		

> Seconding the recommendations of M:TG and Cheapass games, and also suggesting this-  If you like the Cheapass games, check the OoP games stores for things like:




There's some truly excellent stuff on your list, but some of the games you mention aren't any fun with two players -- RoboRally and Munchkin jump to mind, for example.


----------



## Olgar Shiverstone (Oct 23, 2004)

Wiz War

Freaking hilarious.  Good with larger groups, too.


----------

