Good two player games for a newbie?

Hi guys, I've been to a couple of Tuesday game clubs (last week and probably 3/4 weeks ago) and had a blast playing Cyclades and Zombiecide with various people.

I was thinking about investing in some two player board games for me to play with my girlfriend at home, and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations.

Only real criteria is a game that is better for two people, rather than a game that is like 2-6 players and doesn't really work as well with less players.

Thanks

James

Piñata, Jaipur, Lord of the rings confrontation, patchwork, x-wing

Moved to game discussion from club meetings

http://www.gaminglives.com/2016/07/01/acoustic-gaming-the-2-player-game-players-guide-to-2-player-games/
Try here for a few pieces written by members.

7 wonders duel
Sherlock Holmes - consulting detective
Flick em up
Rebellion
Twilight struggle

The above are all good options. There's also Netrunner if you want something really in depth to get in to. Hive is chess-like and looks really nice. The Ravens of Thri Sahashri is a really interesting two player cooperative game.

I have a non-gaming other half who enjoys Jaipur, Hive, Lost Cities, Fluxx (any version), Qwirkle and, best of the lot, TTR: Nordic Countries. If you've ever played TTR then this version will be familiar but it's specifically for 2/3 players.

I also like Baseball Highlights but haven't managed to convince Jess to play that yet.

If you're after something a bit more substantial then Twilight Struggle is the best 2 player game I've played.

+1 for Lost Cities and Jaipur as nice, simple, portable 2-player games (good for taking on holiday). Love Letter also works really well for 2, though it can play up to 4.

And, of course, I am obligated to suggest Star Realms which is another cheap, portable option.

Another +1 for Lost Cities, I'll also add a suggestion for Tides Of Time , & the fun little deck builder cards a la cuisine...

There are a lot of really good games designed specifically for two players, and it seems to be an area of the hobby that’s really being catered to by publishers with more coming out all the time.

Paula and I have acquired quite a few over the past couple of years so here’s a selection of some of our favourites. We'd be happy to lend you any if you want to try them out.

Café games
Some games are perfect for putting in your pocket and taking down to the café for a quick play over a Sunday morning coffee. They need to be quick, fairly light and not take up too much space but within those guidelines there's still a variety of different game experiences.

You could try abstract strategy with Hive, or a little light trick taking in Matcha, while the card-drafting in Tides of Time presents you with some lovely tricky decisions (and it looks fantastic too, which is a bonus).

After-work games
For when you’ve had a long day at work, come home, had your tea while watching Bake Off, and now you fancy a game of something. Not too heavy and not too long (1 hour max).

If you fancy some pleasant optimisation in your evening you could try making quilts in Patchwork, managing a warehouse in Le Havre: The Inland Port or trading exotic goods in Jaipur.

Trambahn, Fungi and especially Battle Line have a bit more tense decision making. It’s a good job there’s only the two of us when we play these as it's generally 30 minutes of constant swearing.

7 Wonders Duel, Targi and Carcassonne: The Castle are games in which you’re dancing around one another and often spoiling one another’s plans but you still end up being able to build a satisfying little empire up.

Bigger games
When you have more time and brain to spare, you can indulge in something a little more sprawling, but pretty much all the bigger games designed for 2 players only are war games as far as I can tell. Paula's keener on war games than I am. I don't mind the occasional one but I'd generally prefer something a bit more Euro-style. One that we both enjoy equally is A Few Acres of Snow where you conquer Canada by means of a cute deck-building mechanic.

Of course there are also many games that aren't specifically for 2 players but work just fine for 2 so I'd generally look to these when we want a bigger game. We've been enjoying a lot of 2-player Agricola lately, for example.

Castles of Burgundy is really good with 2.

Meurig wrote:Castles of Burgundy is really good with 2.

Yes, it is! I also suspect that the new Castles of Burgundy card game would be good with 2 (I've only played it with 4).

Wow, I'm blown away by all of your responses. Thanks so much for taking the time to give so many great options for me to explore.

I've actually bought Hive and a card game called Oh My Goods for my girlfriends birthday as kind of a starter pack, and might pick up Fungi because its quite cheap at the moment. I think Oh My Goods is like Port Royale, like a euro style game.

I really wanted Jaipur but I couldn't find it for less than £30 which seemed a little steep for a first purchase. I also got the Patchwork game on Android for £1.09 to see how we feel about the general layout of the game.

Thanks again everyone, I'll let you know how we get on!

Also Beardytom, I may have to take you up on your kind offer to borrow one at a future Tuesday night meet. Very kind of you.

You should be able to pick up Jaipur for less Tha £20:

https://boardgameprices.co.uk/item/show/2747/jaipur?search=jaipur

Yeah it seems to be sold out by all sellers and is only available for £29 on amazon. I'll keep my eyes peeled on ebay or something though