In an effort to stop staring at the computer screen and to try and communicate in some way other than whispers in World of Warcraft, I’m trying to come up with some two player board games that Ardred (the future Mr. Geek) and I can play together, ideally with favorite movies on in the background. Yes, folks, it’s quality time time.
We’ve tried Trivial Pursuit (my favorite) but I always win, because I’m able to remember stupid shit which is not a trait he and I share.
We’ve also tried Cribbage (a game from my childhood) but we both find it boring after a few games.
Scrabble is a possibility, but neither of us is very good. We’ve tried to come up with new ways to play, such as "any word goes as long as you can come up with a plausible sounding definition, but I seem to have lost the board (whoops).
We love jigsaw puzzles, but an inquisitive kitten has made those difficult, logistically.
We’re roleplayers, but two person D&D is not so satisfying.
Given that you like creating new rules for Scrabble, I suggest you find Red Letter, which not only allows proper names but has and entirely different scoring system. You get points for how long your word is and where it’s placed, not what letters you use and where they’re placed.
My favorite two-person game: Sorry!. A classic, cheap, and easy to find.
It’s better with two people than the standard four b/c you only have one opponent, hence only one target for revenge. And the tag-line for the game is “The Game Of Sweet Revenge.”
Caution: May cause marital strife. Our board is covered in wine from a not-too-distant-past game in which I danced my pawn across the board like it was rocking on each “leg”, chanting “Sowwy!” over and over, before “kicking” the wife’s pawn off the board.
If you like Scrabble but want something a little more free-wheeling, you might like Jargon. You don’t get additional points for the less-common letters – but you can score differently by matching the category. (C’mon, you’d give me category points for “toady” if the category were “professions,” right?)
Wife & I play Settlers of Katan card game (2 players). We win about equally, and I am way better than her at most games. Of course we like Settlers of Katan the board game (3-4 players) a lot.
We also sometimes play Magic: The Gathering card game. I picked up a whole bunch of commons for pretty cheap, so there’s none of the ridiculous costs usually associated with a collectable card game. We just stick to the cards we have, and see who can come up with the most interesting deck.
By Gamewright: Landlock and Snap! Don’t let the art fool you; these are not just little kid games. There’s reasonably deep strategy in both, but they’re light enough to enjoy with a movie in the background.
If you’d like some more serious strategy games, a new edition of Through the Desert is about to be released by Fantasy Flight Games. This is an excellent strategy game. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It’s great for many players, and the hubby and I can finish a 2P game in 15 minutes . . . but it’s like popcorn; you immediately want more. Kingdoms is also a nice revenge-filled two-player game. (BTW, I hate to be snipey, but if you’re shopping for 2-player FFG games, avoid Minotaur Lords. It’s horrendously unbalanced.)
From Rio Grande: Carcassonne: The City, a tile-laying game in the well-regarded Carcassonne line. You can play the other Carcassonne games with two players, but The City was specifically designed for 2. Also set for a rerelease in April.
From Uberplay: Metro is a fun subway-building tile-laying game. You can play it light and breezy, or you can take it very seriously. It’s equally good both ways, well-suited to two players.
There are many games for two players that use Icehouse Pieces from Looney Labs. Aquarius is a dominoes-like card game good for 2 if you play the “Gemini” or “Pisces” variants.
Two player games? Have you tried chess (not that much fun, since the computer is better than you are) or Go? Go is by far the most subtle (non random) game invented on the planet. There is no computer than can beat a modestly experienced player in Go. On the other hand, if you prefer a game with a bit of randomness in it, and some social contact as well, consider bridge. Easy to learn (not as easy as Go, but easy) but with infinite new variations every darned day. To play, you have to have friends–that’s a plus in my geeky circles.
Jeez, I think I just had a flashback. But we used to play Spite and Malice with 6 or 7 people, with 4 decks, I think.
You might check out Stratego, which I’ve always found to be super fun. It’s a little like chess, but less complex, and it’s blind, so you don’t know what each piece is until you attack it.
I would strongly, strongly recommend Dvonn and Yinsh from The Gipf Project. They are fantastic games that are intriguingly simple and yet still deep enough to keep you coming back, somewhere between Othello and Chess. Gipf itself is worth playing, too. I haven’t played the other ones yet, but Dvonn and Yinsh are incredible games (I think I like Yinsh the best). Before I played these games I thought two-player board games were dead. Totally renewed my faith in the creativity of man. I kid you not, they are impressive games. I can’t tell you the number of times I thought I had a great strategy figured out only to have it torn from me moves later. Amazing fun.
For card-playing types, my favorite two-player card game of skill is piquet. Bezique or, similar, two player pinochle is also quite fun. Another good game for a change of pace is Casino/Cassino.
Of course, my favorite two-player pub card game is cribbage, but you’ve already said you’re tired of it.
If you like D&D, you might try Epic Duels. It’s been released in both Star Wars and Transformer versions, but is far superior to most games based on licensed material. It’s essentially “roleplaying: lite.” You move miniatures around a board and use decks of cards to attack each other. It has suprising depth for a game of it’s type and is fun with two people or twelve. Plus you can make Sam Jackson fight Harrison Ford (although a word to the wise, Wookiee sidekicks are not to be trifled with)
Carcassonne the City is the latest version that came out in the attractive wooden box and retails for about 50 bucks. It’s also designed for 2-4 players.
Carcassonne: The Castle is the two player game you’re thinking of. I have to agree with you that it’s a pretty fun game and the wife and I enjoy it.
Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers and plain old Carcassonne are also great for two players and equally fun with more.
