Another vote for Blokus, which is fine for two players (you can each play two colors, from opposite corners) but even better with four (one color per player). An intriguing game, with lots of strategizing and opportunities to good-naturedly mess with the other player. Our family loves it.
I’ve been a fan of Stratego for a long time, although it might be more wargame-oriented than you’d like. We have the original version, as well as the “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” editions, which have different features but are still basically the same game.
I know you said “no card games,” but UNO is a lot of fun. In my experience, even people who don’t like card games like it. Give it a try!
You could try “Objective : Catan” (I’m just guessing at the english name of the game), which is intended for two players in a completely different setting (spaceships you need to improve and colonization of planets). I bought it some weeks ago, and it seems quite good. I bought at the same time two others boardgames for two players : “Dungeon twister” and “Kahuna”. Both have been praised, but I didn’t tried the first one yet, and played the other only once and a very long time ago, so I couldn’t recommand them.
For two player games I really, really like Othello/reversi, and Mastermind. I enjoy backgammon, chess, and checkers, too. Most of my other favorites fall under “war games” or “card games”, I’m afraid.
I was going to suggest Shogi, a variant of chess from Japan, but as Zsofia doesn’t like chess, this would probably not be a good choice. It is similar to chess with pieces moving in generally the same fashion. However, once a piece is moved to a certain area of the board, it may be promoted, which adds new directions that it may move in addition to its orginal ones. Also, once a piece is captured by your opponent, it may be placed by him on the board on a subsequent move and it becomes part of his forces. For those who have gotten a bit bored with chess, it is definitely an interesting and fun game. Not suprisingly, Wikipedia has an excellent rundown.
My roommate is kind of like that, except she really likes the game - she just refuses to play me because she’s very competitive and she doesn’t think she’ll win. I find that very annoying because I couldn’t give a crap who wins the game, I just think it’s fun.
There are several games my wife and like, but we go for the slut down your brain kinda games so we can unwind after work.
Mancala – and African game played on a flat piece of wood with small indents and marbles. Very very fast
Rumy Q – Actually I don’t even know if that’s how you spell it. It’s a tile game where you make straights and runs
Zombies! – a tile and card game, never the same board twice. Don’t go through the drive through, they always get you in the drive through!
And when all else fails and we just want to have an hour of good fun we pull out my old Magic; the gathering card set and play. I know it’s not a board game but it’s not your usual card game either.
Damn. I was really hoping for tips on how to slut down in a two-player kinda way.
Went to the gaming store and picked up Alhambra and Ticket to Ride: Europe.
I used to play Uno all the time when I was a kid! Especially two player - “Skip you, comes back to me. Reverse you, comes back to me. Draw four, bitch, the color’s green.” There’s a really funny Something Awful Photoshop Phriday bit with realistic packaging for games - Uno was something like “Please let the power come back on!”
Halma. It’s Chinese Checkers (although it predates that game) played on a 16x16 board; the moves are simple, but the play can be really delightfully subtle and engaging.
Empire Builder, somewhat like Monopoly with trains. Our house rules provide a more streamlined yet tactical game. Rewards planning without having to think 10+ moves ahead.
Ticket to Ride
*.Rail games (Empire Builder, North American Rail (improved Empire Builder), British Rail, EuroRail, Russia Rails, Lunar Rails, India Rails, Iron Dragon, etc.)
Power Grid
Mexica
Metro
Valley of the Mammoths
Nautilus
Industrial Waste
Scattergories
Other fun multiplayer games (Not sure how well they play with only two):
Three Dragon Ante
Clippers
Meridian
Atlantic Star
Africa
Puerto Rico (boardgame) & San Juan (card game version of Puerto Rico)
Java
Tikal
Starfarers of Catan
Union Pacific
Air Baron
Robo Rally
History of the World
Merchant of Venus
Amnesia
Well, we had a really good time with Ticket to Ride and Alhambra, although Aaron’s still mad at me 'cause I won Alhambra and wasn’t even sober enough to strategize. I’m definately going to check out some more of the games mentioned in this thread, though.
