2 player games - recommendations?

Genoma

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Hi guys, just getting into some tabletop games to play with the wife. Any recommendations on 2 player games?

We have got Carcassone, Codenames, 7 Wonders and Patchwork. Love Carcasonne, Patchwork is OK and not tried the 2 player variants of 7 Wonders and Codenames yet.
 

Majago

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7 Wonders: Duel is a version of 7 Wonders specifically designed for 2 players. It's really good and a lot better (in my opinion) than the 2 player variant of the main game.

We also really like Twilight Struggle but it is a very long game, you'll need a 2-3 hours to play (and that's after taking an hour to read through the rules!).

We received Plague Inc through Kickstarter earlier this month and love it. It works really well with 2 players and should be coming to general release soon.

Other 2 player games that we enjoy are:

Guillotine
Biblios
Dominion (and Dominon: Intrigue)
Carcassone

The top 2 are relatively quick (20 mins ish) whereas Dominion is probably 30-45 mins
 

moppy89

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Jaipur is brilliant. Easy, light hearted game of set collection and cashing them in before your opponent for max reward.

Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is another brilliant game of sleuthing and deduction. More of a story/choose your own adventure than strictly a boardgame
But if that sounds fun, absolutely go for it.

Me and my SO favourite 2p game is Five Tribes. It plays up to 4 and is a vastly different game at 2. It's great, pick it up.
 

GTanny

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Star Realms or Hero Realms are excellent (very similar games mechanically with different themes)

as mentioned 7 Wonders: Duel, Jaipur and Memoir 44 are excellent

Hive is an excellent tile placing game, simple and cheap but very satisfying.

If you like Carcassonne Alhambra is similar style but you build your own city (Alhambra) with an AI 3rd player that works brilliantly as a 2 player.

I think Lords of Waterdeep is an excellent 2 player and a perfect intro to worker placement.

Elder Sign if you want a bit of dice chucking fun/stress.

Pandemic is an excellent game for any number of players who are new to board games

there what I would suggest getting into the hobby but there is a lot of choice, be weary of amazon as they offer a lot of 'sponsored' games that have much better alternatives
 

413x

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7 wonders duel blows everything out of the water tbh.
It has 3 mechanisms to win; war, science, victory points, its very satisfying knowing you can't possibly win by victory points but slip a war victory from clutches of defeat. One thing it does so well is the balance between luck and skill. The expansion is awesome imo
It's my all time favourite game. I also love history and historical fiction so all art work, wonders etc I love

For anyone interested. The expansion adds a nice new dynamic. For example it's now quite possible to get a science victory

Welcome to the dungeon is a nice push your luck quick one

Dominon I find pretty awesome

I love star realms but for me it's too luck orientated. Sometimes you just can't win or can't not win.

Carcassonne is also amazing as a two player

Me and gf like 7 wonders and carcassonne best, we both agree star realms is too luck based

Pandemic is good too


As always. I also would like suggestions. It's hard to find good 2 player games!
 
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Muz333

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I don't have nearly enough time to play games nowadays but the other night I squeezed in a session of Battlelore 2nd edition with a friend. I'd highly recommend it if Command and Colours mechanics is something that interests you.

I'd also give me backing to Jaipur, Claustrophobia and Star/Hero Realms suggested earlier. Mr Jack Pocket is another good two player game.
 

Rasseru

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Great list - my new girlfriend as a bit of a gamer so i'm being introduced to dominion, she plays the browser version & ive watched her once.

The only other one we have played is exploding kittens but i want to surprise her by buying her some more complicated games
 
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Kiyoshi

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Lucky guy Rasseru. If your girlfriend enjoys card games, take a look at Marvel Legendary. There's a few other 'Legendary' editions that aren't super hero related, but the theme of the Marvel one appeals to us. This one is a deck building game - where you get a set selection of cards in each box - there's no random luck element of opening a box and getting good (or bad!) cards like Magic and some other trading card games. I enjoy this, and it also appeals to my wallet.

Another good co-operative card game that sees a lot of play time for us is The Lord of the Rings card game. I enjoy this one because it's co-operative and a lot of card games are against each other - not so popular with my other half. Again, there's no random chance of getting cards because this one is a living card game (LCG) and a box will contain the same cards as another box of the same type.

If you enjoy competitive or versus card games - I'd take a look at NetRunner (2 player) and Star Wars the card game (2 player or 4 with an expansion). Both excellent in my view and I enjoy the theme of all the above.
 

Rasseru

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co-op sounds great fun, we would love that.

Yeah she really likes deck-building mechanics. She was also not in a film-watching family when young so she missed out on star wars/trek, that doesnt resonate with her. LoTR might though. Probably read it when she was young :)

I'll check out the legendary sets, thanks for the suggestions!
 
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