I don’t know about you, but I love discovering new two-player board games. My roommate and I love playing board games together. Over the past year that we have lived together, we have slowly gone through my small game collection and played classics such as Clue and Sorry.
This Christmas I received some new games that work well for two-players and I was so excited to try them out with my roommate!
I wanted to write this post to share my current favorite two-player board games with you, in case you’re on the lookout for new games to play with your roommate, friend, or significant other.
My Top Ten Favorite Two-Player Board Games
Updated April 2, 2020
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10. Coup
Coup (pronounced “coo”) is a game I got for Christmas. To me, this game seems similar to Mafia but set in a dystopian world. If you like The Hunger Games or Divergent, you might like this game.
You can play with 2-6 players. Coup is a game where you are trying to kill off other players without letting people know who you are. There are five different characters that are in the deck 3 times each and each character has special abilities.
However, since no one knows who you actually are except you, you can bluff and say that you’re someone you’re not to use that character’s ability. But watch out! If you get caught lying you lose one of your people. Lose both characters and you’re out!
This is one of my favorite games at the moment. I’m putting it in my #10 spot because I haven’t played the two-player version of this game yet. In the future, once I do it’ll probably move up on this list. I’m really excited to try it out with my roommate or boyfriend!
9. Mastermind
Also a classic!
My brother and I had the kids’ version of Mastermind growing up, and we loved to play it! It’s a logic-based game where you try to figure out the secret code (or sequence) of colors that your opponent set up.
8. Tenzies
I learned about this game from babysitting!
This is a dice game similar to Yahtzee where each player race to roll ten dice until they have ten of the same number. You can play where you pick a specific number before you start, play where you go from “onezies” to “sixies,” or play where you need five of one number and five of another.
There are tons of other ways to play too! You can even buy this “77 Ways to Play Tenzies” card set for more ideas. I don’t personally own this card set, but the kids I babysat for did and it was fun playing with those variations. I think when I have kids someday I’ll want to get that, but for now, I’m content just playing with the dice and inventing new ways to play myself. :)
7. Checkers
I know this is an OLD game and one you’ve probably played since you were a kid, but it’s still one of my favorite two-player board games so I had to include it.
6. Quirkle
Quirkle is another fun game that you can play with a various number of people. The largest game I’ve played was probably five people, but it’s also very fun to play with just one other person.
I like to describe Quirkle as Scrabble, but with colors and shapes. I would also compare it to Rummicube in that you can have one of each shape in a row or one of each color.
The scoring aspect of it takes a minute or two to get, but once you get the hang of it the game turns into a competitive, logical game.
My brother loves Quirkle and has only lost once!
5. Lost Cities
Lost Cities is the newest two-player only game I’ve bought. I bought it during the Coronavirus pandemic, March 2020.
As I just said, you can only play this game with two people. It’s kinda like a competitive solitaire game, but with beautiful artwork and the theme of being an explorer looking for lost cities. Maybe I watched too much Dora growing up, but that theme sounded like fun for me.
It is :)
This game involves math because you’re constantly trying to add up points from your starting expedition value of -20. Probability comes into play because you have to figure out the odds of a high number of a certain color coming up in the deck for you.
Lost Cities is a fast-paced game that so far I’ve only played with my math-teacher mom. She liked it because it’s simple and straight forward and doesn’t take long.
4. The Oregon Trail Card Game
Oh. My. Goodness!
This game is HILARIOUS!
If you played the old computer game as a kid, you definitely need to get this game!
You can play The Oregon Trail with anywhere from 2-6 players, but so far I’ve only played with one other person.
This is a cooperative game, so your group is working together to win together. Your goal is to make it from Missouri to Oregon without dying from a snake bite or suffering from some other tragic fate.
The font on the cards looks like old computer graphics which is really fun!
(Note: I think you can get this game cheaper at Target than on Amazon.)
Here’s a picture of my best friend and I playing this game. We had a blast!
4. Ticket to Ride
I have played Ticket to Ride with five people, four people, and with just my roommate and I. I think I actually prefer it with just two people.
My cousins and brother and I played on Christmas day and it took us almost the whole afternoon to play just one game!
My roommate and I can play several games in an hour.
If you haven’t played Ticket to Ride before, basically you’re building trains and trying to make routes from one city to another. You get points based upon how long your trains are and if you complete your destination missions.
It sounds simple, but it’s actually pretty challenging. Your missions are a secret from the other players and sometimes they mess you up and play where you need to go!
3. The Fox in the Forest
This is a game I bought during Black Friday.
The Fox in the Forest is a two-player card game that my roommate and I compared to Uno, War, and Spades.
The artwork of this game is BEAUTIFUL and I love just looking at these cards!
I’m not very good at this game yet, but I still love playing!
2. Hive
I actually bought Hive for my brother’s Christmas present and I loved playing it with him during Christmas so much I bought my own copy!
Hive is like Chess, but with bugs. I don’t like Chess, but I LOVE Hive. You play it with a collection of bug tiles and each bug can move in a different way. Your goal is to surround your opponent’s queen.
There are a few different variations of this game. I recommend Hive Pocket Edition. It’s the same game as normal, except cheaper and comes in a travel pouch instead of a box. It also comes with two expansion bugs- the ladybug and the mosquito.
Hive used to be my favorite 2 player game until I discovered Villainous…
1. Villainous
Villainous is a game for 2-6 players, but I’ve found it the most fun when playing with 2-3 players. I’ve played this the most with just my roommate, so it definitely works with just 2 people.
Villainous is a Disney themed game and in my opinion, the best Disney themed game for adults. You each pick a villain and your goal is different based upon who you’re playing as. My favorite villain to play is Captian Hook and his goal is to defeat Peter Pan.
The game is kind of a solo-game in that you are each doing individual things to accomplish your goals. However, the fun comes when you get to play “good guy” cards against your opponents. For example, my roommate likes to play as Jafar and so I’d draw a card off of her hero deck and play Jasmine against her.
The artwork in this game is GORGEOUS! I absolutely love looking at it! And the gameplay is super fun too!
The main Villainous game comes with Captian Hook, Jafar, The Queen of Hearts, Prince John, Maleficent, and Ursula. There are also extensions you can get with other villains and can mix those in seamlessly!
So there are my favorite two-player board games!
Do you know of any other fun two-player games I should add to my list? If so, please tell me in the comments! Like I said at the beginning of this post, I’m always on the hunt for fun two-player games.
