Games that Are Worth Purchasing Solely for Playing Two-Player, but Are Capable of Supporting More Players
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I'm in the common situation of liking board games, not having the time and energy to join a game group, and playing mostly with my wife. There are a large number of great games made for two players, but usually they are smaller in scope than games that can accommodate more players.
This list is of games that are playable by 2 or more, but are worth purchasing solely to play as a two player game. If it does not "officially" support 2, but has a two player variant that makes it a worthwhile purchase, that is just fine. I don't want any games that only support two on the list, as those are obviously worth purchasing just for two players.
To be clear, for purposes of this list, it does not matter how the game plays with more than two players. It does not matter how many players it is "best" with. What matters is whether the game is worth purchasing only to be played with two players.
Other geeklists that are similar are here, but none are as comprehensive as this aims to be:
http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/2816
http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/984
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/14971
A particularly good list is here, with much more in depth commentary:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/14040
A geeklist with 2-player variants is here, which includes some of the variants discussed below:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/15749
Feel free to comment or add more games. I've added games that I think are worth purchasing just for two, and games that I haven't played, but appear from forum comments and other geeklists to be worthwhile.
May 2009: Edits made. I rearranged to put some of my favorite two player games on top. (dragging is annoying for large geeklists!)
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The Best Two Player game. We play with all expansions except River II and Catapult. We've heavily customized rules (especially for dragon and princess, and cults).
I get ambition, will sometime post my Ultimate Carcassonne Rules.
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2.
Board Game: Goa
[Average Rating:7.75 Overall Rank:28]
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Great with 2. Requires Heavy Thinking though, so we don't pull it out as much as we should.
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They should have included the 2P rules and marketed it as 2-5.
I have no problem owning this and never playing it with more than 2. It's really good. (Not quite as good as Goa for 2 though).
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5.
Board Game: Torres
[Average Rating:7.24 Overall Rank:184]
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Great game. It could use an expansion though.
Race for the Galaxy eclipses this, but RftG is a step up in complexity. Start with San Juan if you are just getting into games.
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Ticket to Ride and all spinoffs.
Get the Switzerland map!
And, I think the dice expansion is pretty fun. With dice, we don't score links, just route cards! A lot more suspense and a lot faster. (we recycle route cards, but you could play until the route care pile is gone).
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One of the best games out there. It's great with 2, and the expansion gives good variety.
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9.
Board Game: Tikal
[Average Rating:7.40 Overall Rank:107]
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10.
Board Game: Attika
[Average Rating:7.08 Overall Rank:252]
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Great with 2. A nice, solid game.
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Very unique mechanics, a great addition to any collection. It reminds me of Hansa, and it is a lot more fun.
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12.
Board Game: Samurai
[Average Rating:7.49 Overall Rank:76]
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Great with 2p, and one of the best Knizias but it's been eclipsed by the new. I think about pulling it out, but usually go with something less abstract.
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Severely underrated game. Use a steady money stream and pretend its a grant. That evens out the runaway leader problem. It feels very thematic.
I don't know how this compares to Zoolaretto, but I like this enough that I don't feel any desire for another zoo game.
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14.
Board Game: Caylus
[Average Rating:7.97 Overall Rank:11]
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Seems to be worth it, but I have lots of other games I'm more interested in at the moment.
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15.
Board Game: Ra
[Average Rating:7.60 Overall Rank:48]
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I'll leave it on the list because there are mixed opinions. I think my distaste for playing with 2 on this stems mostly form my distaste for this game generally. (the whole game is a bizarre, annoying scoring system)
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Pretty popular here.
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I'm still waiting for the reprint. I can't wait for this one.
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18.
Board Game: Clans
[Average Rating:6.57 Overall Rank:683]
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24.
Board Game: Antike
[Average Rating:7.21 Overall Rank:226]
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Posted Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:01 am
