What are your favourite 2-Player ONLY board games?

@BigPwald

3 жыл бұрын

#1 Mr. Jack - Love deduction and have played this game enough with my friend that we can play mind games on mind games so good. #2 Lost Cities #3 7 wonders Duel #4 Claim - Love trick taking games and the two round system in the game is a lot of fun #5 Targi - 2 player worker placement with lots of strategy on blocking which makes it feel like a larger game than the box shows

@Golden_Mustang

3 жыл бұрын

7 Wonders Duel and Targi are my favourite 2 player games

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

@@BigPwald Nice list, we've gotta try Mr. Jack and Targi on BoardGameArena. Claim sounds cool too, we'll check it out, thanks!

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

@@Golden_Mustang Been meaning to try Targi for a while, I see it's on BGA!

@codykunka5558

3 жыл бұрын

To avoid just doing a list of my favorite combinatorial abstracts, I’ve picked across categories: > *Hive* - Spatial abstract that feels like wrestling a muddy pig > *Twilight Struggle* - War game that emulates the Cold War via clever cardplay > *Exceed* - Dueling game that emulates fighting video games with bluffing > *Agricola ACBS* - Euro game with fun wooden meeples > *Hanamikoji* - Lineup game with gradual deduction and a multiaxial tug of war Thanks for the video!

Great video, it was really funny to see you share so many games in your lists!

I love that you guys don't coordinate your individual lists and that anything can happen when it comes time to reveal. Also, Dylann needs to free those glorious pandemic locks from under the hat!

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

The world isn't ready for them, Kevin. The world isn't ready. -Dylann

Wow! Nice content! I also want to share this Lagim Card game that my family and I are enjoying. It's amazing that they actually came up with the idea of Philippine Folklore since it's kind of dying down a bit. It will surely educate future generations.

@AllYouCanBoard

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Pierce! We'll definitely check that out, never heard of it before.

Great lists. Thanks for sharing.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching, Tony!

Great List, and I have played all of them except Lost Cities.Not sure why that is... Another great game that's just a small deck of cards and a few tokens is Hanamikoji, definitely worth a look if you haven't as yet. I'm a fan of Duel, Undaunted and I'm warming up to Unmatched as well. Thanks for the video!

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

I've wanted to try Hanamikoji for a while now actually! It looks great. We recently tried Undaunted: North Africa and we both really enjoyed it, I think that one could climb higher on my list but we only tried one scenario so far. Also picked up Unmatched: Cobble & Fog recently but haven't tried it yet, you might see it on the channel at some point. Thanks for watching!

Thanks for your great videos, you guys are great

1. War of the Ring (epic 2 player board game journey - I have shaking hands after each play) 2. Neuroshima Hex (fast 2 player game, each army has uniqe character) 3. Fields of Arle (fantastic farming open world game where you can do what you like) 4. Blood Bowl (if you want to play football, It's hard, serious football game) 5. Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan (I really like this stealth game) Honorable mension (because you may play with more players in game mode): Star Wars Imperial Assault Skirmish mode (a game with great mechanics where your rebel squad can fights against an empire squad. If you love SW world and dreaming about dueling with Imperium, this game is superb!)

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Haven't heard of your #5 but I know the others and want to try them all! I think Fields of Arle is 1 or 2 players though so it wouldn't be eligible for our list since this is only 2 player games, but we're interested in pretty much everything by Uwe Rosenberg. We both enjoy Star Wars enough but I don't think either of us is a big enough fan to buy a game for the Star Wars aspect on its own, but I've heard good things about a few of the Star Wars games, even for people who don't care for the movies. Thanks for the suggestions! - Carlo

I didn't know Battle Line and looked it up, and learned that it has the same mechanism as Schotten Totten (also from Reiner Knizia), a game that I do know and own, and of which I like the funny artwork. And I enjoy playing it, of course. Unfortunately, for some mysterious reason my gaming partner doesn't like it, so I don't get to play it, as it really isn't suited to be turned into a solo game. I have all of the games you name, except the last three. That makes Stellar my number 1. Thanks to you: thank you for introducing it to me in one of your videos.

Nice video thanks, by the way is pretty cool that you got no.1 with Lost Cities on game board arena, what tips or strategy to get better at the game?

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

I was #2, almost #1 but then I fell quite significantly on the last couple days of the season, haha. Honestly, there's a lot of luck involved. And a lot of pressing your luck and risk-taking to make sure you get some high multipliers and potentially even the bonus for having a minimum of 8 cards in a row. Also, whenever possible, if your opponent has committed to handshakes, playing high cards down, even if it gains you minimal points or loses you a couple points, because it'll cost them more and not clog up your hand.

7WD is great! Other than that I’ve yet to play a single one of these 😅 definitely want to though! Great video :)

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Haha, we've seen a lot of crossover for games across our channels, and yet we each also have a bunch of blind spots on these types of lists (just like on your top 20 recently, quite a few we haven't played). Plenty of reason to play more games! Thanks for watching.

LOVE THIS. We are two-player primary so thanks for this list. Agreed on Fox in the Forest, but tough to get it to the table as Jamie is still learning trick taking games (but she won for the first time today)! 7th Wonders I think speaks for itself at this point, great game! Haven’t played any of these others but definitely want to check out Stellar and Lost Cities! As always, great conversation and content - keep rocking it.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot! I would highly recommend checking out Stellar and Lost Cities. As long as you're okay with making really gruelling decisions, they are super rewarding and strategic 2 player games that I never tire of playing! Thanks for the kind words! -Dylann

Wow. Stellar looks really nice. I’ll definitely be looking into that. Surprised not to see Raptor on your lists. It’s a great two player asymmetrical game that plays fairly quick (~30 - 45 min). Pretty simple rules, but lots of strategy.

@AllYouCanBoard

2 жыл бұрын

We actually haven't played Raptor so that's why it's not here! But we'll have to check it out, have heard great things.

Twilight Struggle would be #1 on my list of favorite two-player games

Thank you. Great video. I’m definitely going to check out Stellar, thanks for the tip. Have you guys tried Mandala? It has a very unique feel, is very pretty and highly replayable.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

We haven't yet but we were actually just talking about Mandala recently and I've heard great things. Once I get to some more of my unplayed 2-player games I might try to get Mandala. Thanks for watching!

@bigaleka92

3 жыл бұрын

@@AllYouCanBoard sounds good. Another two player game, also from Lookout Games, we have also enjoyed is Glasgow. A rondel style boardgame with some neat little mechanics.

Maybe not technically a board game but my spouse and I love The Rivals for CATAN.

@AllYouCanBoard

Жыл бұрын

If it's a game and it can be played on a table, we count it as a board game. Card games, tabletop games, board games... we put them all under the "board games" umbrella.

Great lists - we play all of these - except Stellar - I have it - not got to table yet. Now I'm inspired to do so.

@AllYouCanBoard

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! You really can't go wrong with Stellar, especially at that price point. We've enjoyed all the games we've played so far that Matt Riddle and Ben Pinchback have designed, we both feel like they deserve more credit and recognition than they get.

Inspiring video. Thank you very much. 13 days is a good 2-player game. It´s similar to Twilight Struggle, but lighter and faster. Still highly enjoyable!

@AllYouCanBoard

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Henrik! And also thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into that one!

Now shopping for Lost Cities and Battle Lines... thanks! :-) Interesting about Fox in the Forest, we are waffling over that, it feels more random than Jaipur. Perhaps we just need to play it more?

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Of all the games in this video, Fox in the Forest might have the steepest learning curve. The first time we played, we didn't really know what we should be doing in terms of strategy... like you said, it felt a bit random, and we just stared at our cards being like "what should I play? What am I even trying to do here?". After a game or two it started to click. I think a lot of it depends how familiar you are with trick-taking games, which we weren't at all when we first tried it. There's definitely more to think about than in Jaipur. Hope you enjoy Lost Cities and Battle Line! Amazing games.

Stellar looks pretty cool, gonna have to check that out.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

It's a great game, definitely would recommend giving it a try!

Dylann - I feel ya on the theme of "hive"...if there is a tile with a centipede on it, Im OUT lol

@AllYouCanBoard

2 жыл бұрын

Tell me about it!!

7 Wonders Duel is great but I would never turn down a chance to play Splendor Duel. I'm also a fan of Riftforce and Babel. Kamisado, Boop, Patchwork (Halloween), Jaipur .... and on and on.

My fav 2-player only games: 7 Wonders Duel Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small Caverna: Cave vs Cave Naga Raja Imhotep: The Duel Just acquired Duelosaur Island so looking forward to trying it out. And my most wanted game is Curious Cargo.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Seems like those games that have been converted into 2-player only are right up your alley! We recently tried Curious Cargo and I have to say, after just one play, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. We'll have to try it again soon though. - Carlo

What is the name of the newer version of Battle Line? Is Capers Europe similiar gameplay to Battleline?

Apparently you 2 have similar taste in games🤣 Our favorite are 7 Wonders Duel & Targi, but we recently played Nagaraja & it may rise quickly based on our 1st couple of plays. We do like Patchwork & Battle Line too.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

So many people here have mentioned Targi and I actually just read the rules for it a couple days ago, going to try it on BGA any day now. I'll add Nagaraja to the list as well! And yeah we were both really surprised, more about the placement/order of those 3 than anything. We knew there would be at least 1 or 2 overlap games. I bet by next year our lists will be quite different.

@rgitzelify

3 жыл бұрын

We quite like Targi... especially with BGG's fancy resource chips.

I'm curious your opinion on which you prefer - Stellar (2P only) or Subastral (2P or more) by the same designers. I just stumbled across reviews of their games recently, and while I haven't played them yet, I think they will really scratch my gaming itch.

@AllYouCanBoard

Жыл бұрын

I prefer Stellar still, but I honestly really enjoy both games.

Morels is a solid 2 player only card game. I got fox in the Forrest before Jaipur, so maybe I’m not tired of Jaipur yet, but would personally put it above fox. Both a great options though!

@oneysnyder2116

2 жыл бұрын

And I’ll add Yinsh to my list as well.

Space Empires 4X has become my absolute favorite 2 player game recently which plays under 2 hours typically once you know it.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Whoa, a 2-player 4X game in under 2 hours? Haven't played anything like that before but that sounds great! Thanks for letting us know!

@Hudsonbba

3 жыл бұрын

@@AllYouCanBoard it does have bookkeeping but don’t let that deter you. I avoided for so long because of that and it’s MUCH minor than I thought. It can also be solo be played solo and coop which plays fantastically as well. AND it’s easy to learn. Been converting a BUNCH of friends to this game cause it only takes about 15 minutes for me to teach the basic rules.

Stellar sounds great. Have never heard of it. I should really check out Hive. Wanted to play it for a while. I really like Riftforce as a 2 player only game. A KS from last year which is also very pretty. Dylann's #1 is really great. I want to play it again soon. Does Santorini count as 2-player-only game? If yes, it is one I enjoy a lot. 2 players is the main player count I play at so I really liked the list.

@malvinafis6907

3 жыл бұрын

I can really recommend War of the Rings. It is amazing. Looking forward to the "games that are best at 2 players" list.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

We've got our eyes peeled for Riftforce actually, it looks really good. Santorini technically plays 2-4 players otherwise I think we would've both had it on this list. Such a good game, I never really care to play with more than 2 but technically not eligible for this list. And yeah we REALLY need to try War of the Ring. Seems pretty daunting with two new players so that one might have to wait a while. - Carlo

Have either of you tried Mandala? Easily the most played two player game in my collection

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Have not! But it's definitely on the list and we'll check it out!

Have you tried Schotten Totten 2, which is an asymmetric sequel to Schotten Totten, which was reskinned as Battle Line?

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Not yet, I thought it was just another Battle Line re-skin so I'll have to check it out now! - Carlo

Battle Line and Lost Cities are great, but for my money, Blue Moon is the Doctor’s best 2 player design. I have been playing Dinosaur Table Battles and The Field of Cloth and Gold, by Amabel Holland, a lot since they were released last year. Both are great designs.

@AllYouCanBoard

2 жыл бұрын

Mark Bigney from So Very Wrong About Games has been singing the praises of Blue Moon for quite some time so I've been really wanting to try that one. Haven't heard of Dinosaur Table Battles but I'll look into it. Neilan from Board Game Barrage spoke pretty highly of The Field of Cloth and Gold a while ago and I've wanted to try anything by Amabel Holland but just haven't gotten around to it yet. Thanks for the comment and for watching! - Carlo

I'm proud of being french when I see 7WD 😊

There is a battle line medieval version of battle line. It may be identical in terms of game play but has a medieval theme. However, there are other versions as well. Battle line is a redo of an earlier game called shotten Totten which was the same but didn’t have tactics cards. However, iello them game out with a version of shotten totten which I believe does have tactics cards. It also has more cartoony artwork. They also came out with shotten totten 2 which is a new version that introduces new game play and isn’t as good according to some reviewers. So if you don’t like the Artwork on battle line you could always try shotten totten

@aimajica

3 жыл бұрын

I agree. The medieval version is indeed beautiful, and the Iello one is - as every Iello game - stellar in terms of production (and fun).

My top 10 2 player games would include in no particular order: Keyforge (no.1 by far), Fugitive, Star Realms, Segikahara, Undaunted; Normandy

@AllYouCanBoard

2 жыл бұрын

Nice picks. I wasn't sure whether to count KeyForge since the coop adventures can technically be played solo and with 3 players, and also I wasn't sure if it would crack my top 5 but it's an amazing game. I also tried Undaunted: Normandy recently and it's fantastic! Need to get in some more plays with different scenarios.

I don’t have a lot of 2-players games, but I have played Nanga Parbat on BGA which I really liked. I’m thinking about acquiring Stellar, it looks beautiful and relaxing. I love the mechanics in Patchwork, but the only thing that is holding me is simple the design. Jaipur is nice, however a lot of luck involved, a little bit too much to be enjoyable at long term. Santorini should be considered as 2 players game, it doesn’t play well beyond that.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

We've gotta try Nanga Parbat, we really like Biblios by the same designer (Steve Finn). As for Santorini, it didn't fit the criteria for this list since it plays up to 4, but it's an amazing 2-player game for sure.

What are your top polyomino games, given Patchwork isn’t your absolute favourite?

@AllYouCanBoard

2 жыл бұрын

For me (Carlo) Patchwork is definitely up there, my other top choices as of now would probably be Tiny Towns and A Feast for Odin (for a bigger game). Others I really like are Spring Meadow and The Isle of Cats, but I still really want to try Paris (Cite de la Lumiere), In The Hall of the Mountain King and a few others.

Mandala, That Time you Killed me, Battle Line, 7 Wonders Duel , Caper: Europe. Mandala is the best 2-player game!

@AllYouCanBoard

Жыл бұрын

It's great!

I miss Hanamikoji and Targi on this list. I would also switch out Lost Cities to Trambahn instead. Almost forgot Undaunted, my go to game.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

We definitely need to play more Undaunted. Tried it once and really enjoyed it.

DVONN and TZAAR are must buys in a 2-player collection. TZAAR is the best modern abstract strategy game, DVONN slightly more accessible.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Interesting... haven't heard of either of these! We'll have to check these out. Thanks for the suggestions!

They are quite well renowned, but I wasn't impressed with Lost Cities or Patchwork (For polyomino games, I prefer, for example, a game like Scarabya [or even Bären Park for that matter]: easiest game ever to teach and to play, less randomness, and it will still melt your brain). Good games, I do kind of like them, but meeeeh I don't understand their hype. However, Battle Line/Schotten Totten (12), 7 Wonders Duel (1), The fox in the forest (14), Hive (19) are among my favorites too. Along with Targi (2), Naga Raja (3), Raptor (4), Skulk Hollow (5), Le Fantôme de l'Opéra (6), Cairn (7), Mr Jack w/expansion (8), Kero (9), Ice Team (10), Hanamikoji (11)... And there are some great 2-player only games coming out this year too: Sobek 2-player, Jekyll vs. Hyde, Summoner Wars (2nd edition), Nicodemus... Can't wait! :D

@anab0lic

Жыл бұрын

Interesting list... from over a year ago.... Discovered any other great 2player games since then? 2p is my favourite player count, always on the lookout for more 1v1 gems....

Caverna Cave vs Cave is also 2-player from Uwe.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

We have to try original Caverna AND Cave vs Cave still.

I knew 7WD would be your number 1

Stellar or Arboretum at 2 players?

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Stellar. Arboretum is amazing, and I (Carlo) like it more overall as a game, but I think Arboretum is best with 3 or 4 players.

Targi. TARGI! 😆 I haven’t read thru all the comments yet so it may have been mentioned elsewhere by someone. Have either of you played Targi? If not, you need to try it out.

@AllYouCanBoard

Жыл бұрын

We've both tried it but only on Board Game Arena. We both understand why people like it but neither of us enjoyed it all that much. Maybe we need to try it again though, a lot of people love it.

Οκ one question... Where is Targi.? I mean if you had a top 10 would it be in?

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

I actually haven't tried Targi yet! From what I know of it, it would probably make my top 10. We'll probably do an updated 2-player games list next year and there's a good chance it'll be on there. Is it your number 1 game for only 2 players? - Carlo

@BoardGameGreeks

3 жыл бұрын

@@AllYouCanBoard SHAME SHAME SHAME SHAME... Hahahaha. I played it recently and it swappemy No1 2p game. SW duel was not happy.

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

Haha, I fully and willingly accept the shame that I so deserve! We actually thought about trying to play Targi before putting this list together because we've heard such good things from so many people. And don't worry, 7WD will get over it. :P

There is randomness and luck in lost cities yes but it’s played in three rounds so I feel it’s fair

@AllYouCanBoard

2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely, I love the fact that it plays over 3 rounds so you need to adjust your approach in the 2nd and 3rd round based on how far ahead/behind you are. Such a good game. - Carlo

Battle line has a prettier Medieval version. and I've seen some really cool PnP redesigns like one with Advance Wars theming.

FitF Duet is even better!

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

We both prefer the original, but Duet is a great alternate take and the limited communication cooperative aspect is pretty cool. Once we beat it a couple times though, we were less compelled to go back. Fox in the Forest has more replay value for us.

i like Schotten totten 2 better than Battleline. Same game, just updated and better graphics.

Oops forgot my favourite polyomino game Paris Citee de Lumiere

@AllYouCanBoard

2 жыл бұрын

Ooo yes we've heard good things about this!

Great video. I now know never to watch any of your other videos.

4, 3 and 2 were the exactly the same for both of you? That means most of the time one of you is irrelevant. Just too much time talking about a game you already discussed. And really, 4 , 3 and 2 were the same?!?!? Lame, do you play just 5 games?

@AllYouCanBoard

3 жыл бұрын

I don't know, I don't think it's lame at all. In fact, it ends up being great to have a handful of favourites in common because we both know the other will always be up for a game of them and our plays are always fun and competitive. And also, these are just specifically 2 player only games. We align a lot in this category but I think you'll find that when it comes to table top games in general, we deviate a lot in our picks and opinions as well!