Best Board Games for 2 Players (Only) | ThinkerThemer Top 5
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- Опубліковано 31 лип 2024
- There's nothing quite like a head to head battle; a game perfectly designed for the 1 V 1. We couldn't agree on a combined Top 10 (seems our tastes are diverging more and more...) so we hope you enjoy hearing each of us talk through some of our favourite 2 player only board games! A&M x
00:00 Introduction (a bit about our taste in games)
04:06 Combined #6 (honorable mention)
08:37 Maggie's #5
12:01 Amy's #5
15:20 Maggie's #4
18:34 Amy's #4
23:06 Maggie's #3
26:12 Amy's #3
31:12 Maggie's #2
36:07 Amy's #1
41:00 Maggie's #1 ...and.. Amy's #2
47:26 Wrap up
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Thanks for stopping by! We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
Are you #teamthinker or #teamthemer? ❤🏳️🌈🇦🇺
“My preferred opponent” ! What a great compliment to pay your partner! Nice to meet you both. Just played Fox/Forest with my own preferred opponent, my 8 year old daughter. I’m team Themer/Maggie already. Going to snap up Radlands on her recommendation. Thanks for sharing your passions and positivity. You brightened a dark day …
Great video. I love how in depth you guys are on your picks. I watch quite a few of these top 10 videos to get ideas to look out for and most are very quick " I really like this game" but you guys really go into what the game is. Super awesome , very indepth , and great pacing. Going to go a deep dive of videos I think to see what else you guys are playing.
Love your outfits-always can’t wait to see how wild and solid they are!!
Fantastic list! Really enjoyed this one! Really love base Star Realms as well, this was actually our gateway game. Such addictive and quick gameplay! Have a great week over there :)
Yay so glad you enjoyed this list Cis! Thank you so much for watching and glad to hear you love Star Realms too! Wishing you a wonderful festive season! ❤
I'm so happy Star Realms exists. It's simple, travels well, and is inexpensive enough that we've given copies to friends of our kids and left a couple in the toy/game library at their schools. After playing Star Realms a billion times, Shards of Infinity supplanted it in our house with its better (?) art and slightly more advanced rules.
This was great! I (mainly) collect 2P games, so I was drawn to this video - the first of yours that I've watched. It was a really interesting way to point up a game or two that I might like, since you two sets of tastes are so different! While Maggie's generally appealed less to me*, nearly all of Amy's are high on my own list ... so now I will check out the only one of Amy's that I'm NOT familiar with!
* Not saying there's anything wrong with Maggie's choices ... just that different people have different tastes, and Amy's are a great fit to mine!
Looking forward to watching more Thinker-Themer videos. Hope 2022 is good for you.
"Fairy Abstract" .... I laughed loud enough that I scared the cat off my lap :D
Haaaahahahah she'll be here all week 😏
really nice editing and as usual great content and discussion.
Thank you so much Edmund! 😊
Love your lists and topics of the list is awesome 👏 thank you for that
Thank you for watching as always Max! ❤
Ooh, a 2 player list! I’m tempted to get your #6 now. Star Realms is such a great game. I put off buying it for ages as I wasn’t drawn to the theme but I have to say that I think the artwork is fantastic. A lot of love went into that.
Number 6 is such a surprisingly interesting game! So glad that you love the artwork in Star Realms (I think Maggie's comment was more because she really dislikes the theme!) Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Wow, a top 5 from Thinker/Themer..... You should definively do more of these ;) (best 2021, best of all time, etc).
You have lots of great games in that list. I never tried Kahuna but will definitively get it. Sound so much fun. I love 7WD with the expansion Pantheon. I also like Raptor and Santorini. I ordered Jekyll vs Hide and looking forward to play it.
Keep those list coming 😀
Raptor! Such a fun game 🦖
Great video; would be interesting to see which game you love the most playing with each other that aren't necessarily 2-player only games!
Such a lovely list! Thanks for sharing it and there are a couple I do wanna try. Specifically Paris. If y'all want a Euro feeling two player game, Targi is a great one to check out. Such a straightforward worker placement, resource gathering game that is surprising how thinky it is with such few options.
Thanks for another lovely video and have a good one!
Thank you for watching as always Ania and glad you enjoyed this list! We once owned Targi but for some reason it didn't stick with us as much as others - I know many people love it! Wishing you a wonderful holiday season ❤
Fugitive is fantastic 2 player puzzle, bluff, mind-bender, so well crafted thematically too.
I finally introduced my partner to Kahuna online... NOW, we often have some emotional moments playing new games, because he DOES NOT like games that are too take-that-y/gotcha, but he LOVES area control and he was instantly like "so... can we buy a copy of this?" *throws hands up* I'm just glad he sees the beauty in it that you and I (Amy) see. One of our two-player faves is Backgammon, and I think this has a similar element of "you can't blame me for taking the lead when you gave me the opening". Kahuna really brought out his "silent plotting" face--which is the cutest! So I am just tickled pink that it will be entering my physical collection soon
Yayayayayay sounds like you've found two keepers then.. Kahuna and your partner!!!!!! 😍👏❤️ Love hearing that you enjoy this one. Just messaging you about it makes me want to play it! Thanks for taking the time to comment ☺️
Great video! Nice haircut, Maggie and nice to see you wearing your rings again. :) Hope you both have a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. Travel safely!
You always notice these things!!!! ❤🥰 we actually didn't have our rings for a long time because they were making wedding bands and then we went into lockdown so it's nice to have them back!!! Hope you have had a wonderful holiday season and thank you for watching as always 💕
@@ThinkerThemer Oh I know you had to be happy to have them back again! I know how much I missed mine when they were out for cleaning and sizing a couple of years ago. My hand didn't feel right without them. Glad to see you having a great time at your Mum's, Amy! Love to you both!
Awesome Maggie, Radlands is sooo good! 7 Wonders Duel was my #1 for a while until Watergate dethroned it. But I see Shobu and Hanamikoji in the back. Before noticing them I would have guessed at least one of those being on Amy’s list. But great video again ladies! Now time to search for a copy of Khulna!!
Thanks for a wonderful 2p list. Absolutely agree with 7 Wonders Duel - fantastic! Mine and my wife’s favorite 2p game. And about to buy Radlands to play with our son, so glad we agree on that one as well :)
Really enjoyed this video. The more I hear about Radlands, the more I want to try it. I think it comes out in the UK at the end of Jan so not too long to wait!
Fun video! Yes, during the recent times, a lot of 2 player games were played! My "Kahuna" would be Hanamikoji/Jixia Academy....I own the later. I find myself talking this one to anyone who'll give me a listen. I love how it only gets better the more often you play the same opponent. Getting into their head becomes half the game.
Other good options are Naga Raja, Santorini and Air, Land and Sea.
Have a wonderful holiday!
Hahah can completely appreciate how that would happen with Hana/Jixia... I think I'd (Amy) get more into it if Maggie would tolerate playing it more times with me! I do like air land and sea too! So much game in a few cards. Thanks for watching and hope you've had a wonderful holiday too! 😊
Thanks for this 2 player list!
Great video ladies!! I definitely need to try Kahuna and Radlands! My favorite 2 player games are Targi and Star Realms, but my favorite game at 2 players is Castles of Burgundy. Cheers!
Oo yes we like castles of burgundy at two as well! Weirdly Targi we liked but didn't love so we moved it on... (definitely the most popular game that wasn't on our list!) Thanks for watching Sarah ❤
Great number 1 choice, and fab with the expansions too.
I love seeing peoples favourite games! Radlands has been getting quite a bit of love in our house recently, along with dice throne and summoner wars. 2P only games we circulate back to include 7WD, hive, star realms and santorini. There are sooooo many good ones!!! I love discovering them all! Most recent 2p only game I played was “school of sorcery” and enjoyed it a lot! Bidding on cards for powers and points with crystals from spells is pretty unique for 2p! I wish I owned rift force… that’s the 2p only top of the wish list for me!
Thank you for sharing some of your favourites Leanne!!! Two common games that are being mentioned are dice throne and summoner wars... we've not played either but I've had my eye on summoner wars for a long time (Amy here!) Thank you for watching and glad you enjoyed this list 😊
I remember the actual Watergate scandal-- one of my earliest memories outside of my own family. As part of a PR campaign, Nixon actually ate at my family's restaurant to try to "humanize" him. It did not work. Somewhere in my parents' house, I believe they still have the memorabilia they were supposed to give their employees (they refused).
Wow that is so interesting!!! How funny that they didn't pass on the memorabilia...! Thank you for sharing this story. Have you played the game?
Great time stamps!
Thanks Karl...! Glad they were useful 👍
My favourite for many years has been "Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation". I enjoy Tolkien's stories as much as the next gal, but I LOVE that game. Thematically, it's the entire war of the ring in thirty minutes. Mechanically, it's an absolutely perfect blend of strategy, tactics and bluffing, with a mid-game shift from tactical to strategic focus. It creates so many wonderfully evocative moments with such a (relatively) simple rules structure, and even after many plays it can still surprise you. It will probably always be my number one 2P game (unless I'm playing with someone who really doesn't care for LotR).
Excited to see the topic of your latest video as most of my board game experiences are at the two-player level. Going away for the holidays with a dear friend and am bringing Radlands. I hope he'll be into playing it! You've also reminded me of Fairy Trails. Since we enjoy Uwe Rosenberg's Sagani, I'm thinking I'll like this one as well.
Two-player only games that we enjoy: Hanamikoji, Fox in the Forest, Slip Strike, Nanga Prabat, Kohaku, and Kodama Duo. Have you played Mr. Cabbagehead's Garden or Canopy (just came out)? I'm hoping to get both of them to the table for the first time.
Great topic...I really enjoyed this video!
I ❤️ Canopy - the push your luck and gorgeous art are real pluses
Thank you James! So glad that you enjoyed this list. We have recently played Mr Cabbagehead's Garden but not Canopy - although it's beautiful artwork has caught our eye many times! Hope you have a safe and fantastic trip, enjoy the travel, friendship, and radlands camp destruction ❤😁
I like Lost Cities as well, although I wish there was more theme. I bought it based on the box cover and was a little disappointed it wasn't as thematic. We still like it though. Watergate sounds really cool I bought it as a Xmas present based on seeing it here.Thanks! Wow, can't believe Maggie likes Radlands. Amy your face at 31:35 is priceless lol.
Great video with some less common 2 player games it was really nice ! I was a bit worried at first that you had no crossover 😅 I guess you have to do some favors trading like we can play Fox in the forest but then we play Paris la cité de la lumière (nice pronunciation by the way !). It's what we used to do with my brother, he wanted to play chess I wanted to play a Harry Potter board game, we had to do some negotiations !
Hahaha there are always negotiations in the ThinkerThemer household these days!!! As Maggie veers further and further away from our dry euros 😂 Thank you for watching this list and glad you enjoyed it 😀
I loved your top 5. My personal top 2-player games at this moment, are Targi and Hanamikoji.
Only these two, since all other games I own are for more than 2 players. At this moment they are only ones who convinced me enough to buy them.
Oh yes, 2p games. Love so many of these! (Apologies in advance for the long post. Buckle up!)
Targi is the one that I always recommend to gamers looking for a tactical delight. Andy Steiger made a gem of a game with this. A true design triumph.
7 Wonder: Duel is great, too, but I love playing it most on BGA for the easy of set-up and keeping score.
Patchwork is a brilliant spatial puzzle with an efficiency economy (filling space vs. earning button income).
Lost Cities is an oldie but a goodie. I play that one on BGA all the time.
And Jaipur is wonderful as well.
Agree that Watergate is a great push-pull game. Liked it a lot, but did move it on to another home when it was highly in demand.
I've also liked the historical tug of war in Votes for Women. We'll see if The Shores of Tripoli is another good historical 2p game.
And how about the beautiful 3d tic-tac-toe of Santorini?
Or the chase and hidden movement race of Fugitive?
Or the puzzle of my friend Steve Finn's great Nanga Parbat?
Or the cutthroat fight for control of islands in Kahuna?
Love, love, love great 2p games! Thanks for this episode!
Targi for the win. SO much game for a small box. I love the ability to block while trying to enact your plan for that round. Have you tried the expansion?
@@phryas I have not. Would love to do so, but not sure the game needs it. The water does seem to widen the game out a bit, yes?
We do like Targi but it didn't quite have staying power with either of us... I wish it did because I anticipate that being the one we will need to explain the most in the comments 😂 of the rest of your mentions Jaipur probably would've made the top 10, though we own most of them! It's so nice to hear your passion for these wonderful 2 player games ❤ Thanks for sharing and have a lovely weekend ahead!
I agree Targi is a top 5 2 player game for me too
Kahuna sounds really interesting, I love area control and the mechanisms supporting it sound really fresh and interesting. I'll have to try and find a copy!
Yay!!! Hope you enjoy this one... 🥰🥰🥰
Nice list, had some games that look fun to me. The 1v1 games I have is War of the Ring and Twilight Struggle, and they are quite hard to get on the table... Needs a bit more variety! :)
Ohh…. Wow! Radlands, incredible. Moths, water light… what a description!
Fields of Arle is my favorite 2p. Love your list but sad it wasn’t mentioned. Great work though as always!
Aww hi Matt! This one tends to be a solo title for Maggie...! I think I should give it another go though based on your strong recommendation! 😊
Great video! I don't know if you've already looked at it, but NISEI is a community-based version of Netrunner and they recently released a learning/core set (System Gateway). For me, it does an excellent job of combining both mechanics and theme. It might be a little more heavy weight than some of the games you enjoy, but I'd love to see if you might like it!
awesome video! if you like Star Realms, I cannot recommend enough Shards of Infinity (with it's 2 expansions added in), this game basically replaces all Ascension and star realms games as well as so many other head to head deck builders, AND it has a co-op mode!
I never really see Fairy Trails talked about. My wife found it randomly at the beginning of the pandemic and we've really enjoyed it!
Hahaha doesn't overstay its welcome... a cute, light but fairly aggressive (at least in our household 😅) filler. Glad you enjoy it too!
Thanks so much for this video! My husband and I play a lot of two-player games and are always looking for great recommendations like this. I have to take another look at Watergate and Radlands. The theme of Watergate always sounded a bit dry to me. However, I trust your recommendations! We enjoy playing the app version of Fox in the Forest (Cool special effects). Have you tried any of the 7 Wonders Duel expansions? We really enjoy Pantheon, but haven't tried Agora yet.
We had almost zero interest in the Watergate theme but were so surprised by the compelling game play! Definitely worth checking out.. meanwhile I'm going to now check out the fox in the forest app... thanks for the suggestions!
We've never tried the 7W expansions which is crazy because we love it so much. They are usually quite expensive here so we've never bought them. We'll have to fix that! Thanks for watching and wishing you and your husband a safe and festive holiday season ❤
If you like 7WD, you have to try it with the Pantheon expansion. Absolutely essential!
Yessss we need to get out hands on that!!! Thanks for the recommendation and for watching Carlos!
Maggie … Star Realms, you are a star!
Heheheh 🤩
Love kahuna, I bought it when it came out and before I became a boardgamecollector. It is so timeless, the artwork still looks fresh. After kahuna I have bought a lot of island games: skye, blue lagoon, yamatai, survive escape from atlantis… I once have visited your island, hope to visit it again in my lifetime!
Yayayayay Kahuna 😍 we love island themed games too. Did you get to Melbourne when you visited?
@@ThinkerThemer no, I went from Sydney to Cairns to Perth ( for a family visit), loved flying over the continent, what a mars like landscape! I loved the laid back and friendly atmosphere everywhere.
Recently watched the excellent film about Watergate "All the President's Men", so now I really want to try the game!
36:15 YEAH!!!!! I am sending a very aggressive virtual high-five, I hope it doesn't sting your hand too much.
I'm just getting into board games and this is my favorite channel I've found
Welcome to board games and welcome to the channel! Thanks for the kind words. What's your favourite game discovery so far? 😊
@@ThinkerThemer Watergate, actually! The game design is very elegant and I like how the two different roles have different winning conditions; makes it more interesting for the same two people to play against each other again.
Ohhh yes that's a great one and a very unique puzzle! So glad you've found this hobby- be careful it's a slippery slope 😂
My wife and I play 7 Wonders Duel almost every night for a year almost and it is always new and interesting and it has a perfect balance of luck and tactics, we just enjoy it so much (we play it without guilds in third age)
Excellent video, ya'll! The games are great but i'm totally digging Maggie's sweater. Where'd ya get it?
Just watched this as currently on the hunt for 2 player only games for my husband and I. You two crack me up with your banter over Amy's #1 pick. I value my marriage too much to play that with my husband. 😂😂😂
As you can tell I am posting as I am watching, sorry for hogging the posts!
So excited to see a top 5 list come out! Such great games on this! Where do I start? I have never played Dvonn, Fairy Trails, or Radlands but have some serious regret for not backing Radlands! Will be looking for it as soon as it hits retail! I mentioned this on Small Talk…Laura and I love The Fox in The Forest! It’s her go to game and she has the edge on me in wins 😁. Great game! Also Lost Cities is such an awesome classic! We play the physical copy and I play it a lot on the app. I am very excited and shocked to see Star Realms on Maggie’s list. Laura and I also play this a lot! Maggie the app implementation of Star Realms is awesome also and you can play solo against an AI. Lots of fun! Now Kahuna…I loved this game but Laura did not at all. She felt it was more abstract and it just didn’t connect with her. Every time I would ask to play, she said she would rather play something different. Sadly it left my collection, However I discovered the App version which is very good and now I play on my iPad against an AI! So I still get my Kahuna fix 😁! Finally, I love 7 Wonders Duel! It is also a game Laura enjoys playing! Such a great game and I do like it better than 7 Wonders, which oddly I just recently played for the first time on BGA with JoeyFam!
Thank you soooo much for doing this list! I absolutely loved the video and enjoyed watching it this morning with my cup of coffee!
I think Radlands is available on Roxley's website. The artwork is top notch! roxley.com/products/radlands
Yay!!! Thank you for the encouragement to do more lists on the channel too! 🥰 this list was much harder for Maggie than it was for me! I'm so fascinated that Laura didn't like Kahuna either... Maggie feels it is so abstract too but I don't feel it is any more abstract than Lost Cities or Fox & The Forest 🤔 but then I'm not the themer so 🤷♀️ 😂 Maggie has the Star Realms app (which I just found out as I mentioned your recommendation!) so she's clearly already found a way to erase me from these two player games 😂😂😂
Thank you for taking the time to write out your thoughts on some of these! Not surprised there is a lot of crossover with our favs! 🥰 Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead ❤
@@jamesmorgan1967 thanks! Order placed for the super deluxe version! Appreciate the heads up!
Of those I have played (and really enjoyed) both #4, Maggies #3 and the one crossover (best 2 player game imo). I think I should give some of the others a try. Radlands is getting lots of love at the moment.
Glad you enjoy some of these too Hanna! Thanks for watching as always ❤
I've only played 7 wonders Duel with my wife on BGA, but we really enjoy it. We bought Paris earlier in the pandemic and enjoy it a lot. I want to try Lost Cities on BGA right now. I've been meaning to try that classic and didn't realize it was available there.
Yes!!! It is one of my (Amy) favourite games to play on BGA because I can get a sneaky game in between meetings and it does all of the scoring for you which is amazing. I hope you can try it sometime! Thanks for watching 🥰
Fairy Trails does have a 1-player variant. Actually, there's an official solo variant for 7 Wonders Duel as well! :-) Great choices!
Haha that is true! (I'm (amy) more of the purest when it comes to these list rules....lol...). Thanks Billy for watching!
Great lists.... I'm not a huge fan of Kahuna, probably because I'm so bad at it and always get destroyed. 7WD though is also one of my favourites. The only game I own which I've played through all the score sheets in the box!
Oooo Ki this just reminded us of our resolution this year to get better at laminating!!! I get such anxiety when scoring pads start to run out 😅😅😅 thanks for watching this list and hope you've had a happy holidays!
I think you both are a little more aggressive/interactive in your 2-player preferences-- mine are
5. Cartographers
4. Ingenious (travel)
3. Codenames: Duet
2. Innovation
1. Race for the Galaxy (esp. w Alien Artifacts)
(But Targi was a Top 10 honourable mention for me)
Haha yes that is probably true of our tastes more generally... but we also limited our list to two player only games which tend to be a bit more head to head!! Thanks for sharing your list and for watching ! 🥰
Such interesting choices! Space! I haven’t actually played any of these, will be adding some to my wish list.whoops edited as I have played Lost Cities once!
So interesting that none of these have found their way to your table Michele. 🤔 do you mostly play at 4?
@@ThinkerThemer I mostly play with my board game group, so mostly at 3, 4 and 5. I wish my husband wanted to play, then a whole new world of opportunities would open up!
Great list and love 7 Wonders Duel. Another great video from the two of you (thank you) and a great one to watch wrapping games gifts 🙂 . Love the artwork in Radlands but resisted the KickStarter because of the game play but am now tempted to push the button on one of the Dice Throne games, which then makes no sense. Have you played any of the Dice Throne games?
Aww watching while you wrap game gifts...! The best! What are you giving this year? We haven't played Dice Throne!! Do you think we'd enjoy it? Thanks for watching Kevin! ❤
@@ThinkerThemer Little games at around the £10 price point (some picked up in sales earlier in the year) e.g. Skull King, Dobble, Fake Artist Goes to New York, Deep Sea Adventure, Mind, Time Line, Bohanza, Heck Meck and Ghost Blitz, plus games at the £17 price point for my team at work, plus this year I have made a few batches of chutney, pineapple and chilli, spiced pear & cider, Christmas apple, spiced apple and possibly my favourite red pepper and chilli jam..I love cooking and games ,so sharing the love this Christmas 🙂
Oh wow that chutney sounds delicious!!!! Food & games sounds like the best present ever.... 🥰
I think I feel the same about Watergate as you used to. I feel like it probably plays really well because of all the great reviews, but the theme is still holding me back. Maybe one day I'll find someone who has a copy and get a chance to try it out.
I love Lost Cities!! I think the best thing about it is that you have to play first before you can pick up a card, so you're stuck right at the beginning of your turn before you can get something better, so when your opponent discards a card you can use, you can't pick it up until AFTER you've played a card.
So glad to see Paris: City of Lights on your list. I could play it endlessly. I think it's my number 1, my number 2 would probably be Raptor. Have you tried that one?
Interesting, we haven't tried Raptor, but completely agree with Lost cities and how the play a card, draw a card adds a great tension to the gameplay experience. Paris: city of lights is such a beautiful game! I (Maggie here) still struggle with the abstract nature of it, but absolutely love the table presence and think the game is really quite clever. Thank you again for watching and for taking the time to comment! 🥰
oh yeah, 7 wonders duel, when played with the Pantheon and Agora expansions, WOW! what a masterpiece! : )
I think you might be the first people I've seen to have Dvonn be their favorite GIPF Project game - usually it's either Yinsh or Tzaar that gets love. I definitely need to try it sometime :)
This is a great video. Just found ThinkerThemer. I am 25% Amy/75% Maggie. :D
Thanks John and welcome!!! We need more themers in the world. Great to have you here 😀
We love 7 wonders Duel & Lost Cities. I'll have to try Kahuna again, it didn't really grab me. Have you played Jambo? Fun trading game, strong theme.
we love Watergate too! my top 5 aren’t mentioned (but probably because I don’t really like aggressive 2-player games at all, we get too mad at each other! 😜):
5. Mr. Jack Pocket
4. Hive Pocket
3. Odin’s Ravens (2nd Ed.)
2. Patchwork
1. Morels (esp. because I’ve made my own tiny clay wicker baskets and sticks hehe)
honourable mention to Dustbiters, a recent KS we haven’t played enough yet, but I feel like Maggie might like the theme and art lol
I'm usually very good at abstract games, but Hive just...doesn't work with my brain, lol. I've tried and I just don't get it, lol. Maybe with time it will finally click with me, but my partner isn't terribly interested, so idk that it will.
@@amethystwolf24572 you can make up your own rules for the insects! I’ve been doing that with my nieces and they love it 😊
7 wonders duel is also our #1, followed by Jaipur, targi, shards of infinity and patchwork.
Ah some great classics in there too! The only one we haven't played is Shards of Infinity. Jaipur probably would've made it to our top 10 😊 Thanks for watching & for sharing your favourites! 💓
+1 for Shard of Infinity, especially since you like Star Realms. It's very similar only much less luck prone and buying from the market stays interesting and viable till the end.
In case you haven't tried it I would strongly recommend to try Targi. I do love most of the games you choose for your list and I constantly thought one of the next ones should be Targi. It is rather on the strategic side of games but for us it also tells a kind of a story during the game. Another one we enjoy is Mandala and my choice of the Gimpf Series would be the classic Yinsh.
Have you tried the solo variant? It's crazy tough and very unfair but I (occasionally) put up with it in the hope that I can get lucky one day and defeat Master Yoga.
@@unlimitedrabbit I am very rarely in the mood for solo gaming. I am grateful that my wife is a very steady gaming partner 😉
Star Realms & Radlands?! Who are you and what have you done with Maggie? I just ordered Unforgiven which I've heard is like 7 Wonders Duel with a pyramid draft but more thematic😍 I'd also like to try Watergate, and you sold me even more on it! Happy Holidays🎄
Have you ever tried Targi? Since you enjoy euros I think you might like it. It uses pretty clever worker placement mechanics, and has plenty interaction without being agressive. For me it's pretty great. And it has a modular expansion too, so there are two modes of play. It can play under 1h, uses only cards so the setup is very fast, overall positive experience.
You might have tried it and it's not on the list, of course. But I thought I'd mention it anyway.
I'm realizing how few of the games I play with my wife are strictly 2p. Our mutual fave is probably Spirits of the Wild but it's unfortunately very out of print. My dad and my favorite is easily Air Land and Sea at the moment. Santorini is another one. Personal faves that aren't necessarily mutually on my family's list are Hannamikoji, 7 wonders duel, Watergate, Android Netrunner and Targi.
My partner and I both love Lost Cities & Star Realms. I'm terrible at Lost Cities! I can't seem to get the right balance of risk - I either play it too safely or too risky. My partner always seems to manage to not give up cards I need while playing the best cards, lol. Star Realms is something we got bc my partner LOVES space, but at least this one I usually win, lol.
Cool list. I have none of them...
Mostly I go with coop games with my partner, and a bigger number for the rest of the group (just something that takes 5 is a good sign). I occasionally grab 2p games that I love the look of (Dungeon Twister back in the day, or Unmatched), as hope springs eternal. Star Realms and Radlands are both tempting.
Coop would make for much more relaxing couple time 😂 what is your favourite to play? Thank you for watching and your support David 💕
@@ThinkerThemer Gloomhaven, Arkham Horror LCG and Tainted Grail are the ones we've played together the most.
Great choices. Our household are very much into 2 player games. I like the tug of war aspect of Royal Visit and my wife really loves Santorini. I regularly get smashed by my son at Dice Throne and utterly destroyed by him at Star Realms (he is still often at the start score of 50 when he has brought me and my forces down to zero). I usually get my revenge when we play Onitama though. Summoner Wars is supposed to be a good head to head ‘ chess like’ game but I’ve yet to play it. Have either of you tried it?
Ohhh so many great recommendations here, thanks for sharing! Santorini and Onitama didn't stick with us as much but we've never played Summoner Wars even though I've (Amy) had my eye on it for a long time given the comparisons to chess!!! 😊 hopefully we can get it to the table in 2022 ... especially now that Maggie is enjoying more cards with powers style of games! Thanks for watching ❤
Highly recommend Claim and Tea for Two.
I don't really do 2-player games these days. My two primary game groups are 3 and 4 players. Plus I often find that 2-player games are too confrontational or skill levels aren't matched. If I were to make a list, I'd probably choose co-op games, but I don't think there are a lot of those.
Strangely, Magic is a major exception perhaps because I learned to play so long ago. I didn't actually keep up with it, but Star Realms was designed by two pro-Magic players. Have either of you tried Magic? I haven't played in ages, but one friend in one of the groups plays, so maybe we'll teach the other two one of these days. Magic booster drafts are the best drafting experience! I definitely don't want to get back into collecting again, but a booster draft night can be a fun one-off experience :D
Fox in the Forest sounds like a game people in Michigan are known for.. Euchre.
I unfortunately don't get much time for 2 player games but just recently discovered 7 Wonders Duel and LOVE it so much. What are your thoughts on the expansions?
Oh you guys have got to try my favorite 2 player game: Dobutsu Shogi in the Greenwood. Do not be fooled by the incredibly cute artwork (which works in thematic ways for the movement of the pieces!): This game is the original Shogi, it is slightly more complex than Chess. (I know...)
Good choices! Have you tried Targi or Akrotiri? These are just super satisfacting two player games!
Targi is a fantastic one. I have to look into Akrotiri now.
We've been trying to find a copy of Akrotiri for a while! Targi is the most commonly asked about omission but is actually one that we appreciated but ended up moving on from our collection. Thank you for watching and the suggestions ❤
I'm hoping 7 Wonders Duel is under the Christmas Tree, as I think I finally convinced my wife to try it. Fingers crossed.
Besides that we really like Fairy Trails, Odin's Ravens, and Spirits of the Wild, as two player only games.
Odin's Ravens looks very interesting
Yay we hope u love it Matt... it is so much fun. Odin's ravens is one that we have incoming but couldn't get it in time to try before our list! We'll definitely cover it in Small Talk once it arrives. Thank you for watching!
Funny thing - Star Realms was my entry gate game as I looooooooove Scifi .. but when it comes to deck builders I ended my cherishing the Ascension most ( which is kinda opposite - as I'm not a big fan of fantasy )
Got Lost Cities a long time ago. I though I was pretty good but I almost never win on BGA. I got everything Star Realms, so my box is much bigger 😁 I also got that Radlands deluxe box. it is quite good and beautiful, but a bit too repetitive. I got back into BGA during Christmas. Played my first game of 7 Wonders Duel before watching this movie (I won!) and I quite liked it 😀 Not the biggest fan of the original. Really enjoy playing Railroad Ink 2 player on BGA, although not a 2p game. Will give Kahuna a try since it's also available. I don't play a lot of 2 player games nowadays. I got Cobble and Fog mostly for the theme, it feels sort of stiff while playing. I am thinking of getting the new Air, Land & Sea with animals. But one of my old favorites is Twilight Struggle, highly recommended!
I’m getting rid of Jaipur and patchwork and some other two players games not working for me. I loved your convo about watergate. I could just see in your eyes and smiles how much fun you have playing the game. So because of your video I added watergate to my cart with Hive, radlands, watergate, caper Europe, and unmatched. Caper Europe and radlands were already added to the cart before watching this. Also where are you girls from? It’s hard to tell from the difference in accent. Idk why but I get NZ vibes.
Sounds like some great new games to explore Shawn! I'm (Amy) actually originally from NZ and Maggie from Venezuela... but we both have quite strong Aussie accents now I think! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment 😊
I totally love Lost Cities. I’m not sure you got the scoring correct. You don’t get all your points negative if you don’t get to 20. You just have to subtract 20 from your score. Nice reviews.
YES! You are quite right...!!! Sorry about that and thanks for the correction. Clearly I need to stop playing it on BGA so much 😅
Watergate is so good! I'll have to try out Radlands and Kahuna.
Yay! Two great games and Watergate is SO surprisingly clever. Hope you are well Craig and wishing you a wonderful festive season ❤
I feel like you would love Orion Duel. It's quite abstract, there's a space theme but minimalistic with nice art. I have played a lot on bga and it doesn't get boring, you need to decide if you want to stop your opponent or reach your goals or maybe you are so smart that you can do both?
Amy, since you played Chess growing up, you should watch the Bluey episode Chest! It's so sweet and also, it's Bluey!
Dvonn huh? I am in love with Yinsh from that series, but you're selling me on Dvonn. This seems interesting.
Amy … Paris La Citee de Lumiere is the absolute best polyomino game, great choice.
Hm, we got rid of 7 Wonders Duel and Kahuna because we found games we liked better. We love Co ops or games where it is hard to interfere with your opponent, so we have a completely different Top 5 list!
Another great episode, and this time not Monday (my Tuesday), 7 Wonders Duel, Star Realms (I love my big box) and Maggie there is solo play in there too, Watergate never played yet. How about Twilight Struggle? Never managed to get any of the Gipf games so far. As completionist they are too expensive altogether. Amy why Dvonn over Tzar? Radlands didn't play my copy yet. What about Santorini?
But one game is missing. Xmas quiz: It is the eldest BOARD game in the world and my favorite one by many miles.. I know this puzzle is too hard. Hint no 2: the game with the simplest rules but so complex that humanity got only beaten by an AI 5 years ago.
Love the show,
Haha, thanks for this Ralf and sorry it's taking us a while to reply to comments at the moment. Maggie here (for a change), intrigued about Star Realms solo, though I already play it on the mobile app which is quite handy! Santorini we played a while back when it first came out and can't remember why but it didn't really grab our attention as much. Probably for me because it's quite abstract. I feel like the quiz was probably the only trivia questions I have ever felt confident answering! hahaha (Amy and I are terrible at trivia). Hope you're getting to have a nice holiday break! 🥰
@@ThinkerThemer Solo for Star Realms is a mode in the small box Frontiers expansion. Solo challenges can be printed out from online images. 7W Duel also has an official print and play Solomode! All the best.
Trivia... I never liked it either. Trivial Persuit - not a game for me, I'm never good at it, I like the BIG questions. So I made it easy....
Ur is (supposedly) older than Go, but the rules are a little bit more, I think
@@darbyl3872 Hmm, yes. I heard about about ather older games as well, but not board games. Ur is a board game, and it seems older. Maybe in the future I should say oldest, continously played, board game of all time. Thanks for clarifying.
I love 7 wonders duel
hi! do you feel like 7 wonders duel requires any of expansions, or do you feel the base game is all that's really needed? thx : )
Not “only two players”, but I would only play 2 players 😅. Tash Kalah is definitely one of my top 5 of all time, and my favorite 2 player experience. Steeped in think and theme. If you have never played it I cannot recommend it enough.
My top 2 player only is much less interesting (and in no particular order), probably Onitama, Patchwork, 7 Wonders Duel, Twilight Struggle, and lastly Codenames Duet.
We have not played Tash Kalah and it has been recommended a couple of times here! Will have to try to find a copy! Thanks for thinking to mention it. 🤩
Maggie is drawn to Radlands like a college student to free food.
😂😂😂
Innovation, Mandala, Hanamikoji, Tash Kalar, Fields of Arle.
Innovation!!! Great to see this one on your list... we usually play this at 2 players as well 😊
Unmatched. It appeals to thinkers and themers. Start with Cobble & Fog set.
Since we just started our list wasn't 2 player only it was more the games we enjoyed playing together the most this year. Have to take notes on your games and see if we can get them to the table and next year have a 2 player only game list.
Oh yay! Would love to see this list, where can we find it? Thanks for watching! 😊
@@ThinkerThemer on our channel 😜
ua-cam.com/video/-cufRBXqRGw/v-deo.html
@@GettinJiggly haha sorry YT studio doesn't allow me to click on profiles (as I'm sure you've experienced!!!) Thanks for sharing the link ... watching now!
If someone wants to try a deckbuilding game I think Star Realms completely replaced Dominion for me. It's easier to teach, less solitaire, quicker to play, has more theme than just endless "actions + buys", and cheaper to buy. Plus there's a free app version to learn with (paid for PvP)!
I have Kahuna, but ny number one two player game is Hanamikoji.
And Maggie Paris l.c.d. L is thematic and the art is fab! Shame it’s too stressful for you.
It IS A SHAME thank you Steve°°°!!! Need to find new people to play this with 😂
You guys should check out Caper Europe and Schotten totten and if you love the IP Harry Potter Defence against the dark arts. They are easy and fun!