Top 10 Games That Play BEST at 2 PLAYERS
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- Опубліковано 10 лип 2024
- You may have already seen our video highlighting our favourite 2-player ONLY games, but this time we're taking a look at our favourite games that play BEST at 2-players. There are some fantastic games out there that accommodate a variety of players but ultimately feel like they are made for a 2-player experience.
So join us as we each break down our Top 5 games that play best at 2 players!
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0:00 Introduction
2:19 Dylann #5
4:47 Carlo #5
7:33 Dylann #4
10:25 Carlo #4
13:26 Dylann #3
16:16 Carlo #3
19:36 Dylann #2
24:16 Carlo #2
28:16 Dylann #1
32:03 Carlo #1 - Ігри
What are your favourite games that play BEST at 2 players?
Finca, Firenze, Dice Throne, Coloretto, and Sunset Over Water.
Hogwarts battle
Santorini, Kingdomino, Lost Cities, Jaipur, Splendor, Agricola All Creatures Great and Small
War of the Ring, Legendary Encounters Alien
Onitama, Raptor, Dice Throne, Godtear
Carcassone was our gateway game. I absolutely love it.
My wife and I visited Carcassonne in France a couple of years ago, too. It was on my bucket list because of the board game. "I'm going to visit this place one day" I'd always say. And sure enough, the trip was a Christmas present to my wife and my myself. We stayed inside the castle for 3 nights, spent some time in the city outside the castle, visited some vineyards in the area. Combined that with a week stay in Catalonia and then a week in Barcelona. What an amazing time we had! Thanks for reigniting the memories. And, oh, by the way... Carcassonne is a great game for two people. Must try Castles of Burgundy now... but then I'd probably have to go back to France. :)
Rex, that's amazing! Thanks for sharing this. I wish my friend and I had more time to explore within the city walls of Carcassonne, we were only there for a few hours in total. So glad to hear you and your wife got to experience that! Barcelona is a great city too, love the culture there. Sounds like quite the Europe trip you had!
7 Wonders Duel, That’s Pretty Clever, Splendor Duel, Pandemic, Micromacro: Crime City, Stardew Valley, Azul, Encore and Brass Birmingham for me. 7 Wonders Duel is the king.
I’ve never heard anyone say that Pandemic is best at two players but that actually makes total sense.
in my mind, Santorini is a 2-player-only game. I think the 3 and 4 player rules were only added as Kickstarter stretch goals and I feel like those actually ended up hurting the game a lot. It seems like people frequently overlook that the game is really designed to be a head-to-head experience. I have had some fun experiences with the 2v2 teams variant, but I really think Santorini would have seen a lot more critical praise and commercial success if it had just marketed itself as a strictly 2-player game.
Interesting, I hadn't really thought of it that way (re: the marketing) but you're probably right. I actually keep Santorini on my "2-player only" spot on my shelf at home (not in the video, we film at Dylann's house) because I never want to play it with 3 or 4. It can be okay with 3 or 4 but it's a much inferior game.
- Carlo
To comment on Carlos' opinion on Micro Macro, I thought of aold proverb: "shared sorrow is half sorrow, shared joy is double joy"
That sums up the feeling PERFECTLY! MicroMacro definitely benefits from the shared experience. Thanks for sharing that!
Your lists are great and the humor between you guys always cracks me up.
Thanks so much, glad you enjoy them! We just chat and interact like we do with each other when the cameras aren't rolling and we're hanging out or gaming, so I'm glad to hear you find it enjoyable! ☺️
Thanks for the video! I mainly play at 2 players, so this type of video is particularly helpful.
I hear Ares Expedition lacks some of the tight decisions of Race for the Galaxy. It would be nice to see your video on reviewing and comparing the two games.
Thanks Cody! You're in luck - we're planning to get a copy of Ares Expedition soon and we were actually already planning a video comparing it to RftG, glad to hear this is something you'd find valuable. Keep an eye out for that in a few weeks.
Race for the Galaxy is such a good call, it works great with the 2 player advance rules. Played literally hundreds of games of this 2 player over the years, so fun.
It's amazing how well it works with 2 players and how fast it plays. Have you tried any of the expansions? I've been playing just the base game for like 10 years. If you have any expansion recommendations let me know! Not sure what to start with.
I love Castles of Burgundy but never played it 2 players. I'll have to try it now. Great pics!
Yes, would definitely recommend it at 2! Tons of fun and doesn't take too long once you get efficient with it.
Great list. And I totally agree about Carcassonne - it's quite random at higher player counts, and I personally know some people that enjoy that, but the cutthroat nature of the game with 2 players is where it's at. I'd also like to mention Seasons is an amazing best-at-2 game. One of my very favourite games.
Seasons is great! Tried it on Boardgamearena a few months ago, really cool game and I agree it's best with 2.
I am stoked to try Mirco Macro and Pandemic sounds super interesting!
Great list!
Thanks a lot! Glad you liked it.
Interesting picks/discussion. I tend to buy games that are designed specifically for 2player or for 2+ players. From my own collection, the pandemic titles all play well at 2-player, Aeon's end series, and other deck-builders like Marvel Champions obviously. I've never played Carcassonne but I thought about picking up the 20th-anniversary edition just to see how it plays as a 2-player dueloff (funny how that selection irks some people). Enjoyed the content. Cheers!
Yeah, games that are strong at 2 players have become even more important in the past 15 months! Aeon's End is another great one that Carlo has and that I want to play more of. The couple times I've played it, I've really enjoyed it!
One of my gaming "groups" is my friend Maria who's brain seems to work the same way as mine so we click so well when we're playing games, obviously at two player. The ones that have really shone are Pandemic Rapid Response, Unlock!, and The 7th Continent. They're all coops, but for competitive games I'd say On Mars and Calico
7th Continent is one I'm very anxious to try out for myself! -Dylann
Carcassonne is an amazing game. Not only is the base game one of the top Gateway Games of all time, but once you add in expansions (I&C, T&B, A&M + River) it's just a great game period. I also agree that's it best playing H2H in a two player game, and against the same opponent over multiple games. It becomes like tactical version of Chess ...
Totally agree about playing the same opponent repeatedly, that's how I've enjoyed it best. I should try some of the expansions again, I've mostly just played the base game, no river.
- Carlo
Hi. I just bought Carca game. Im confused about the expansion. If I bought one, do you mix the 2 games? Meaning does the expansion one connect to the orignal, or is a separate game🤦♀️.. Just getting back into board games so hope this makes sense???
@@christinehaslam9480 Base Game mixes with expansions like 'Inns and Cathedrals', 'Traders and Builders, and 'Abbey and Mayor' (there are others too, as well as numerous micro-expansion type things). These expansions are basically more tiles, and different meeples that provide new abilities and scoring opportunities. However, there are standalone Carcassonne games like 'Hunter and Gathers', 'South Seas" and others, that don't mix with regular Carcassonne ...
Great video. First I’ve seen from your channel, and subscribed to see more. Pandemic Legacy at 4 was the BEST gaming experience I’ve had up to this point, which for that game is more the point then the actual game play. Definitely need the right group for that though. I loved some of the other picks though, and a few new ones you both mentioned that I’ll have to try out. RftG would be my number 2 actually, with another title by the same designer being even better. Res Arcana is super good at 2, and I don’t enjoy it much at all with 3 or 4.
Thanks for watching and subscribing! We both love Res Arcana, I know it almost made my list, and I totally agree it's best with 2p. You'll probably see Res Arcana mentioned on this channel many more times.
- Carlo
I absolutely enjoy playing at two players count, Splendor with all the 4 small expansions that come in the Cities of Splendor expansion. its just great! Also enjoy Azul: Summer Pavilion
Splendor is great, haven't tried any of the expansions yet though! Also need to check out Summer Pavilion at some point.
Azul (the original one). It has its moments with more players, but.... it really shines when you _know_ the other person is going to be able to take the tiles you don't take. And then they take the one red tile you NEEDED for your bottom row. ARG!!
We still play a lot of Castles of Burgundy with just two, like you say, it's _always_ an enjoyable game, and we're nicely evenly matched. Feld did a really good job of scaling, so that the game is always just short of the tiles YOU want.
(Side note on CoB, if you get the head-to-head coop boards, it's CRAZY. We've played three other couples that were experienced players and it's intense!! Double-triple-checking every move. Exhausting!)
Azul is really cutthroat with 2 players, so many tiles being smashed.
And thanks for the heads up about the CoB coop boards! That does sound intense, we'd be interested to at least try that out.
Great picks. Here’s a few more…
Tsuro, Chronicles of Time, Shipyard, Dominion, and Grand Austria Hotel.
Thanks for the suggestions! Of those 5 I've only played Dominion (hundreds of times). I'd be most interested in Shipyard for sure, followed by GAH.
- Carlo
YES! I'm excitd that MicroMacro is on here! Just picked it up :). Still need to add Castles of Burgundy to the collection though :P. Thanks for the lists lads!
Try not to race through MicroMacro too quickly! Once you play through those cases you're going to wish you had more! It's so good.
Citrus - plays up to 5, but there's a flip side of the board that fits 2-3 players.
Ishtar - the board is modular and you build/size it for 2, 3, or 4 people.
The River, one side of the player boards is 3-4 players and the flip side of the boards makes it a great two player worker placement game
Interesting picks! I've heard of all of those but haven't played any of them yet. Had my eye on Ishtar recently though.
- Carlo
New subscriber. Nice selection, top shout for Innovation & Race for the Galaxy, what great games. Now what would I add as top 2 player games... Eclipse 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy, Tigris & Euphrates, and The Crew,.
Thanks and welcome aboard, Steve!
I've only tried the app version of T&E so far, I've been trying to get a physical copy for years, what an incredible game. We still need to try Eclipse.
As for The Crew, I've almost been avoiding trying it with 2 because of how much I've enjoyed it with 3. Your comment is making me reconsider that now, haha. Such a good game. Thanks for watching!
- Carlo
@@AllYouCanBoard I have a friend who over many years I have played cards with, and it was so good to work together to beat the game at 2 players. You also play with a dummy hand, reminds me of Bridge.
One of my favorite two player games is spirit island. I have an off topic question. but what is the game directly over Carlo’s left shoulder. The art work looks interesting and I’ve never seen it before, I’m very intrigued. Thanks great video again gents!
Hey Carson, that's Champions of Midgard! Its a different box because it's an upgrade that can house the expansions as well!
@@AllYouCanBoard ok awesome, I still need to try that one out, thanks!
I played Santorini with my 5 years old nephew (but we played it through mobile version) and he loves it! Yeah, he definetly not GOOD at it and at first he became very mad at me from "stealing his towers" , but after couple of games (that are super-fast) he get how to block someone, what worker he need to move when (at first he just focused on one and play all games with solo-worker, but now he understand) etc. We still don't actualy touch any God powers except one, Arthemis, if I remember correctly (that allow to move worker two times), that was given to nephew. So right now he on "training wheels" when he could move twice and I just play "God-free". But this is a very fun and beautiful expiriense, even when played via mobile version.
It's a great idea to introduce a younger player to the game without God powers and then add them in later, good choice!
Honestly I’m just happy to see another Jets fan out here in the wild
Go Jets Go! Dylann and I have both lived in Winnipeg our entire lives so I'm happy to know there's at least one other Jets fan watching us. I've worn this hat in quite a few videos and you're the first person to comment about being a Jets fan, haha. Careful though, I think Dylann's favourite team these days is actually the Oilers but I could be wrong about that.
Thank you, but that would be nicer if you gave a sneak peek from the insides of the board game boxes
Thank you for the feedback, Ali! We'll try to show more footage of the game going forward.
Awesome lists. Thanks for sharing. 7 Wonders Duel is on many people's Top 2-Player lists. I thought I would see it mentioned, but nice to see that you had other choices.
Thanks Tony! The only reason it's not in this video is that these lists are specifically games that play at other player counts but are best with 2 players. 7WD is only a 2-player game so not eligible for this list, but we did a separate 2-player only games video and, spoiler alert, it was pretty high up on one of our lists. Thanks for watching!
Carcassonne is my top 2-player game.
I would highly recommend two superb abstract strategy games: TZAAR and DVONN. TZAAR is the best modern abstract strategy game, DVONN slightly more accessible. Play both with random set up the first few times. Amazing games. The tension in TZAAR is through the roof, and after a few games you will see different stategies develop.
You've tried Knizia's card game Battle Line?
Hehe, we actually did a separate video for Best 2-Player Only Games, since this one is for games that are best with 2 but can play with more. I think you'll be pleased to see where Battle Line lands in that video 😁
As for TZAAR and DVONN, another viewer actually recommended those recently too! They sound very interesting and we like a lot of abstract games.
@@AllYouCanBoard TZAAR is mind blowing good.
As for games with more players that work great with two...You've tried Knizia's game Ingenious?
I got Schact's game Hansa... it is said to be great with two players... but I've not tried it yet.
As for neat 2-player abstracts: Tintas (Tom gave it a seal of excellence) and Push Fight (buy online from pushfightgame) are worth it 😉
Nice video, as always.
Mine would be:
5. 51st State/Imperial Settlers
4. Castles of Burgundy
3. At the gates of Loyang
2. Innovarion
1. Race for the Galaxy (2 players= This is the way!)
Haven't tried 51st State yet, or Loyang, but those are all great picks. Tableau builders are so good with 2 players.
@@AllYouCanBoard Yes! I'm not sure why but, apparently, tableau builders are best with 2...
I think it's because it's hard enough to track one opponent's card abilities in addition to your own, so adding more players makes you spend more time leaning over the table reading your opponent's cards or asking what they do. More downtime without much additional gain to the gameplay itself.
@@AllYouCanBoard Your description is pretty accurate. Yeah, more players usually don't contribute much to the experience in those games.
I enjoy Azul at two players!
Would love to see a video about the best games for 6+ players
A Feast for Odin, Arkham Horror LCG, Spirit Island, LOTR LCG. So co-ops or AFFO which is more or less multiplayer solitaire but it's nice to have someone else along, other games I tend to prefer with 3 or 4.
AFFO almost made my list, but because of the low player interaction it's usually not a game I gravitate to for a 2-player game...even if it probably works best with 2 or 3 players. Haven't played those LCGs yet but those and Spirit Island are awesome picks!
- Carlo
Spirit Island is definetly good with 2... But IMHO it is play really well with 3 or even 4. You get so much different interactions, tactics and combos!.. And boy do I tremble every time when I just try to imagine 6-spirit game! Just epic story for like... 20 hours
Carcassonne: With 2 players shared structures give players 0 points in practice, so sharing a structure is always about nullifying the opponent's structure. Shared structures make more sense in 3+ player games. My favorite player count is 3. Also, I love "cut-throat" Carcassonne! It's more deep than some people think.
Great point about player counts, I really enjoy it as a 3-player game too but with only 7 followers the stakes feel even higher in a 2-player game and there's less downtime for each player. More turns per player.
For me it's for sure Marcel Champions and Arkham Horror LCG, also Santorini and Fantasy Realms. All of those I am not really motivated to try at a higher player count because they work so well at 2. I liked Aeons End way better at 2 than at 3. I also enjoyed playing Gloomhaven JotL at 2 but there I don't have a comparison with more players.
I was waiting for the list, great list from your side, there might be some games I need to check out.
We need to try Fantasy Realms! And I totally agree with you on Aeon's End, definitely best with 2.
- Carlo
Great picks! We love Santorini, Innovation and Castles of Burgundy!! ❤️
We can’t wait to play Micro Macro Crime city! I think we have it on order because it’s been sold out at our local store, can’t wait to try it!
Can’t say I was surprised to see Marvel champions on this list 😆 I for sure agree it plays best at 2, I usually play it solo only because Jeff doesn’t like it ha but my preference is 2!
Santorini and Burgundy especially are just ones that never get old for me. I love them. Apparently Burgundy is in beta on BGA, so it will be even easier to play with people now!
And yeah, Marvel Champions is fantastic at 2 and solo. Definitely one of my desert island games at this point! -Dylann
I breathed a sigh of relief when you pulled out CoB. Absolutely best at 2 player.
Totally agree!
Good list of games that do play great at two players.
Wife and I play Carcassonne (with Expansions 1, 2, and 4) and it's a great, very strategic, and very mean game. It's all about stealing their city points, or at least tying to deny them a big score, while also trying to gain your own big scores. Not sure I'd want to play with more.
Star Wars: Rebellion could be on this list too, since they claim it's a 2-4 player game, although we all know it's really a two player game for Star Wars geeks.
Happy to see some more love for Carcassonne! The more you play it, the deeper it gets, and it feels perfect with 2 players.
Rebellion is another one we've both wanted to try for a while. We're not huge Star Wars fans but we enjoy Star Wars enough, and the game gets so many amazing reviews.
Hail to the king, Carcassonne ! with expansions for me. It adds so more depth, you just need to pick the right ones for you.
That's fair, I've tried the Big Box with ALL expansions at once but I don't think I've ever just tried selecting one or two expansions. Which ones would you recommend most? I liked Inns and Cathedrals, and the one with the Pig, and the one with Builders I think? Not sure how I feel about the Princess and Dragon. Then again, I played all these about 10 years ago so it has been a while.
@@AllYouCanBoard Yes, Inns and Cathedrals, and builders are indispensable to me, and easy to add. Think to where to place your builder to accelerate your game is a good mechanical. Princess and Tower are good too, if you want to add some interaction and salt. I just keep Tower, because my friends prefer to circle the dragon, instead of making enemies by eating someone’s meeple. So, the dragon become tedious and useless. Mage and witch are good too. Bazaar with the auctions is interesting, but we don't need some particular tile, and it is a wasting time.
I’m not going to go through all the extensions, but the idea is to clean up most of the fun, without unnecessarily slowing down the games. Some extensions take their meaning and interest only by playing with few extensions, where each point and tile count. In a big game, with lots of extensions and rules, we don’t care if we go and pick sheep and wolves out of a bag for some points, or spend 5 minutes bidding tiles that you don’t really need.
I agree that a lot of co-op games play best at two, and I would definitely have the Pandemic Legacy games on my list - also Hanabi, Tranquility, and Spirit Island. I tend not to like competitive games with two players, possibly because I am okay with not being The Winner but am really bummed out by being The Loser xD. Although there are certainly some 2-player-only games that are so well-designed that I can overcome this tendency, I've had to play a lot of 2-4 or 2-5 player games with only two players over the past year and a half (can't imagine why) and always find myself wondering how much better they could be at higher player counts. Also, good call on Santorini, although I agree with other commenters that it's clearly meant to be a 2-player abstract game with 3- or 4-player variants.
Never tried Hanabi as a 2-player game and neither of us have tried Tranquility yet but I think it's on Boardgamearena so we'll have to try it there.
WIngspan.. More generallly, playing a game with 2 players means both of you are looking at the board directly. No craning your head sideways or worse - reading upside down. I jsut cant be bothered with that. i think its a huge advantage to the person(s) who dont need to crane or translate
That's a great point and one of the reasons I prefer tableau builders usually with 2 players, maybe 3 at most. Trying to see everyone's card abilities across the table or having to ask them to explain their abilities can get tiresome.
- Carlo
Innovation is my #2 most-played game (after Glory to Rome). Mostly at 2, but often 3, will not touch it at higher counts and will not touch expansions
I'd love to try Glory to Rome some day. As for Innovation, I also won't play it with 4 but I've been curious about expansions. I was considering holding out on buying the physical version until I could buy the deluxe version with expansions, but I also don't want to wait on buying a copy if the expansions aren't worth it in the long run.
- Carlo
For sure agree with Race for the Galaxy and Innovation. I enjoy many games that play well at 2, but for games were 2 is by far my favorite player count...
Kingdoms, by Reiner Knizia
My City, by Reiner Knizia
Hansa, by Michael Schacht
Crazy Chicken or Drive, by Michael Schacht
Taluva, by Marcel-André Casasola Merkle
Cities, Martin F
Haggis, by Sean Ross
The Hanging Gardens, by Din Li Tsan
And for a standard deck of cards, Cribbage.
Honestly I haven't even heard of half of these, but we tend to both really like Knizia'a and Schacht's designs. We've played through My City and really enjoyed it, but we'll have to check out a bunch of these other ones. Thanks for letting us know!
My SO, sadly, did not enjoy playing carcassonne with me. Does that say something about my play style?
Tho i enjoyed playing mansions of madness with her rather than with a group of friends, because it felt more immersive
Carcassonne is deceptive...it looks like a chill, relaxing game but with 2 players it can be really competitive. If there's a big gap in skill or one player doesn't like mean games and they just want to build their own stuff, they likely won't enjoy playing with someone who's looking for opportunities to mess with their opponent.
My wife tried Carcassonne once with me many years ago and she didn't enjoy it either, don't take it personally, sounds like you two have enough other games you enjoy playing together.
- Carlo
@@AllYouCanBoard Yeah, i was trying to joke that we had similar experiences playing it with new players :D
With Pandemic how many characters do each of you play?
When I played, we each played one character only!
++ Carcassonne
Grand Austria Hotel ...
We haven't tried this one yet but we've heard good things!
GAH is a blast and works well with 2 players. The "snake" turn order adds a little down time with 4 which may be a negative for some but I really enjoy it.
For me its
Five tribe
Santorini
Marvel legendary
Marvel champion
Elder sign
Nice to see Santorini on your list too! We really need to try Five Tribes one day.
U forgot to mention Eragon game 😢
We've never played it
Summoner Wars
Memoir 44
Claustrophobia
Targi
Unmatched
Rococo
Nice picks! But Targi is only for 2 players, so not eligible for this list since we're only including games that also play with higher player counts. We did a separate video for games that are only for 2 players, but we actually haven't tried Targi yet. Really want to try Summoner Wars!
@@AllYouCanBoard in that case Claustrophobia would be out as well as it is strictly 2 player 😂
Burgundy #1 100%
Race for the Galaxy is a close #2, Ares Expedition is on clearance everywhere…yikes…
Haha yeah, I didn't expect to see Ares Expedition on such drastic sales so soon, but based on how I feel about the game I feel it's deserved.
- Carlo
Could have actually showed the games rather than just the boxes.
Totally fair and we appreciate the feedback. We were likely pressed for time and this is a somewhat older video of ours now, before we had built up a database of b-roll for a lot of different games. I think we have a good amount of b-roll in most (if not all) of our videos for a while now. Either way, thanks for watching and for your comment!
Love micro macro with my girlfriend
Such a great game to play with a significant other. In case you missed the announcement, keep an eye out for the next one in the series (part 2 of 4) called MicroMacro Full House!
@@AllYouCanBoard thanks for the heads up!