Top 10 – Games with 2 players
JonGetsGames
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Here is my Top 10 list for games played with 2 players! This is was recorded live, and then edited to the most relevant parts here.
Remember you can listen to an audio version of this vlog at the JonGetsGames Podcast or by clicking this link:
Introduction – 0:00
List methodology – 0:38
Ten – 1:22
Nine – 4:15
Eight – 7:18
Seven – 11:02
Six – 15:08
Five – 20:47
Four – 26:55
Three – 34:37
Two – 41:11
One – 47:00
Honorable mentions – 51:19
Spoiler list below:
#10 – Passing Through Petra
#9 – Mandala
#8 – Innovation
#7 – Carcassonne
#6 – Equinox
#5 – Pixel Tactics
#4 – Exit Games
#3 – A Feast for Odin: Norwegians
#2 – Qwirkle
#1 – Pandemic Legacy
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04.08.2021
Hi Maybe you have to try Imperium classic / legends is best 2 player , too
Fully agree with your comments on Pandemic. My partner and myself loved season1 and 2 but season 0… think we made May before packing it in. Drew usually doesn't play games but seasons 1 and 2 it was more often him suggesting we play than me!!
7wonders Duel 🙂
Jaipur is my all time favourite
Jon, have you ever tried Qwirkle Cubes?
7 Wonders Duel. An absolute top dog.
Mandela is definitely on my 2 player list. I've played 6 of the other games on your list and enjoy them all. Thanks for the content. Pandemic Season Zero was my favorite to play with my wife and daughter.
Mandala is outstanding. Such good decisions in this one!
Great list – thanks Jon. And thank you for the tip about Equinox (2012). I snapped up a copy on the GeekMarket while I was watching the video. Hope the seller responds – very much looking forward to playing that game. Also you tipped the scales for me to purchase Innovation as well. I noticed there are a bunch of expansions for Innovation; are there any you recommend? As always, great video, very fun and informative.
Grand austria hotel is my favourite 2 player game and carpe diem/castles of burgundy are in my top 3 🙂
It's always the great pleasure to watch your videos, Jon! You so sn excellent job I really appreciate if!!
Sorry for the orthographic mistakes I made!! This is what happens when you dictate the text!!!😅
Games that we love at two.
Grand Austria Hotel
Trismegistus
Underwater Cities
Wingspan
I played pandemic legacy with my girlfriend and we stopped in May. With just 2 players it is way too easy. You need to play it 2 handed each but we did not and so we stopped and dreaded continuing it. Extremely boring. Just terrible if you do not play it 2 handed. Therefore I cannot recommend it as a 2 player game.
The Galerist, Maracaibo, Grand Austria Hotel, Teotihuacan are games I would add to Jon’s list
Great list, Jon!!
I typically prefer playing two player games myself for the most part, it like you said allows for far more strategizing. I can't plan anything with the chaos of a full player count more than a single turn ahead at best.
Anyone have an opinion on 7 Wonders Duel? My parents are big fans of the original game, and I'm thinking about getting it for them.
Tonight we played a 2p game of one of your favorites – Concordia. That one works very good at 2 (all player counts, really). I agree with you that some games that are a bit chaotic are better at 2 – I prefer Luxor at 2, for example, because there is just more chance to pull off a strategy.
Hey these are just games that can be played by two players. What about those strict 2 players games? Like Then we held hands, War of the Ring, Starwar Rebellion Frontier, 7 wonders duel, Undaunted Normandy, Memoire 44, so on and so on
Quirkle tiles is brilliant for Mandala. The square cards the games comes with are always getting grouped together by type but are literally impossible to shuffle. I love the game but never play it for that reason.
Even though I like your videos a lot, we have very different tastes for our favorite games. My top are : Burgundy, Chess, Memoir 44, Maracaibo, Oh my goods and War of the ring. At least we share Carcassonne, Innovation and Pandemic Season1 (4 players for me). I have Feast on my wish list. Thanks
Thanks for highlighting some more obscure games. While I don't agree with your #1 (I find the Pandemic series terrible boring), I can appreciate that other do like it a lot.
Some two-player games for me might also include:
Hanamikoji
Shobu
Neuroshima Hex
Unmatched
Gate fall
Empires of the North
LOVE your shirt! Can you point me in a direction to buy it? Interesting options for 2 players we haven’t explored yet! Thanks!
Games I'd recommend for Two players: Pipeline, Oceans, On Mars, Troyes, Memoir 44
#10 looks intriguing. It has a low BGG score, but I don't trust BGG, so who cares, LOL!
I own Carcassone and haven't played it yet.
The Carcassone 20th Anniversary Edition is for pre-order right now.
I love Jaipur.
I need to play some Exit games.
A feast for Odin is on my To-Buy List.
Nice list! Have you played Carcassone: the Castle? It is made for two players.
I will get Pandemic Legacy someday.
43:43 …Which might be a reason that some people aren’t as excited about this game as a 2-player game – they might want MORE Chaos!!!
45:31 It is still there! 🙂 And I didn’t even know that a digital version existed until you had just said something now!
What is your opinion on Kickstarters, Stroganov, Transmissions, and Magna Roma?
Twilight struggle and watergate. Great choices also! Congratulations! Thanks a lot for the list
Spirit Island
Through the Ages
Those are two best 2p big games. I love both. With my son we play a lot of Lord of the a rings: confrontation.
We just played Nanga Parbat, a strictly 2-player game, a puzzly one. We really loved it! Very clever mechanisms! It is on BGA, if you want to check it!
Great list! You got me intrigued about Innovation, Pixel Tactics and Equinox. I decided to get Innovation just to see, and wow it's a pretty cool game. My wife just 2-0 me, so I have to get some redemption soon!
Some of my favorite 2 player games in no particular order.
Fog of Love
Orleans (Including Invasion)
Jaipur
7 Wonders Duel
War Chest
Star Wars Rebellion (If I have 3 – 4 hours)
Grand Austria Hotel
Interesting choices. I've never heard of some of the games on your list. My top 5 for two players are: Five Tribes, Targi, Haven, Tash-Kalar and Neuroshima Hex. In that order.
There are a few games we have that play higher player counts, but have a 2-player variant that doesn't give you the same experience as if you were playing at 4 (BUNNY KINGDOM, for example). So games like CARCASSONNE and QWIRKLE that play with exactly the same rules at 2 are more enjoyable. We enjoy both. And yes, I do moves just to prevent my girlfriend scoring high, and she uses bad words to let me know that she's annoyed. 🤣
Interesting list of games and thank you for sharing them. Great that you didn’t only include two-players-only games.
Great video, really pleased you didn’t limit yourself to “2 player only” games. Many of my favourite games with 2 players are larger player count games; too often these sorts of lists ignore wider player counts 👍
Based on your love of and comments on Qwirkle I'd like to recommend Seikatsu (original) to you and possibly as a beautiful gift to the Qwirkle loving in laws 🙂
I'm pleasantly surprised to see Pixel Tactics show up. Great choice, PT1 is excellent. Not a huge fan of PT2, but I never mixed the sets.