Finding the time to game with your significant other or best friend can be challenging in itself.
The main challenge a lot of new gamers find themselves in, is where are all the two player “elite” games at?
It’s no secret that most table top games are for 3 players and up, but if you look hard enough
you can find some great two player games that will put you on the edge of your seat and have you searching for more!
Below is a list of 5 games I feel is best for new gamers looking to get into the hobby. Some of these games can be played with more than two players, some can be played with just one player, but they all can be played with only you and a person of your choosing.
Hero Realms
Hero Realms is a deck building card game that is a perfect entry for anyone looking to try their hand (see what I did there) at card games.
The main advantage about a deck building game versus a collectible card game is that essentially, what you get in the box is all you need to play.
There are exceptions of course with different expansions coming out for different games, but you never have to leave it up to fate as to what cards you are getting like you do with a collectable card game such as Magic the Gathering or Pokémon.
There is an ever-growing list of deck building games you can search through and find the game that is right or you but, if you love sword and sorcery, great artwork and a quick game, Hero Realms is the one to start with.
The gameplay of Hero Realms is that you and your opponent have a basic hand that you start with every game that consists of some attacks and gold.
You use the gold to purchase more attacks from the bank of cards on the table and strategically dwindle down your opponent’s health points.
The great thing with this game is the replay factor because each time you play you can end up with a whole new set of cards before the game is finished.
There are also similar games to Hero Realms such as Star Realms, Ascension and Dominion so, have a look at the different styles and choose the right one for you.
Sequence
Ahhh, the game that started it all for me. Sequence has been around since the early 1980’s and has a number of variations and styles to choose from but I feel the original, is the best way to go.
Sequence is an abstract strategy board game and what that means is if poker and connect four had a baby, this was it.
The object of the game is to have five poker chips in a row on the board. The way you get a poker chip on the board is by playing your cards. If you have a five of spades in your hand, you can place a chip on one of two five of spade places on the board. There are four free spaces on the board that automatically counts as a chip and Jacks are wild. The one-eyed Jack can be used to remove your opponent’s chip from the board and the two eyed Jacks can be used to place a chip on any location that does not already have a chip on it. It is a very simple game but can be hours of fun with the right partner.
Disney’s Villainous
One of our favorite games to play currently is the beautifully designed, Disney’s Villainous.
Every time we buy a new expansion for this game the first thing we do is stare at the cards for what seems to be longer than it takes to actually play the game.
Disney has always put their art work first and they do not change pace when it comes to this board game.
This strategic table top game lets you take on the role of a classic Disney Villain. Each villain has a different objective in order to win the game, so you have to complete a serious of tasks laid out on your specific villains’ card.
I cannot tell you how many times we have played this game. With the expansions still coming out (the latest one as of now being a Marvel expansion) the options for replay are amazing. Each time you play this with a different villain the cards and objective will also be different, so it is like playing a new game each time.
How often can you play a game where you are openly encouraged to call your spouse a Villain?!
FLUXX
Hitting the retail market in 1997, Fluxx has taken on MANY different faces. There are dozens of different variations and sets you can buy for this game.
The game play of Fluxx is very simple, you draw a card and you play a card…That’s it.
The deck of Fluxx (with some different cards mixed in depending on the various you play) consists of four types of cards: Keepers, Goals, Actions and New Rules.
The New Rule cards are where things can get whacky. Maybe the new rule is you have to play 3 cards each turn now instead of just the one, or perhaps draw 5 cards each turn. Just when you start to get the hang of this new rule, someone drops ANOTHER new rule card on the table and you have to play by that rule now as well.
The object of the game is the have all of the keeper cards that are on the challenge card, BUT the challenge card can also change so do not get too comfortable!
As I said Fluxx has a long list of variant decks you can buy such as Zombies, Stoners, Monty Python, Martian, Pirate, Oz, Cartoon Network, Batman, Doctor Who and Marvel just to name a few.
Caverna: Cave VS. Cave
The game that is going to round out our list is perhaps the most challenging and time-consuming game here.
Caverna: Cave VS. Cave is a two player spin off of the game Caverna.
Essentially this is a worker placement strategy game where two different dwarven tribes try to clear out and furnish their cave before the opposing tribe furnishes theirs.
Each player starts the game with two dwarves and a small cave in the side of the mountain. The goal is to take this small cave, excavate the walls around it and have a large enough cave for your entire tribe. Over the course of 8 rounds each player will double their work force and have the opportunity to dig for metals and construct new rooms to live in.
This was a game where it took a lot of reading and game play to understand, but when we did understand it we fell in love!
A lot of times the game can start a little slow because all you are really doing is simple steps such as “excavate a room”. But as the game goes on you have to strategically place rock walls, furnish rooms and be sure that the rooms you are placing give you the resources you need to win the game.
The art work on this game is another one I think is simple yet beautiful and once you get the gameplay down you are in for some very intense nights!
Another great thing about Caverna: Cave VS. Cave is that there is a solo game option.
This can come in handy if you had a game night all set up, and you get a call your spouse has to work over or perhaps your friend can’t make it tonight.
These are just a few I recommend you start with if you are new to gaming and unsure where to begin.
Once you play around with a few different genres of games you will have a better understanding of what type of game suits you, and your time best and you can check out different blogs and websites such as Boardgamegeek.com and Thedicetower.com.
These will have thousands of games you can cruise through to see what one really pulls at your gamer heart strings.
The most important thing is to…try them out.
Find a game you never thought you would play and see what you think about it.
Written exclusively for our company by Jacob Ruble
Source – CoolMambo.com
