Top 10 Two Player Board Games | The Best 2-Player Games!
We have played over fifty different strictly two player board games! Throughout the month, we shared all sorts of content including videos, photography and thoughts about this wonderful set of games. We hope to inspire you to find a new game that you may love!
Question of the day: Let us know what your TOP or FAVORITE two player game is!
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Time Stamps:
0:00 It’s Finally TIME!
0:54 The Process
2:56 10 – Ilya
4:14 10 – Tylor
5:33 9 – Tylor
7:22 9 – Ilya
9:25 8 – Ilya
10:44 This list was challenging.
11:20 8 – Tylor
13:05 7 – Tylor
15:13 7 – Ilya
17:30 6 – Ilya
19:14 6 – Tylor
21:09 5 – Ilya
23:21 5 – Tylor
25:59 4 – Ilya
28:26 4 – Tylor
29:45 3 – Tylor
31:44 3 – Ilya
34:26 2 – Ilya
37:11 2 – Tylor
40:28 Honorable Mentions – Ilya
41:06 Honorable Mentions – Tylor
42:14 GIVEAWAY WINNERS!
44:49 1 – Ilya & Tylor
47:58 THANK YOU!!!
49:42 Teaser?
Music from
Thank you to Hachette Games and Steeped Games for supporting our giveaways this month!
If you’re a winner and haven’t contacted us within 72 hours, we will move onto the next individual.
I have about 20 more games you haven't even mentioned. I'm going to list as many as I can for you. I buy a lot of out of print 2 player games, since it's just me and my 13 year old son, and two player games tend to be quicker and we can play after homework etc…….I love lists and series like yours because I always find one or two I haven't heard of: Naga Raja, Kero, Jolly & Rodger (so much fun), Qin, Raptor, Mob Boss, Robin of Locksley, Mr. Jack, Unforgiven, the Castle, Aton, Martinique, Hanamakoji, Fugitive, Jambo, Spirits of the Wild, Shanghaien (we love this one), Caverna cave vs cave, Fuse….Duelosaur Island (and a roll and write), Getaway Driver…excited to buy/play Splendor Duel and Wingspan China (2 player)!! Thanks for great content. Glad to have found you!!
For a heavier worker placement experience that is just pure elegance….. Fields of Arle!!!
You love Jaipur..as do we (me and my son) check out Morels!! Seriously. It's really fun!
Thanks for the strictly two-player videos! (Catching up.)Let's see…— 7 Wonders Duel is probably on my shelf of shame the longest. Have not played it at all. Hope to get it on the table, especially to try the solo PnP module.— I was wondering if a roll-and-write would make it amongst the list of 50+ games. Surely, Kingdomino Duel did. . :)— Darn it that Tylor did not care much for Lost Cities and Onitama. ¯_(ツ)_/¯— Out of the 50+ games, the have-not-played games I would want to try are Bandada, Agricola: ACBAS, Imhotep: The Duel, Nanga Parbat, Chai Tea for 2, Mandala, and Hive. Hive was probably one of the first games that I remember seeing at my FLGS since getting into board games in 2015.— Targi, I had mixed feelings about. I like how players would place their markers around the edge, and where their facing lines intersect would grant the player that reward. It felt a bit cutthroat the first and only time I played it, along with the small print on some cards, some years ago. Probably will try it again.— Star Realms, likewise, I want to like it. But it feels like my opponent is always one step ahead every time I play and the game goes quicker than expected. It's mainly the timing effect of trashing and gaining cards, and the luck of the cards drawn—both in the market and in my deck. Grrrr. — Jaipur is cleverly fun; I need to get it out again.— Probably my main concern with Aqualin is the colors. Some colors looked too similar. (Hurrah for colorblindness.)— And…. other 2-player games I may suggest include Cosmic Run: Rapid Fire and Cosmic Run: Express (a roll-and-write and quick version of Steve Finn's Cosmic Run), Caverna: Cave vs. Cave, Fire!, and Blitzkrieg!. All play at 2 players, but has solo rules as well.Thanks again! 😀
Well this has been one hell of a ride! Thank you so much! Have you ever tried Spirit's of the Wild? Again thanks!
So many games I have yet to play. Great to see your opinions.
Fox in the Forest Duet is my number 1! I even pimped it out with little red plastic gems. 🙂 Spirits of the Wild would be my number 2.
I actually i bought aqualung for my wife and i off your recommendation and we absolutely love it so much so we agree one your number one
Congrats to all the winners
Wow! FIFTY GAMES?! Incredible work you two! #Goals
This was an amazing month!!!!! Loved every videos! It's hard to chose only one game but I would say my favorite 2 player game is 7 wonders duel, an honorable mention to Aqualin and Radlands! I ordered Botanik based on your review very excited to try it! Another one I'm so excited for is chai tea for 2!
Guess I better check out Aqualin. You should definitely do a follow up for your top ten roll and writes with changes and new honourable mentions. Same goes for this video.
Looooove Aqualin! My wife isn’t super into board games like I am and this is her favorite game so far. So, because I can play with her, I love it.
So many great games that I have or are now going on my want list 😃
Great series guys 🙂 well done!
Loved these lists! You know we were cheering over here for a couple of those choices 😁 What a crazy month! So many great games, I can't even imagine how you narrowed it down. This was so much fun. Thank you!
Never would have expected Aqualin! Mine is Mandala.
Love the energy!!! Great list, really fresh. I have seen so many top 10 2 player games and I always see the same ones, until now 🔥🔥🔥
I definitely agree with Jaipur being so high up. Such a fun casual game.
You guys should check out pillars of the earth builders duel. I’m going to be playing it tonight. Fun 2 player only game.
What a fantastic list, I own all but two of the games in your top 10’s so I have a few more games to look into now! I do have to say, try 7 Wonders Duel with the Pantheon expansion. I’ve played it a few times this week and it adds another fun layer to an already amazing 2 player game. I can’t see wanting to play it without the expansion now that I’ve learned and played with it.
Oh wow I won Bandada!!! I thoroughly enjoyed this series and will certainly be picking up some from your top tens!
Wow, you've played so many strictly two player games! That's amazing! I should check out Aqualin – I haven't played any strictly two player games in a while!
Great lists! A few of my favorites that didn't make your lists are That Time You Killed Me, Codenames: Duet, Summoner Wars Second Edition, and The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls. My #1 made your Honorable Mentions- Radlands. I cannot get enough of that game! Oh, and HOW have I been in the hobby for 3 years now and never heard of Aqualin?? I think I'll be picking that one up this weekend!
I haven't played most of these, but Agricola, Patchwork, and 7 Wonders Duel are on the top of my wishlist! 😅
I won! I've really enjoyed this month's videos. I'll definitely keep watching .
I just played Caper Europe a few weeks ago. Such a great game!! Thank you for tackling so many two player games over the last month! I've still got a lot to catch of that content to catch up on, but I'm so glad it's all there to dive into!!
Yay! What a fun month. Thank you for sharing so many great games with us. So many added to my try list now: Mandala, Haven, Targi, Aqualin, Caper Europe. You need to play Base Imhotep so fun at 2,3 or 4p! I heavenly played enough to make a top 10 but my top 4 would be:
1. Botanik
2. Patchwork
3. Sobek 2 Players
4. Jaipur
Feeling so good right now for my decision to go and buy Aqualin as soon as i watched your playthrough of it. It is sitting here patiently waiting for me to give it to myself or to my mother for her birthday. Great top 10 list.
Such great lists! Loved this whole month and really enjoyed all your videos!
If you're going to get more Star Realms, we just played with Colony Wars and the United packs. They add a lot of good new content, my favorite being the dual-faction cards! I'm quite excited to get Rise of Empires and the Frontiers wave of stuff.
As I've mentioned before, you should check out Rival Networks. We really love it and I'd love to hear what you two think of it.
A game I wish I could recommend, but it's so out of print is Fallen. One person plays as the dungeon lord and the other person is the hero. It's an asymmetric story-driven combat game. Combat, though, is all dice & card based challenges. You go through a series of challenges, each person trying to gain more power. All of it culminating in a big face-off at the end to see who ultimately wins. It came out in 2014 and should have done well, but they botched retail since most of the content was KS exclusive, the retail box was half empty. It turned a lot of people off. If you can find one on the secondary market, I'd recommend getting it, if it's not too expensive.
Happy end of July!!
Nice list! Quite enjoyed seeing Agricola ACB&S so high as I think it’s a pretty under-appreciated game. Played it with my (non-gamer) wife as an intro to worker placement and she liked it a lot, which is not the case with a lot of games we’ve played. Then we tried Viticulture and she liked that one too, so maybe one day I can see if she likes somewhat heavier worker placement games. Btw if you think Caverna is punishing you might be in a surprise with normal Agricola as it’s much tighter and punishing than Caverna.
My favorite 2p games are 7 Wonders Duel, Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes, Carcassonne, Agricola: ACB&S. Underwater Cities, and Robinson Crusoe. Also really enjoy Blitzkrieg!, Air, Land, & Sea, Radlands, Undaunted. Naga Raja, Botanik, My City, Atlantis Rising, Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition, and Cascadia.
I play a decent bit of 2p games with a buddy and the games I’m most looking forward to trying soon with him are Destinies. Watergate, Spirit Island, Aquatica, Agricola, and Jaws of the Lion (some of which I’ve played but not specifically at 2).
What an epic month it has been! I've really enjoyed all the videos!
Thank you for these 2 player suggestions!
Loved this! I'm interested to know where fog of love and skulk hollow would have landed and why though…but I totally agree, it's so flipping hard to rank an amazing collection of games so well done for that!
I'm not sure if any of these were in your list this month…it was so long…but if you ever get a chance to try you should look into these too:
7 Ronin – secret unit deployment and area control, very tightly balanced
And then we hold hands – it's a game where you're working together but you can't discuss the game itself…so yeah chat but no game chat. It's also beautiful.
Jambo/Asante – unfortunately out of print but if you find it buy it…it's an amazing set collection game
Bohnanza the duel – I love the original and this is a really good and interesting way to make that 2 player only
Cave vs cave – if you love caverna and want to furnish a cave you'll love this…but get the big box with the expansion
Hanamikoji – it's a small drafting game but so tense, clever and the art is on point
InBetween – I suspect that this was meant to be a Stranger Things themed game, it's basically a fight between our world and the upside down. It's a bit nail biting and a lot of take that, soooo thematic
Kodama duo – another 2 player version of a bigger game…you build a tree and collect kodamas, it's cute and fun but you'll need space.
Morels/Fungi – can be hard to find but there's an app for it now. It's a lot of fun fighting over mushrooms and trying to cook them before the end of the game.
Odin's ravens – a racing game with special powers and card drafting.
Onitama – card chess
Pagoda – another out of print one which I personally spent ages tracking down a copy. You build 3d pagodas together but you want to do it in a way that doesn't suddenly give your opponents points. Feels a bit like mandala in that regard.
Picking a favorite two player game is tough; I love so many of them. I would probably pick Jaipur or Lost Cities. They're older titles that have stood the test of time. Although they both feature straight forward rules, there is a lot room for discovery and exploration of strategies. I was pleasantly surprised to see Aqualin rank so high on your list. It is fun, quick, and I hope more people give it a chance. Thank you again for all the coverage you gave this category of games. Since most of my gaming occurs between my husband and myself, we are always looking for good 2-player games.
Waho your number one is quite a surprise ! Thanks for this all month of 2 players only content it was a lot of fun !
Now I have to try Aqualin
I guess we really need to play Aqualin! I've seen it so many times, and haven't had a chance to play it. Some cool games this month that we have to try out sometime at a Con or other event. 7 Wonders Duel is definitely a big favorite of ours for 2p.
I’m interested to know if you’ve played Android: Netrunner
Apologies if this has been covered on another video.
Netrunner is my all time favourite game, which would also make it my favourite strictly two player game.
Fun lists! 😀 And congrats to the winners! ^_^
I just discovered your channel and I’m so glad I did. Love your energy and loved this top ten list. I’ve had Aqualin sitting on the shelf for months and you’ve inspired me to finally try it tonight – thank you!
We enjoy Aqualin, too. If I had to pick a favorite two-player game, though, I'd have to go with an oldie but goodie, Hanamikoji.
Ermahgerd!!! That's me!!! I won Chai Tea for 2!!! I'm sorry I only just saw this. I was on vacation in Ireland visiting family for ten days, and I have many, many, MANY videos to catch up on! Thank you for this whole month of content. I adore two player games, so this was a joy for me!
War of the Ring, Twilight Struggle, Onitama, 7 Wonders Duel, and Hanamikoji would be on my list.