In May 2010, Brian and I moved from Phoenix to Castle Rock, Colorado. We love it here; the seasons, our beautiful house, spending more time out doors, biking, etc. But the one thing we really miss is our gaming friends. We had upwards of 30 friends that would come to our game nights, and now it is just Brian and I. We have been spending a lot of time playing two player games and so I figured I would share our experiences with the games.
Dominion is just as good of a two player game as it is for five people. Recently we made it our goal to play through all of the kingdom cards from the original Dominion, Seaside, Prosperity, Alchemy and Intrigue. We pick 10 kingdom cards to start with and then after every game, we cycle out the most used card, the least used card and one other card and random and replace those with cards we haven’t used yet. This keeps the game excited and allows us to try all the Kindgom cards.
Forbidden Island is a cooperative game where “adventurers are on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of a perilous paradise” before it gets flooded. It is a great introductory game or a filler game. It is really easy to teach and really easy to play since there is not a lot of thinking involved with each turn (Even the Legendary difficulty setting really isn’t that bad). It is also a very quick playing game, its rated at about 30 minutes long.
Stronghold is one of my favorite two player games! It centers around the storming of a castle (I have always played outside the castle, the invader, and Brian has always played inside, the defender). The artwork on the board is really awesome. I also like the time convention; where the longer the invader takes to prepare his troops and attacks, then the longer the defender get to prepare his defenses It looks more confusing than it actually is, the designers did a great job of creating cards outlining the six phase cards. It is such a great two player game that I am scared to try it with three or four people!
Factory Fun is my least favorite two player game. Okay, to be honest it’s horrible as a two player game but is great for four people. With only the two of us, there wasn’t many options for machines nor the feeling of competition between us. Many times we would both flip over a machine and we both decided not to use either of them. The game ended up being pretty boring with only two people; its such a shame because with four people it is really fun.
New World: A Carcassone Game is an easy to learn, interesting to play game. I love this version of Carcassone with two players because it has the surveyors which prevent any one player from sitting on road or in a town for too long without finishing it. It is much like Carcassone except in this version you start on the East coast and explore westwards and it has surveyors that can give you bonuses if you complete something and the surveyors are in the same column as your last placed meeple. I don’t think Brian likes this game as much because he can never draw the tiles he needs, and I always get what I need.
Hive is a cute two player game that Brian got for me at last year’s convention. The object of the game is to surround your opponent’s queen bee before they can do the same to you. This is a quick game to learn and play but it can involve some thinking about how to maneuver your bugs so that you win.
As we play more two player games I will share our experiences about them with you. In the mean time, enjoy gaming!!
