Two Person Board Games?

[CombatWombat51]

I'm looking for a game that can be played by only two players. My girlfriend and I need something to actively do together around the house. I don't know many board games aside from the classics like Risk, Monopoly, chess, etc. And most of those games are much more suited to a group of people (except chess).

Any recommendations?

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

Mancala, Pente, Othello, Mastermind, Backgammon, & Tic-Tac-Toe (and 3d ttt)
are all great two player games that my wife and I enjoy pretty often.

Life, Parchisi, & Sorry work at least as well as two player games as they do with more than two players. Trivial Pursuit (any version) tends to be a lot more laid-back with just two players - make up rules as you go along, cheat for one another's benefit and just skip the questions you know the other player won't know. It's really just an excuse to read trivia to one another and move tokens around on the board, but it can be fun too in a way almost entirely dissimilar from 'real' Trivial Pursuit."

Finally there're cards: I recommend Five Crowns & Skip-Bo.

 

[cybertalus]

Hoyle puts out a computer board game collection every year, mostly of two player games. The one I have (from 2003) includes Mahjong, Gravity Tiles (a 1 player game), Double Cross (Scrabble I think), Word Yacht (Yahtzee with words; haven't tried it), Wordox (or maybe this one is Scrabble), Reversi (Othello), Backgammon, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Master Match (some kind of peg in a board game), Rummy Squares (which I haven't tried), Mancala, Battling Ships, Yacht (Yahtzee), Dominoes, Checkers, Pachisi, and Bump 'Em (a Pachisi variant).

The Hoyle set can usually be found pretty cheap, and is good way to learn new games without shelling out loads of money up front.

Though if you have loads and loads of money to spend, I strongly recommend the new Star Wars Minatures game. It's lots of fun, but also requires a pretty hefty investment.

 

[Angcuru]

Dungeon Dice is a little known, but fun board game. Basically you're prisoners who have to tunnel out with spoons and stuff, and you roll dice to see how well you do. Sounds dumb but it's a lot of fun.

 

[Dark Jezter]

One word: Battleship.

Love that game.

 

[diaglo]

One word: Battleship.

Love that game.

You sank my battleship

 

[Riverwalker]

I've heard the new War of the Ring is very good (made by Fantasy Flight Games) and works well for two players.

My wife and I have enjoyed a little game called 'Hector and Achilles'.

 

[Maerdwyn]

The two player variant for Puerto Rico is quite good, plus you then have one of the best 3-5 player games on the market now.

Hera and Zeus, and others in its series, (I think Hecotr and Achilles is one, but I'm not sure), are good, short, two person card games.

 

[devilish]

My girlfriend and I need something to actively do together around the house.

Must.......resist......typing.....what....I'm.....thinking.

Sorry - had a juvenile moment (as opposed to a senior moment).

I would recommend Dracula's Revenge which was at GenCon.

A nice 3-D board game of vampiric mayhem.

 

[CombatWombat51]

Must.......resist......typing.....what....I'm.....thinking.

That's why I said "actively" instead of "obsessively"