What are some good 2 player board/card games

[DonTadow]

Yeah, I have read that Lost Cities is a good intro game. What is Ticket to Ride about? Is it a board game or card game?

Olaf the Stout

It's a board game where you have to link cities together with rail tracks. You receive destination cards which show two cities that need to be link. There are short and long destination cards. CHoosing long ones are more points but harder as opponents attempt to sabatoge your rail line. Short ones don't give a ton of points. Its fairly easy to learn and very enjoyable.

 

[MerricB]

What is Ticket to Ride about? Is it a board game or card game?

As a note, Ticket to Ride: Europe is more family-friendly; The original TTR tends to be more cutthroat, and TTR:Marklin more gamey.

I really, really love TTR:Europe.

Cheers!

 

[Seonaid]

I would recommend Carcassonne "regular" version as opposed to the two-player.

Blokus is a fun two- or four-player strategy game.

 

[Chaldfont]

My wife and I played head's up holdem at a Starbucks nearly every day when I was out of work and she was home waiting for our first kid.

We've also played Brawl, Go, Chess, Rummy, Doom, Mortal Kombat (these last two are great for your marriage! No really!)

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Ok. I checked out what my FLGS had. I can get Lost Cities for about $40 AUD including shipping from MilSims in Melbourne or I can get Carcassonne for $40 AUD from my FLGS. Ticket to Ride is too expensive for a game that my wife might not even like. Thurn and Taxis is about $58 AUD from MilSims.

Out of these games which would you recommend? Keep in mind that my wife wouldn't really be interested in something strategic. There would have to be something else besides strategy in the game to keep her entertained.

Olaf the Stout

Edit: I did also see a game that looked like fun called Man Bites Dog. It was a game where you got dealt a hand of cards that each have a one word on it and a points value. You then have to come up with a newspaper headline. Not exactly a strategic game but it looks like fun nonetheless.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dannyalcatraz
Simply put, 2 is a tough number to work with.

Umbran
Hoyle would disagree with you.

I did list Hoyle in the first line of my post, you know...

 

[MerricB]

Ok. I checked out what my FLGS had. I can get Lost Cities for about $40 AUD including shipping from MilSims in Melbourne or I can get Carcassonne for $40 AUD from my FLGS. Ticket to Ride is too expensive for a game that my wife might not even like. Thurn and Taxis is about $58 AUD from MilSims.

Out of these games which would you recommend? Keep in mind that my wife wouldn't really be interested in something strategic. There would have to be something else besides strategy in the game to keep her entertained.

At this point, I think either Lost Cities or Carcassonne. I'm not familiar with the former, but the latter is good value.

Cheers!

 

[Wycen]

I've played Baloon Cup and I remember it being fun, but it was only once and over a year ago, so details on game play elude me.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

At this point, I think either Lost Cities or Carcassonne. I'm not familiar with the former, but the latter is good value.

Cheers!

What is Thurn and Taxis like Merric and why wouldn't you recommend it compared to Lost Cities or Carcassonne?

Olaf the Stout

 

[MerricB]

What is Thurn and Taxis like Merric and why wouldn't you recommend it compared to Lost Cities or Carcassonne?

Thurn und Taxis is a really nice game. You're trying to build post-offices in Europe (really Germany/Austria).

* Each turn, you pick up a card (from 6 available) representing a town in Europe.
* You then play a card that connects to the previous towns you've played.
* When the route is at least 3 long, you can close it, and place post-offices in the towns you've visited.
* If you then have visited every town in a province, you get points (more if you're the first one to visit them all). Big provinces give you more points. Long routes (5+) also score extra points.

There are 22 towns in all, and you have 20 postoffices to build. The first person to get rid of all their postoffices ends the game, and whoever has the most points wins.

The difficulty is that when you place post-offices, there is a restriction: either all the offices have to go in one province, or you may only place one office in each province.

You can also do one additional thing each turn; pick up an extra card, play an extra card, or replace the 6 cards to choose from with a new set are the common options.

I think it's a very nice game, with a moderate amount of strategy; I don't think it's quite as attractive as Carcassonne, but it's still very nice.

Cheers!