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The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself

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Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself

#2

Post by qaid »

As an only child, I used to spend my summers playing board games by myself. It started with monopoly (which my babysitter introduced me to) and carried over to chess and beyond.

For many of the games, I ended up assigning one player to be “me” and different personalities to “the other players,” who each had different styles. I also tried my best to stop “myself” from cheating by forgetting what cards “everyone else” had. After all, games are not fun when someone is cheating.

Thankfully, my days of playing board games by myself is long over. However, I still have a tendency to take a long time to calculate my next move since I’m always trying to factor in what everyone else is doing.

Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself

#4

Post by redshirtrob »

k__ wrote: post #3

Half-OT: Anyone knows good contemporary board/card games for two players? I like deduction games like "Mastermind".

"Ticket To Ride" is a nice, casual play as a two person game. "Twilight Struggle" is fun but much more intense.

"Small World" is a super fun, ultra confrontational game in two player mode.

Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself

#5

Post by colanderman »

k__ wrote: post #3

Half-OT: Anyone knows good contemporary board/card games for two players? I like deduction games like "Mastermind".

Try Hanabi: https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/98778/hanabi "Multiplayer Mastermind with cards" is not too far off of a description.

Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself

#8

Post by chongli »

k__ wrote: post #3

Half-OT: Anyone knows good contemporary board/card games for two players? I like deduction games like "Mastermind".

Battle Line [1]. Absolutely fantastic 2-player strategy card game. It has a lot of deduction built in. Since every card is one of a kind, you can win by playing a “bad” card in one place if it proves your opponent can’t win in another place. Love it!

[1] https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/760/battle-line

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