Half-OT: Anyone knows good contemporary board/card games for two players? I like deduction games like "Mastermind".
Lost Cities is a good game that's 2 player only
The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself
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Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself
#12Half-OT: Anyone knows good contemporary board/card games for two players? I like deduction games like "Mastermind".
I've become quite a fan of Shobu lately. It has very simple game mechanics, even simpler than chess, yet still involves a lot of strategy and tactical thinking.
Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself
#13Half-OT: Anyone knows good contemporary board/card games for two players? I like deduction games like "Mastermind".
Some 1v1 games I like:
* Pentago
* Dominion (Card game)
* Splendor (also mentioned by another user).
* Dominion
* Ikusa (~8+ hour game, 2 to 5 players. A faster-moving version of Axis and Allies)
* Chess
* Go
--* Gomoku (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomoku) Played on a Go board
--* Connect6 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connect6), also played on a Go board
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One of my favorite games is "Acquire", but it only really works with 3+ players. There is a 2-player variant, but its not quite as good.
Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself
#14Half-OT: Anyone knows good contemporary board/card games for two players? I like deduction games like "Mastermind".
Something that comes back regularly in my circle is Blokus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blokus
You can play it with 2 players, it is more fun with 4 though (should either be 2 or 4). Go and chess are classics I enjoy with 2 players, although I generally prefer larger groups. Not very creative, I know.
Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself
#15Works for typical puzzle/optimization Euros, but not for the games my gaming groups have enjoyed most. Anything involving politics, diplomacy, intrigue, back stabbing and the like just don't work solo. Nor do RPGs except for grindy munchkin-fests like CRPGs. IMHO, that human interaction is the reason to play games with other people.
Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself
#16Somebody is really bored.
Still, this is a great era for not being bored. There's far more content coming out every day than anyone can consume. That was not the case two decades ago.
Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself
#17Half-OT: Anyone knows good contemporary board/card games for two players? I like deduction games like "Mastermind".
Carcassonne works well as a two player game (not a deduction game, though).
Sagrada works two player and has a hidden objective element, though I feel it's a little better four player.
10 Days In Africa is a good quick game with hidden information that's playable two-player, but it's out of print so can be hard to find.
Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself
#18Half-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.
The hidden objectives in Ticket To Ride might suit that OP's request for a deductive element as well.
Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself
#19Half-OT: Anyone knows good contemporary board/card games for two players? I like deduction games like "Mastermind".
7th Wonder Duel, Kero are boardgames for 2 players.
Keyforge: card game with random but fixed decks.
Splendor, Azul, Century are also good to play with 2 players.
Re: The utilitarian pleasures of playing board games by yourself
#20As 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”…
Another only child here. Solitaire, a Game Boy, and later Minesweeper, Hearts, and Freecell were some of my single-player entertainment. It never occurred to me to play a board game by myself; major props to your young imagination!