Thread Resurrection FTW!

I thought I would update with a list of games we have been playing off and on and also ask for advice on some good, short, fun 2 player games.

Scrabble
Uno
Phase 10
Skip-Bo
The T-Shirt Game
Apples to Apples
Battlestar Gallactica (only played once so far)
Dominion
Munchkin + Munchkin 2
Munchkin Booty
Pirate Munchkin + Pirate Munchkin 2
Wrath of Ashardalon

...plus a closet full of kids games like Candyland as well as the Chess and Mancala types.

What I would also love to have is an original feeling game that is enjoyable with two people that my wife and I can play together on occasion after my daughter goes to sleep. Most of the above either can't be played with two or aren't nearly the same level of fun with two...or don't exactly feel 'original' anymore.

I been working on Mansions of Madness that is a board game that I turned into an on going RPG style campaign with investigators improving as they go along , although they might end up in the hospital or insane asylum after a case , and have to use another character the next night while the primary character heals or regains there sanity .

the point is with many board game in the above mentioned list if you create a background story and bridge between each adventure you are RPG ing with just using simpler mechanics to drive it. I think this is how you can get a non RPG person into that world , I have recruited several that way

I would like more games to do just what you tall about, but in the last post I am looking for something light, fun and relatively fast paced (under a half four a game would be ideal).

Talae, digging around will be sure to net you more suggestions than you could try in a lifetime, however my wife and I enjoy Starship of Catan (a 2-player "version" of Starfarers of Catan, but with fairly different mechanics) - takes a bit of brainpower and an hour. Dungeoneer can fill both the 2-player and RPG-board game niche. I also like Tigris & Euphrates, but my wife doesn't.

Looking over the rest of the thread, some enjoyable 3+ player games we've played are Tobago, Spooks, and Bang. (The first two list as 2+, but aren't really fun until 3+ are in.)

This list is what I have compiled today, but I don't think any fit the bill for what I want. They just would be nice to have for other reasons:

Smallworld
Dominion Expansions
Settlers of Catan
Dust
Arkham Horron
Ticket to Ride
Duel of Ages
7 Wonders
Summoner Wars
Decent
Kill Doctor Lucky
Last Night on Earth


I have also recently backed both Zpocaplyse and Zombiecide on Kickstarter.

Kahuna might fit the bill, as might Space Station Assault.

Oddly, one of my favorite 2-player games is Puerto Rico. The game is made for 3-5, but the 2-player rules you can download (or that come with the 10th anniversary edition) are really good.

A game you should look at is HIVE. It´s a great game for two players, easy to learn and fast paced once you get the hang of it.
On another note, I´ve decided to make a gaming night too. I´ve been playing boardgames for a time and Í´m opening a coffee shop. Because the area doesn´t get much movement on sundays, I´m opening it up for any and all players. Hope it works out. Will post pics soon.

My siblings that don't like very in depth games like 10 Days in Europe (or USA or Africa). It works decently as a 2 player game. I've heard Le Havre is good 2 player, but haven't tried it with that few. It's pretty meaty of a game, though. I've got friends who will burn through a 2 player game of San Juan (the card version of Puerto Rico) in 15 minutes or less and they like it. I used to play with some friends when I lived out East that LOVED a 2 player game called Jambo. They said that it was really engaging for even 2 players.

After talking with a friend of mine, I decided to pick up Carcassonne and Acsension. I may grab something else in the next couple of weeks but I think these should hold us over for now.

Do not underestimate the Lego games either...

My family has started collecting them and they are fun. Pirate Plank is a fast fun game for 2-4 players. It is not that deep, but you can finish a game in 5-15 minutes and maybe even do a best of 3 or best of 5 in your 1/2 hour window.

Now, admittedly it is more fun (and more strategy) with 4 players than with 2, but you could always both play two players (it is that fast)...and even though it says 7+, my 3 and 5 year old boys understand and enjoy it.

One other thing I like is they encourage you to create house rules - so it fits with my need to tinker with my games.

Up next for us is Creationary...like Pictionary with Legos.

Thanks for all of the recommendations guys. I will likely be picking up another game or two this weekend. The wife and I played Carcassonne tonight twice and enjoyed it. I won both times (by about five points and then about ten) so I think that put her off a little.

We will likely end up playing some boardgames again this weekend due to the D&D session not seeming like it will work out due to scheduling.

Picked up Small World, Pandemic and Kill Doctor Lucky. I was going to get Settlers of Catan, but they were out of the base game. Overall, I am very excited for tomorrow's boardgame session.

You have to tell me what you thought of Small World... I keep thinking about picking that one up.

Played a ton of games (like eleven hours of boardgame awesomeness and I wish we could play more!). I will give a quick review. Beyond that, feel free to ask any questions.

Carcassonne: great game that I have only played two player so far (three or four games). It is perfect for a quick game while waiting for a session to start or people to show up. This makes me think of dominoes with resource allocation. The level of difficulty isn't too bad for this one.

Small World: Amazingly creative and was a blast with both two players and with five players. I love this game and am glad I picked it up. This makes me think of a less tedious and more fun themes Risk that also comes with insane amount of replay value. I would say that middle school or so is about the minimum for this one (we had a 12 year do decently)

Kill Doctor Lucky: fun game with much less of a learning curve than most but still has lots of flavor. It felt like it was much more difficult to strategize in this one, but I actually think it forces simplicity and becomes a good thing. This one might be blasphemy, but I have never played clue. I know that this game was fun and didn't play quite like anything I have played before. This seems like one that young kids could play with adult help.

Pandemic: I don't think I have really ever played anything like this. The level of cooperation was great. It felt like we were really making a difference by discussing strategy of every move. The cooperative aspect made it so the 12 year old did fine but I think it helped the other three of us seemed to have a decent strategy going.

Have you actually won at Pandemic? I've got friends that like the game, but they never win.

Just played a game of Vinci tonight. It's generally agreed that it's a predecessor to Small World. Traditional European historical version of the same game. (lame graphics and production quality in comparision, too) Almost none of the folks at the table enjoyed it, for some reason. We only have 4 of us playing. I recall playing it with 5 or 6 in the past. Maybe it's just better with more people 'cuz you get less of a run away winner that way. We only switched civs once each during the whole game. My brother got a surprisingly good combination of abilities right at the start, by total chance. He was raking in 14 points from the very first turn. It got up to 18 points per turn after a few turns. We finally started catching up as we ganged up on him, but he was too far ahead.

We played Pandemic on the introductory level and won, but there were definitely a few very close calls.

As for Small World, my wife had two really decent race/ability combos as her first two choices and was getting double digit points almost every round...once in the twenties. We all thought she would be the runaway lead, but in the end she was only two points ahead of second place.

Great card game


If you like worker placement
Lords of Waterdeep - great game
Stone age survival of the clans
Puerto Rico
Agricola (can be fun but very hardcore)

Silly miniatures dungeon crawl
Super dungeon explore

All favorites in HEAVY rotation at our boardgame tables.

Played Carcassonne with an 8 and 5 year last night and think it went well. I definitely think they could grasp everything with another round or two of play. (the scoring was a little tough for them...especially the farmland).

Planning on taking some games over to a family gathering today. Maybe we will get to play Settlers of Catan, as I haven't been able to yet.

So, WotC is reprinting Dungeon! the original dungeon crawl boardgame.

My favorite in that genre remains Warhammer Quest, but Dungeon! is still a fun game. Heck, I pulled HeroQuest out a few weeks ago... I happen to like dungeon crawl boardgames....

The Auld Grump

Warhammer Quest is where I started for RPGs. I wish there was more out like it. If Dungeon! stays at a similar price to what is listed, I will be picking it up for sure.

Dungeon! is on my radar as well. Heroquest was my first boardgame DC, but I had started playing basic D&D before that.

I still have my TSR Dungeon! I wonder how close the reprint will really be. In a weird twist of fate, I missed WH Quest, but do have Advanced HeroQuest. I like Dungeoneer better for board/card dungeon crawls (sans terrain and minis), however I'll have to pick up and try Dungeon Crawler at some point (now that I know about it).

Over the past couple of weeks we have picked up a few more games. The collection is certainly growing. Zombie Dice was a great purchase and is a very simple and very fast game. Ticket to Ride was fun with two people, but I am sure it will be even better with more. Settlers of Catan has been enjoyable, but playing with four people felt cramped and went on almost twice as long as 5 players. I am glad we got the expansion for 5-6 players and might end up using it for four player games.

I just went and purchased a few on Amazon in anticipation for summer fun (Tsuro, Gloom, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Forbidden Island, Pandemic: On the Brink).

Wil Wheaton and his series has really encouraged many of my purchases. To top it off, my FLGS put Ticket to Ride 15% off due to the most recent video and that is why I picked it up.

Betrayal at House on the Hill is a really good game. A different game each time through. I like that.