Megan's Top 10 Favorite Games (2 Players & Overall)

[@zacdredge3859]

Nice to meet Megan. Glad you can share your passion for the hobby and happy Valentines day.

[@MonkeyButlerLabs]

As you go through life you meet people who really strike a chord with you and make you really want them to find success and happiness. Jamey, I'm so happy for you and Megan to have found each other and the happiness the two of you have and share as a couple. Thank you for the joy you bring to gaming and the world.

[@jameystegmaier]

That is incredibly kind of you to say--thank you! I'm going to share this with Megan. :)

[@scyldscefing3913]

It's a pleasure to finally meet Megan.

[@bluefire700]

Happy valentines day, thanks for the video :)

[@cedricdavid7060]

Thanks for the video. Our top 2-players games are bur can be played at 2 or more: Ark Nova, Grand Austria Hotel (with expansions), Tuscany, Brass Birmingham, ganz schœn clever, Demeter, Akropolis, Codenames and Citadels

[@DumahAtreides]

We recently got Paris City of Lights so that seems the most obvious pick for Valentines day to try out. Out of what we already know and enjoy - Obsession or Grand Austria Hotel are both fantastic at two and good themes. Castles of Burgundy once the new version arrives will be again a top two favorite.

[@jameystegmaier]

That sounds like a great Valentine's game!

[@brennansmith8085]

Yay Megan list! Haven’t tried isle of cats at 2, but now I’m curious to do so. Love most of the games in that list I personally love Decorum and Azul at 2

[@tbahr123]

It works very well at 2. Pretty much the same as at 3 and 4

[@michaelkussy9153]

My wife has been obsessed with Splendor Duel. We are also really enjoying Beer and Bread.

[@matthewcrawford4216]

+1 to splendor duel. My wife and I love it. Time permitting, we play it once a day, 2x if possible.

[@rossparker01]

How lovely that Megan made an appearance! My girlfriend and I have very similar tastes to you both. Our fav filler game these days is Dice Miner. Our favorite mid-length game has been the campaign for Welcome To the Moon! We completed the 5th mission today and all of them have been terrific!!! Finally, when we have time for a long game, our go-to is now Ark Nova.Happy Valentine's!! :)

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks Ross! I'm a big fan of Dice Miner too, and I need to try Welcome to the Moon. Thanks for the recommendation!

[@JEV03]

I’ve not played Roll Player Adventures with more than two but I imagine it’d be hard. Manipulating the dice is so brain burning especially early on before you are powered up that there really wasn’t a lot of collaboration going in. I think I’m more excited to try it solo where I can take my time with the dice manipulation puzzles but sharing the story was a fun experience. We are close to the end and hopefully after our attempts at empathy came back to bite us so many times we can see what our faction alignment does for us! I own very few games that I would not play at two and many of them I prefer at two. Sometimes it means playing two handed (even campaign games that allow you to play two characters might play better at two characters per player), placeholders, or a dummy player like in Dune Imperium, but I find playing together feels less competitive, despite the fact that for most people “head to head” means more competitive.

[@guandjs]

Some of our top games together are: Sagani, Azul, Codenames Duet, Kohaku, Framework, Project L, Ark Nova, Wingspan, Cascadia, Patchwork, Sagrada and Istanbul Dice Game. Many of these work well at higher player counts too, which my wife likes as it means she is more confident with them when playing with others too! Cheers.

[@khornschemeier]

Our favorite 2p-only games include: Patchwork, Jaipur, Lost Cities, Targi, Carcassonne the Castle, Hanamikoji, Morels, and Akrotiri. Many of these are some of our top games overall. They're fast, easy to learn, have a good amount of depth and tension, allow socialization, and encourage multiple plays during a session. I also enjoy chess with my kids. Other games we like at 2 that also play at higher player counts include Star Realms, Cartographers, Arboretum, Wingspan, Tiny Epic Galaxies, FUSE, Istanbul the Dice Game, That's Pretty Clever, Marvel Remix, The Castles of Burgundy, Orleans, Concordia, Ticket to Ride (San Francisco or Nordic Countries), War Chest, Star Wars Rebellion. Tiny Epic Galaxies was our first "coffee shop" game. That holds a special place for us. Istanbul the Dice Game is our most played game. Wingspan, The Castles of Burgundy, Orleans, and Concordia our most loved.

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks for sharing these favorites--this is a great list.

[@ShadayAV]

Great to see Megan! Nice selection! Marvel Dice Throne is indeed quite fun. I've only also played Viticulture, Wingspan, and Isle of Cats, so that's good to know about the other ones which I had my sights on. Unfortunately for me, my significant other is not into the hobby, but I do play with our two little ones and they enjoy Marvel Dice Throne and Isle of Cats too. You guys have a Fun and Happy Valentine's Day!

[@jameystegmaier]

Thank you, you too! :)

[@moravskyvrabec]

We love Jaipur. She likes minimal rule sets so she can quickly get down to beating me. Also Saikatsu, Lost Cities, and Fabled Fruit.

[@DesmonJones]

She specifically likes Ark Nova at higher player counts? Absolute mad woman! 😊

[@jameystegmaier]

I do too! :)

[@katerietmann5731]

Targi is very high on our list! My husband can't remember the name of it ever, but when he asks to play the desert game, I know which one he means!

[@jameystegmaier]

Nice! :)

[@Mat23]

Love this list, my wife loves marvel champions for higher player counts lately. But her fav for just us is Takenoko.

[@jameystegmaier]

Megan loves Takenoko too! :)

[@jeremymullen7097]

In the Stonemaier family of games, definitely Wingspan, but my wife and I also love Red Rising. I think the artwork for each character alone in RR is what has made it one of our favorites.....not to take anything away from the artwork in Wingspan, which is also lovely. Beyond that, we also love Marvel Dice Throne and Parks. We just bought Isle of Cats, but it's already a keeper. We also enjoy getting Ark Nova, Terraforming Mars (both the original and Ares Expedition), Maracaibo, Boonlake, and New York Zoo to the table. For a co-op experience, we go for Pandemic, Marvel United, and Zombicide.

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks Jeremy! Those are great picks.

[@shortydancer]

This video just reminded me that Valentine’s Day is soon.

[@itsGabrielaCristina]

Our favorite 2 player games are Radlands, Caper Europe, Dice Throne and boop. However, this Valentine’s Day the gift I’ve requested is to play Viticulture. My husband has always been intimidated by it and I really want us to play it!

[@jameystegmaier]

I'm eager to try Boop! I hope you two have fun with Viticulture.

[@2bearnest]

My gf enjoys Ohanami, Jaipur, Azul, any trick-taking game, and telling me that I have too many games lol

[@kylemckell]

Out of curiosity, does Megan prefer base Wingspan over Wingspan Asia for 2 players? Happy (belated) Valentines day! Just found this channel and it's absolutely wonderful :)

[@jameystegmaier]

I think we've only played Wingspan Asia (Duet) once or twice at this point, so I'm not sure she has a strong preference for 2 players either way yet. :)

[@apriljoyce9045]

Hey I am new here and have only just started watching your channel I was wondering if you have done a video on Good questions to ask For feedback on games When they are in the prototype stage And good things to look out for during this stage Thank you so much for your content I'm loving it so far It's both entertaining and helpful 🙂

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks April! That's a great question. An article I like on this subject is here: www.gamedeveloper.com/business/10-insightful-playtest-questions As for me, I typically ask a few data-driven questions (specific to the game), and I also ask (a) what was the most confusing/frustrating thing that happened in this session and (b) what was the best/most fun thing that happened in this session. These are questions I ask blind playtesters (when I'm not there and they're reporting on a form).

[@apriljoyce9045]

@@jameystegmaier thank you so much that will help alot And I'll check out the article

[@jameystegmaier]

@@apriljoyce9045 My pleasure! There's lots of related content here: stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter/how-to-design-a-tabletop-game/

[@mkhudon]

My wife and I tend to gravitate toward coop games when we play 2 players. Her favorites are 50 Missions (the french version of Cahoots, I think), The Crew, The Mind and Escape: The Curse of the Temple. I have bought Viticulture World for St-Valentine’s day for us to try. 😊

[@jameystegmaier]

While a lot of the games on our list are competitive, I really enjoy cooperative games with Megan (that's by far my preference for campaign games). I hope you two enjoy Viticulture World!

[@arturthekingg]

Nice list!! Surprised that Shards of Infinity was not mentioned - I thought it was the "other" dueling game - would you say that Star Realms has replaced that for you two? I'm currently exploring Shards, and am looking forward to play the 3-player mode in which you damage both players at same time (therefore, no spite, as you describe it). I really enjoy the system. Anyways, happy Valentines day for both of you, Jamey!

[@jameystegmaier]

We really enjoy the cooperative mode in Shards, and Megan almost chose it...but then she saw that Star Realms box and couldn't resist picking it. :)

[@scyldscefing3913]

This is a great list, and heavily overlaps what my wife and I enjoy.

[@jameystegmaier]

That's great!

[@Isaac-uk]

Games we prefer at 2 are Five Tribes, Spirit Island, Gloomhaven JotL, The Crew and Azul to name a few

[@mollybozarth9116]

Megan has great taste! Lots in common with my wife and I :)

[@jameystegmaier]

That's great, Molly! :)

[@tteshera]

We love VIticulture World - most played game in our house in 2022, and it's great at 2 players. Been really into The Loop recently, another great cooperative game. Just played Wingspan (original) for the first time yesterday, and at 2 players it was great!

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks Tony! I'm glad you had fun with Viticulture World and Wingspan. :)

[@mrp4242]

My wife is an avid gardener and excellent potter; those are her hobbies. I join in on those sometimes. Conversely, she will join me for a good game at times as well (I wouldn’t have married her 26 years ago if she didn’t like/tolerate board games lol). She tends to like lighter to medium light games, especially word and party games and those that involve a degree of art. She kills it at Escape Rooms. She’s generally not into 2P games but I can get her to (fairly) routinely play: Isle of Skye Ticket to Ride Scrabble (plus variants) Arboretum One of these days, maybe, I’ll get her to try these games in my top ten 2 player games: Twilight Struggle War of the Ring Star Wars Rebellion Hands in the Sea Star Wars the Card Game (LCG)

[@jameystegmaier]

I'm glad you've found some games that a good fit for the two of you! Megan and I are excited to try Box One together (I think it's kind of an escape room game).

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

Has she tried the Village Green? Herbaceous is also cute.

[@jameystegmaier]

@@Poiuytrew.Q We have Herbaceous and enjoy it, but we haven't tried Village Green.

[@Amadre278]

Definitely agree with Wingspan, Parks and Star Realms. As two players is my most common player count, I could go on and on, but I’ll name a few that have gotten to the table a lot, many of which are admittedly less popular: Spirits of the Wild Lost Cities The Fox and the Forest Schotten Totten Mandala Rival Realms Fleet and Fleet Wharfside Any of the GIPF series Santorini

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks for sharing your picks!

[@halojill4937]

Adorbs!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@matthewcrawford4216]

My wife and I enjoy wingspan so much we just refuse to it as the “birb game” and we almost exclusively play it at two. Which makes me want to get wingspan Asia now that I see it’s specifically for two players Splendor duel Azul Cabo Love letter The mind All are fun at two. ❤

[@jameystegmaier]

I hope you enjoy Wingspan Asia! :)

[@whitewolf6113]

Thanks Megan! :)

[@asaswain1031]

I’m curious, which character won your Marvel Dice Throne tournament? (and do you have a favorite character?)

[@jameystegmaier]

I think Loki won (in the hands of Megan). My favorite character is probably Black Widow, as I love the upgrading mechanism.

[@viridian8853]

When you were mentioning dueling games about taking their life to zero, I was wondering if Magic was going to show up. Does Megan play with you or is that not really her thing? If yes what format do you like to play together and have you ever Winston drafted?

[@jameystegmaier]

Megan has played in some drafts (I typically host a draft for each new set), though I think the theme of the set has a big impact on whether or not she's interested. She enjoyed Strixhaven and the fairy tale set.

[@nib71286]

Try out "Marvel Snap" with a loved one in person with their Friendly mode.

[@jameystegmaier]

You can now choose specific opponents in Marvel Snap?

[@nib71286]

@@jameystegmaier yes, its a friendly mode where both players dont earn anything. Worth checking out as a game designer for sure 😁

[@nib71286]

You start out with 13 cards for a 12 card deck, so you could play online together to talk strategies until you both get up to 24-36 cards and then play each other with a secret deck. 36 cards will give you a similar feel to "Air Land and Sea" with each player using 6 out of 18 cards.

[@nib71286]

What about 2 player Scythe Fenris Coop mode? Do you and Megan destroy?

[@jameystegmaier]

@@nib71286 We haven't tried that! :)

[@enosfruit]

Fav 2 players games have been: Dice throne adventures Agricola Patchwork Too Many Bones Tussie Mussie Cascadia Set a Watch

[@jameystegmaier]

Great picks!

[@parmacody3899]

So Megan is your roommate? I also have a “roommate” named Megan too

[@jameystegmaier]

Megan is my girlfriend/partner, and we live together. :)

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

Hi Megan!

[@namethem00]

Hi Megan! :D