The Best Board Games For Two Players...That Aren't Specifically Two Player! (Episode 1)

[@stacie_everdell]

Parks is great two-player. This and Azul are the only two games I can get my (very) non-gamer partner to play. Thanks so much for this video. Well said in your intro, nobody really covers two-player game play quite this way. :)

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for the comments - on this video and others - and thanks for watching! Yes we love Parks 😍 we actually bought Azul for a friend for Christmas but haven’t got to play it ourselves yet!

[@michaeldarling7169]

Yes! Found the Arnak mention. Good list! We play five of these at two player regularly. I'm very interested now in all the other titles, especially Brass Birmingham, Lost Ruins of Arnak, Viticulture, Eclipse, and Root. Thanks to you, I know they will be fun for us at two players and higher. Thank you! Look forward to more of these in the future.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Great - glad you found it! They’re all brilliant games - Brass Birmingham is for sure in our top 5 games too 👌🏻

[@kylerdamien7365]

You all probably dont care but does any of you know of a trick to get back into an Instagram account?? I stupidly lost my account password. I appreciate any tips you can give me

[@dravenedwin3264]

@Kyler Damien instablaster =)

[@imnottellingyoumyname3050]

Got Brass Birmingham last week and me and my girlfriend managed to sit and learn it Friday. Was absolutely exhausting to grasp the complexities of the rules. Come Sunday? We're about to play our 4th game in 24 hours; this game is absolutely FANTASTIC. It's so much fun building your empire over the Midlands but my word it's so deep. I cannot recommend it more for a couple, great suggestion from the two of you.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

That’s amazing!! So happy you’ve been enjoying it - especially at 2 players - we really think it deserves to be on this list and hoping it inspires others to give Brass a try with 2. Thanks for commenting!

[@iparper]

Loved this video. I have just discovered this channel and you are amazing! Nice work!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thank you so much for the lovely comment, we really appreciate it! Glad you enjoyed this one! 😊

[@DogFogB]

I really appreciate the concise and informative content. Anyone can make their point in a long time; it takes effort to convey information succinctly. Thanks!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks so much for saying this as when we set out and started our channel, our main goal was to bring concise but as informative as possible content so it’s really amazing that’s coming through and people are enjoying it 😊

[@BoardGameSanctuary]

Great video guys! Great focus on newer board games for two as well as a few lighter games as well as good heavy games too! :)

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks! We really appreciate it. We didn't try to cover a bit of everything, but that's just how it turned out haha. I think due to how popular it was we'll have to do a part two...

[@dustinnygard3076]

This is exactly the kind of list I was looking for and a great list. Thank you

[@BoardOfItReviews]

We’re very happy to help! Not sure if you’ve already seen but it’s part of a series so there’s a couple more videos on this topic 👌🏻

[@Sraktai]

Thanks for making this video! Introduced lots of games that look so cool!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

We’re happy it was helpful for you - thanks so much for watching!

[@kobusbrits3523]

Nice video. All great games! Of those mentioned, we've played Lost Ruins of Arnak, Brass Birmingham, Res Arcana and Spirit Island. We still want to try most of the others you guys mentioned. Some of our other favorite games to play at the 2 player count includes Everdell, Castles of Burgundy, Aeon's End, Robinson Crusoe (only played once so far but enjoyed it), Suburbia and Terraforming Mars. Arkham Horror LCG works great as well, but not my wife's favorite.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for the comment! Ah Everdell very nearly made our list actually, it probably would have if the video wasn’t already pretty long 😅 we’ve heard a lot that Castles of Burgundy is really great at 2, we have it but it’s on the shelf of shame - we haven’t managed to get it to the table yet. I think we’ll have to after hearing so much good stuff about it since posting this video!

[@nicjmc7600]

Thanks for this, really like the look of a few of these. Looking forward to the next review. Keep them coming 😁

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Hopefully you'll get to play them all one day!

[@marcosseven8872]

Hey great video topic! Viticulture is a game that I am debating if getting it or not. I got into boardgaming in 2020. so its kinda hard to catch up with so many great titles, while a great number of new games are coming up every year! But I am on the look for games that gives good value and, if Viticulture plays great at 2 plus can play up to 6, I love this. Think I will gift the game to me for my next birthday, in October!! hehe. Anyway! love your videos. Love your dogs! Keep it up! you guys are amazing

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Viticulture is a bit of an evergreen for us. Sure, it came out a fair few years ago now, but it's a really top game if you like classic worker placement. Thanks for all the lovely comments!

[@Jonaelize]

Great list and so many new games. Thanks! I always thought one should not play Brass with less than 3 players, but I will try it out with 2

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Glad to hear you like it! Thanks for the comments. I'm sure there are a few Brass fans who would say that, but we don't think it's drastically worse at all. It's not one we play too much at two players, but that's only because all of our friends really love it so it's very easy to get out with a group for us.

[@FinallyAnAnswer]

Really appreciate the unexpected additions to this list. You always se CoB, Gloomhaven, Azul, etc. It's nice to see some variety. I will look into some of these titles. Especially, many of these games are considered 'best' at 3, 4, or more, so hearing 2p insight is great.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for the lovely comment! Glad you like it, as we know how tough it is to want to get a game but worry it'll be wasted on two players.

[@LarsWeber]

Reddit brought me here. Thank you, that was very informative. I will go for brass, because it's already in my shelf but I never knew it could be good with 2 players.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

We appreciate the lovely comment! It's surprisingly decent at two, so I hope you enjoy it!

[@anz10]

Thanks for this!! Was looking for a list of 2p games that wasnt just the standard 2p games already mentioned elsewhere. Moreover, I'm getting into more complex 2p games so I dont always want to play the other more easily accessible 2p games so this is a great list for me to explore! I recommend sherlock holmes consulting detective: the thames murders and other cases if you're interested in doing fun story driven detective work with your partner, great game!! Love trying to read it out loud in a sherlock like voice with sherlock atmospheric sounds found on KZbin music in background 😂 looks of careful observation and case discussion ensues.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Glad it was helpful! Good shout on Sherlock Holmes actually, we do have it, but we've actually totally forgotten about it as we put it on our bookshelf as opposed to our games cupboard. We really do have to get that out again... The KZbin music suggestion is great too, we'll defo be trying that.

[@varianor]

Nice video. Played several of these games and have eyes on many that you mentioned. Appreciate the perspective on what works at 2 player that isn't a 2 player game. Of the games I've played and that are in my collection, I have to say that Santorini (a 2 player game) and Pandemic Hot Zone: North America (a 4 player game that is better at 2) are some gems. There are more of course!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for watching and thanks for sharing! I do really like the look of Santorini - anything with a travel theme or based on a real place grabs my attention! Part 2 of this video coming soon with more of our favourites that we just couldn’t just fit in or new games in the collection so keep an eye out! 😉

[@benculver6133]

My wife and I just got Viticulture and we confirm two player is as good as four.. it maintains a sense of urgency and scarcity and is loads of fun! One more that I would add to the list, also from Stonemaier, is Wingspan. My wife and I have played around 30 times during the pandemic. Slightly better with four, but it loses very little with two--and it moves along faster with two, which I appreciate.

[@benculver6133]

Oh yeah - great list by the way!!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks so much! We really appreciate the kind words. We have traditional Viticulture Fridays with Wine and tapas, so we are just waiting for warmer weather to get the feel right! Wingspan is a great shout, and one we totally agree with. We've actually played quite a lot of it this week due to the Oceania expansion. We'll have to include it in 'More The Best Board Games For Two Players' :D

[@BondOfFlame]

Great video and great variety of games, thanks

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for watching!

[@deanandtavonplumb7059]

Me and my Mrs play splendor, kana gawa, barunpark, isle of cats and azul. They all work well in 2 player.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for the suggestions! We actually haven’t played any of these yet! We bought Azul for a friend for Christmas but haven’t tried it out ourselves yet...also interested in trying Barenpark after it was recommended to us a few times after our New York Zoo review. We’re working on a ‘part 2’ of this video as we couldn’t fit them all into one video so stay tuned! 😉

[@Akkulader]

The right dog killed me

[@BoardOfItReviews]

She is a character 😂

[@BoardOfItReviews]

@BoardOfItReviews Hey everyone! We really appreciate you watching! If you found this helpful, please consider subscribing as it helps us grow our channel. More subscribers makes us more attractive to publishers, which allows us to collaborate with them and make more videos! It's costly and time consuming to make these videos, so we could really use the support! :)

[@johnpanagos5835]

Great games. In this category, we like to play Ethetfields, Isle of cats, Abyss and Seasons. Gloomhaven and jaws were a lot of fun too.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for the suggestions! We haven’t played any of your first 4 suggestions but Isle of Cats has been recommended to us a few times so we should defo check it out! Agree JOTL is also a great one in this category! We were kindly given Gloomhaven to us by a friend but we haven’t started it yet! But stay tuned for a part 2 of this video coming soon 😉 some new games to add since we published this plus some old ones we simply didn’t have time to fit into part 1!

[@gavinpearson74]

Agree Res Arcana is great for 2, and nice and quick

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Exactly! The speed at which you can play at 2 means we get it out often before or after longer games as a warm up or cool down to a gaming session! 👌🏻

[@simontaverner3121]

Raiders of the North Sea (both expansions) / Lords of Waterdeep / Scythe / second Viticulture. My wife loves engine builders! Also Pandemic Legacy (all).

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Scythe is our favourite game, but we didn't include it because we love it much more at 3 or 4. We are currently playing Pandemic legacy season 0 though. Need to try Lords of Waterdeep, we've heard it's an excellent worker placement.

[@cadiboy04]

@@BoardOfItReviews I don't think Lords of Waterdeep plays as well as Viticulture as a 2-player game.

[@garthmichel]

Jaws of the lion, wife and I have ben playing this and we love it

[@BoardOfItReviews]

How far in are you? We are also playing! Taking it a bit slow though, usually only have a game or two every couple of weeks.

[@garthmichel]

@@BoardOfItReviews scenerio 5 or 6, we had our first session as level 2

[@simonmcg23]

Hey guys. Nice list. Can I add WIngspan to the list? A lovely experience at 2 players. More generally... a 2 player game means that both of you can read everything going on without craning your head or trying to read upside down or getting up to walk around to read the action cards or something. Personally I think its a tremendous disadvantage when games are not symmetrical and you are on the wrong side...

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for the suggestion! It's a great one ;). This is actually a series, and you'll be glad to know we covered it on another video.

[@marcosseven8872]

I also love Wingspan at 2p. But I have to say that those Pink "in-between actions" are brilliant in a 4 or 5 player count. Wingspan = Oceania is the best. I think I will never play Wingspan base game again.

[@oliverjensson]

Have you implemented the Errata published earlier this month for Spirit Island regarding starting blight ("During setup, read the healthy island side of the blight card as '2blight per player plus one'") ? If so, how did you feel it compared?

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Unfortunately not! I think we last played in December before we heard about it. I think we'll defo incorporate in future games though as we will increase the level next time we play. As I understand it, it's just to make the game more fair at lower player counts compared to higher.

[@pjarnfelt]

Lovely list! A lot of them are on my "to play" list. Some going on now. Which would you say you enjoy most and which do you bring most to the table when the 2 of you play? Thanks again for the video.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for the comment! It’s tricky to say which ones come out the most since sometimes we’re actively playing a game a lot to review it for the channel, so the ‘most played’ is changing a lot! But in terms of our top picks from this list - if we really had to choose would be: Farrell: New York Zoo, Eclipse, Brass: Birmingham Tallie: Lost Ruins of Arnak, Viticulture, Brass: Birmingham But it’s sooo hard to choose because we love them all! And depends what we’re in the mood for 😊

[@milest4214]

Love PARKS, especially with the expansion. I'll add to the list, Cubitos, Sagrada, Isle of Cats and Disney Villainous.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Totally agree about the Parks expansion - it’s a brilliant game standalone but the expansion really elevates it! Thanks for your suggestions too, we don’t have any of those so we’ll have to look into them!

[@chrispottle7143]

What a nice couple!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks!

[@marcosseven8872]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Castles of Burgundy.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Hahaha well after nearly everyone who commented said the same thing I believe we included it in the next video in this series! I think at the time of this video it was squarely on our shelf of shame.

[@inoutsoccer11]

I've been trying to decide which to get between Lost Ruins and Everdell. I noticed that both are in these videos which doesn't make the decision any easier. Both look like great games...

[@BoardOfItReviews]

That is quite a tough choice 😅 we have full reviews on both of those games so maybe check those out if you haven’t already and we’re hoping those will help you decide 😬

[@ticktock2162]

Considering getting Root as it really appeals to me but currently only have my partner to play with. Obviously buying both the game and the expansion is quite an investment, is it best to play a four-player game of vanilla Root first to understand the rules or is it okay to go straight into the game+expansion without having a taste of the base game (mainly worried about using the expansion would be adding new rules before we've even had the chance to understand the original game)? Thanks for this list by the way! I think I'm also going to be checking out Tapestry and Spirit Island.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Glad you enjoyed it! I don't think it would be a big deal getting Root and the expansion together, as the rules don't change as such, you just have to follow a protocol for controlling the AI factions. Tbh, you could just play a game or two at two player with the cats and birds to understand it, then after that throw in an expansion faction or two. The AI doesn't play particularly differently than they would if they were a player, they just tend to score easier and slightly differently. Edit: Nice Profile Pic btw!

[@ticktock2162]

@@BoardOfItReviews great to hear! I'm stoked to try it out. And thank you for the pfp compliment, I'm a huge C&H fan c:

[@BoardOfItReviews]

As am I (Farrell). Got the entire bound collection!

[@magicmerl7749]

What would you recommend for someone who thinks that Porto Rico has too many different pieces? Most of the games there seemed to be about that involved.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Parks and New York Zoo are the lightest games on the list so I'd recommend those first. They are both charming and really could be picked up and played by any age very quickly.

[@LeeroyPorkins]

Mine: 1. Champions of Midguard (Blood Rage for Couples) 2. Alien Frontiers 3. Gunkimono 4. Draftosaurus 5. Kingdoms (Reiner Knizia) 6. Kingdomino 7. Barenpark 8. Takenoko 9. Monumental 10. Rise of Tribes

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for the suggestions - we’re not too familiar with some of those so we’ll have to look into them, it’s always great to have new recommendations!

[@LeeroyPorkins]

@@BoardOfItReviews You're welcome.

[@J-Wheeler-G]

I would have to recommend Grand Austria Hotel.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

We do really want to play this! What makes it good to play with 2?

[@J-Wheeler-G]

@@BoardOfItReviews because it scales very well, when you are familiar with it it plays fast, runs smooth, the dice drafting it's amazing and the only thing you could say would definitely benefit from more players would be the common goals.

[@MightyWolve]

What do you think of Everdell for 2 players?

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Everdell was actually one of the games that was cut from the list while filming, when we decided we'd probably covered enough! So yep, we'd totally recommend it at 2. The worker placement spaces are proportionate to players, and a lot of the game is solo engine building, so player count doesn't matter there. It's maybe a bit easier to get cards, since the meadow is shared between 2, but we love playing it at 2.

[@cadiboy04]

No Patchwork? :(

[@BoardOfItReviews]

For this video we focussed on games that we love to play at 2 players and have design points that allow it to be enjoyable at 2 players - but these games are not specifically designed for 2 players ☺️ So we didn’t include games such as Patchwork that are specifically designed for 2 (plus, we’ve yet to play it, but hear super great things about it!)

[@cadiboy04]

@@BoardOfItReviews I see. Thanks for the clarification :D

[@firemothful]

First