Top 10 UNDERRATED 2 Player Games! 🎎

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Join me in checking out my top 10 underrated games that are AMAZING for 2 players! 💝
Let me know what your favorite 2-player games are in the comments below!
00:00 Intro
01:08 10 🌳
02:46 9 ⛽
04:25 8 🔎
06:07 7 🐄
07:52 6 ⚔️
10:05 5 🌱
11:58 4 ⭕
13:25 3 🎩
15:20 2 🗡️
17:12 1 🎎
19:15 Outro
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#tabletoptokki #2playergames #2playerboardgames

[@khiarastales2091]

Tokki, you're the best for underrated/small boardgame recommendations! Thank you. Mr. Jack and Longhorn took my interest.

[@tabletoptokki]

Hope you get to try them soon! 🤗

[@rolling.reggie]

I love that you are giving Botanik a shout out! I felt like I was the only evangelist for this amazing 2p game. Also, discovered you from Rahdo and you have great taste :) adding Longhorn, Haven, and Hanamikoji to my list.

[@tabletoptokki]

Ah, yeah! It's such a clever, elegant design! I know they just put it in Beta on BGA as well, so hopefully more people catch on to how amazing of a game it is! 💚 And wow, thank you! Welcome to the channel!!! Hope you get to try Longhorn, Haven, & Hanamikoji soon! 🤗

[@MrJmarzetti]

Thank you!! I think you are the only content creator that can pronounce Botanik correctly. Everyone else that has reviewed this game seems to want to pronounce it bot-nik..? I mean the theme is botanical. And, agreed, it's a great and somewhat overlooked 2 player game.😁

[@tabletoptokki]

Omg really??? That would drive me crazy. Glad to be of service! 😂😂😂

[@sandrag2843]

Fantastic list! I aleady own hats, Mr. Jack Pocket, Botanik and Yinsh and I love them😍

[@tabletoptokki]

Ahh, right on! 😁

[@devandesmarais4865]

Great list. Many I've never heard of. Thank you for sharing!

[@tabletoptokki]

Glad to hear! Hope you get to try them soon! 😄

[@axétério]

Botanik! Love that one I hadn’t heard of Fallen, Kero or Haven; especially interested in the last one since it’s a Laukert game. Tash-Kalar and Longhorn I heard about, was intrigued but then forgot so thank you for bringing them back up

[@axétério]

Oh, Caper: Europe is a great 2player only game, Art of War is a good, quick one and Conspiracy: Abyss Universe plays up to 4 and is just as fun at 2

[@tabletoptokki]

Hope you get to try them soon! And yeah, Laukat did the art and his company published it, but Alf Seegert designed Haven. ^^ Love Abyss: Conspiracy as well! :D

[@imnottellingyoumyname3050]

Few I havent heard of that look great! Appreciate it

[@tabletoptokki]

Glad to hear! Hope you get to try them soon! ^^

[@jgutkind]

Happy Valentine to all. What a fantastic list of underrated 2 players games. I was excited to discover I own two on your list. I will get them off my self play them tonight. Voting for more underrated lists of game categories. Thank you

[@tabletoptokki]

Ahhh, that's awesome! Which two? ^^ And definitely more to come! Have a great Valentine's Day~~ 💝

[@pnutbutrncrackers]

A two-player I've only recently heard of that intrigues me is Match of the Century, which takes its inspiration from the 1972 World Chess Championship between USA's Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. It was seen as a microcosm of the Cold War. It's not chess (this board game), but reportedly captures a similar tension and involves strategic push-pull with low rules-overhead and wide choices. As usual liked your video and wish I could play YINSH with somebody.

[@tabletoptokki]

That sounds really awesome! And the pieces are red and teal!?!??! I'm in! Thanks for the rec :D

[@airplane_girl]

Your videos never disappoint, Tia! I'd love to try Kero and Mr Jack. I'm playing Botanik on BGA right now! The mechanism you love about Hats (which I also want to try, lol!) sounds kinda like Piepmatz, where it's tricky to get cards directly from your hand to your tableau.

[@tabletoptokki]

Ooh, didn't realize Botanik is om BGA! 😯

[@longtimeninerfan1309]

And happy Valentine’s Day to you too. I hit the Like and am subscribed ( already 😊). Thanks for so many great ideas and insights along the way!

[@tabletoptokki]

Of course!!! Hope you have an amazing day! 😊💝

[@TheMohawkMatt]

I was skeptical so I made the pinky promise and then you showed me FIVE new games, had to subscribe. Agree with you about Hanamikoji, but my favourite new 2-player game is called RUN, excellent hidden movement game.

[@tabletoptokki]

Ah, is that the new Tim Fowers game? I enjoyed Fugitive quite a bit; will have to try RUN soon! 😄

[@TheMohawkMatt]

yeah it is! Fugitive is in my top 10 two player games but Run might even be above it already, it’s so tense. similar vibe, but deeper gameplay. always feels like the cop is right on the runner’s heels, so fun!

[@tabletoptokki]

Oooh, I'm sold! 😄

[@TheHallbjorn]

My #1 Underrated 2-Player option is Warhammer Underworlds (trust me, even Warhammer players don't know it exists). It's an asymmetrical tactical skirmish game where each player uses 3-7 models and two customizable decks to eliminate opponent models, hold map objectives, and score other conditional victory points. One deck feeds a hand of one-time abilities and upgrades that can be used on your fighters, and the other deck contains a pool of hidden objectives you draw for scoring throughout the three game rounds. Both decks used by factions are highly customizable and there are numerous expansion set that can add new factions along with new cards your existing factions can incorporate. It's much quicker than big miniature wargames (each player only only has 12 actions for the entire game), and it's less complicated than Magic the Gathering to deck-build and play. Admittedly the game can be pretty expensive if you collect a lot of factions, but the base starter sets have everything you need to play and two complete factions, and there are four or five starter sets out now with different starting warbands so you would choose the starting set that appeals most. The models are extremely detailed Games Workshop Age of Sigmar compatible models (good D&D proxies), and are great for model-painting board gamers, but there is some assembly required if that is a deterrent. Also, there has been a fair amount of power and complexity creep over the years, so the first starter set came with much less efficient and effective cards in the faction decks, and the new ones need almost no customization to be playable, but are slightly more rules upkeep to play.

[@tabletoptokki]

Wow, that sounds like a really cool and concise blend of two huge concepts! I'm not super into huge tabletop war games or Magic, but it seems like Underworlds brings the best of both and makes it a little more digestible and special for someone who might not be that deep into either, yeah? I'll definitely have to look into this one more! Thanks for the rec! :D

[@mrsteaknshake]

Robin of Locksley, Shobu, Zertz, along with Beer and Bread are my current favorites.!

[@tabletoptokki]

Still hoping for a Robin of Locksley Expansion... 😅

[@tracieperez2629]

Great picks, we actually played Haven for Valentine's day and it was so fun! Plenty that I haven't played, but am now curious to try like Botanik and Tash Kalar, but I absolutely agree that Hanamikoji is a must play!

[@tabletoptokki]

That"s awesome! Hope you get to try the others soon! 😁

[@sewaprolo]

I'm just as surprised as you are that most people don't even know about Hanamikoji. I always thought otherwise, but it's not that well-known, which is a shame cuz it's absolutely fantastic. My go to for two players, that are not particularly popular, are Rajas of the Ganges and Valley of the Kings. The latter being especially exceptional at the two-player count.

[@tabletoptokki]

Right?!?! And +1 for Rajas and Valley of the Kings-- both are such bangers! 🥰

[@TH-wq2ge]

Love Valley of the Kings sooo much. Favorite Deck-Builder by far. Excellent at two players! Ganges Dice Charmers might also be one of the most overlooked and underrated roll and write games. Nobody talks about it.

[@negroscuro7]

Thank you for sharing your favourites. I have been playing boardgames from 2004 and I discovered some very interesting ones here. I would like to recomomend you Mandala, if you dont know it, take a look on it.

[@tabletoptokki]

Glad to hear! I've played Mandala, but it's been a while-- hope to play it again soon sometime. :)

[@johnricker7064]

Happy Valentines Day Tia!!

[@tabletoptokki]

Happy Valentine's Day, John! Hope you have a good one! 😄

[@SenseiJae]

I’ve played all 10 of these and liked none of them. My picks for underrated duel games: Ubongo duel, ingenious duel (these two are tighter versions of their full counterparts) Unforgiven- similar mechanisms to 7 wonders duel, but with a mire engaging theme Roma- personally, one of Feld’s best games. Dice action selection done right. Highly recommend! Fjords- a delightful tile laying area control game Jambo- criminally out of print resource management game Those are the 6 I feel are over looked. To fill out the ten, I’m not passionate about these 4, but also deserve a look: Up Front- the predecessor to Undaunted. Tough rule book though. DC deck building game Rivals- the core game gets all the attention, but the head to head nature of this series is quite delightful. The games do take longer than they should, though. Cathedral- a delightful abstract game about filling a city. One of the first polyomino games. Quicksand. (1981)- this might be a harder sell, it’s essentially chinese checkers with sand timers. It’s stupid fun though. I don’t think it has ever been republished, and even if it did, it would need one heck of a marketing campaign. But if you get a chance, try it, it is a lot of fun.

[@tabletoptokki]

Will keep an eye out for Unforgiven, sounds interesting! Thanks for the recs!

[@colcakes196]

Based on the two player games lists that I usually see, Circle the Wagons is high on my underrated list. You’ve given me a few to check out here though!

[@tabletoptokki]

Circle the Wagons is a top-tier 2 player game from ButtonShy! One of my go-tos for sure! 😄

[@colcakes196]

Oh! Also, I totally agree about Mr. Jack Pocket. Excellent game!

[@tabletoptokki]

Western theme reskin??? 🤠

[@paulhamrick3943]

I just picked up a copy of Botanik, new-in-shrink, a couple weeks ago! I haven't been able to play it yet though.

[@tabletoptokki]

Oooh, congrats on the acquisition! Hope you get it to the table soon! 😁

[@paulhamrick3943]

@@tabletoptokki, also, you influenced me to buy Unearth from a friend. I'm picking it up this Thursday!

[@TH-wq2ge]

When I played it for the first time I played it non-stop for several days because the mechanism is so pure and fascinating. Here the game is the mechanism, tile laying, set collection etc are just on the side. The central mechanism is the game itself. It’s a killer design.

[@tabletoptokki]

Yessss, enjoy! Lmk how your first play goes! 😄

[@billable1861]

Wow Tash Kalar? I have all the expansions too. I also am terrible at it but love it. That’s a nice pick. Here’s my picks for 2 player games: Raptor (asymmetric scientists vs dinosaurs simple but still thinky) Riftforce (lots of decision space for a quick playing colorful card game) Hive Pocket (you don’t need the big sized game this is cheaper and more portable feels like checkers meets dominoes but with hexes) Onitama (watered down chess with cards and a eastern styled theme way more fun than it sounds) That’s all my two player duel games and bonus points you can play all of them with children too. Hive might be the hardest to explain.

[@tabletoptokki]

Nice! Just played both Hive Pocket and Onitama the other night! Will have to look into Riftforce. ^^

[@TH-wq2ge]

Thank you for the Video. An excellent list! Love Haven (discovered it through your channel, thank you so much, it is really unique), great to see Longhorn, Botanik one of the best and mechanically Sebastian Pauchons best design, Hats, yes, definitely overlooked and underrated, and Hanamikoji absolute masterpiece of game design, though I wouldn’t say it is underrated, nor overlooked (at least, everyone who knows it rates it extremely high). I also highly, highly recommend Paris, a very unique two phase, tile laying game, completely underrated and largely overlooked. As for the more known 2-player games, there are some older titles that can count as overlooked. For example, Blitz und Donner which was republished as Thunder and Lightening by Z-MAN. A very fine and subtle duelling game with action points, bluffing and I think that you think that I know what you think etc. Akrotiri is also still high on my top two player list. I still love Kahuna and would play it any time. Jambo also is still a great game that many people still play and that is worth getting second hand. I don’t know how many people do not know Mandala, but it is one of the best two player games of all times. Also an older game I highly recommend: Crazy Chicken (aka Drive) by Michael Schacht which is now only available with a copy of a more-thatn-2-players-remake called Lyttle Woods. It is a masterpiece, but should always be played with the original Crazy Chickens 2-player-only rules. Also highly, highly recommend, another Michael Schacht: Legacy of the Maharaja. This is a very simple up-to-4-players set collection, incentive building game with some clever twists. But what makes it special is an extra set of contract cards for a unique 2-player variant of the game which makes the game so much faster, more tense and extremely tactical, that I want to call it the most overlooked and underrated 2-player-game of all times. Really, check it out! It has classic qualities. Very minimalist package with lots of game.

[@tabletoptokki]

Love Paris! Will definitely have to check out Legacy of the Maharaja; thanks for the rec! 😁

[@tfpp1]

If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend you check out a 2P game called Mandala (and/or its recent standalone ‘sequel’ in the Mandala-verse, Patterns). Mandala is like crack to me, I just want to play it all the freaking time! 😛 Patterns will most likely be the same, that’s why they both occupy one entry in my mind.

[@tabletoptokki]

I have played it but for some reason it didn't grab me as much as I thought it would. 😭 Maybe I need to try it again! 😊

[@gdcadad]

Several good mentions...I LOVE 2 player games. I'd add Spirits of the Wild. Great list!!

[@tabletoptokki]

Oooh, it's been a hot minute since I've gotten to play Spirits of the Wild-- def want to play it again soon! ^^

[@dustinlynch1122]

+1 Hanamikoji, innovation is one I love, and V & I are digging Lacuna from CMYK

[@tabletoptokki]

Oooh, I'll have to look into Lacuna! 🙂

[@StKnightis64]

Killer list Tia! Two player games I would add: Odin’s Raven’s, Klask is a “hoot”, and Quacks of Quedlinburg plays nice at two. Yinsh is absolutely fantastic, and Hanamikoji is pretty well a must own (that’s pretty arrogant, but it’s that good!) Tash Kalar is already on my 2024 wishlist, but I’ll need to look into Fallen and Longhorn as well. Hope your Valentines Day was pleasant. If not, next month there’s St Paddy’s Day. So there’s that. ☘️

[@tabletoptokki]

I am so bad at Odin's Ravens, but I love it! 😂 Happy Valentine's Day, Ken! Pick anything up in the TenHun sale??? New Blue? 😝💙

[@StKnightis64]

@@tabletoptokki TenHun - No!!! Thanks for reminding me. Aagh! Did I miss it! Later! 😱 Edit: wait - just came back from Tenhundred. By Blue, are you speaking of “Siberian Stroll”, because that is fricking amazing!

[@tabletoptokki]

@@StKnightis64 Yeah boiiiiii! ^^

[@jamesmorgan1967]

A sand timer truck? And Mr. Jack comes in a pocket sized box? Whaaaat? 🤯 First time hearing of Kero and forgotten about Longhorn so will be checking those out. Hanamikoji, along with Pandemic, were the two games that got me into modern board games. Great game and really enjoyed your list!

[@tabletoptokki]

Ahh, that's awesome! Hanamikoji was a random early grab for me as well due to the box art. Hope you get to try out Kero and Mr Jack Pocket soon! 😄

[@DontNickMe]

Should try Hunt the Ravager, 2p hidden movement. My fav 2p games: Star Wars deckbuilder, High Heavens, Kero, Dungeon Heroes, Omen, Rocketeer, SW: rebellion, Princess Jing

[@tabletoptokki]

Hunt the Ravager sounds really cool; thanks for the rec and great list of 2 player games! ^^

[@markchamberlain7715]

YES! Tash Kalar is amazing! It's so good if you can play someone on your skill level, ideally if you both learn together. Great choice!

[@tabletoptokki]

Definitely! Someday I'll find someone who's as bad as me and I'll get to see what a balanced match looks like. 😅😂

[@johnricker7064]

Remember it's not always about the attractiveness of a game but it's personality

[@tabletoptokki]

Ahahha, "It's what's on the inside that counts!" ☺️

[@Trevin_Taylor]

That’s just what ugly games say.

[@tabletoptokki]

Got emmm~~~ 😅

[@darbyl3872]

I'm really into Mottainai (2 to 3 players) after finding the "Plain and Simple" rules on bgg. It's just a deck of cards, 54, but each one is unique and overpowered, and often they combo off of each other, so every game is different. I give it a 10 out of 10, and that is very unusual. A few others for 2 players: Homeworlds, Martian Chess, Stratego (since forever), and any Unmatched. I want to try Werewords Deluxe at 2, and Mantis Falls, both social deduction games for 2 players!!! Oh, and Mouse Cheese Cat Cucumber is great for 2 to 4, as a puzzley hidden identity game.

[@tabletoptokki]

Oooh, love Mottainai but have yet to try the "Plain and Simple" variation! :x Mouse Cheese Cat Cucumber also sounds wildly entertaining. Thanks for the rec! ^^

[@darbyl3872]

@@tabletoptokki "Plain and Simple" is just an easier way to learn the rules. I played it incorrectly for about 6 months.

[@tabletoptokki]

Oh! Very fair :)

[@TheHallbjorn]

I started this video planning to write a comment about Kero since it came to mind as my most underrated 2-player game... and imagine my surprise.

[@tabletoptokki]

Ahaha, there you go! It's an amazing one and super unique, for sure! ^^

[@kanaestudio]

good video, but in my opinion I wouldn't consider some of the games on that list to be underrated, they are known and loved by those of us who play 2-player games and several appear in the tops of many players. Yes, it is true that some older ones that are currently out of print do not receive much love or popularity, but basically it is because they cannot be found or bought easily. Distric noir, caper europe, Match of the Century, sky team, ,Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation , undaunted, Blitzkrieg!,Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes! ,watergate that time you kill me and Pagan They would be on my favorites list along with hanmikoji and botanik

[@tabletoptokki]

That's a fair point and I'm glad to hear that the 2 player community has higher regard for some of the titles! Doesn't ezempt them fron deserving more lve in the general board-gaming community as well though. 😊 And thanks for the list! I haven't gotten to try Pagan, but I'll certainly be looking for a copy to play now! 🐇

[@jonathanantscherl]

Before I watched the video I was getting ready to comment that Hanamakoji is an underrated masterpiece and woohooooo #1! Phenomenal game.

[@tabletoptokki]

Eyyy, great minds think alike! 😄

[@dylanwatson6761]

New sub!

[@tabletoptokki]

Eyyy, welcome to the channel! 🥳

[@mikaeki5245]

Your hair is so amazingly beautiful. How long is it? I had never heard of Fallen, got to look into it more. Happy Valentines Day ! (Or how we in Finland celebrate it, Happy Friends Day ! ) [Not the show 😉]

[@tabletoptokki]

Happy Friends Day!! ☺️ Fallen is super fun! Hope you get to try it sometime soon! 😊 And thank you! Tbh i've never measured it or anything so I don't know… 😅

[@mikeforner7797]

it is 27 inches

[@diamondmeeple]

Nice 🙂

[@tabletoptokki]

🙆🏻‍♀️

[@mikeforner7797]

oooooooh...Fallen!

[@tabletoptokki]

Yeah, it's such a banger! ^^

[@thealgorerhythm9379]

Not sure how underrated it is, but Jaipur is my favourite.

[@tabletoptokki]

Very fair! Do you have a preference between the new or old art? 😊

[@mechashadow]

​@@tabletoptokki For me, size matters.

[@tabletoptokki]

😅😂

[@alexeykhomik]

Twilight Struggle???

[@tabletoptokki]

Oh man, that brings me back! 😅