With autumn and winter almost upon us, it’s a great time to cosy up indoors with a mug of pumpkin spice and your favourite board games. Two-player games are a great way to catch up and spend some quality time with a partner, friend or housemate.
They encourage discussion and keep both players involved, as you constantly need to be thinking about how their turn could affect yours. We have lined up some games below to get you started or to add to your ever-growing board game collection!
Orbito – FlexIQ
Designed to improve your adaptability, as seen on TikTok, Orbito provides a unique way of playing a strategy game. The premise is simple, line up 4 marbles in a straight line or diagonally. The catch is the marbles ‘orbit’ one space each time around the square grid.
It is key to visualise where these marbles are going to be in a few turns and make sure to place your next marble in the correct place to maximise your chances of winning. A tactile game that possesses an interesting puzzle, where forward planning is key!
Hellton Palace – IELLO
The art style and aesthetic of this game are very pleasing to the eye and the character design is fun and varied. Characters range from Anubis, the Egyptian God to the “Tone Dead Band”, which are as you guessed, are all zombies!
The aim of the game is to manage the guests of the hotel by either meeting their needs or leaving them be, but either way there will be consequences, with very few being positive…It’s all about outlasting your opponent as either way, the hotel will be coming down once the supporting pillars have been destroyed by the rambunctious residents.
Sky Team – Scorpion Masque
The first cooperative board game on this list and it’s a drama filled one! You will need to work with the other player, acting as Pilot and Co-Pilot of an airliner, to safely land in different airports across the world. The catch is as you will need to secretly assign dice to spaces in your cockpit, managing the axis of your plane, control its speed, deploy the flaps, extend the landing gear, contact the control tower to clear your path, and even have a little coffee to improve your concentration enough to change the value of your dice. Correct prioritisation and teamwork is key to winning this game, as otherwise you are in for a bumpy ride! This game is sure to fly off shelves!
The war between clans is stronger than ever and it’s time for you to settle your difference and determine the boundary line! Nine cards are laid out in a row and you will compete against your opponent to win each of these nine cards. With a limited hand of cards, you will need to use them wisely to form a higher value, complete a colour run or three of a kind and hope what you put down is better than your opponents. Who will be the most cunning clan? 
Kompromat – Helvetiq
Become a spy with Kompromat! This is a duel, Blackjack style, between two spies with the aim of being the first to capture intelligence and complete missions. Player decks are the same and knowing this is where the strategy comes in. In your turn, you “bid” on each mission with the aim of being the closest to 21 however, push your luck mechanics are at play as you could draw too many cards and go over, making you “bust” for that mission. However, this is all done in secret and your opponent will not know if you are on 21 or gone bust! Kompromat is part of Helvetiq’s popular after dinner range.
Royal Visit – IELLO
Go head-to-head in this tug of war card game! You want the King to come visit your chateau and gain his favour, however, so does your opponent… You will be using cards to manipulate the position of the King, guards, jester and wizard character tokens on the track. Your aim is to move the King down the track to your chateau however, the guards will block the Kings path backwards and forwards, while the jester counts as a “wild” and can move the guards. Lastly the wizard can teleport a token to him. Special cards change the gameplay even more and the person who uses these the best is likely to gain the Kings favour!
Unmatched Houdini vs Genie – IELLO
Unmatched is an expansive series providing asymmetric gameplay, with ample supply of strategy and tactics to ponder over. Houdini is a melee fighter that has incredible mobility and can boost his attacks, while Genie deals with ranged and discarding cards to gain more actions. The great thing about Unmatched is its low investment but its huge payoff as enjoying this system opens up a world of other options, playstyles and characters!
We hope to have inspired you to cosy up and play some great 2-player games, do let us know on social media if you have played any of these great games!
