Two Person Game Suggestions

[SnuggleBuggles]

Thank you for posting this! I bought Wingspan last year and got overwhelmed with the directions for some reason. I need to get it back out.

A friend taught us but I know I could have done a lot better! I’ve taken to watching YouTube videos to learn how to play. I stand no chance of learning through the rule book at all for games!


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[lizzywednesday]

What about Set or Nertz?...

I love Set, but sometimes the nuances between some of the shapes (especially the stripes!) can be harder for older folks to see.

[lizzywednesday]

...
I'm struggling to find a game that my late-70s parents will enjoy and can be played with only two people regularly.

...

My recommendation is Sushi Go, which is great for 2 people (better for more than 2), easy to learn, and has both a long-form and quick-setup way to get started playing.

My MIL also likes Mexican Train, which is a dominoes game, but, IMO, that's a lot more fun with more than 2 people.

[AnnieW625]

Battleship
Connect Four
Backgammon
Mancala
Mastermind
Stratego

We play a game called Progressive Gin, which is similar to Phase 10. Scrabble is always fun with just two people. I have also played Uno number of times with only one other person.

ETA: added Progressive Gin rules

These are the rules (can be played with up to 5 people). You need two full decks of cards including jokers.

Jokers are wild and are worth 50 points (if in your hand at the end of the round)

Aces are worth 20 points (if in your hand at the end of the round)

Kings, Queens, Jacks and 10s are worth 10 points (if in your hand at the end of the round)

All other cards are worth 5 points (if in your hand at the end of the round)

The first three rounds you are dealt 10 cards

The second four rounds you are dealt 12 cards

The object of the game is to be the first person to “go down” and have no cards.

There is a discard pile and a pick up deck. Each person must pick up from the discard pile or the pick up deck on their turn. If you have already put down your cards then you cannot pick up from the discard pile. After each turn you must discard a pile. Once you have placed your round cards down (example 2 threes) then you cannot pick up a card from the discard pile. If there is a card on the top of the discard pile and it is not your turn you can take that card if the next person doesn’t want the card; but you will need to pick up a penalty card from the pick up deck. You can have a max of 18 cards. You can place your extra cards on others hands that have gone down once you have gone down as well. You can only place cards down when it is your turn. If you can’t go down you simply discard a card to the discard pile. Once you have no cards left after discarding a card you have picked up then you have won the game. You put the card face down on the discard pile. There is only one winner per round. You take turns dealing. If you cannot shuffle cards (I can’t) I highly suggest a card shuffler. The deck must always be cut. Okay in clockwise order. The cards are dealt to the person on your right.

Aces can go behind Kings or act as a 1.

Jokers are wild and cannot be used in two or three in a row. You must have a real card next to a joker (ex.: king, joker, king or joker, king, queen, jack.)

A run must all be the same suit

To score add up all of the cards left in your hand after the winner goes down. The winner will have a score of zero. The person with the lowest score after 7 rounds wins.

These are the seven rounds.
2 three (of a kind)
1 three 1 four (run)
2 fours (2 runs of 4)
3 threes
3 threes 1 four
1 three 2 fours
3 fours

We have a lot of fun playing this in our family. It is a variation on progressive rummy, but the rules are different. Legend goes that a great uncle of a family friend made up this version of the game many years ago. I did a google search for progressive gin prior to typing this out and I couldn’t find this exact game with these exact rules.

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[Snow mom]

I like a lot of the games already mentioned. The only one I have to add (unless someone mentioned it by another name) is garbage. It’s just played with a stand playing card deck.

[umsh]

We love Blokus.


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[acmom]

Our family (including grandparents) like Yahtzee and Rummikub, both of which can be 2 player games.

[PunkyBoo]

If they like word games but are overwhelmed by the time of a full Scrabble game, I recommend A Little Wordie. It's a 2 player game kinda like a more interesting version of hangman.

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[ang79]

My two girls love to play games together. Their favorites are Dutch Blitz, Loot, Sushi Go, Monopoly Deal, Love Letter, and Dragonwood. We also have Fox in the Forest, but that doesn’t get used as much.


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[gobadgers]

Joining the chorus about Wingspan - it's such a fun and beautiful game, but the directions could not be worse in explaining how to play. DH spent a long time reading and figuring it out, then showed the rest of us how to play. It was kind of painful. I bet YouTube would have been so much easier.

As a gift, I might be inclined to get a beautifully made mancala or cribbage board. Those are both perennial favorite games here. Or chess if that might be their thing.