Half-OT: Anyone knows good contemporary board/card games for two players?
I like deduction games like "Mastermind".
I like deduction games like "Mastermind".
I play patchwork and Azul regularly and like them.
"Small World" is a super fun, ultra confrontational game in two player mode.
- Jaipur
- Century: Spice Road
- Race for the Galaxy
is a good two player game. It has a simple base game, and then is kept fresh by randomly changing the gameplay with additional rules each play. You can also buy more rule cards.
Sagrada works two player and has a hidden objective element, though I feel it's a little better four player.
10 Days In Africa is a good quick game with hidden information that's playable two-player, but it's out of print so can be hard to find.
* Pentago
* Dominion (Card game)
* Splendor (also mentioned by another user).
* Dominion
* Ikusa (~8+ hour game, 2 to 5 players. A faster-moving version of Axis and Allies)
* Chess
* Go
--* Gomoku (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomoku) Played on a Go board
--* Connect6 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connect6), also played on a Go board
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One of my favorite games is "Acquire", but it only really works with 3+ players. There is a 2-player variant, but its not quite as good.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blokus
You can play it with 2 players, it is more fun with 4 though (should either be 2 or 4). Go and chess are classics I enjoy with 2 players, although I generally prefer larger groups. Not very creative, I know.
Keyforge: card game with random but fixed decks.
Splendor, Azul, Century are also good to play with 2 players.
We also enjoy Castles of Burgundy at two players.
Santorini might suit you.
I think Pandemic works well as 2 player, though not all agree.
7 Wonders Duel for combative PvP.